Today I opened the Metro and found on page two an article about the T. To my surprise is was neither about the impending fare hikes and service cuts, nor about the T's financial woes. It was a piece about the A Line! It was good to see something, frankly, positive about the T. Perhaps someone will do a write up about the City Point Line (now Route 09) or the Egleston/Lenox Street Line (now Routes 22 and 43).
I also took the Blue Line shuttle over the weekend (the line was closed for work at Maverick). It was a real family affair: Cabot, Charlestown, and Lynn all had equipment running on the shuttle, creating a nice mix of NABIs (2219, 2223, et alia), New Flyers, and even the occasional RTS (0240, 0322). Blue Line service was back up by Sunday night, slightly ahead of schedule. I'm sure Ed Dana would be proud.
Showing posts with label Construction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Construction. Show all posts
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Silver Line Has Lost Its Luster
The Silver Line has been getting me down lately.
Last week, dual-mode 1131 (used on the Silver Line Waterfront services) broke down in the Ted Williams Tunnel resulting in a horrendous traffic jam. The delays were so bad that it took about 47 minutes to get from the toll plazas at Logan Airport to South Station. Of course, this unfortunate delay caused me to be late to a meeting. I now add 1131 to the list of buses I vow never ride on again (this list includes 1026, 0216, 0264, and many more).
Adding to my BRT frustrations, it appears that the MBTA will move ahead with the Silver Line Phase III project. Why not? It is only projected to cost around $1,000,000,000 (don't be surprised if the price tag starts to skyrocket). The T could easily pull together that cash. Yeah, with a debt of about $8,000,000,000 it might not be the best idea to pursue a major (and largely unwanted and unpopular) capital project like this. People are already noting the parallels Phase III has with the Big Dig. Sadly, the MBTA has a legal mandate to do it as part of the Big Dig remediation.
Hopefully, if this thing starts to become a reality, the MBTA does not pick Betchel/Parsons Brinckerhoff as the contractor.
Last week, dual-mode 1131 (used on the Silver Line Waterfront services) broke down in the Ted Williams Tunnel resulting in a horrendous traffic jam. The delays were so bad that it took about 47 minutes to get from the toll plazas at Logan Airport to South Station. Of course, this unfortunate delay caused me to be late to a meeting. I now add 1131 to the list of buses I vow never ride on again (this list includes 1026, 0216, 0264, and many more).
Adding to my BRT frustrations, it appears that the MBTA will move ahead with the Silver Line Phase III project. Why not? It is only projected to cost around $1,000,000,000 (don't be surprised if the price tag starts to skyrocket). The T could easily pull together that cash. Yeah, with a debt of about $8,000,000,000 it might not be the best idea to pursue a major (and largely unwanted and unpopular) capital project like this. People are already noting the parallels Phase III has with the Big Dig. Sadly, the MBTA has a legal mandate to do it as part of the Big Dig remediation.
Hopefully, if this thing starts to become a reality, the MBTA does not pick Betchel/Parsons Brinckerhoff as the contractor.
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