Tag: boston

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Boston proposal: Make every college students pay for night transit service

On By jamesinclair

Boston is one of the most transit-complete cities in the country, but it has a giant hole: no night service. While only a few cities offer 24/7 train service, most, at minimum, have a network of night buses to pick up the slack. Others, like DC and LA, adjust their hours so weekend service runs as late as 3am on their rail lines. Boston does neither. When the clock strikes 1am, on every day of the week, the trains and buses stop rolling, until they resume shortly before 6am the following day.

There have been many excuses given as to why this is the case. “Maintenance” is a favorite, especially when officials can point to New York and say “we don’t have four tracks.” Fair enough….except that PATH, which does run 24/7, is also limited to two tracks. Chicago as well. Never mind that fact that at 2am on Sunday morning, when the streets are suddenly filled with people being kicked out of bars, not a soul is working on maintenance. Like most organizations, maintenance activities which run at night tend to be on weeknights. Click to read more!

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Citibike hits major snags – will it delay Chicago and SF launches?

On By jamesinclair

It’s been over a week since the nation’s largest bike-share system launched in New York City. That launch was accompanied by a very predictable stream of media – naysayers, doubters, and then the tabloids looking for trouble.

I predicted as much over a year ago when the system details were announced:

With bike share, New York has been following the exact same media
pattern we saw in Boston in 2009-2011. Boston, naturally, was mirrored
in London during the same period. Both of course were simple repeats of
what happened in Washington a year earlier.
…

It’ll never work! No one will ride them! Only tourists will use them! It
will be a boondoggle! There will be so many accidents, injuries or
deaths!! If people wanted to bike, they’d have their own! There will be
rampant vandalism! It’ll cost too much! Click to read more!

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Trains go on strike to demand better living conditions

On By jamesinclair

BOSTON- As she tightened her jacket to ward off the 5f (-15c) degree cold, commuter Tammy Jackson was shocked to see the crowd of over 200 overflowing from the entrance to the Andrew MBTA subway station. The cause for the crowding quickly became apparent – several Red Line trains had used the morning commute to go on strike and demand better living conditions.

Rhoda Kavner, a 1500 model Pullman-Standard rail vehicle, sat just outside the station, within view of the commuters. “I know it’s tough for those commuters, I know it’s a pain, and I know they’re cold, but maybe now they can imagine how we feel.” Rhoda staged her strike for a little under half an hour, before returning to work. Click to read more!

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Boston’s Hubway bike system finally nears 100 stations

On By jamesinclair

The Boston area bicycle share system, officially called “New Balance Hubway”, faced a rocky start as it saw multiple delays and many missed expectations. Fortunately, the system is finally getting its act together and has been marching towards adding its 100th station. This summer, the system began expanding into neighboring cities, and new stations are being added every week.

2011: 57 stations
Spring 2012: 61 stations
End Summer 2012 (current): 95 stations

An additional batch of stations is expected this month, taking the system over 100. While it may not have the expansion goals of Mexico City, the system is finally covering a respectable geographic area. Click to read more!

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Boston case shows declining car volume on major street

On By jamesinclair

When it comes to planning street infrastructure, there is a rule of thumb traffic engineers use when designing roads. That rule is that vehicle volumes will always go up, usually at 0.5% a year. That’s what results in roads almost always being overbuilt, as a street designed today is built to comfortably hold projected traffic 50 years from now. As the projects always show increasing vehicle volumes, we get extra lanes and such.

But what if that prediction and the rule of thumb is wrong?

Can a city gain residents and grow economically if traffic values stay constant….or even decline? As one study in Boston shows, the answer is absolutely yes. Click to read more!

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Pedestrian mall at night

On By jamesinclair

I’m not in Fresno this week. But I am somewhere with a pedestrian mall that not all are happy with. Indeed, sometimes people suggest letting the cars in. Many times, these are folks that don’t actually visit the area, and probably wouldn’t if that was changed.

Sounds familiar right?

Yet even on a cold and rainy evening, the place was bursting with life. I decided to remain under the shelter of the Macy’s sidewalk ceiling while waiting for a friend. Many however did not bother to use the sidewalk, even though it offered more protection from the weather.

Would be nice to see this in Fresno. Click to read more!