The Third Decade

Goodbye, Silver Line.

When I woke up this morning and read the Globe article about how the state scrapped plans for the 28X/Mattapan Silver Line, I was both happy and curious. That proposed extension of the Silver Line never really made sense to me. I've taken the existing route between Dudley Square and Downtown many times and have always found it slow, crowded, and uncomfortable. Current Silver Line service is sporadic. It's not unusual to wait at Dudley Station for over 15 minutes for a bus to depart...if it's even at the berth. Given that the extension would be about twice as long as the current route, it was surprising to see the state try to sell this project as an improvement to the bus service that already exists.

Anyway, I was curious to see what the reader comments to the article would be. Unsurprisingly, many of them are by people who don't live in the affected neighborhoods or use the Silver Line. They label area residents as "whiners" and suggest that the Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan lost out on something beneficial. Puh-leeze. Planning to spend $147 million dollars for a new, slow bus line was ridiculous. Even as an express route with a dedicated lane, the bus would've still had to deal with Blue Hill Avenue's heavy traffic and the general lack of courtesy that most drivers show to each other. The state's idea also seemed like another temporary solution to an issue needing long-term planning and coordination: how to improve transportation to an area of Boston lacking rapid rail transportation.

Looking at the past 25 years in Boston transit, there's been an unfortunate pattern of disinvesting in routes in the urban core while investing heavily in outer areas. As Washington Street lost the Orange Line and South Huntington/Centre Streets lost the E-line (to be replaced by bus service), North Cambridge gained the Red Line extension, the new Orange Line was moved to the Southwest Corridor, and the commuter rail expanded in multiple directions. In the meantime, the Somerville Green Line extension, the Indigo/Fairmount Line, the Lynn extension on the Blue Line, and the Urban Ring have been dangled in front of area residents without significant progress being achieved. Is it any wonder that residents in dense urban areas are expressing their outrage and annoyance and demanding better ideas? Besides having poor transit options, as new residents move into urban areas they're bringing more cars to compensate for the lack of adequate public transportation and adding to congestion. The feeling I sense from a lot of people (although by no means the all) is that enough is enough.

We need something better regionally. As a Roxbury resident, I'm glad to know that organizations like the Washington Street Corridor Coalition have been working for years to advocate for improved service and coordinated planning. In addition to improved transit through Dudley Square, I also hope that Somerville, Dorchester, and Lynn are included in a regional transit update that brings more of the densest parts of Metro Boston better rapid transit options. The Silver Line was a nice try, but it's time to move forward and start thinking about how to build a more comprehensive rail network with some vision.

Say What Now?

So there's a new Silver Line rumor going 'round. Someone believes that the T will build a tunnel from downtown to Roxbury and run a subway version of the route to Dudley Square. Not only does he believe it, he's telling people this theory. I heard it second-hand through a friend this afternoon, but now I want to know how many other people have heard this. I told my friend that I think her source is wrong, but maybe I am. Did I miss some news?

Moving forward on the Southwest Corridor

After multiple false starts and controversy, there's good news about development on the Southwest Corridor again. Today's Globe reports that Mayor Menino has changed his mind and now supports Ruggles Place on Parcel 3. I would've liked to be privy to that conversation when he decided to publicly express his support for the project.

Further down the line, it looks like the first piece of the Jackson Square project may break ground at the end of this year. After hearing about this development for four years, I won't believe that it's happening until a building begins rising. Two years ago, the project was said to be postponed until 2008 and plans released to the media contained changes to the initial plans released in 2005. Who knows what's really going on with this project and how can the rest of us find out about it?

With all this development in the pipeline, I sincerely hope that the MBTA doesn't follow through with its threat to cut back transit service. Columbus Ave is already a traffic nightmare during rush hour, even with the combination of subway, commuter rail, and bus service running parallel to it. If everything projected is built within the next 3-5 years, there's no way this part of town could function with fewer transportation options than it currently has.

If my train goes off the track, pick it up, pick it up, pick it up.

Since the middle of last week there's been an email circulating around Roxbury containing photos of the Dudley Station El crash in 1910. As far as I can tell, there were no fatalities in the crash, but the wreckage is incredible. These photos are also a great look at Dudley Square before urban renewal changed the landscape. 

Two more photos after the break.

State Goes in Debt, Leaders Lose Their Damn Minds!

Wow! 

In an effort to save money, state senators are proposing to create a new transportation uberagency that would combine the powers of two highway agencies and the MBTA. Supposedly, efficiencies achieved by the merger would save billions of dollars. Ha!

You know what the merger is really going to save? Time. Now instead of grumbling about how bad each agency is at doing its job, we'll be able to point our collective fingers at one agency. How convenient!

Seriously, though, does Massachusetts need another quasi-public agency of mass proportions (pun intended, yuk, yuk) to sap our souls and be inefficient on a statewide scale? Isn't that part of the problem we have with the agencies currently in existence? I'm all for saving money by eliminating redundancies. But I hope conditions are put in place to increase accountability, reward good performance, and penalize poor performance. Hopefully contracts with the unions will also be renegotiated to allow for flexibility in developing creative solutions to old problems. For example, isn't part of the reason the T doesn't run later because it would cost too much to pay drivers and subway operators overtime after 1am? I know there's the maintenance reason as well, but I've never really bought into that.

It's an interesting proposal to say the least. What will be more interesting is seeing how the unions fight this.

Note: This article may move from breaking news to regular news by the time you read it. If so, I'll fix the link once it's moved.

Cameras on the T

For a few moments today, I flashed back to my days in London.

Maybe I missed a press release on safety, but this was the first time I saw security cameras on the inside of an Orange Line car. There were 4 above the center doors (2 facing each door and 2 facing opposite lengths of the car), and 2 on a diagonal above the doors at each end of the car. There was also a large bilingual black and white sign above one seat by the center doors. I couldn't see if there were other signs, but there probably were.

How long has this been going on? I know I don't take the T as much as I used to, but this seems like a big change in public relations. I knew that the buses and stations had cameras, but when were they going to tell us about the inside of the cars?

Elevated Orange Line vs Silver Line

I came across this video of the old El a few days ago and keep coming back to it. In addition to enjoying the video because of the point of view that no longer exists, it's also interesting to hear about the El accident (starts around 0:50) and to see how much Washington St. in the South End has changed. Older folks often say that it was really run down in the 1970s and 1980s; they weren't kidding! 

Still, despite the wooden platforms in the stations and the clickety-clack of the trains overhead, most people I know speak nostalgically about the El. I tried to find a similar video taken from the Silver Line on Washington Street, but couldn't find anything remotely close. Instead I found one of my neighbors being interviewed by WCVB opposing Phase 3 of the Silver Line. If the Silver Line were removed from Washington St tomorrow, I wonder if anyone would speak nostalgically about it.

From Grassroots to the Gold Dome

With so much attention being paid to the presidential election, I thought I'd point out some of the important local political events happening.

First, as the Globe wrote today, is the upcoming September 16 primary between Sonia Chang-Diaz and Dianne Wilkerson. I still don't know enough about each candidate to say who I'd vote for. I really don't care about Wilkerson's personal problems, but I want more clarity regarding her stand on the proposed BioLab in the heart of the city. The Globe article claims that she supports it, although her website says that she opposes it. Perhaps the Globe has it backwards and Chang-Diaz supports the BioLab while Wilkerson opposes it? I should probably go with what Wilkerson's website says, but I'll look for a letter to the editor from the campaign or a correction from the Globe to assist in clarifying the issue. Otherwise, Chang-Diaz's lack of political experience doesn't concern me. Everyone has to start somewhere and I appreciate her enthusiasm to run twice against an incumbent. I also like her overall stand on the issues, even if she's a bit vague on some of the specifics. There's another debate/forum coming up later this month in Grove Hall which I hope I'll be able to get a chance to watch.

Besides that, I received a press release today from On The Move: the Greater Boston Transportation Justice Coalition. The organization has scheduled a town meeting on October 22, 6pm in the Mezzanine Conference Room at Copley Library to discuss public transportation.

The purpose  of the TOWN MEETING is to find out how people feel about public transportation, what concerns they have and suggestions for improvement. We will also take a little time to explain the current work of ON THE MOVE.

That paragraph contains the most important information of the press release, so unfortunately there isn't anything more to pass on. Additionally, a Google search for On The Move doesn't result in a website, although there are a number of organizations which refer to the group. Anyone looking for more information might want to start with the organization's platform. It's not clear what year this was written, but it looks like it might be pre-Charlie Card, if not older.

Finally, for those of you around the Dudley Square area, there is a series of working sessions open to the public regarding the Dudley Vision Project. The project includes the demolition and rebuilding of the local police station, environmental reviews, transportation strategies, and retail options. I attended one of the Dudley Vision Project meetings in early summer and was concerned about the committee's openness and accountability to the community, so I'm glad to see that they are making an effort to be more open. So far there's no website for the project, but you can download a copy of the community update schedule here.

There are plenty of ways to get involved in what's happening around you. Don't complain and do nothing. Get informed and get involved.

Not ANOTHER Billion Dollar Tunnel, Please

Emerson College is the latest entity to be opposed to construction of Silver Line phase 3. Tufts Medical Center and a group in Bay Village expressed concerns in 2006. Plus, the Washington Street Corridor Coalition has been vocal in opposing the Silver Line and advocating for light rail service from Park Street to Dudley Square (at least) since the late 1980s.

But, with $1.2 billion burning a hole in its pocket, the MBTA is determined to build a tunnel where no one wants it for a transit route that the people who live near it don't even want. You know something's not right when a coalition of people along the transit route think it sucks.

As many people have pointed out in the past, if the MBTA wants to use a tunnel, why doesn't it use the old Tremont Tunnel? I did a quick search on the tunnel to see if it might have been taken out of use so long ago that it's just too old to use now. Turns out the tunnel was taken out of use in 1961 or 1962, depending on the source. Check out this handy little map. There are also photos of the abandoned tunnel here and here. I bet $1.2 billion would go a long way to restoring a tunnel.

In fact, an old Globe advertising supplement (advertiser and date of publication unknown) states that the "new Silver Line tunnel, mined under the old one, connects to Boston Common and the Green Line at Boylston Street." Somewhere along the way, someone changed his mind and decided to tunnel under Charles Street instead. But let's say that the Tremont tunnel option becomes the favored option again. The entry and exit points to Washington Street and Boylston Station will be taken care of and few people could argue against using a tunnel or digging under a tunnel which had been in use for 60 years. So why bother with the rest?

If residents and businesses along Boylston and Essex Sts are against the tunnel and if other residents and businesses along Washington St. are against this form of service altogether, what are the MBTA's grounds for digging around in places where it isn't wanted? Their "selling point" for years has been a one-seat ride from Dudley to the Airport. But, thanks to the Big Dig, getting to the airport from Fort Hill (which is adjacent to Dudley Square) takes only 15 minutes. Taking the Orange Line to the Blue Line and then the airport shuttle means reaching a terminal from home in 30-40 minutes. It's a lot of transfers, but it's easy and quick. On the other hand, it usually takes 10-15 minutes just to get from Dudley Square to W. Newton Street on an average day. I'd ask a friend for a ride, call a cab, or hitchhike - in that order - before taking the proposed one-seat-ride Silver Line to the airport from Dudley. Besides the indirectness of the route, cramming luggage on those narrow buses with the usual assortment of student backpacks, baby carriages, and briefcases sounds like transit hell.

I suspect the push for connecting Roxbury and Chinatown more directly to the airport and the waterfront is jobs. Not good ones, though; I mean low wage tourist-sector and airport-related jobs. Chelsea and East Boston can only provide so many blue collar workers for the expanding tourist and travel sectors, so officials looked for two other nearby low-income neighborhoods and targeted them for transit "improvements." It was done before in the 1950s and 1960s with the highway and urban renewal projects. Fifty years later state officials are back at it. With the El over Washington Street taken away, officials probably thought these neighborhoods would be eager to see just any ol' thing come rolling down the street. They were wrong!

It's been 20 years since the El was demolished. Let's hear some real options from the MBTA for faster and convenient mass transportation south of downtown.

State to Back Mass Pike Debt. WTF?!

I have nothing against commuters from the western suburbs and every so often I use the Mass Pike to travel to NYC. But after years of news about the MBTA's crushing debt, which has resulted in service cuts and fare raises, why is the Mass Pike getting state-backed debt relief? This comes after recent news that fewer people are using the Pike as more people are using the T. As state Treasurer Tim Cahill said, "the taxpayers deserve better than this."