Silver Line - Phase III / BRT in Boston

[Commuting Boston Student]

Unless thats just changed, thats not true at all.

Cursory inspection of the Silver Line 2 buses in South Station provides no appreciable evidence that they're connected to the wires in any way, and the wire doesn't extend down the waterfront when last I checked.

Given that there is/was no "the bus will change over to a different power supply" message for SL2 buses at Silver Line Way, I'm making the assumption that they never utilize the wire.

This could have changed recently. I'll check on Monday.

I think Silver Line Way was designed with air rights in mind. Or so I sure as hell hope.

Unless you and I have a different definition of air rights, I'm not sure there are any for 'over Silver Line Way.'

The scenic parking lots there need to be redeveloped before anything else can happen, in my opinion... why even bother with air rights when there's an effectively empty lot right there? There's actually two lots, in fact. You could build on one and garage-ize the other if you were that concerned about parking.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

Unless you and I have a different definition of air rights, I'm not sure there are any for 'over Silver Line Way.'

The scenic parking lots there need to be redeveloped before anything else can happen, in my opinion... why even bother with air rights when there's an effectively empty lot right there? There's actually two lots, in fact. You could build on one and garage-ize the other if you were that concerned about parking.

If it so useless to have air rights here, then why would Manulife build directly over the Silver Line road between D St and SL Way? Land space is limited (you may laugh now, but imagine the Seaport at full build) and height is severely restricted. Air rights will be necessary, as Manulife did.


Whoever builds this parcel: http://www.google.com/maps?ll=42.347373,-71.038625&spn=0.000671,0.00142&t=h&z=20
is probably going to encompass the SL Way stop, enclosing it from the elements.


And yes, SL2 always uses the power supply. I don't think they even built the tunnel under Dewey Square with sufficient ventilation for them not to be.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

If it so useless to have air rights here, then why would Manulife build directly over the Silver Line road between D St and SL Way? Land space is limited (you may laugh now, but imagine the Seaport at full build) and height is severely restricted. Air rights will be necessary, as Manulife did.

I'm just not seeing it for air rights over an at-grade street or even an at-grade arterial. Air rights over a sunken roadway, sure, but not at grade.

Why wouldn't they build on that parking lot?

 

[BostonUrbEx]

I'm just not seeing it for air rights over an at-grade street or even an at-grade arterial. Air rights over a sunken roadway, sure, but not at grade.

Manulife built over an at-grade roadway.

Look at it: http://www.google.com/maps?ll=42.34...=5OnY4mYRJNva-FLzvcOFyA&cbp=12,134.72,,0,3.48

And they would build on the parking lot, but it would extend out over the bus stop.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

Manulife built over an at-grade roadway.

Look at it: http://www.google.com/maps?ll=42.34...=5OnY4mYRJNva-FLzvcOFyA&cbp=12,134.72,,0,3.48

And they would build on the parking lot, but it would extend out over the bus stop.

I'm not saying they didn't do it, but it makes absolutely no sense to me as to why they would do it.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

I'm not saying they didn't do it, but it makes absolutely no sense to me as to why they would do it.

More square footage. There is a height cap, set by the Federal Aviation Administration. In other words: you can't fuck with that. Rather than building upward towards maximized profit, they may very well find more profit in bulging outwards. It isn't difficult to do compared to, say, building over the Pike in Back Bay.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

More square footage. There is a height cap, set by the Federal Aviation Administration. In other words: you can't fuck with that. Rather than building upward towards maximized profit, they may very well find more profit in bulging outwards. It isn't difficult to do compared to, say, building over the Pike in Back Bay.

I may have forgotten about the FAA height cap, so, that's on me.

 

[Ron Newman]

I'll take another look some time, but as far as I know, SL1 and SL2 buses are exactly the same vehicles, and both run under wire in the Silver Line tunnel.

 

[Arborway]

Last I checked, Mass Police and Mass DOT seem to all fall under the same boss.

Like reprogramming the light controller at D Street, all it would take is a single phone call.

But every organization in MA needs to have its own little fiefdom and special rules.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

I'll take another look some time, but as far as I know, SL1 and SL2 buses are exactly the same vehicles, and both run under wire in the Silver Line tunnel.

Cursory inspection reveals that you are correct and that I was mistaken.

I don't have enough time to get on this bus and find out if I'm also wrong about the lack of a 'the bus will shut off' message. That might be an afternoon project.

 

[jass]

Cursory inspection reveals that you are correct and that I was mistaken.

I don't have enough time to get on this bus and find out if I'm also wrong about the lack of a 'the bus will shut off' message. That might be an afternoon project.

Going outbound, theres no need to shut down I believe.

 

[Commuting Boston Student]

Going outbound, theres no need to shut down I believe.

Going inbound, there's apparently no need to shut down.

Going outbound, the Silver Line buses (whether this is recent or not, I don't know) no longer seem to require the bus driver to exit the vehicle - my Silver Line 2 bus driver sneakily shut the bus off underneath the Manulife Building and we coasted for the ~5 seconds it took for the bus to turn back on. No message required.

 

[HenryAlan]

I think the manual inspection of the electrical arms is a safety requirement specifically relevant to entering the Williams tunnel, so it's quite likely that they don't do it for SL2.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

I think the manual inspection of the electrical arms is a safety requirement specifically relevant to entering the Williams tunnel, so it's quite likely that they don't do it for SL2.

Correct. It was merely to make sure nothing hits the ceiling in the Ted.

 

[JohnAKeith]

I swear I heard Bev Scott say tonight that Phase III deserves another look now that the Seaport District is becoming more popular.

 

[Arborway]

I swear I heard Bev Scott say tonight that Phase III deserves another look now that the Seaport District is becoming more popular.

Spend $2 billion+ so vehicles with half the space of a Green Line train can travel at 2 MPH through a tunnel paved with Home Depot patching concrete?

SOLD!

 

[George_Apley]

Ugh. Can we start hammering them with any/all of the Green Line proposals that have been floating around here for years? Even the most boondoggly GL proposal is better than SLIII...