https://www.vre.org/service/schedule-re ... A86apPmZCQ - gives one an idea as to how other transit systems like the VRE are approaching what is the ‘unknown’...VRE and METRO are facing some hard decisions of when, or if, to reopen fully...
Adams_Umass_Boston wrote: ↑Sat Apr 24, 2021 11:37 amExamples -State agencies/authorities/schools have been concentrating facilities in eastern Massachusetts, for political reasons and for the convenience of the upper management, despite lower costs in say Worcester or Springfield than in Boston. And what better way to promote a reverse-commute than for state agencies to locate facilities near the outbound end of Commuter Rail? The state has no business leasing 8 floors of first-class office space in downtown Boston or Cambridge as if they were a fortune-500 company.
My mom is a state worker who would commute downtown. The state leased 8 floors of an office tower and they have given up the lease on 6 floors. They plan on combining everyone to just two floors with shared offices. She has been told she may be asked to come in once ever two months. So she has no intention to buy a monthly pass anymore and will be remote working for the foreseeable future. My sister whom is also a state worker out in the middle of the state was also told that she and everyone one else in her division will be [permanant] remote working and will need to clear out her desk.
[for colleges] Giving up expensive leases on building in Boston is a real advantage.Do colleges in Boston lease buildings or buy them? Going forward, colleges will have to compete with online colleges in say England or Germany, and might as well hire the college professor working remote from Montana, Mumbai or Tegucigalpa for 1/3 the salary and you don't have to give her a no-interest mortgage or pay (him or) her ~$300K to teach one course. That and the low birthrate in the US and colleges some of that educational inflation is gonna get squeezed out. Might lead to more air travel as people might have to occasionally visit in-person.