Transit
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Running Low On Pandemic Relief Funds, Fare-Free Buses Need Gov. Healey’s Help
The WRTA has been one of the few agencies that's maintained a continuous fare-free policy since March 2020, and its ridership last year was over 20 percent higher than it was in 2019, before the pandemic began, according to federal data.
April 11, 2023
Buses Get Pushed to the Side in Boston’s Latest Design for Summer Street
Under the administration of former mayor Marty Walsh, Boston had proposed a center-running dedicated busway on Summer Street to connect South Boston, the Seaport District, South Station, and the downtown financial district. Revised plans call for a shared bus-and-truck lane that will run on the side of the street instead.
April 6, 2023
How Red Line Track Defects Prompted Last Week’s Systemwide Slowdown on the T
On March 7, the state office in charge of overseeing safety on the T's subways demanded “a daily report” of track problems that require immediate repair, plus details on any repair work that the T had done to address those defects. Two days later, MBTA officials imposed a global 25 mph speed limit on subways after they found they could not comply with that order.
March 15, 2023
Healey Admin. Recruits Transit Justice Leader to Lead MBTA’s Safety Oversight Agency
While at CLF, Rubin was involved in a number of advocacy efforts to make the MBTA work better for its lower-income riders.
March 15, 2023
SYSTEMWIDE SLOW ZONE: MBTA Sets 25 MPH Speed Limit On Subways
As of Friday morning, Gonneville said that the T had lifted the global speed restrictions on the Orange, Red, and Blue Lines (although extensive local slow zones still remain); however, the Green and Mattapan light rail lines remained under a global 25 mph speed limit.
March 9, 2023
Three Things to Watch in Gov. Healey’s First Budget Proposal
Later this week, Gov. Maura Healey is expected to release her administration's first state budget proposal, which will be a key indicator of how she expects to implement her campaign promises.
February 27, 2023
Suburbs Face Their First Deadline for New Transit-Oriented Zoning Law
Where many suburbs currently only allow single-family homes with large lawns, the new rules will require new zoning districts "of reasonable size," and generally within a half-mile of transit stops, where builders would be allowed to construct at least 15 homes per acre.
January 30, 2023
What It’s Like to Be a Woman Transit Operator
Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared as part of the Subtext Zine from Transit Center and is republished with permission. Across the U.S., transit agencies are grappling with a shortfall of operators. These operators — frontline workers that keep buses and trains running are essential to a functioning transit network that actually gets riders where […]
January 26, 2023
Advocates Set An Agenda For Salvaging the T’s Troubled Buses
One of the report’s key arguments – and the reason for its title – is that the region’s current bus fleet is actually smaller than it was in the early 1970s, even though the region has added 1.7 million new residents since then.
January 25, 2023
Gov. Healey’s Job #1 for the T: Better Union Contracts
"The combination of overworked staff and aging assets has resulted in the organization being overwhelmed," wrote agents for the Federal Transit Administration in a scathing report this August.
January 23, 2023
