The Most Utilized Subway Systems in the World

[kennedy]

To anyone fairly familiar with the MBTA and LRT (probably Charlie or Van):

Will it ever be a likely possibility to have an urban ring? Would the construction/engineering costs just be too great for the MBTA to ever even consider? Or maybe built in many phases over a long period of time, ending up far over-budget but well worth it *cough*?

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Will it ever be a likely possibility to have an urban ring? Would the construction/engineering costs just be too great for the MBTA to ever even consider? Or maybe built in many phases over a long period of time, ending up far over-budget but well worth it *cough*?

It's totally possible and buildable, except not as the T would design it. They are so scared of having to take care of infrastructure that they go out of there way to design a system that uses roads, which are taken care of by local and state authorities. The problem is this is COMPLETELY backwards when it comes to the idea of rapid transit. The idea is to take vehicles and people OFF roads, not put more on. Their half-assed attempt would end up costing billions to make the roads WORSE.

An "urban ring" of transit (both bus and rail), properly planned, would be a fantastic thing for the entire metro region. The MBTA, however, cannot properly plan and build it. They have nothing except a horrendous track record.

It isn't entirely their fault ("they" representing a public authority). The problem is for too long the MBTA has been a place to stick political supporters in easy 9-5, punch in-punch out jobs. The MBTA needs a total cleaning out of all this dead flesh. Only then will we be able to have a transit system that can effectively serve the Boston area.

[/rant]

So to answer your question, I really doubt it. The people who hold the purse strings aren't stupid. They know the T can't pull this off (this is the same reason the Feds downgraded the Silver Line Phase III a few years back).