Reasonable Transit Pitches

[Tallguy]

While we're at it, why not add a station where North Beacon ducks underneath the Pike to connect w/ Birmingham Parkway?

It's about as far from Boston Landing (assuming an 800' standard platform whose eastern end is at North Beacon Street) as Auburndale is from West Newton, and it'd be far easier for buses and peds coming from the Arsenal area to access, not to mention the Faneuil Gardens housing development and that 1 million-square-foot biotech/housing development Trammel Crow proposed for the IHOP site nearby.

Transitmatters agrees with you and has suggested an infill station there

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Boston & Albany had a local stop at Faneuil until 1959 (same year Newton Corner was also whacked), and was featured on the famed 1945 rapid transit expansion map on the B&A's proposed rapid transit co-tenant. The constraint with doing it on Regional Rail today is that it starts bordering on too many stops for a 2-track only railroad of very mixed traffic profile, and the number of crossovers required to mix locals with expresses starts slowing the whole works down inside of Route 128. Newton Corner I think we can agree is a must-have because of the density and sheer number of bus transfers there. Faneuil would be borderline, especially given that the 64 bus stops across the parking lot from Boston Landing. But definitely worth an official study at some point if the dev environs around Faneuil are going to be significantly upsized.

 

[Arlington]

Every once in a while, I enjoy testing old proposals to see if they're still reasonable. Here's my list of capital-intensive yet not crazy pitches: (so they're on the "if Biden & Healy work together on infrastructure" kinda list)

• Blue: Red-Blue Connector
• Infill Red: Morrissey Boulevard (Braintree branch)
• Infill Orange: Medford St in Malden (halfway between Wellington & Malden)
• GLX2: Mystic Valley Parkway (From Tufts)
• GLX3: Kent Street(from USq)
• OLX: Roslindale & West Roxbury
  

 

[Semass]

And T under D.

 

[737900er]

Every once in a while, I enjoy testing old proposals to see if they're still reasonable. Here's my list of capital-intensive yet not crazy pitches: (so they're on the "if Biden & Healy work together on infrastructure" kinda list)

• Blue: Red-Blue Connector
• Infill Red: Morrissey Boulevard (Braintree branch)
• Infill Orange: Medford St in Malden (halfway between Wellington & Malden)
• GLX2: Mystic Valley Parkway (From Tufts)
• GLX3: Kent Street(from USq)
• OLX: Roslindale & West Roxbury

I think the one "frequently proposed pitch" that's actually falling down the list is HRT to Mattapan. With all the attention on Fairmount, that starts to look less and less mission critical.

 

[Riverside]

Every once in a while, I enjoy testing old proposals to see if they're still reasonable. Here's my list of capital-intensive yet not crazy pitches: (so they're on the "if Biden & Healy work together on infrastructure" kinda list)

• Blue: Red-Blue Connector
• Infill Red: Morrissey Boulevard (Braintree branch)
• Infill Orange: Medford St in Malden (halfway between Wellington & Malden)
• GLX2: Mystic Valley Parkway (From Tufts)
• GLX3: Kent Street(from USq)
• OLX: Roslindale & West Roxbury

I think all are reasonable (except maybe OLX, though I can't really put my finger on why I feel less sure about that one). I'd add electrification of and frequent service on the Fairmount, though I agree that adds another variable in terms of rolling stock acquisition.

 

[Teban54]

• OLX: Roslindale & West Roxbury

OL+1 to Roslindale definitely belongs to this list since the ROW has width for triple tracks until Roslindale, but going to West Roxbury requires OL to eat Needham Line, thus also necessitating GL Needham branch (or something else). While both extensions are doable, I think they do require some expense.

And T under D.

Given that the Bus Network Redesign calls for SL1/3 to use D St to access the highway ramps and skip Silver Line Way station, this appears to be less doable now.

A few other items I would add to the list are E branch extension to Hyde Park and a few BRT/dedicated bus lanes corridors (though some of them are already under planning; Blue Hill Ave may be the main one that's not under some official T planning yet).

 

[Koopzilla24]

I'd add electrification of and frequent service on the Fairmount, though I agree that adds another variable in terms of rolling stock acquisition.

Is there any possibility of acquiring second-hand rolling stock for the short term? Shore Line East was able to lease M8s from MetroNorth but they already had the necessary maintenance facilities. Maybe the MBTA could hop on that lease idea or do something similar with another city, but I can only think of Chicago as an option. I don't know where maintenance could occur other than the Southampton Amtrak Yard with the 5-year timeline on the South Side Maintenance Facility and it not specifying the ability to service electric locomotives or EMUs (I'd assume it would). Also, would there be any meaningful trip time benefit from using ACS-64s on current coaches in the short term?