Zippy Wednesday Morning Commute

Good morning. What a lovely, sunny day. Albeit, for those of us from the Worcester area, today will always be a sad day. This is the 9th anniversary of the Worcester Cold Storage fire. We will always remember the Worcester 6.

My commute this morning on the P508 train was zippy. We arrived to South Station at 8:21 a.m. It seemed crowded on the train, although I still think the parking lots themselves are not as crowded as they used to be. I know I would love to have an extra $10 in my wallet instead of paying to let my car sit in the Grafton lot all day long.

The Salem News reported that the Salem Parking Board voted to increase parking from $2 to $4, just like the T decided to do. Commuters are not happy.

The main story today is the Mass Pike. The Stop the Pike Hike rally is this afternoon. WHDH-TV Channel 7 aired a story about the Pike debate today, while The Boston Globe published an article about how lawmakers may consider leasing the Pike to a private entity. WBUR aired a similar report.

While it could make sense to lease something like the commuter rail system or the subway, I'm really not sure if leasing a highway makes a whole lot of sense. It seems like everyone is just running around like crazy because we are running out of money. I'm concerned a lot of bad decisions are going to be made to cover short-term budgets.

WBUR also aired an analysis of the future of the Mass Pike.

Stop the Pike Hike

I had to drive into the office this morning because I had an early morning meeting. There was lots of traffic on the Pike today. It took forever to get through the Newton tolls. You know it's a crazy traffic day when the cash lanes move faster than the Fast Lanes on the Mass Pike.

If you're concerned about the Mass Pike toll increases, listen up. According to today's The Boston Globe Mass lawmakers are scheduling hearings about the toll increases. WCVB-TV reported on a rally scheduled tomorrow by Michael Kelleher of East Boston to protest the proposed toll hikes. Michael is part of a group called Stop the Pike Hike. Tomorrow's rally will take place at 4 p.m. at the Ecco Restaurant & Martini Bar located on 107 Porter Street in East Boston. There is also an online petition and a listing of the public hearings scheduled across the state.

The toll increases directly impat East Boston. As Michael said in his interview with WCVB-TV, "it will actually be cheaper to drive to a Fenway game from the Bronx than from East Boston." Isn't that nuts?

Former Gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos wrote an op-ed about the Pike in today's The Boston Herald. Mihos thinks the Pike should be disbanded.

Now, onto train news.

Commute-a-holic and I have both been pretty busy at work. We have another update from Grafton Train Rider which we should hopefully be able to post later today.

Yet another article about the Salem garage, this time from WickedLocal Rockport. The Patriot Ledger reports on efforts by the town of Weymouth to have permanent signs installed near the new connector road near the Weymouth Landing MBTA commuter rail station. This has been a project that has been a year in the making. The town wants flashing lights installed to relieve rush hour traffic.

The Milford Daily News reported on how the Mass Highway Department will be closing an old bridge that runs over the MBTA/CSX tracks near the Franklin BJs. This bridge is a popular bypass into and out of the Franklin Forge Park commuter rail station.

OJ and the Silver Line

It is super rainy this morning, huh? At least it isn't freezing cold. The temperatures feel warmer than the past few days.

I was back riding the P508 this morning. The train was fine. We arrived at South Station around 8:25 a.m.

The real adventure of this morning's commute, for me, took place at South Station. While I was waiting for the Silver Line, another commuter dropped their orange juice all over me and some guy. The person was walking down the stairs and the OJ fell over. It actually spilled on my head. So my hair is all crusty now. I guess today was just meant to be a bad hair day. The rain is tough enough on its own, but throw some OJ into the mix and it is just a hair disaster.

Commuters who come in on trains that travel between Route 128 and Canton have had some tough commutes lately. Last night, according to WHDH-TV Channel 7, delays with an Amtrak train caused a ripple effect. Commuters had to be bused from the 128 Station to Canton Station in order to resume their commute. That could not have been fun for anyone.

This is a big week for Amtrak. I'm glad I won't be anywhere near an Amtrak train heading out of Boston either today or tomorrow. It will be packed to the gills with college students and other travelers trying to make it to wherever they need to get to for Thanksgiving. Of course, I anticipate tomorrow night's commute home to be pretty crowded for the same reason.

An interesting op-ed from today's Boston Herald about a number of Massachusetts public entities need to be bailed out. The MBTA is frequently mentioned.

Yesterday WickedLocal Easton reported on the South Coast rail project. One proposed route, linking Attelboro to Norton, may be canned as it would be a construction nightmare causing a lot of disruption and costing a lot of money.

The Salem News published two different commuter rail-related stories today. One is about a commuter rail crossing in Ipswich. The other is about the quest for more parking at the Salem MBTA station.

A post from today's Boston.com Green Blog asks the question: are you driving more now that gas is below $2 for the first time in nearly four years? The question emanated from an article from today's Boston Globe.

Finally, it looks like MBTA commuters aren't the only ones who are paying more to park. The MART garages in Fitchburgh and North Leominster may increase parking fees from $2 to $3 per day and $35 to $50 per month in 2009, according to an article in the 11/21 issue of the Fitchburg Pride. In case you didn't know, MART stands for Montachusett Regional Transit Authority. I would still rather pay $50 a month than the $80 a month I'm now paying to park.

Seemingly Speedy P508

My commute on the P508 was good. It seemed speedy. The train wasn't very crowded at all. We arrived to South Station at 8:20 a.m.

The big news this morning was the suspension of two T trolley crew members who were involved in separate accidents. You can read all about it in this article from today's The Boston Herald.

On the subject of accidents, WCVB-TV Channel 5 aired a report last night on how MBTA policy puts riders at risk. They even have the video running with the article.

The Salem News published a story yesterday about a petition circulating in Salem to ask the state to build a new parking garage at the MBTA station.

Today's Boston Globe ran this article about some concerns Massport's CEO Tom Kinton has over the Port Authority running the airport tunnels. If that doesn't cause your head to explode from information, this will. DiMasi wants a gas tax, the Governor wants a Pike toll increase and Murray wants a strategic plan. Three different leaders, three different ideas.

Finally, for MetroWest commuters seeking options to the commuter rail, My Southborough reports that the Southborough to Boston bus has not been cancelled. If you didn't know about this option and you are a Southborough-area commuter, you might want to go and check it out.

Cinderella Goes to the Ball

So the baseball season ended for Red Sox fans last night. Well, at least our team made it to the ALCS. Cinderella, the Rays, are going to the Ball. Now that baseball is officially over here in Red Sox nation, it sure appears as though fall has finally arrived. It was nippy this morning.

I'm not sure what the deal was during my commute on the P508 this morning. We sat outside South Station for a while - at least ten minutes - so we didn't pull into the concourse until 8:36 a.m. I don't recall there being an announcement regarding the delay. I had to book it to work for a 9:00 a.m. meeting, so I'm hoping today is just an anomaly and not the start of a new trend.

Yesterday's Hartford Courant published an interesting column written by Tom Condon about Worcester. Mr. Condon actually attributes Worcester's population growth to the MBTA/MBCR commuter rail service. The column also provides a good analysis between Worcester and Hartford and why train service can help a local economy.

A letter to the editors of The Boston Globe written by Doug Anderson of Scituate was published yesterday. Doug's letter focuses on the "stealth" T fare increases in the form of increased parking fees. Doug makes some excellent points that I would love to see addressed by Governor Deval Patrick. Here are his arguments:

Why do I need to pay more to park at a commuter rail station than a driver who chooses to take the turnpike instead of the T pays in tolls? Why is the state backing up the finances of the Turnpike Authority, an agency which outlived its usefulness years ago, while suburban users of the MBTA are forced to fork over money for the urban transit workers' salary shortfall?

Should I just take the money for my $198 monthly T pass and my soon-to-be $80 monthly parking fee and put it in my gas tank? This is what current public policy is encouraging me to do. After all, there are no tolls going into Boston from the South Shore, and I could get free parking at my office.

Why does the governor seem more concerned about turnpike users than he is about T users? Where are our legislative leaders on this issue?

I know I would love to have these questions answered!

Also in yesterday's Globe, the "Starts & Stops" column alluded to more transportation cuts - in the form of subsidizes to private bus companies that provide long-haul service to Boston from communities including Marlborough, Northborough, Newburyport, Taunton, Plymouth, Marshfield and Worcester. Many commuters rely on these buses as they provide a more convenient alternative to either mass transit or driving into Boston.

Finally, The Salem News published another article about the Salem's quest to build a new commuter rail station garage.

Traffic Gridlock in Central Mass

On the front page of today's Telegram & Gazette there was an article about gridlock in the Central Mass region, especially around Interstate 495. Two planning agencies, the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission and the Metropolitan Are Planning Council, are joining forces on a study to determine what the future growth for the 495 area will be.

About 100,000 cars travel every day on some parts of the Central Mass stretches of 495.

Well getting into Boston yesterday on the commuter rail wasn't just a tough trip for riders on the Worcester line. North Shore residents got stuck when that dreaded bridge between Beverly and Salem was closed to traffic yesterday between 10:05 a.m. and 11 a.m. The bridge, which had a bunch of operational problems earlier this year, was stuck in an open position. Gosh, not a good time for something like that to happen. You can get the full scope in this article from today's Gloucester Daily Times.

There was yet another article about the increase in ridership across the T. South Coast Today published an article yesterday, written with an emphasis on Middleboro/Lakeville commuters.

Finally, the MBTA continues to garner publicity about their new promotional efforts aimed at getting more people to use public transportation. The DMNews, a publication geared towards the marketing community, wrote an article about the campaign.

Editorial: Beverly-Salem Commuter Rail Bridge

There was an editorial this morning about the Beverly-Salem commuter rail bridge that ran in a number of dailies in cities and towns north of Boston.

The MBTA/MBCR Blame Game

Both BostonNOW and The Boston Globe ran articles over the past 24 hours about the broken bridge that connects Beverly and Salem together on the Newburyport-Rockport commuter rail line.

I particularly enjoyed BostonNOW's snarky title: "It takes a train to cry." The BostonNOW article cut to the chase - instead of working together in a professional manner to try to fix the bridge and restore service, the inbred MBTA and MBCR (the agencies charged with public transportation and the commuter rail system) are just pointing fingers at each other. Sure, as Americans, this is what we've become used to in terms of what the Democratic and Republican parties based in Washington, DC do. But is it so wrong to expect a bit more out of two public-serving agencies?

To quote a quote, this is what BostonNOW highlighted:

Scott Farmelant, spokesman for the MBCR, says the fleet is just old. The MBTA has ordered 75 new coaches, but they take years to manufacture and won’t be up and running until 2011.

And then there are the locomotives. Farmelant says the average age of the MBTA’s locomotives is 18 years. Most locomotives have a shelf life of 12-13 years before they need a major overhaul to keep them in service for a while longer. And that work just hasn’t been done.

But MBTA spokesman Pesaturo says if that’s the MBCR’s story, it’s just nonsense. Pesaturo says they knew exactly what they were getting when they signed their $1 billion contract.

Nice! Obviously these people never watched Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and they don't know diddly abut cooperation.

The article published today on The Boston Globe/Boston.com is more "just about the facts." But this quote, from commuter Jason Rose, is outstanding:

"I just can't understand why the fares keep going up when service just hasn't improved and the T still complains about losing money," Rose said.

Well said!

Tough Times on the Newburyport-Rockport Commuter Rail Line

While watching the news on WHDH Channel 7 this morning, I heard that the 6:30 a.m. inbound train on the Newburyport-Rockport commuter rail line was going to be cancelled this morning due to the ongoing issues with the bridge linking Salem and Beverly. The rest of the trains on this line are supposed to be running, albeit with 15 minute delays.

I wonder if the delays were "only" 15 minutes or if they were longer.

As a rider on the delayed-plagued Worcester-Framingham line, I feel for the Newburyport-Rockport commuters.

Letters to the Editor

File under "better late than never."

The following "Letter to the Editor" ran in Saturday's Boston Globe.

Paul Konstadt of Salem and Penny Vaugh from Needham wrote a letter in response to the 11/29/2007 article titled "COMMUTER rail firm vows better service" and the 11/30/2007 article titled "Engineered Delays."

Both Paul and Penny voiced some sound concerns.

Let's make some noise! We deserve better, more reliable commuter rail service.