Mass Pike Public Hearing in Framingham Tonight

We received the below announcement from Stop the Pike Hike. Since many of our readers live in MetroWest, we thought this could be of interest.

Public Hearing in Framingham
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Framingham Memorial Building
Nevins Hall
150 Concord Street
Framingham, MA 01702
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
RALLY STARTS AT 5:45

Attending tonight's hearing will be State Senator Scott Brown (R), MTA Board Member Mary Z. Connaughton and Chairman Framingham Board of Selectmen Jason Smith.

If you want to attend the public hearing, you can speak at it. The hearing allows for the public to give up to a three minute speech. You can contact info AT stopthepikehike.org if you want to speak.

Stop the Pike Hike has some recommended speaking points including:

• Explain how life will be changed for you and your family because of the increase in tolls. Bring in a chart showing how the increase in tolls will affect your family budget.

• If you own a business, explain how much this will cost you and what cuts you will have to consider making?

• Ask why it costs 79 cents in overhead for every dollar taken at the tolls, when the average state spends only 40 cents per dollar taken at their tolls?

• How will this alter your commute?

• Bring a bag of change showing how much the increase will cost you over the course of a week or a month.

• Have there been any studies done on what the ramifications will be if this toll hike is enacted? The traffic in communities such as Everett, Chelsea, Somerville, Charlestown, Medford, Newton, Brighton, Allston, Brookline, Wellesley, Natick, and many more may become unbearable, as gridlock will take over local roads.

• Has anyone considered the costs that the upkeep and maintenance of local roads will have on local government?

• The Real Estate Values in these aforementioned communities will be severely impacted in a negative way.

• Local Businesses will also suffer greatly due to lost revenues and increased costs.

• The MBTA on certain routes, which are already overcrowded, will hit breaking points.

• The Turnpike board claims to eliminate the tolls would cost 100 million dollars.

• Have any public officials: Mayors, City Councilors', or Elected officials been consulted regarding the effects of the toll increase?

• Has the board considered any other solutions to the problem, such as the Christy Plan?

• Why did the proposed toll increase jump from 70 million dollars to 100 million dollars on the morning of the vote?

If you can't make the hearing, but you still want your voice to be heard, the Stop the Pike Hike recommends you call Governor Deval Patrick at 1-888-870-7770.

One Missing Car Makes the P508 More Crowded

Good morning. Some parts of Massachusetts received their first taste of snow today. It looks like the forecast for Friday could bring more snow. I'm taking Friday off to run some holiday errands, so I hope the snow doesn't interfere with my plans.

Today's commute was fine, although we were a car short so it was quite crowded. We were about 5 minutes behind schedule, which is good for a day like today. Especially since, in the western suburbs, there is more snow/sleet, as opposed to Boston which only has rain. The P508 pulled into South Station at 8:28 a.m. The Silver Line was a cluster, though. The platform was packed and people couldn't even get down the stairs to get onto the platform. Crazy.

Yet not as crazy as yesterday's commutes. Figures, the T&G's article about "things returning to normal" on the Worcester line would run on the same day that the commuter rail trains (again) went out of whack. Kidney Stones was not the only person to document yesterday's mucked up commutes. Universal Hub wrote about how the commute was Tweeted by Alison Driscoll (Tweeted is a term referred to communicating on Twitter, a microblogging site). Alison is a reverse commuter - she takes the MBTA's/MBCR's Worcester line outbound from Boston. From her Tweets, it appears as though she was commuting yesterday on the P503, which departs Boston at 6:50 a.m. Here is a snapshot of some of her Tweets from yesterday:


Frustrating, huh? We've all been there. What's even more disheartening are some conversational Tweets she had with other people on Twitter.

• Outbound trains are: "never on time and no one knows what's going on."
• Work woes: "It is so frustrating and disheartening. And my boss is pissed, like it is my fault."
• Never mind a 3 hour cruise, try a 3 hour commute: "3+ hours from when I left the house, 2 hours late to work."
  

If you use Twitter and you Tweet about the MBTA, consider following Alison's lead and mark your MBTA-related conversations #mbtasux.

People are frustrated. But people are also not just bashing the MBTA/MBCR employees. Commuters who rode on yesterday's P512 train did praise conductors for updating them about the commute. Many of the comments made to yesterday's post provided by Kidney Stones are really enlightening. We should all consider some of the feedback - especially in the courtesy area.

Transportation is the theme of some op-eds this morning. An editorial from today's Telegram & Gazette denounces replacing just resigned Secretary of Transportation Bernard Cohen with James A. Aloisi. Aloisi was someone praised by Lt. Governor Tim Murray, a Worcester native. Meanwhile, The Boston Globe gave their editorial this title: "Our transportation mess." The Globe's editorial team summarized a number of ways transportation has become a daily "100 car pileup" and they closed with this:

Level with people. Many of today's woes can be traced to conflict avoidance - underestimating the cost of the Big Dig; giving in to unrealistic demands by public employees; dealing with spiraling costs by deferring maintenance and borrowing more money.

How true. Many, many of the complaints logged here on Train Stopping result around communicating. Tell the truth - even if it hurts - instead of telling tall tales. I hope MBTA GM Dan Grabauskas and his communications team read that last paragraph closely. We're not a bunch of gullible children - we're adults. We're taxpayers. Tell the truth instead of just a bunch of outlandish fairy tales.

Yesterday, WCVB-TV Channel 5 aired yet another report on the MBTA's parking fee increase. Similar to some recent coverage, this piece focused on how commuters are opting to pay to park at private businesses instead of the MBTA lots. Here's a link to the video. This is such a feel good story: cheaper parking, safer cars (because they're actually watched), a bit of customer service, and helping businesses who are also struggling due to the economy. Simple, simple solutions to the increase.

I would actually love to know how much money the MBTA has raised since the increase went into effect. Are they actually generating more revenue or are they at a break even, since so many people seem to be avoiding the increase by parking their cars elsewhere, carpooling, or getting dropped off at the stations.

Dig published a piece about the illogical of how MBTA Green Line trains run.

Today's Boston Globe noted that a lot of people aren't buying Fast Lane gift cards for Christmas. Another revenue stream gone bust.

This is from the Sunday, but its The Metro West Daily News' take on Stop the Pike Hike.

Finally, since some parts of Massachusetts received snow today, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. With that in mind, check out this MBTA-inspired take of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" from The Bostonist.

MBTA/MBCR - Late Trains are not a Joke

It feels like I just finished writing this post. No sooner had I published the post, when a comment by Kidney Stones appeared.

Unfortunately, the train was delayed. What the T doesn't seem to understand, but what we have been blogging about over the past few weeks, in today's economy a missed train could mean lost job. If you live in MetroWest or Central Mass, with the lower prices in gas, you could almost rationalize about driving to Boston. If that happens, while the T will generate funds from the gas tax, they lose out on ridership.

I guess Dan Grabauskas never really has to worry about his job. If he gets canned, he gets a parachute. What an American way, huh? And even better - he gets a state-supplied car to drive to work.

Kidney Stones isn't as lucky. This is a horrible scenario, but it is articulated very well. I do hope that employers who have employees who rely on Mass Transit understand that this is not a result of a lazy employee, leaving for work at the last minute. These late arrivals are beyond a person's control.

I really have no words to describe this morning's commute. So, rather than use words which would require me to wash my mouth out with soap, I'll just give the details.

The P508 never came, and was eventually cancelled. Worcester commuters like myself waited from approximately 6:45 AM until roughly 7:43 AM, when the train finally arrived. In addition to being nearly an hour late, the train then turned into a local, as it was really the 7:35 train and not the 6:55.

I would like to personally thank the MBTA for ruining my Christmas. I was supposed to set up and decorate my tree last night, but I got home too late (had to work late
because I arrived late). So I was going to do the tree tonight. Clearly, that won't be happening either.

I'd also like to thank the MBTA for increasing my chances of being fired. Being 30 mins late yesterday, and an HOUR late today really bodes well for my end of the year review. Had I not arrived this morning by 10 AM (thankfully arrived at 9:46ish), the company I work for would have lost 1.4 million dollars.

Think I could have sued Danny boy? Oh, that's right. They have no money anyway.

Thought Today was Saturday

It was worth driving into work yesterday. The Dan Band was AWESOME, a super fun show. If you know anything about the Dan Band, you'll know that the choreography makes the show. Good times!

Not so awesome, not so super fun, waking up the following day. I really thought today was Saturday. After shutting my alarm off a few times, I realized it was Friday and I needed to haul some butt to get to the train. The P508 was on time today, we arrived into South Station around 8:22 a.m.

Three weeks after the fact, the increased parking rate story is one that just will not die. Today's MetroWest Daily News contained an article about commuters on the Worcester line who are upset about the new fees. Regardless of what the MBTA officially says, it does seem like more and more commuters are finding ways to avoid paying $4 to park their cars at the local commuter rail lots. People are getting dropped off if they can or they're finding other places to park. Why not - it beats handing over your money to the T. Kudos to businesses that abut the commuter rail for joining the market economy and providing an opportunity for people to park at the business for less than it costs to park at a T lot. The owner of the Fitzgerald General Store near the Southborough MBTA lot is planning to offer a monthly parking plan that costs less than the T's rates. I'm sure this will also be easier than shoving $4 into the little pay box.

Picking up from The Boston Herald's story published yesterday, Boston.com has a photo of the "seatless" Red Line train.

On to some road news.

It looks like the State of Rhode Island is exploring ways to generate tolls at their state lines (a la New Hampshire). Thinking of the Rhode Island-Massachusetts I-95 border, how the F would this work? When you cross into our out of RI to Massachusetts on I-95, that's a treacherous piece of road. Its all curvy because they didn't want to totally cut into Pawtucket. You have some really groovy curves. Yeah, putting a toll booth there would be so logical.

If Rhode Island starts charging tolls at the state lines, Massachusetts better do the same to NH and RI drivers. They may as well contribute towards the Big Dig.

Here are articles from The Providence Journal and Forbes.com.

MetroWest and North of City Fund Mass Pike

In case you haven't seen the updates flying out from The Boston Globe/Boston.com and The Boston Herald: Massachusetts. The Mass Pike Board has voted. And MetroWest and North of Boston drivers who commute using the Pike or the tunnels, you get to pay off the Mass Pike's debt.

If you drive from North of Boston on I-93 or if you live on the South Shore and don't drive to Logan everyday, thank the good people of MetroWest and North of Boston because we're covering your debt. Not our debt - your debt. You benefit the most from the Big Dig, but we get to pay for it.

In a 4 to 1 vote, the Mass Pike Board approved plans to up tolls. The toll increases will go into effect in either February or March 2009, after some public hearings and a final vote. If you are upset about this, we urge you to contact your local state rep and your local state senator and voice your concerns.

The toll increases will be as follows:

• Tolls at Weston and Allston-Brighton increase from $1.25 to $2.00. If you have a Fast Lane transponder, your toll will only be $1.50.
• The Airport tunnels increase from $3.50 to $7.00. For Fast Lane users, the toll will be $6.00.

For those who pay cash at the tolls (which I really just don't get - go out and get a Fast Lane or EZ-Pass transponder), your tolls increase $.75 at Allston-Brighton and Weston and $3.50 for the airport tunnels.

People are enraged. Check out the comments on the Boston.com article.

I do live in MetroWest. To get technical, I live in the Blackstone Valley. I moved back to the Valley because it is my home. Also, for the most part, I've worked outside of the city. I did commute into Boston on the commuter rail, but I've also commuted to Waltham (on 128) and to Providence. Not everyone has a job in the city, so I'm sick and tired of listening to people say "you should move closer to the city." If I lived in Boston, I would have an extremely long and expensive reverse commute to MetroWest.

From a commuting standpoint, those of us who live West of the city really do get hosed. We either have to deal with an insane amount of traffic getting to jobs along 495 or 128 or we have to deal with unending train delays. There is no perfect system, but it would be nice to see transportation costs evenly distributed across the Commonwealth - at least to those communities North and South of Boston.

I think a gas tax makes sense, but I could see why it would be argued down. A lot of people live in Western Mass - is it really fair to ask them to pay for the Big Dig? The Big Dig directly benefited downtown Boston and surrounding towns.

I'm at the point right now where I think Fred Salvucci, the matermind behind the Big Dig, should be brought up on charges for deceiving a Commonwealth. This project was gross negligence. It artificially boosted our state's economy by causing an enormous amount of revenue from the project to come into the Commonwealth. Think about all the people the project employed, the cost of materials, etc.

The irony is - even with the Dig, traffic isn't any better. We spent all this money, got to see some cool engineering feats, and driving in and around Boston is still a cluster.

Why can't a gas tax on gas sold within the geographic area of the Big Dig come into play? Why aren't we seeing other solutions to this revenue problem?

South Shore residents and those North of the city who commute on I-93 are the big winners, along with New Hampshire and Rhode Island residents. For everyone else, I guess we know where we stand in this Commonwealth.

Sitting Outside South Station

What do you know? I was able to take the P508 train. My commute was fine this morning. We arrived outside of South Station at 8:33 a.m. and then we did our customary sitting until we pulled into a track at 8:28 a.m. Does anyone know why we have been sitting outside of South Station lately? It is situations like this that make me miss getting off at Back Bay and taking the Orange Line. At least that manueveur made me on time.

Being on time is especially important in this current economic client. I don't think a day goes by where you don't hear of a layoff or a pending layoff. So commuters are definitely more on edge and timeliness becomes an even more important factor. I hope the MBTA/MBCR understands this and tries to ensure that all trains arrive as close to on-time as possible.

In the news today, both the Telegram & Gazette and the MetroWest Daily News published stories about the "new" Worcester-Framingham line schedules. If you were wondering if the Lt. Governor's appearance on yesterday's P506 caused it to run late, guess again. The tardiness of this train was attributed to "mechanical problems."

The T&G's article focused on why local and state dignitaries think the newly added trips will be a boon for Worcester. Too bad they didn't speak with actual Worcester commuters - who would really like to see more express trips. The MetroWest Daily News article touched upon how the town of Ashland and city of Framingham might become buzz kills for more trains.

Finally, WHDH-TV's "Hank Investigates" series ran a report on legal claims made against the MBTA. Reporter Hank Phillipi Ryan obtained the legal claims made against the T over the past two years. These claims, which were in the hundreds, amounted to $17 million. Perhaps the T should try to avoid getting sued instead of raising the fees for station lots that they barely maintain. You know, this is just a suggestion.

The T pays large damages, whereas other state agencies have a cap on damages. Just a thought - why doesn't the T try to cap their damages? If they did, they would have saved $2 million in 2007 alone.

The T Desires to Play the Role of Emily Post or Miss Manners

A bit of a change with this morning's commute. I decided to take the P512 train, which departs Grafton at 7:49 a.m. I barely made it to the station on time. There were police officers all over Grafton this morning, so commuters were driving super slow. The commute was fine. We arrived to South Station at 9:05 a.m. or so, a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Commute-a-holic saw our favorite friend, MBTA GM Dan Grabauskas, being interviewed this morning on Fox 25's morning news program. Commute said that Dan provided a better workout, as he was his swarmy self on the interview. For whatever reason, Fox 25 does not provide code so bloggers can post or share video, so here is a link to the video segment with Dan's interview. You may wonder "Why was Danny G. being interviewed by Fox 25 this morning." Well, it is because the T announced a new marketing campaign - aimed at making riders more polite.

Can you believe it? The T, which is basically bankrupt, is spending money to communicate to their passengers that they need to be more polite while using the T. Good grief!! You know, Muni Manners already does this and they probably do it better. So why couldn't they just save the money and link to the Muni Manners blog off of the T's website? I am incredulous that the T is spending money on this campaign. This is utterly absurd.

Here's an idea - maybe if the T ran its services on time and actually had clean trains/buses, people wouldn't be as pent up as they are. I'm not advocating that riders have poor manners, but sometimes tempers flare because commuters are just frustrated.

It is stuff like this that causes people to want to see things like Question 1 go through.

If you don't feel like seeing Danny G. smirk in the video, you can read all about the T's latest marketing campaign in this article from today's Boston Metro.

Moving on. The Boston Globe ran an article today about the proposed Silver Line III project. Funding that project and other transit initiatives is the focus of two separate articles in today's Boston Metro. The Metro articles pick-up on the MASSPIRG report, announced over the weekend. One article is about how "Funding will decide the fate of Mass. transit," while the other focuses on "Shaping the MBTA for the 21st century." We all know that funding for mass transit and other transportation issues in Massachusetts is in dire straits. Here are some data points that the MASSPIRG report noted:

• 93,000,000 - amount of hours wasted in traffic delays in the greater Boston area during 2005.
• $4.3 billion - Massachusetts residents spent $4.3 billion more on gas in 2007 compared to 1998.
• 57% - the increase in vehicle traffic in the Commonwealth from 1980 to 2007.

SouthCoastToday.com also published an article about the MASSPIRG report.

Finally, Rep. Tom Sannicandro (D - 7th Middlesex District) wrote a guest op-ed piece for today's The MetroWest Daily News. Rep. Sannicandro details the pending purchase of the CSX tracks. His article states that this purchase will "will lower commute times and vastly improve the overall effectiveness of the Commonwealth's commuter rail program. The most dramatic and immediate changes of the plan will be enacted on Oct. 27 when the number of daily trains leaving Worcester will increase from 10 to 13, and the number of daily trains leaving from Boston to Worcester will increase from 10 to 12."

Yes, when we first heard the news that more trains were being added to the Worcester line, we were initially excited about this. But then when we saw the schedule, we noticed that essentially trains just got moved around.

From what I want and from what I've gathered from other commuters on the Worcester line, riders would like to see the following:

• More express trains from Worcester: Frankly, it would be great if trains could run express from Ashland to Boston.
• More express trains from Framingham: Commuters who live in Framingham and points East do not want to have to rely on the regular trains for their commutes into Boston.
• More train options for off-peak commutes: This includes riders who commuter from Boston and points west and more afternoon trains leaving Boston for Worcester-Framingham riders who may need to leave the office early.

I am hopeful that these changes will happen. However, I do not want to see our elected officials just rest on their laurels because they were able to purchase the tracks from CSX. Acquiring the tracks is one thing. Implementing a more vibrant train schedule is another.

How Long is Your Commute to Work?

The current poll on the Worcester Business Journal's homepage is all about commuting.

I just took the poll around 3:30 p.m. on 10/10/2008. So here is a snapshot of the most current responses:


The WBJ's readership is primarily Central Mass./MetroWest residents and businesses.

I did find it interesting that 67% of the poll's participants commute less than 25 miles to work, while only 3.9% take public transportation.

Interesting poll. Perhaps only a Commute-a-holic finds this interesting!

Train Stopping Gets a Mention

Thanks to The Greater Grafton Blog for giving us the heads-up on this one. Yesterday's The MetroWest Daily News contained an article about local blogs including Train Stopping. There is a great list of blogs with a MetroWest perspective. We're thrilled to be included!

By the way, I also miss the Abdow's Big Boy that used to be in Westborough (sort of wear the Ruby Tuesday's and the former Boston Market restaurants are). I also miss the Abdow's Big Boy that used to be in Webster Square in Worcester (I think it is a Moe's now) and the one on Route 12 in Auburn (which was a Bickford's but is now a seafood restaurant). As a kid, I loved the salad bars and I loved their burgers.

Post ALDS Smooth Ride

I'm thrilled the Sox won last night's ALDS game against the Angels. I was also happy last night's game was quicker than Sunday night's game. Lester was efficient as opposed to Beckett Sunday night.

The train was fine this morning. It was a smooth ride on the P508 all the way into South Station. We arrived at 8:23 a.m.

I received a MBCR Rail Mail email this morning about the "new" Worcester line schedule. Here are the details, effective Monday October 27th.

INBOUND
Monday through Friday

• Train P500, the 5:40am train from Framingham to Boston, will now depart Worcester at 4:45am arriving at South Station at 6:31am and making all intermediate station stops approximately 5 minutes earlier.
• Train P504, the 6:50am train from Framingham to Boston, will now depart Worcester at 6:05am, making all intermediate stops to Boston
• Train P526, the 3:53pm train from Framingham to Boston, will now depart Worcester at 4:30pm, arriving in Boston at 6:05pm.
  

OUTBOUND
Monday through Friday

• Train P501, the 5:30am train from South Station to Framingham, will now depart South Station at 4:00am and will extend to Worcester, arriving at 5:14am.
• Train P517, the 2:45pm train from South Station, will now depart South Station 2:40pm and will be extended all the way to Worcester, arriving at 4:13pm.
  

Printable PDF format copies of schedules are available at http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/?route=WORCSTER

Commuter rail service information, including updated commuter rail advisories/alerts is available on the MBTA website at www.mbta.com, or by calling the MBTA Customer Support Services Center at 617-222-3200.

The MetroWest Daily News ran an article yesterday about how the Cape Cod Central Railroad plans to submit a proposal to the Executive Office of Transportation calling for the restoration of rail service from the Cape to Boston. The Cape Cod Central Railroad claims that they can get trains running to Boston in a year at a fraction of the cost of the state's proposal to restore service to the South Coast by 2016.

Yesterday CNet published an article about security flaws in the Mifare Wireless smart card used by transit systems including the MBTA. This is a follow-up to the paper the three MIT students wrote earlier in the summer.

Finally, Mashable! (a site about new things on the Web) printed an article yesterday about resources available to navigate mass transit. While the MBTA's website was mentioned, alas Train Stopping nor BusRyda were mentioned, but it is a great read nonetheless.

MBCR's Chief Stepping Aside

After virtually no news, the latter part of the week has turned out to see some major commuter rail stories.

James O'Leary, the head of the MBCR, is leaving his post. The new head of the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Co. will be the Richard A. Davey, the 35-year deputy who has been with the MBCR for five years, The Boston Globe reports.

The air conditioning problems have generally been fixed, but tardiness continues to be an issue for many of the 72,000 commuters. In August, 17.5 percent of trains were at least five minutes late, which managers attribute to heavy track construction. Despite significant problems with delays, O'Leary's company won a three-year extension of its contract last December, worth $227 million per year, the largest private commuter rail contract in the country.

Davey, according to The Globe, "Davey promises to focus on customer service, safety, and identifying areas where investment can improve reliability."
Obviously, for Worcester line riders, the big news was yesterday's announcement that the state is working out a deal with the CSX. Five new trips have been added. Starting October 27th, the first train will leave Worcester at 4:45 a.m. instead of 5:43 a.m. Two other inbound trains have been added: 6:05 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

For outbound trips, the first train will arrive in Worcester at 5:19 a.m. and an earlier afternoon train will leave Boston at 2:40 p.m., arriving to Union Station at 4:13 p.m.

One of yesterday's comments is something Train Stopping is in agreement with - not just more trains, but faster and more reliable trains. Obviously, this situation is unfolding and we'll have to see how it all pans out.

Here are links to some coverage about yesterday's announcements:

• Telegram & Gazette 10/3/2008 article
• Telegram & Gazette 10/3/2008 editorial
• MetroWest Daily News 10/3/2008 article
• Boston Metro 10/3/2008 article
• SouthCoastToday.com 10/3/2008 article

In other news, it looks like the new Beverly commuter rail parking garage will be built in one of two locations, according to today's The Salem News. Also, today's The Daily News Tribune reports that some bus routes in Newton may be changing so the MBTA can conserve fuel.

Finally, in the better late than never, WCVB-TV's Chronicle program ran a piece on commuting on September 17, 2008. Unfortunately, Chronicle's website does not include the ability for video to be shared. The MBTA is running a clip of the segment, but it is in a Windows Media Player (so if you use a Mac, you maybe not be able to see it). The below graphic is on the MBTA's website. You need to click the graphic to see the clip.

Splitting the Tab

The Boston Globe/Boston.com published a joint story today regarding the Mass Pike toll increases. Below is the Boston.com video interview of Boston-area commuters.




MetroWest legislators are working to make sure that the burden of financing the Big Dig's deficit is not placed solely on the shoulders of Mass Pike commuters.

In other news on this rainy Saturday, Bostonist.com interviewed the BusRyda crew.

Rainy Day Drive to Work

I'm headed up to New Hampshire tonight after work, so I drove into the office today.

The Boston Globe ran a great graphic today illustrating how the proposed Mass Pike toll increases might work.



There is no word yet on when the Mass Pike's board may vote on the toll increase proposals. The Globe's article did include some reaction from commuters:

Commuters, already burdened by high gas prices and a floundering economy, greeted the prospects with angry sighs when interviewed at the Natick travel plaza yesterday.

"The economy is just horrible, so any increase would be hard," said Randy Carpenter, 49, a salesman from Hudson who uses the toll road three times a week. "It would change the quality of life, but people have to use the Pike."

The article also noted the following:

Board members said they would like to structure an increase to spare drivers from the western suburbs as much as possible, meaning higher rates on the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnels.

Eric Tucker, a 37-year-old software engineer from Charlton, said $1 more at the Allston-Brighton and Weston tollbooths, the worst-case scenario, would add $40 a week to his commute to Cambridge.

"Not cool," Tucker said. "I pay enough taxes."

Since Commute-a-holic and I both reside West of Boston, we are both in the camp that would like to see drivers from the western suburbs spared as much as possible from the rate increases. Universal Hub has had some great commentary on this. North Shore drivers are also impacted if they use the tunnels to get into Boston. Currently, South Shore drivers can get into the city (theoretically) without incurring a toll.

In light of the looming Mass Pike toll increases, perhaps more commuters will take advantage of this. The Worcester Business Journal today reported that the MetroWest Transit Authority has received approval for a commuter rail shuttle that will travel between MBTA's Woodland station and Framingham. The MRTA is also exploring a pilot program that would let people pay to ride the new shuttle service using their MBTA Charlie Card.

Emerson College's student newspaper The Berkley Beacon published an article this week about plans to extend the MBTA's Silver Line down Boylston Street.

In the "not too good news" department, a bunch of media outlets picked up on the story of the MBTA Green Line Trolley driver who let children "drive" the train. Read all about it in this article from today's Telegram & Gazette.

Finally, on the BusRyda front, I received this announcement the other day:
Today, BusRyda announces the addition of Trip Planner to create a duo of helpful mobile applications for finding your way around Boston on the MBTA on its main website, http://busryda.com.

BusRyda's Trip Planner operates similarly to the Trip Planner already available on the MBTA's web site — http://mbta.com — but is streamlined for mobile use. Text fields allow you to input an address, intersection, station or landmark of one's origin and destination locations, and provides three options of departure times: now, in 1 hour, or in 2 hours. Most results provide two itineraries for convenience.

Unlike BusRyda's original bus schedule tool, Trip Planner allows users to find travel routes and connections on any of the MBTA's services: buses, subways, and even the Commuter Rail.

BusRyda and its services are not affiliated with the MBTA.

For more info visit http://blog.busryda.com or contact info AT busryda.com.

Graubauskas Reveals Raises Granted Since 2005

Today is the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy. Our thoughts are with our nation today.

From today's The Boston Globe . . . MBTA GM Dan Graubauskas said he has granted 33 raises to employees since July 1, 2005. The raises, which averaged about $5,000, were either a merit raise or to bring an employee's salary in line with their peers. The vast majority of the 273 non-union employees did not receive raises or cost-of-living increases. The raises ranged from 3% to 19% of an employee's salary.

This is a relatively benign situation, especially since the raises go back three years to '05. And I'm sure most people in their own careers would like to avoid something to this effect:

At the same time, rescinding the cost-of-living adjustment raises at the T has caused some morale problems. There are now 46 managers who make less than their subordinates, according to MBTA records. The 153 subordinates who earn more than their bosses have higher salaries because they are part of a union and received the 9 percent pay raise as part of the recent arbitration.

Huh. Maybe you wouldn't want to be a manager at the T? The article noted that it is sometimes difficult to persuade T employees to accept promotions.

The Boston Herald also wrote about the raises. However, their article was much more pointed and it left out some information included in The Globe's article.

WickedLocal Hingham reported yesterday that there may be cuts to the MBTA commuter boat service.

The MBTA’s “Preliminary 2008 Service Plan” was released recently for public comment. It includes proposals to eliminate the last round trip and reduce or eliminate service on certain holidays on the Hingham/Boston commuter boat.

For Hingham this would mean eliminating the 7:40 p.m. trip from Hingham Shipyard and the 8:30 p.m. trip from Rowe’s Wharf. It is also proposed there be no service on Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day. A reduced holiday schedule is proposed for Patriot’s Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day and the day after Thanksgiving.

Several schedule changes are also proposed for the Quincy/Hull/Boston/Logan Airport commuter boat, including reducing the number of trips operating during off-peak periods on weekdays and weekends and to eliminate the second stop at Logan Airport on weekends.

The Greenbush commuter rail extension combined with the MBTA's debt are the factors leading to the commuter boat service reduction. Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth was quoted with the following comments:

Hedlund finds the situation ironic. “The T is paying off a huge debt service on Greenbush and looking at making service cuts elsewhere,” he said. “And it’s not just the boats. There’s also a strain on bus and train service.”

The MBTA had “the most aggressive capital expansion program of any transit agency in the country during past decades,” Hedlund said. “They are now $8 billion in debt, $3 million of which is debt service alone. The T also has huge personnel costs — health insurance and retirement benefits.”

The article also said that the T had "assured commuter boat advocates that the Greenbush restoration would not impact boat service." That's a good one, huh?

Drivers in the MetroWest towns of Ashland and Sherborn take note. A bridge connecting Ashland to Sherborn at Eliot Street to Whitney Streete is being shut down for repairs. Read all about it in this article from The MetroWest Daily News. The bridge is closed indefinitely.

I sure hope it gets fixed faster than some bridges in The Blackstone Valley. There is a bridge in Grafton on Pleasant Street that has been closed for years - for so long I can't remember the last time it was open. I want to say it has been closed for at least 3 to 4 years. And this bridge closed while a second bridge on Depot Street in South Grafton was closed. If you have to drive through Grafton, the closed Pleasant Street bridge becomes a giant PIA.

Finally, as a graduate of Providence College, I had to share this WickedLocal Roxbury endorsement of State Rep Mike Rush's re-election campaign. While I do not live in the communities Mike represents, I do know he's a great Rep and he's a big advocate for Needham commuter rail users. Good luck Mike in your run-off against your Democratic Party challenger. Go Friars!!!

Hopedale Commuter Rail

Boy, you can tell that we've passed by the Labor Day hump, huh? Train Rider and I have both been neglecting the blog a bit, missing news updates about rail and transportation issues.

The following article, sent to us by Ralph today, is a follow-up written by The MetroWest Daily News about Hopedale's Draper complex and the desire to extend the commuter rail line to this facility.

Recognizing that this extension could be years away, I do feel that this could be a worthy addition to the commuter rail line. The Hopedale station could ultimately serve two different audiences - Blackstone Valley residents who live on the far side of Grafton & Westborough and Milford, Hopedale and Mendon residents who essentially only have the Franklin line as an option. This may seem like small geographic pocket, but the past few years have seen a population explosion as more people move further away from metro-Boston either because of housing costs, jobs or the desire to live in a rural/suburban environment.

The MetroWest article noted:

The idea has some attractive features already working for it, said Jon Delli Priscoli, Grafton & Upton Railroad Co. owner, whose line would be used for the project. The rail line already exists and is a relatively short distance from the nearest station, Forge Park in Franklin, he said.

Their discussion focused on fundamental questions: Is there enough space at the Draper complex to house a station and parking? From where will the riders come? Would the station alleviate overcrowded ones in Grafton, on a separate line, and in Franklin? And will surrounding towns have the same amount of interest as some Hopedale officials do?

"Is commuter rail an end in itself or part of a greater development?" asked state Rep. John Fernandes, D-Milford. "Because if it's part of a greater development, you have to integrate it into the site."

Too bad the state doesn't have the funding. This could be a real welcome addition for residents.

You Move Massachusetts Workshops

Thanks go out to Keith for sharing this article from yesterday's MetroWest Daily News with me. I totally missed it!

The Executive Office of Transportation has scheduled a series of public workshops called "You Move Massachusetts" to obtain opinions' from Mass residents about transportation issues within the Bay State. The workshops have been scheduled across the state starting on September 17th through October 20th. Here is the Workshop Schedule:



The MetroWest article said that State Senator Karen Spilka (D-Ashland) is hoping that citizens concerned about the proposed Mass Pike Toll hikes attend one of these public forums.

More information is available at the You Move Massachusetts website or by contacting Kate Fichter at katherine.fichter AT eot.state.ma.us (the AT should be replaced with the @ symbol; we use AT so Kate doesn't get spammed by the spammers).

All About the Tolls

It is close to the end of the day and I'll be heading out on my own (thankfully toll free) commute. But I wanted to share this article from today's MetroWest Daily News about the recent toll discussion. In the catchy-titled "MetroWest: For whom the commute tolls" the bane of MetroWest (and West) drivers is addressed.

Yup, those of us who live West of Boston are footing the bill for the Big Dig project. I don't think the I-93 drivers who live North and South of the city are thanking us. We're not martyrs, but maybe we should be.

The announcement comes to the chagrin of people like Mary Z. Connaughton, who has served on the Mass. Turnpike Authority's toll equity working group since last fall.

Connaughton, who lives in Framingham, sees the Mass. Pike tolls as an unfair fee structure that places a disproportionate fiscal burden on MetroWest commuters. Expanding the tolls to I-93, both north and south of Boston, is a proposal she would like to see fleshed out.

Through tolls, MetroWest commuters have shouldered the brunt of projects like the Big Dig and supported Turnpike infrastructure outside of the region for too long, Connaughton said.

The article noted that someone driving from Framingham to Boston during the work week could incur toll costs of $1,400.00 annually. Of course, MetroWest commuters could take the commuter rail, but it isn't an option that works for everyone. And not every commuting using the Pike is taking it all the way into downtown Boston. A lot of people have the unfortunate circumstances of working for companies located along Route 9 (TJX anyone) or 128. If you work along 128, it is either drive or try to telecommute.

In a May letter to the Turnpike Authority, Paul Matthews, executive director of the Westborough-based 495/MetroWest Corridor Partnership, wrote Pike tolling options should be reviewed and tolling strategies should be developed where daily commuting cost is "more equitable from all directions."

I don't buy the North Shore's seemingly powerful or motivated reps who feel that adding tolls on I-93 would require federal approval. Why? Because, when you get to the heart of it, the Mass Pike IS a federal road. I-90 is part of the great Interstate Highway. And have these same public officials been up to New Hampshire anytime in the past 25 or so years? Guess what - as soon as you cross over into New Hampshire, on Federal roads, you hit a toll booth.

This is a good time for state reps and senators representing Central Mass and Metro West to step up and demand equal parity for transportation costs!

To make matters worse, for those of us who live West of the city, in today's Mass Pike meeting the authority decided to eliminate discounts for Fast Lane users, according to WBZ. Yup, the one discount that benefited MetroWest / West drivers the most is going away. Really, the "discount" was only $.25 at the Allston-Brighton booth and $.50 at the tunnels.

Eliminating this discount will generate an extra $18 million to the cash-strapped Pike.

I suppose it could be worse - the Pike could have raised tolls across the system.

With that, I need to leave the office and drive home.

Early Train Arrives in Grafton Again

I'm back from the beach.

My commute was fine this morning. The P508 train actually arrived in Grafton at 7:06 a.m. AJ commented that the train did the same thing on Tuesday. People were still pulling into the parking lot when the train pulled in. To the engineer's credit, I do not think we departed for Westborough until 7:09 a.m. We arrived at South Station at 8:18 a.m.

Today's Boston Globe reports on a MBTA Board Member's "scathing" criticism of the T's ticketing system. Board Member Janice Loux distributed the MIT students' report on the vulnerabilities of the CharlieTicket and CharlieCard programs at yesterday's monthly MBTA board meeting.

Finally, a voice of reason. Janice was quoted with the following comment:

"Whatever the reality of the reports, the automated system is a mess," Loux said, calling for an external audit of the program. "I've lost all confidence in our general manager."

This is what Dan-the-Man Grabauskas had to say:

Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the MBTA, said Monday that claims made in the past against the cards have either been dismissed or dealt with, adding yesterday that both internal audits and federal reviews monitor the program's performance.

Federal officials "have not raised any concerns," Grabauskas told the board. "They have been highly complimentary of the program, and they are pleased with how it's proceeded."

Comments like this cause me to have a confidence crisis in regards to both our federal and state governments. Honestly - Dan's comments make everyone in government seem like a moron, which I know isn't true.

The article closed with noting that Dan avoided answering reporters' questions about potential threats to the T's ticketing system. Good grief!!

In other news from The Globe, another article about the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority's link to the MBTA's Green Line.

"The T focuses on everything within Route 128, but doesn't come out as far as Natick, Framingham and Marlborough, which are big job areas," said John Stasik, chairman of the MetroWest authority's advisory board and its Framingham representative. "Now the buses will connect Boston with employers on the west end of Route 9, including the Bose Corp., Genzyme Corp., and Staples, to the Green Line."

The MWRTA, which was established in 2006, is also adding the region's first public bus route between Weston and Marlborough and they've linked the Natick and Framingham bus services together.

The MWRTA's administrator, Ed Carr, said his operation is looking for ways to accommodate the area's changing commuting patterns. According to Carr, 57 percent of area residents commute to jobs within the Interstate 495 corridor. As a result, he said, local communities have a pressing need for more comprehensive transit services.

"MetroWest, in the last 10 years, has changed from a region of more or less bedroom communities to an area where six of the 10 largest companies in the state are located," said Carr. "There's been a lot of job creation."

Interesting.

Even in the Rain, Today's Train Arrived on Time

My inbound commute on the P508 train was good this morning. We were on time, though I neglected to look at my watch so I don't have the exact time we rolled into South Station.

How sad about yesterday's fatality on the train tracks in Westborough yesterday. According to The Boston Globe, the man who was struck and killed by an Amtrak train committed suicide. This was the second accident this week on the Worcester line. Yesterday The MetroWest Daily News reported on injuries to a homeless man who was struck by a train in downtown Framingham on Monday. Yikes.

Following-up on yesterday's post about the "hefty" MBTA fare hikes looming, I wanted to mention that both AJ and Kidney Stones made some good comments about the fare hikes. Honestly, I'm in the same boat they're in. If my pass goes from $250 to $320, I am not taking the train anymore. With the delays and the impact to my schedule, it just doesn't become financially enticing to ride the rails. Not to be crass, but eff that!

By the way, I'm really enjoying Boston.com's The Green Blog. I'm not sure how long this blog has been around, but some of the recent article about transportation have been really enjoyable. Yesterday, they published a Q&A with our good "friend" Dan Grabauskas. There is even a video, see below. The Q&A generated 63 comments so far. Many of the comments are rational - people want to see new leadership, better management, and fare enforcement. Pretty logical, huh? I think this is a good point for our elected officials, including our Governor, to step up and get involve. This is a pretty big issue impacting a good segment of the general population.



Finally, The Greater Grafton Blog published another report on the plans to reinstate the Grafton & Upton railroad.

Ashland Bottlenecks and News from Lincoln

Train Rider is working from home today, due in part to an overnight conference call.

I saw a news report this morning on WCVB-TV Channel 5 about how train operators are trying to promote the use of trains versus tractor-trailer trucks for moving products in the US. I can't find a comparable article about this online. Essentially, train operators are saying that it is cheaper and more environmentally friendly to ship products via the rail than in trucks. Tractor trailers can cause gridlock, meaning that consumers are hit with a double-whammy between spending money on gas sitting in traffic and the higher cost of products. The truck lobbyists noted that most of the US is structured so that shipping by rail can't totally eliminate trucks.

Along the lines of rail companies, there was an article in today's The MetroWest Daily News about officials from the town of Ashland telling CSX officials that they need to be more careful about triggering traffic signals at downtown rail crossings. When the traffic signals accidentally go off, traffic in Ashland bottlenecks. There was one incident earlier this month when downtown traffic came to a standstill for 25 minutes.

WickedLocal Lincoln published a story yesterday about the dire financial straits of the MBTA. Caroline Conner, Lincoln's representative to the MBTA Advisory Committee was quoted saying the following:

Connor said she believes the state should assume the debt to allow the MBTA to present a balanced budget.

“It’s putting a band-aid on the problem. It’s not going to improve anything. The simple objective is really to get back to square one,” she said.

Lincoln Selectperson Sara Mattes noted the following:

(T)he commuter rail project was of particular interest to Lincoln given all the development and traffic activity around Route 128. Mattes said the state needs to make “a real commitment to mass transit” and called upon Gov. Deval Patrick to show stronger leadership to solve the state’s transportation problems.

“One would think at some point a light bulb would go off that it’s more cost effective to invest in the MBTA,” Mattes said.

Finally, a great comment to yesterday's Boston Metro Q&A post came in this morning. Here is an excerpt:

Here's one thing I wish the MBTA (or MBCR or whatever agency is responsible for it this week) would do with their present resources: schedule trains with the appropriate number and type of cars. Many of the rush hour express and local trains are usually one car short or they do not have enough double-deckers. Lately, I've noticed more single than double-decker cars. What's frustrating is that I also notice that the reverse traffic trains are ALL double-deckers and not missing any cars. Next time you get off the train in the evening, hang around a few minutes for the next inbound train and count the number of double-deckers. I usually wait in the parking lot until all of the demolition derby drivers have left the lot (yes, I've seen accidents and hit-and-runs at the Southborough and Westborough stations in the last year, but I digress).

If the appropriate type and number of train cars were properly scheduled, then overcrowding can be alleviated.