Urban Ring

Yeah, it didn't tell you anything you didn't know, bus ring around the city. God I hate the T.
 
Disadvantage of Rail

While rail has capacity and frequency advantages -- it suffers from a major disadvantage -- the need to plan the route for the long term

Usually, by the time all the impact statements are filed, designs completed and construction begins -- a decade has passed from the concept.

In the mean time, things change. For instance, while Harvard was secretly buying up Alston and planning a new Kendal Square - -the Urban Ring was being conceptualized. Of course no self respecting planner would have imagined the need to get to Alston as all that was there was warehouses.

So now there is a plan for an Urban Ring that doesn't bother to acknowledge the multi B$ development that Harvard is working on.

On the other hand Buses can be used to identify the routes that need and can justify the investment for tunnels and underground stations.

If I was planning Transit Investment today -- I'd start by fixing the problems with the existing Silver-Line to make an easier connection from Logan to the BEC, Fan Pier and South Station

The first project needed immediately is to grade separate at D Street just after leaving the World Trade Center Station.

The next one is more grade separation or protected right of way to allow the Silver-Line to get to/from the Ted Williams Tunnel without going on the city streets.

The Urban Ring, N-S Rail-link and probably even the Green-line to Medford and the rest is mostly pipe dreams

Westy
 
Urban ring and Allston are apples and oranges. Even if Allston becomes a major employment center, I doubt it will rival Kendall's combination of unversity campus and commercial office space hub. Moreover, Allston is too far out to usefully serve one of UR's main goals, which is providing for trips around the inner core without a transfer downtown.

By all means, provide rail access to Allston in the next 50 years, but by its own rail line. Urban ring was never meant as the single solution to all of Boston's transportation problems.

Of course, we're too busy civilising the Middle East and pampering the old and the lazy to make such useful investments.

justin
 
^Just to make a quick point about the importance of Harvard's Allston Campus vs. Kendall Sq., Harvard is the 6th largest employer in the state of Massachusetts.
 
I don't understand why a ring around the core as close in as Kendall saves unnecessary transfers. The closest station to me is Harvard; if I wanted to go to Longwood via the Urban Ring I'd just be transferring at Kendall vs. Park St. Is that so much better?
 
The point isn't to make your particular commute easier; it's to better disperse transfering passengers.
 
So all this does is make Park Street slightly less crowded?
 
It would take more pressure off the Green Line if anything, which I think is the big selling point given the graphs I've seen.
 
justin said:
Of course, we're too busy civilising the Middle East and pampering the old and the lazy to make such useful investments.

justin
Click to expand...
justin = Ron Paul ?
 
^Dang, there goes my cover... I've been to busy with the debates lately to post much here.

Rjustin
 
There was an article today in the Boston Metro about the Urban Ring... apparently it's gaining more momentum from gov't officials, and they're talking about initialiazing Phase II... I'll look for the article online and post later.
 
http://www.metrobostonnews.com/us/article/2008/06/12/04/2148-66/index.xml

Urban Ring project is no urban legend
Officials unveil vision for Phase II of the rapid transit service


Urban Ring stops

COMMUTER RAIL, GREEN LINE STOPS?
The Urban Ring plan also calls for a new commuter rail stop in Sullivan Square, where currently there is only an Orange Line stop and area buses. Officials are also considering adding an underground station on the Green Line?s D branch between Kenmore and Park Street as part of the project.



BY THE NUMBERS
40,000 Number of vehicles the Urban Ring is expected to take off the road.

174,300 Number of daily boardings on Urban Ring bus service in 2030.

36 The approximate number of stations along entire Urban Ring service.

PROJECTIONS: TRAVEL TIME
(All projections based on 2030 population estimates)
Sullivan Square to Kendall Square
Without Urban Ring: 27 min. with: 19 min.
Kendall/MIT to Longwood Medical Center
Without Urban Ring: 33 min., with: 26 min.
BU Medical Center to Longwood Medical Center
Without Urban Ring: 25 min., with: 18 min.
Downtown Chelsea to Wellington Station
Without Urban Ring: 24 min., with: 6 min.

State transportation officials have unveiled their vision for Phase II of the ambitious Urban Ring project that would create rapid transit MBTA bus service they hope will connect neighboring communities, lower commute times and link with the T?s existing system.
After 18 months of narrowing down route options, transportation officials have settled on their recommendation. The 25-mile corridor would run between Chelsea, Everett and Somerville, continue south to Cambridge, the Fenway and Roxbury and complete the ?ring? through South Boston, Logan Airport and East Boston.There would also be spurs to Allston and South Dorchester.
Recently, project leaders have held public meetings in Chelsea, the Fenway and Cambridge (with another slated in Roxbury on Monday) to brief residents on their recommendation for the $2.2 billion rapid bus service ? which includes a $1.5 billion underground tunnel between Ruggles Station and the Landmark Center.
?The existing MBTA rapid transit system does a good job of connecting to downtown Boston,? Ned Codd, the Urban Ring project leader for the state?s Executive Office of Transportation, told residents this week during a community meeting. ?However, once you start getting outside of downtown, the radial transit lines start to spread out, leaving gaps in between.?

The Urban Ring project is years in the making. Phase I added crosstown T buses in 1994, and Phase III would add either light or heavy rail service in some parts of the corridor. Officials hope to break ground for Phase II of the ring by 2015, though many hurdles still remain.

The goal of the Urban Ring?s proposed Phase II, officials say, is to connect communities north of Boston that are growing rapidly with the major business, education and medical centers in and around the city.
Many of the major stops will connect largely to major universities (Harvard, BU, MIT) and medical centers (BU Medical Center, Longwood Medical Center) in the area. ?There are very important sectors to the state and regional economy,? said Ned Codd, the Urban Ring project leader for the state?s Department of Transportation.
Population estimates for the Urban Ring corridor suggest a 26 percent increase to 495,100 people between 2000 and 2030, and they say the Urban Ring is necessary to help relieve the increased congestion and traffic problems over the next few decades.
But many challenges remain, especially from a financial standpoint.
Phase II?s price tag is $2.2 billion, based on 2007 dollars. Later this year, state officials will submit a funding request to the federal government?s New Starts program, which officials estimate could be as high as $800 million. But project officials also say the Urban Ring?s estimated $14 billion to $18 billion ?cost-effectiveness ratio? puts it in a competitive range for these funds. The state would also have to match millions of dollars in funding.
However, the project comes after a stirring report last year from the Transportation Finance Commission, which estimated that in 20 years, there will be a $15 billion to $19 billion shortfall in funding to maintain the state?s current transportation system.

PROPOSED TUNNEL
Another concern is the proposed $1.5 billion, 1.5-mile tunnel between the Fenway and Roxbury.
During construction, interim surface bus service will run throughout the heavily-traveled Longwood Medical area, primarily on Brookline, Longwood and Huntington avenues, and residents expressed concern about the issue at a community meeting Monday.
State officials also admit they don?t know how long interim surface bus service would last, but Codd called the Longwood Medical area?s transit needs ?immediate, growing and considerable.?
Click to expand...
 
I think that rapid transit buses are a poor excuse for a rapid transit system and should not be labeled "rapid transit". There is nothing rapid about buses, especially ones that travel on the road.They're about as rapid as green line trains past Kenmore and Symphony. Also, the name "Urban Ring" i think sucks. They should name it something dumb like "Ring Around the Proper" or "the Charlie Loop".
 
I've been to a couple of these meetings. It's half-assed in concept. By the time it's built, it'll be quarter-assed.
 
What. The. Fuck.

Ok, first off, fuck the T and their love of bus tunnels. For a budget driven agency they sure do like to come up with ridiculously expensive nonsense.

Secondly, I LOVE how they grandfathered in the Crosstown buses as "Phase I", saying they already completed it years ago, making it look like they've made progress. Anyone who has seen the plans (that have been available for years) knows that Phase I was adding about 5 more Crosstown bus routes to the ones we already have.

But wait, why spend money when we can just change the name?! It worked for the Silver Line and this time they don't have to spend any money! Genius.

Thirdly, this will not take 40,000 cars off the road, it will add hundreds of buses to them. The only thing that will take that many cars off the road is rail, which the T seems to be deathly afraid of expanding (which, given how there is no funding isn?t surprising.)

The role of transportation planning for the T needs to be done by another agency.
 
going along with the general need for infrastructure repairs and improvements. I'd still like to see a new green line tunnel constructed underneath the existing for express trains for Red Sox games. Also perhaps for express trains to and from BC to Downtown. Oh, and who did the consulting and data for this? Seems a little overstated. 40,000? I think they should scrap the BRT as well. Money down the drain.
 
Hey MBTA, stop wasting money on more buses and build rail that people will actually ride!
 
A bus tunnel offers only slow, bumpy and tortuous rides which attract less ridership than light rail. Also the cost of a bus tunnel is outrageous, considering the lousy service and lower ridership, compared to light rail in the same tunnel.

Why is it that other US cities in Boston's size category are planning light rail lines, but Boston is opting instead for expensive and ineffficient bus tunnel systems? Is Boston that provincial and out of touch?
 
Where is the governor in all this? Why can't we get some strong leadership on him to fix this. He's made public comments on commuter rail but anything on the Urban Ring?

Not only is it BRT, but the map seems to be highly redundant with existing stations. Should use this opportunity to expand coverage.
 
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