Monday, February 18, 2008

News Wrap Up: The Boston Sunday Globe Article About Commuter Rail Line Extensions

Happy President's Day. I return to work tomorrow.

The Boston Sunday Globe wrote an interesting article about how the commuter rail impacts the economies of the regions it serves. The article was mainly about the proposed line commuter rail line extension for Fall River and New Bedford. If the commuter rail line is extended to these communities, the expected price tab is $1.4 billion. The lines were most recently extended to Brockton, Newburyport and Worcester.

On Saturday, The Boston Globe published a short editorial about the Worcester-Framingham line commuter rail adjustments. The editorial notes the following:
Mass. Bay needs to do better, to avoid a monthly penalty - $195,324 in January - and to demonstrate that its parent, Veolia Environment, Europe's largest passenger transport company, can handle a complicated American system.

Casey Ross of The Boston Herald published his third article inside a week about the MBTA. "Bus-ted: T lied to cut costs." If the T is lying to try to minimize budget cuts, then will our state leaders do something to fix this agency? This is absolutely not acceptable.

T GM Dan Grabauskas seems to be on a PR tour, trying to improve his image. The Gloucester Daily Times published an interview with Grabauskas yesterday. "Running the 'T': Grabauskas finds it's sure no Registry." Grabauskas claims that he has made "progress" in running the T. Honestly, I know my experiences on the commuter rail have gotten worse, not better. So I'm dying to know where the "progress" is being made. He also blames riders for some of the issues.
Can Grabauskas be interviewed without blaming commuters, the state, the MBCR, the rising cost of commodities, the weather, etc., etc.,? What about assuming some responsibility for the MBTA's contributions to the ongoing issues plaguing mass transit in Massachusetts?

In yesterday's WEST version of The Boston Sunday Globe there was a good quote from a Worcester-Framingham commuter rail rider regarding the new wifi service. I can't seem to find an electronic version of this article. Essentially, the commuter said that she often can't pick up the wifi signal until she reaches the Wellesley stops. Since she gets on the train in Worcester, this is a good hour into her commute.


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