My apologies for being offline for a few days. I had to drive to work on Friday, which proved to be fortuitous as I ended up going home early because I was sick. You will never believe this - I got sick from the E. coli bacteria in my town's water. It sure wasn't a fun way to spend the weekend.
Due to some post-work commitments, I also drove in this morning. Just think - supposedly by Friday we'll think that today's balmy temps are like a heat wave.
I did take the P508 to work yesterday. The train was on time - we arrived at South Station around 8:21 a.m. I noticed last night that the old train signs in South Station are gone. I wonder if anyone ever bought them on eBay? The new board with departure times is in its place. I'll miss the sound of the time changing - there is something very nostalgic about the clicking noise.
Commute-a-holic has been tied up with projects at work and thus unable to post articles. Here are some of the transportation related things in the news:
Before I get into the news round-up, can I just say that I'm thrilled that Jim Rice has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Woo-hoo!!
Two articles in today's Boston Metro: one about the continued increase in T ridership and the other about how parking revenue is up, even though the number of cars parked is down. AJ's comment about parking from last Friday was very observant. Here's a snippet of it:
Speaking only for the Grafton lot, the parking fare increase has definitely effected the amount of people who park their cars in the lot. Not necessarily ridership, but people who use the lot.AJ also explained why he is now not parking at the Grafton lot.
Almost three years ago, I regularly parked in the 2nd isle for the P508 train. As winter takes away a good number of spots, I move back to the 4th isle. This past spring, as gas prices rose, my regular spot stayed in the 4th isle. The summer saw a move back to the 6th. This was unprecedented! The week that parking fares rose, I was back to the 2nd isle. After that, I could actually find spots in the 1st isle as well.
Progressive Railroading also reported on the T's increase in riders.
Today's Boston Herald reported that the Governor is serious about gas hikes as an alternative to Mass Pike toll hikes. Stop the Pike Hike is still actively campaigning and protesting toll hikes.
A press release posted on Saturday to TradingMarkets.com focuses on tonight's meeting to discuss environmental issues related to a project on the Fitchburg commuter rail line.
According to Sunday's Boston Globe, the Worcester line is not the only commuter rail line that has massive delays. The Fairmont line is also plagued by issues. Sunday's "Starts and Stops" column also reported on the Green Line extension, how much revenue the T is losing because the Pats didn't make it to post-season play, and that the Pike is now going to keep the West Newton entrance open (instead of closing it to test the traffic flow). Finally, there was an article about how the Pike may need to repay UBS $400 million due to a risky investment that went south.
Friday afternoon's Worcester line commuter rail delays were due, unfortunately, to a death on the tracks.
