Reasonable Transit Pitches

Does anyone know the linked vs unlinked trip split? I think l recall seeing an 80% figure somewhere, but l may just be making that up. If that figures true, wouldn’t a simpler solution just be to make the busses free? Free transit in general is a a bad idea since the money is better spent on service, but if 80% of bus riders are still paying the $2.50 at the turnstile anyway, losing 20% from the (literal) free riders seems like it could be worth the increase in operational efficiency.

Removes the need for placing any concrete or zonal fares. Could make an exception for the very few busses that don’t terminate at an outlying RT interchange like the expresses. The 111 would be a big question mark though since theres equity arguments either way.
 
Does anyone know the linked vs unlinked trip split? I think l recall seeing an 80% figure somewhere, but l may just be making that up. If that figures true, wouldn’t a simpler solution just be to make the busses free? Free transit in general is a a bad idea since the money is better spent on service, but if 80% of bus riders are still paying the $2.50 at the turnstile anyway, losing 20% from the (literal) free riders seems like it could be worth the increase in operational efficiency.

Removes the need for placing any concrete or zonal fares. Could make an exception for the very few busses that don’t terminate at an outlying RT interchange like the expresses. The 111 would be a big question mark though since theres equity arguments either way.
Probably works for anything other than suburban Express Buses.
 
Does anyone know the linked vs unlinked trip split? I think l recall seeing an 80% figure somewhere, but l may just be making that up. If that figures true, wouldn’t a simpler solution just be to make the busses free? Free transit in general is a a bad idea since the money is better spent on service, but if 80% of bus riders are still paying the $2.50 at the turnstile anyway, losing 20% from the (literal) free riders seems like it could be worth the increase in operational efficiency.

Removes the need for placing any concrete or zonal fares. Could make an exception for the very few busses that don’t terminate at an outlying RT interchange like the expresses. The 111 would be a big question mark though since theres equity arguments either way.
Higher. 85, I believe
 
Acela pitch: how difficult would it be to run an Acela along the inland NEC route (Boston-Springfield-New Haven-New York)? Looks a little rugged between Worcester and Springfield, but that stretch along the Connecticut River looks reasonably straight.

I’m sure, overall, it would be a longer distance than the coastal route, but could it work as an alternate route allowing for work on the existing line? Bonus points, it would necessitate upgrades to the inland route.
 
Acela pitch: how difficult would it be to run an Acela along the inland NEC route (Boston-Springfield-New Haven-New York)? Looks a little rugged between Worcester and Springfield, but that stretch along the Connecticut River looks reasonably straight.

I’m sure, overall, it would be a longer distance than the coastal route, but could it work as an alternate route allowing for work on the existing line? Bonus points, it would necessitate upgrades to the inland route.

I don't think it's difficult but very pricey. IIRC the main reason it was talked about because of flooding potential along the current route; I think in RI.
 
I don't think it's difficult but very pricey. IIRC the main reason it was talked about because of flooding potential along the current route; I think in RI.
Practical political problem -- you lose the support of two (2) Senators from RI in going for funding.
 
The next logical step towards Inland Route passenger service is already in the works.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), in partnership with Amtrak, and with support from CSX, has submitted an application for funding from the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program. The application seeks more than $108 million for corridor infrastructure projects planned under the “Connecting the Commonwealth: Early Actions for the Inland Route Project.”

...

The Project will facilitate two Amtrak Inland Route daily round trips as a first phase of corridor improvements that improve connections within Massachusetts between Boston, Worcester, and Springfield and to communities beyond the Commonwealth in Connecticut and New York City. In addition to the two new daily trains, travel times will be improved for the existing Amtrak Lake Shore Limited, enhancing connections from Eastern Massachusetts to Pittsfield, Albany, NY, and other upstate New York communities.

No need to give it the "Acela" label. Two round-trips per day, priming the route, studying ridership, and determining next-steps, is all very reasonable.
 
Acela pitch: how difficult would it be to run an Acela along the inland NEC route (Boston-Springfield-New Haven-New York)? Looks a little rugged between Worcester and Springfield, but that stretch along the Connecticut River looks reasonably straight.

I’m sure, overall, it would be a longer distance than the coastal route, but could it work as an alternate route allowing for work on the existing line? Bonus points, it would necessitate upgrades to the inland route.
There would be no point. The Springfield Line (due to grade crossings) and B&A (due to curves/hills) can't natively reach the speeds used by Acela equipment without billions of dollars in line relocation and crossing eliminations. They don't even top out at the highest speed capable of Northeast Regional equipment. You could push sizeable portions of the Springfield Line to 110 MPH and small parts of the B&A to 90 MPH, but that's about it. So for performance reasons you'd never consider running an Acela there. Hartford-Springfield-Worcester are also negligible markets for first-class service (New Haven is too...it's dwarfed in Acela boardings by more-upscale Stamford), so there'd be no profit motive for Amtrak even trying. Compared with business- and coach-class Regionals which are in high demand for those cities, first-class service would bring negligible returns. Finally, the double-stack freight traffic on the B&A makes it extremely difficult to electrify; there are 35 bridges between Springfield and Worcester to clear another 2-1/2 feet, and that's simply not going to be paid for with what frequencies and ridership have studied out to on the corridor (plus all Regionals will have dual-mode locomotives by default in a few years, so a Springfield-Worcester diesel gap would pose little challenge to the non-premium services).

There's a good chance we'll be seeing some meaningful Inland schedules in a few years, but the Acela is very bread-and-butter in its D.C.-Philly-New York-Boston orientation to the king-size markets. Switching out a different set of smaller cities in CT and MA doesn't really offer a different look to that profit center, because the Inland cities don't really rate as destination pairs of any significant heft (or at least any heft above-and-beyond what's adequately served by more Inland Regionals).
 
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Not sure why this never clicked before, but wouldn't the warehouse The Davis Compaines built on the Everett-Chelsea line over the last couple years make a great acquisition for the T? They built it for/leased it to Amazon, but apparently the company closed the delivery facility planned there almost as soon as it opened as part of its broader retrenchment: https://everettindependent.com/2022/08/24/amazon-warehouse-slated-to-be-closed/

It's a big tall for a bus or train OMF, but it seems ideally placed for either. Could take pressure off of the OG Everett garage to allow for rebuilding/expanding, and/or be used to support any future Urban Ring successor that uses the Newburyport ROW.

Now, with Amazon firmly backing away from a lot of growth plans and maybe a recession looming, wouldn't the developer want to ditch this asset for a reasonable price?

IIRC from when it was under construction, it seemed like a pretty typical tilt-up warehouse, so I'd think rearranging the interior from the original design wouldn't be much of a problem; ditto turning those loading docs on the east side into proper garage doors or punching additional holes in the walls, right?

A floor plan graphic from when it was still being approved:

34_Market_St_Site.png
 
Not sure why this never clicked before, but wouldn't the warehouse The Davis Compaines built on the Everett-Chelsea line over the last couple years make a great acquisition for the T? They built it for/leased it to Amazon, but apparently the company closed the delivery facility planned there almost as soon as it opened as part of its broader retrenchment: https://everettindependent.com/2022/08/24/amazon-warehouse-slated-to-be-closed/

It's a big tall for a bus or train OMF, but it seems ideally placed for either. Could take pressure off of the OG Everett garage to allow for rebuilding/expanding, and/or be used to support any future Urban Ring successor that uses the Newburyport ROW.

Now, with Amazon firmly backing away from a lot of growth plans and maybe a recession looming, wouldn't the developer want to ditch this asset for a reasonable price?

IIRC from when it was under construction, it seemed like a pretty typical tilt-up warehouse, so I'd think rearranging the interior from the original design wouldn't be much of a problem; ditto turning those loading docs on the east side into proper garage doors or punching additional holes in the walls, right?

A floor plan graphic from when it was still being approved:

View attachment 35511
It's part of the Everett Terminal property, so the zoning might be locked in as industrial/warehousing.
 
In today's edition of the "Are We There Yet" newsletter from the Globe's opinion team. Can't find a permalink to this hosted online anywhere, so I've got to copy-paste:

Take me out (on a bus) to the ballgame ⚾

Worcester built it, and they came.

The problem is, to get to the city’s sparkling new Minor League baseball stadium, many of them drove. Polar Park, where the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate will hold its home opener Friday, lacks much by way of transit options.

It’s theoretically possible for fans to take a bus to the stadium (though not necessarily to take one home, if the game goes late). The team also does offer shuttles from parking areas.

But in general, parking and transit in the city’s growing Canal District, which is anchored by Polar Park, both leave something to be desired.

Opening Day is this week — both for Major League teams like the Red Sox, whose season starts Thursday, and for many Minor League clubs. So to celebrate, this week’s newsletter focuses on how, exactly, one can be taken out to the ballgame — and, unless you’re the type of fan who doesn’t care if you never get back, how to get home again.

Worcester’s experience — the team has been very popular, drawing thousands of new visitors to the city — underscores the kind of challenges cities across the country confront.

As one local restaurant owner put it to a Springfield Republican reporter last year, “There were no parking solutions to a 10,000-person stadium. I’m not a planner or an engineer, but I still think the parking should’ve been done first.”

New England’s second biggest city is in the midst of a growth spurt, propelled in part by refugees from Boston’s outrageous real estate prices. Part of the reason the city lured the farm team from Pawtucket, R.I., in 2021 was to catalyze economic development in the area. But to sustain that growth without adding to traffic and parking woes, transit options within the city — and commuting links to Boston — need to keep up.

That’s where an idea from Tufts University urban planning professor Justin Hollander comes in.

With a group of students, he put together a plan for a bus-rapid transit system for Worcester that he says would be feasible to implement and provide a better car-free option for visitors and residents.

Bus rapid transit, for the uninitiated, is basically a regular bus — but with added features like reserved lanes and, sometimes, stations instead of bus stops. “The easiest way to think about it is that it's much more akin to what we're used to on a fixed rail — it's limited stops but much more regular service,” he says.

“For a couple of million you could get something off the ground,” he says.

Hollander’s plan envisions a north-south and east-west route that would meet at the city’s historic Union Station. One of the stops would serve Polar Park.

3fec55d3-a624-a618-ebfe-566467ff977d.png


Hollander says he’s had a few conversations with Worcester officials but noted that the city doesn’t run the transit system, which is operated by a regional transit authority.

Still, with billions of dollars in federal aid coursing into infrastructure projects, Hollander thinks now is the perfect time for cities like Worcester to pursue federal funding. “This is the time to do something big and bold,” he said.

Overall, Minor League stadiums as a catalyst for development have a mixed record. But if traffic jams at WooSox games help serve as a wake-up call to invest more in transit in the city, it could have benefits that last beyond baseball season.
 
In today's edition of the "Are We There Yet" newsletter from the Globe's opinion team. Can't find a permalink to this hosted online anywhere, so I've got to copy-paste:

Not a bad idea, but let's extend the west terminus to Tatnuck proper, and not just Worcester State. The other issue is that the WRTA is just abysmal. If you just fix the frequencies, you might not even need this proposed BRT setup.
 
There would be no point. The Springfield Line (due to grade crossings) and B&A (due to curves/hills) can't natively reach the speeds used by Acela equipment without billions of dollars in line relocation and crossing eliminations. They don't even top out at the highest speed capable of Northeast Regional equipment. You could push sizeable portions of the Springfield Line to 110 MPH and small parts of the B&A to 90 MPH, but that's about it. So for performance reasons you'd never consider running an Acela there. Hartford-Springfield-Worcester are also negligible markets for first-class service (New Haven is too...it's dwarfed in Acela boardings by more-upscale Stamford), so there'd be no profit motive for Amtrak even trying. Compared with business- and coach-class Regionals which are in high demand for those cities, first-class service would bring negligible returns. Finally, the double-stack freight traffic on the B&A makes it extremely difficult to electrify; there are 35 bridges between Springfield and Worcester to clear another 2-1/2 feet, and that's simply not going to be paid for with what frequencies and ridership have studied out to on the corridor (plus all Regionals will have dual-mode locomotives by default in a few years, so a Springfield-Worcester diesel gap would pose little challenge to the non-premium services).

There's a good chance we'll be seeing some meaningful Inland schedules in a few years, but the Acela is very bread-and-butter in its D.C.-Philly-New York-Boston orientation to the king-size markets. Switching out a different set of smaller cities in CT and MA doesn't really offer a different look to that profit center, because the Inland cities don't really rate as destination pairs of any significant heft (or at least any heft above-and-beyond what's adequately served by more Inland Regionals).
A few thoughts on this:

This is the kind of route I think it would be good to see express service on. There’s also the potential that the current demand is far less due to the lack of good connectivity. Having an express service that runs the route stopping at only the major metro centers Worcester-NYC a few times a day could be beneficial for the infrequent travelers who want or need to make the trip from a small metro area. While I also don’t think a high speed line would provide much benefit, improving the infrastructure for higher speed rail with some curve easing, double, triple, maybe quad tracking, and track improvements to 125mph where possible is something that would greatly benefit travel for the millions that do live in the corridor.
 
A few months ago, in some thread somewhere on the board, I briefly wrote about potentially modifying the Worcester Line from a zonal express model to a skip stop model, and utilize the reallocated time savings to provide greater frequencies to the Newton stations.

I then went away for a while to try to build out and validate the concept. Unfortunately, this turned into one of those exercises where I did a lot of work but ultimately have less to show for it than I was hoping for. In particular, I was hoping to confirm the (very tantalizing) possibility that a skip-stop model could in fact require fewer trains than the current schedule. This, of course, required figuring out how many trains the current schedule actually uses, and that was where my efforts ultimately were not fruitful. As it stands, my best guess is that probably today's schedule uses 8 sets; my proposal also likely uses 8 sets, though it may be possible to trim that down to 7. (I'd love to use that extra set to bump the Fairmount's frequencies up to 30 min -- I think it would only take one set to do so.)

In the course of doing this work, I built a dynamic schedule generator, which was a big headache but honestly is pretty cool now that I've got it working. You'll see that there's a column labeled "Service", with which you can assign different services to each station, e.g. "A trains should stop here and here, B trains should stop there and there, and C trains should stop everywhere." You can then configure the departure time from Worcester for the first train of the day, and then the second, and so on, and you can assign each train a particular service pattern (e.g. A, B or C).

Using the inputted travel times between stations in the "stopping time" column, the spreadsheet then dynamically builds a schedule for each train, according to its service pattern -- basically the formula checks each row as it goes down to see whether the train's label at the top matches the station's service list on the left; if so, it adds the "stopping time" to the previous station's departure time to calculate the arrival time; if there's no match, the spreadsheet instead takes the "non-stop time" (which is derived from the "stopping time" value, multiplied by the configurable "time savings" percentage), and passes that value downward until a station with a matching service pattern is reached, at which point all of the "non-stop times" are added up to provide the new arrival time.

(I used 67% at the time savings percentage, as I found that was pretty consistent across various timetables I reviewed. As you'll see in the blog post, I also ran a test, and the 67% figure was able to accurately predict today's official schedule. So I think it's close enough.)

All of this means you can experiment with the time-savings of, for example, a skip-stop vs all-stop service, or a H2H that also stops at the Newtons vs today's H2H.

The spreadsheet will also attempt to calculate the number of unique trainsets needed to run your schedule. It does this by adding the BOS layover time, the outbound journey time, and the WOR layover time to evaluate when a given set will next be "available" for service (marked in the "finish layover" row). For each train after the first of the day, the Set row will check to see if the departure time of that train is later than the "finish layover" time of the day's first train; if it is not, then the Set value will increment by 1; if the departure is later, then the counter resets to 1, and begins incrementing upward again. That reset point tells you how many sets your particular schedule will require (assuming that all services originate in Worcester).

Note that the the trainset calculation is not super robust. In some permutations of the schedule, I had to hardcode the values manually, particularly if I was working with service patterns that had a very large difference in stops, e.g. all stops vs H2H; hardcoding manually is not difficult, just somewhat tedious.

In any case, this is the proposed schedule:

1683412843159.png


It is definitely far from perfect. In the middle of the line, Ashland, Framingham, and West Natick all see some non-trivial tradeoffs, though I'd argue that on the balance those tradeoffs are still worthwhile at least for Framingham and West Natick. Ashland unfortunately sees an increase in travel times of 6-7 minutes; most other stations see equal, or slightly faster travel times. West Natick also sees an increase in travel times relative to its fastest trains today, but gets the benefit of doubled frequencies.

I'm not happy with Ashland seeing slightly worse service, but it seemed like the best compromise: 6-7 minutes is not earth-shattering, and the town of Ashland historically has had the lowest townwide cumulative ridership on the entire line. (The Newtons and two of the Wellesleys individually have lower ridership than Ashland, but both municipalities blow Ashland out of the water when their total ridership across all stations is considered.) Even the Newtons, with their crappy hourly headways, have greater cumulative ridership than Ashland. So, like I said, it seemed like the least bad option. (I am definitely open to alternatives though!)

That all being said -- overall I think this could actually really work:
  • The Newtons, Framingham, and Worcester get clockfacing half-hourly peak direction headways.
  • Most riders see comparable travel times to today.
  • No extra equipment or capital investments are required.
  • And no station sees a reduction in service -- the suburban stations between Worcester and Framingham and 128 continue to see hourly peak headways.
As ever, further details available on my blog.
 
Is an “office car” a reasonable idea for the commuter rail? I’m thinking something with seats with desks, with partitions between them to offer a moderate amount of privacy, top tier wifi, and all the most common outlets (including usb and usb-c). It could even require a premium ticket.

Basically, market it to people who want to get a legit amount of work done on the train in/out.
 
Is an “office car” a reasonable idea for the commuter rail? I’m thinking something with seats with desks, with partitions between them to offer a moderate amount of privacy, top tier wifi, and all the most common outlets (including usb and usb-c). It could even require a premium ticket.

Basically, market it to people who want to get a legit amount of work done on the train in/out.
I don't know if the concept would work on Commuter Rail, but the Thalys and ICE trains in Europe have conference rooms people can book.
 
Is an “office car” a reasonable idea for the commuter rail? I’m thinking something with seats with desks, with partitions between them to offer a moderate amount of privacy, top tier wifi, and all the most common outlets (including usb and usb-c). It could even require a premium ticket.

Basically, market it to people who want to get a legit amount of work done on the train in/out.
Most riders don't have long enough commutes on CR to do "legit amounts of work" in a biz car. That's a perk for single-seat commutes of like 90 minutes or more, which is pretty firmly outside of what the Purple Line offers. Less than that you're probably only doing small tasks that don't require more than a phone to do. Maaaaybe Metro-North could offer this for some of its super-commuters at the endpoints of the system (though I kind of doubt there's enough of them to make it fly), but getting serious work done on the train is pretty firmly in the court of Amtrak business class...not Commuter Rail.
 
Most riders don't have long enough commutes on CR to do "legit amounts of work" in a biz car. That's a perk for single-seat commutes of like 90 minutes or more, which is pretty firmly outside of what the Purple Line offers. Less than that you're probably only doing small tasks that don't require more than a phone to do. Maaaaybe Metro-North could offer this for some of its super-commuters at the endpoints of the system (though I kind of doubt there's enough of them to make it fly), but getting serious work done on the train is pretty firmly in the court of Amtrak business class...not Commuter Rail.

Amusingly enough, I specifically was inspired by the projected commute times for the SCR.
Still, I think 60 min would probably be enough.
 
If you watch this video on "Shoulder Stations" for good regional rail, it got me thinking:
(3) The SECRET to Good Regional Rail - YouTube

What about closing the Commuter Rail Connection at Malden and Oak Grove on the Orange line and building a brand-new Shoulder Regional Rail station at Sullivan Square? It's the first stop that I can see where Newburyport/Ipswich trains and Haverhill trains meet before continuing to North Station. With all the new development planned around Sullivan Square, it seems like this could be the next Ruggles Station-shoulder station that has access to Regional Rail and local subway connections. People coming from Newburyport/Ipswich or Haverhill could transfer one stop to the growing job center of Assembly Square as well. Currently, there is no way to accomplish this from Newburyport/Ipswich unless you travel all the way to North Station and transfer to an Orange line train to Assembly.

Plus, that 1970's Station for Sullivan Square could use a makeover!

This seems like a "reasonable" transit infrastructure project on our way to a more Regional Rail system. Interchange stations of JFK, Quincy Center, Braintree, Ruggles, Back Bay, Forest Hills, and Porter already exist. (I actually don't know how much the Oak Grove and Malden interchanges are used by riders.) However, I think more connections between the mainline subway and regional rail lines is a good thing. (West Medford and GLX maybe at some point?)

What do people on this forum think?
 
If you watch this video on "Shoulder Stations" for good regional rail, it got me thinking:
(3) The SECRET to Good Regional Rail - YouTube

What about closing the Commuter Rail Connection at Malden and Oak Grove on the Orange line and building a brand-new Shoulder Regional Rail station at Sullivan Square? It's the first stop that I can see where Newburyport/Ipswich trains and Haverhill trains meet before continuing to North Station. With all the new development planned around Sullivan Square, it seems like this could be the next Ruggles Station-shoulder station that has access to Regional Rail and local subway connections. People coming from Newburyport/Ipswich or Haverhill could transfer one stop to the growing job center of Assembly Square as well. Currently, there is no way to accomplish this from Newburyport/Ipswich unless you travel all the way to North Station and transfer to an Orange line train to Assembly.

Plus, that 1970's Station for Sullivan Square could use a makeover!

This seems like a "reasonable" transit infrastructure project on our way to a more Regional Rail system. Interchange stations of JFK, Quincy Center, Braintree, Ruggles, Back Bay, Forest Hills, and Porter already exist. (I actually don't know how much the Oak Grove and Malden interchanges are used by riders.) However, I think more connections between the mainline subway and regional rail lines is a good thing. (West Medford and GLX maybe at some point?)

What do people on this forum think?
A Shoulder Regional Rail station at Sullivan Square would also provide a transfer point between regional/commuter rail and a future light rail line extending from Sullivan along the Grand Junction, accessing the Kendall Square/MIT area and the future West Station.
 

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