Reasonable Transit Pitches

[Riverside]

A bar car or snack bar wouldn't work on the 'T because 95% of the ridership is on too short a ride to make it worth bothering to get up for that drink. What might be a good idea, though, would be the sale of canned beverages in stations, explicitly for enjoyment on the train. They have that in L.A. and plenty of people enjoy a beer or three on their trains.

I have to admit, I would not particularly care to have people drinking around me on the train home. For one thing, those cars are crowded as hell -- no one wants a drink spilled on them. But also, not for nothing, between the crowds and the delays, frustrations sometimes run a little high. Yeah, most drinkers would keep their cool, but that one person loudly shouting at the conductor because the train is delayed... that's not gonna be fun for anyone.

(You should have seen the rider comments on the MBTA Rail app this morning when the Providence Line had a bit of a meltdown... eesh. And same thing whenever there's an evening delay.)

Maybe it could work on the after-peak evening trains? They tend not to be as crowded and generally have a more chill vibe to begin with. But, as F-Line says, there's non-trivial liability built in, which probably just tanks the whole concept overall.

Also, F-Line, that little backstory about the Montrealer versus the Adirondack -- great story, thanks for sharing!

 

[Equilibria]

The gate is open to pedestrians and bicycles to cut through but not vehicles. Palmucci is correct, the neighborhood is going to be livid and it's an older, very involved group. The proposed redevlopment of Southside Tavern on Liberty St drew a huge crowd for the first public meeting.

There was a proposal recently that I believe went nowhere to build a self storage complex on the other side of the station next to Home Depot. It would make a lot more sense if the bus depot could go on that side and allow this to develop into a multi use site.

That could make sense, though I wonder if the MBTA needs more space than that for a modern facility. I think you mean the triangle-shaped portion of parking lot directly abutting the garage, which is 120ksf. The current garage site is 140ksf, and the Lowe's site is 420ksf (all rough measurements).

If the MBTA could somehow magically move Home Depot into the Lowe's building and build the garage on the whole Home Depot lot, that would seem to be the best solution. If only we lived in a dictatorship...

Also, didn't we just hear on a different thread that the local pols oppose any mixed-use on lots like these? No residential at all?

 

[HenryAlan]

@F-Line to Dudley I am loving these stories about the Montrealer and Adirondack trains. It's making me wonder a bit about other services. When I took the Coast Starlight a few years ago, there was significant drinking, at least among passengers with access to the Pacific Parlor Car (basically those of us taking the entire route from Seattle to L.A.). My sense is that the other part of the train, which was mostly used by shorter segment riders was significantly less festive.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

@F-Line to Dudley I am loving these stories about the Montrealer and Adirondack trains. It's making me wonder a bit about other services. When I took the Coast Starlight a few years ago, there was significant drinking, at least among passengers with access to the Pacific Parlor Car (basically those of us taking the entire route from Seattle to L.A.). My sense is that the other part of the train, which was mostly used by shorter segment riders was significantly less festive.

I've ridden the Coast Starlight before. Awesome trip...great scenery, super-friendly staff, neat vintage depot buildings at most of the stops, great relaxing atmosphere, and those great big Superliner windows beat the snot out of those little portholes us East Coasters have to put up with. The (sadly now retired) historic Parlour cars were really neat. I scoped them out at Portland Union Station before departure when they were empty, but was too tired to partake during the trip. In the lower-level Superliner coach class I was sitting it was mostly families with kids on a Friday night, so I think the Starlight gets a pretty diverse mix of patronage.

Anyway...highly enjoyable trip. I much recommend it.

 

[Semass]

@F-Line to Dudley I am loving these stories about the Montrealer and Adirondack trains. It's making me wonder a bit about other services. When I took the Coast Starlight a few years ago, there was significant drinking, at least among passengers with access to the Pacific Parlor Car (basically those of us taking the entire route from Seattle to L.A.). My sense is that the other part of the train, which was mostly used by shorter segment riders was significantly less festive.

I enjoyed this too. Made me think of the Amtrak scenes in Trading Places.

 

[ceo]

Pro tip; there's a liquor store on the other side of causeway.

The new Star Market directly underneath North Station has a full liquor section. Just sayin'.

 

[ceo]

The Pacific Parlor Car was open to sleeper car passengers only. Wifey and I took the CS from Seattle to the Bay Area as part of our honeymoon. They had a wine tasting in the parlor car where they were pouring full glasses, and wifey doesn't drink much, so I got most of her share as well. Unrelatedly, it is indeed possible to join the 10 Foot High Club in a Superliner roomette, but it takes some doing, and the 15 Foot High Club (top bunk) is out of the question unless you're both really tiny.

 

[ceo]

I enjoyed this too. Made me think of the Amtrak scenes in Trading Places.

There was drinking? I was too distracted by Jamie Lee Curtis taking her shirt off. (My first R-rated movie.)

 

[Deetroyt]

Along with removing street running section and putting trolleys in proposed reservation for E on Huntington west of Brigham Cir (39 bus could share this), E should have dedicated reservation on South Huntington all the way to Hyde Square. From Riverway to Heath St this seems doable, ban parking if its necessary to keep 2 lanes of traffic.

From Heath St to Bynner, all the buildings on the west side of South Huntington have set backs from the street. A little bit of (currently useless) property taking would allow for widening of South Huntington to maintain 2 lanes of traffic if needed, street parking and probably protected bike lanes. There is a pinch where South Huntington meets Bynner, but immediately south of Bynner you could take a strip of land from the animal hospital on the east side of South Huntington, keeping this street profile all the way to Perkins Street. I image a Hyde Square station would either be there or by taking property on south side of Barbara Street.

Admittedly you wouldn't have to take property from the buildings on the west side of South Huntington, and could still make a dedicated lane for E/39 to run in. Having the reservation would speed trips and reliability for transit users on this section.

 

[tysmith95]

Have the commuter rail run a regular weekday schedule on President's Day.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Have the commuter rail run a regular weekday schedule on President's Day.

Practically, yes...because enough private biz is working that day. But I don't know how bureaucratically easy that is to do with this being a state holiday and them being a state agency. One hand might be tied behind back by state-level red tape above their heads.

 

[tysmith95]

Practically, yes...because enough private biz is working that day. But I don't know how bureaucratically easy that is to do with this being a state holiday and them being a state agency. One hand might be tied behind back by state-level red tape above their heads.

MLK day they run a regular weekday schedule, so i'm not sure why President's day is treated differently.

 

[JumboBuc]

MLK day they run a regular weekday schedule, so i'm not sure why President's day is treated differently.

Yes, MLK Day plus Patriots Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day. There are plenty of state holidays that don't affect CR operations. Of all MBTA/CR holidays, Presidents' Day is clearly the outlier as far as what's open and what's closed.

Then there are also days with CR holiday schedules that aren't state holidays (e.g., Thanksgiving Eve, Christmas Eve, New Years Eve) but I'm generally okay with those.

 

[stefal]

Contracted employees don't have to follow state holidays; they just tend to because they can. Keolis can run weekday service today if they wanted to.

 

[tysmith95]

Contracted employees don't have to follow state holidays; they just tend to because they can. Keolis can run weekday service today if they wanted to.

I doubt it's Keolis calling the shots. Keolis just does what the MBTA pays them to do.

 

[stefal]

I doubt it's Keolis calling the shots. Keolis just does what the MBTA pays them to do.

Yes, but the point I intended to make was that Keolis employees aren't state employees and it wouldn't be unreasonable to have contractors working on a state holiday.

 

[MjolnirMan]

Idea: add a new infill Green Line (C and D) stop at the Lansdowne Commuter Rail Station.

Lansdowne (formerly Yawkey) Station is smack-dab between Kenmore and Fenway (D)/St. Mary's St. (C) stations. Many LMA-area employees take the Worcester Line to and from work, and while this is a reasonable walking distance (25min from Brigham and Women's, 17 from Dana-Farber, etc.), it's not ideal, and there is severe crunch on the local buses in that direction (including the MASCO Fenway shuttle) during peak periods. This problem will be compounded as the new Fenway Center development brings more traffic to the site around Lansdowne Station from elsewhere in the city. Projects like the Kenmore Square Hotel's pedestrian redesign will help with this, as would a Regional Rail conversion of the Purple, but the point will remain that many passengers traveling to Lansdowne by Green Line can get near, but not to, the station. This is the only commuter rail station in the metro area (besides Boston Landing) without a rapid transit connection.

I suggest excavating station platforms to the sides of the GL tunnel where it passes under the Pike. While this station placement is indeed quite close to others, this has precedent to stop placement elsewhere on the Green Line, including from Kenmore to Blandford on the B branch just to the North. The benefit is the direct link of Green to Purple, diverting bus trips and reducing pedestrian congestion (including in areas known for automobile strikes, like outside the Pierce).

There would be two entrances at either end of the new platforms, both sites under MBTA jurisdiction:
1) The west end of the Lansdowne platform, where it meets Beacon St.
2) Built into the existing electrical and ventilation buildings further up Beacon, featured here:

 

[ErnieAdams]

^The desired connectivity will be provided in no small measure by 1) the stupidly overdue pedestrian connection between Miner and Maitland Streets over a MassDOT ROW, which is supposed to be started this fall, last I saw, and 2) Fenway Center's Phase 2, through which the Lansdowne platforms will receive direct connections to Brookline Ave. (and thence to Kenmore) via the new planned decking. Walk times to both current Green stations from Lansdowne will be cut in half when these connections are in place. You're still looking at 5-7 minutes of travel time rather than a direct connection, but it will be highly comparable to (for example) a BBY rider walking over to Copley or Prudential for a further connection. A new station is crazy; just getting the damn pedestrian connections done is reasonable, and at least one is certain to happen on some kind of timeline.

ETA: MassDOT now has a start date of Winter 2020/2021 for the Miner/Maitland connection. And the thing is only 75% design after six years! The problem seems to be that the project also includes a segment that's supposed to continue the connection through to the Muddy River path. So because the space they want to use for that segment is in MBTA ops land (where the siding is at the Fenway stop), the extremely simple segment running through a bunch of parking infrastructure is also getting held up. They really can't just build a sidewalk in one place while they work through their issues in another place? Good grief.

 

[JumboBuc]

Given the density of transit stops in this area, I just don’t think the marginal benefit of this proposal would exceed its costs. Such a project would easily cost nine figures. I’d rather see that money spent elsewhere.

Per Google Maps, Lansdowne Station is a 15 minute walk from the corner of Longwood Ave and Brookline Ave. Longwood Station on the D line is a 7 minute walk from the same intersection. So transferring from the Worcester Line at Lansdowne to a D train and taking it two stops would only save 8 minutes of walking from Longwood. The amount of time spent transferring would probably exceed that.

Walking distance from the eastern headhouse you’ve identified here to Kenmore Station is about 4 minutes. Walking distance from the western headhouse (i.e. Lansdowne Station) to Fenway Station is about 7 minutes currently, but that would be decreased significantly by cleaning up the ROW between Maitland St and Miner St at very little cost. The T is scheduled to do just this starting this fall.

Stop spacing on the B is something to be avoided, not emulated. The aggregate increased travel time of another dwell on the C and D would probably exceed the aggregate savings for users of the new station.

EDIT: Ninja'd by ErnieAdams above. Also, the Lansdowne platform connection to Brookline Ave will open this summer with Fenway Center Phase I.

 

[ErnieAdams]

EDIT: Ninja'd by ErnieAdams above. Also, the Lansdowne platform connection to Brookline Ave will open this summer with Fenway Center Phase I.

I've seen this written down probably in the same places that you have, but I have seen no indication on the ground that this is true. (The same list of infrastructure improvements also includes signalization at Mountfort and Beacon Streets, to have been completed last month...nope, not even started.) Would love to be proven wrong, but as of now the decking ends west of the Lansdowne elevator towers and there hasn't been any visible work taking place at the eastern end of these platforms at any time. It's not until Phase 2 that the deck extends east to Brookline Ave., and I am presuming that that pedestrian connection won't be made before Phase 2 is complete.