T has extra $1.2b: How would you spend it?

Agency is holding off, saying it lacks organizational capacity

IT HASN’T RECEIVED a lot of attention, but the MBTA has an extra $1.2 billion in untapped capital funds at its disposal. The agency’s five-year capital spending plan has $9.4 billion in funding sources but only $8.2 billion in planned spending. T General Manager Steve Poftak said in May that he would like to spend

DeLeo ups T ante, pledges long-term fix

Speaker says the MBTA system is in crisis

SAYING THE MBTA is “in crisis,” House Speaker Robert DeLeo said the House is willing to work with Gov. Charlie Baker on a short-term fix but remains focused on a long-term plan and the revenue to make it a reality. The Winthrop Democrat, who often sees eye to eye with Baker on financial issues, issued

Ben Forman and Dr. Tracy Corley offer testimony to the Joint Committee on Revenue

On Regional Ballot Initiatives for Transportation

The Honorable Adam G. Hinds, Senate Chair The Honorable Mark J. Cusack, House Chair Members, Joint Committee on Revenue State House, Rooms 109-E and 34 Boston, MA 02133   Dear Chair Hinds, Chair Cusack, and Members of the Committee: Thank you for this opportunity to provide written testimony in support of An Act Relative to

Special fare for low-income T riders gains momentum

Some control board members back more commuter rail discounts

MBTA GENERAL MANAGER Steve Poftak said on Monday that the agency intends to research how to implement a special, less expensive fare for low-income people, but he said the scope and parameters of the study need to be worked out. “The intent is to study it. It’s just a question of the depth of the

Baker comes up with South Coast Rail financing

Completion date moved back a year to late 2023

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER followed through on a first-term campaign promise on Monday by dedicating more than $1 billion in state bond funds to the South Coast Rail project, which is now expected to be completed after his second term ends. The funding commitment followed three cost and schedule reviews of the commuter rail project and

Mayors, city managers forming commuter rail coalition

Driscoll: ‘There needs to be a voice for commuter rail and its riders’

MAYORS AND CITY MANAGERS across eastern Massachusetts are forming a coalition to advocate for the MBTA’s commuter rail system. Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, who is active in forming the coalition, said the commuter rail system often gets overlooked in discussions about transportation even though its impact is enormous in many communities. “It’s the lifeblood of

T notes: Riders embracing early morning buses

New commuter rail platform in Worcester; big disruptions coming on D Line

MBTA OFFICIALS SAY the addition of early morning buses on 10 routes has increased ridership by more than 900 riders and reduced crowding. One example is the Route 455 bus from Lynn to Wonderland. Its first trip used to leave Lynn at 5 a.m. carrying an average of 51 passengers, with 12 of them standing.

TransitMatters pushes ‘regional rail’

Would transform commuter rail into subway-like system

TRANSITMATTERS, a nonprofit known for delving into the nitty gritty of very specific transportation issues, went in a different direction on Tuesday, releasing a sweeping report calling for a multi-billion-dollar overhaul of the state’s commuter rail system over the course of a decade or more. Dubbed regional rail, the ambitious proposal calls for transforming a rail network

T notes: Bus lanes do save time

Big changes may be coming on the Green Line

MBTA OFFICIALS ON MONDAY said initial results from two experiments in Boston and Somerville showed dedicated bus lanes could dramatically cut route times. Jeffrey Gonneville, the T’s deputy general manager, said a one-day test on December 12 of a dedicated bus lane on Washington Street between Roslindale Square and the Forest Hills T station showed travel

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