Mulhern concedes: Automobile has won at last

CSX Conductor wrote:Menino hates everything on rail.

He would love to see trains out of Readville for good. (Both the MBTA facility and CSXT).

Although I would love to see the trolleys in JP again, I don't see it happening. The Arborway yard has shrunk significantly thanks to the dam CNG busses. :(

That's not really an issue. The line can be run fine with the space allotted in the present Arborway Yard redevelopment plan.

flyermike wrote:Let's be fair to Mayor Menino.. he doesn't just hate anything on rail.. .he hates anything electric that might beneift the environment and the neighboods because he is against Trackless trolleys also! He has stated that he doesn't want any wires over Boston city streets. It's time for Boston to have a new mayor; a new governor and a new general manager of the MBTA.

Menino knows which side his bread is buttered on. Wealthier, more influential, and more likely to vote people are more likely to drive. Therefore, he is pro-car to a fault.

Pete wrote:

flyermike wrote:Let's be fair to Mayor Menino.. he doesn't just hate anything on rail.. .he hates anything electric that might beneift the environment and the neighboods because he is against Trackless trolleys also! He has stated that he doesn't want any wires over Boston city streets. It's time for Boston to have a new mayor; a new governor and a new general manager of the MBTA.

Menino knows which side his bread is buttered on. Wealthier, more influential, and more likely to vote people are more likely to drive. Therefore, he is pro-car to a fault.

I should append that by saying, if you live in Boston, you'd be doing a lot of people a favor by calling or writing the Mayor's office and stating very clearly that it reflects badly on the mayor's commitment to quality of life, successful urban development, and the present and future health of the city that he kowtows to the automobile so unwaveringly. Remind him that once you get further in than Hyde Park not everybody drives.

Seriously, the people who have his ear need to be telling him a lot of people are upset about this.

mhater Wrote:

"but the city planners know that shiny new autos rolling out of Detroit will give citizens a remarkable level of mobility in the coming decades."

What's so remarkable about being stuck in rush-hour trafic on Rt. 95/128?

SnoozerZ49 said: "In defense of the T, I wouldn't want my streetcars operating on the same streets with Boston drivers any more than is absolutely required. '

The MBTA is also opposed to light rail extensions outside of mixed traffic, on reserved right-of-way, such as the Green Line extension to Somerville. They are also opposed to conversion of the Washington Street Silverline to light rail, which could probably reside on it's own reservation in the middle of Washington Street for most of the route. The only really narrow stretch is from Melnea Cass Blvd. down to Dudley Square.

The MBTA seems to generally be opposed or, at best, lukewarm, about light rail extensions. They use the excuse about overloading the Central Subway, but there are ways to alleviate that. For example, the Silverline Phase III tunnel could be built as light rail, tying into the Central Subway at Boylston Street west of Tremont St, and diverting one or more of the Green Lines into the Phase III tunnel to South Station, instead of to Park Street. That would free up plenty of room at Park Street for cars from a light rail conversion of the Washington Street Silverline and the abandoned Tremont tunnel.

....Green line to South Station,....Damn!
That's downright ingenious!
Is the route realy viable?

According to the TransportBoston website it is. The following link has a diagram of this concept:

http://transportboston.com/images/Silve ... ative2.jpg

I once took a summer course on Transportation at Suffolk University (where I'm going for my Masters Degree in Public Administration) last summer. The course was taught by none other than our Mr. Mulhern. And he said the same thing about streetcars then that he's saying now. Then as now, he was convinced that streetcars are a thing of the past and said how "ridiculous" it would be to bring back the Arborway streetcar and how it would get stuck in traffic. When I told him about the Portland (OR) Streetcar and new streetcar lines in New Orleans and San Francisco in class, he told me that they are "boutique streetcar lines" (whatever that means). And he consistently raved about how successful the Silver Line was, acting like it was the greatest thing to happen to Boston since sliced bread.

I don't mean to sound like I'm bashing Mulhern, but everything you all have said in this thread has hit the nail square on the head, about his attitude on expanding rail service in Boston. It disgusts me that the T is considering BRT for the Urban Ring and Somerville. It will not be any faster than what is there, nor will it be as convenient - especially on the Urban Ring.

Meanwhile, check out http://www.dctransitfuture.com . Our nation's capital is building light rail in the Anacostia section of Washington on a three-mile section of abandoned railroad ROW and will run it on a three-year trial basis. It will contain a transfer to the Washington Metro at its Anacostia stop. The fact that DC/WMATA is doing this, while the T and MA scorn rail in favor of Bus "Rapid" Transit within the urban core of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville - should really put the T and MA to shame. I really hope one day the T will wise up.

And I'm not letting Mumbles off the hook either. Washington Mayor Anthony Williams's support of light rail in Anacostia (and potentially in other parts of the District) really puts Menino to shame. Meanwhile Menino screws residents of Roxbury and the lower South End with the Silver Lie and by opposing anything running on overhead wires (where does he think he is? Manhattan?). Menino also has not shown very much interest in improving service on the Fairmount Line or bringing the E line back to Arborway.