Vetting the Transportation Plan

Last week, Governor Patrick filed legislation implementing his transportation investment program.  Hearings will begin soon and it’s worth understanding how the vetting process will work. In January, the Governor filed his budget proposal, which is a proposed law, subject to the usual legislative hearing process.  In addition, he rolled out his transportation vision document, called …

A Trial Balloon

I want to float a trial balloon. Don’t take my head off, it’s just a thought: What if we were to give the MBTA the ability to raise its own tax revenues regionally subject to periodic voter approval (as in Proposition 2.5)? Some background first: As compared to other major transit agencies in the United …

Summarizing Input on the Green Line

Thanks to the over 100 people who participated in our forum on the Green Line at the Boston Public Library on Thursday. And thanks to the many more who have commented in our general MBTA forum. Thank you especially to the MBTA staff who assembled an excellent opening presentation (click here for the PowerPoint) and brought …

A Bold and Responsible Transportation Plan

The Governor released his transportation plan today.  He held the release in a large hall at UMass Boston and it was packed.   The level of  interest reflects a recognition of the significance of the plan. Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey gave an excellent presentation  of the plan and the Governor followed with a strong speech …

Alewife Circle Improvements at Rt. 2 and Rt. 16

Department of Transportation (DOT) officials have updated our office about the ongoing work to improve the Alewife Circle at the intersection of Routes 2 and 16. DOT’s reference number for this project is 605637. DOT is currently performing field testing this week and the agency expects the 75% submittal in March. Specifically, DOT began work …