Join the discussion on the following article:
Keolis awarded $2.6 billion Boston commuter contract
They need an EZ-Pass installed, people can carry the transponder or put in pocket instead of whats going on now with “Link passes” to a bus. EZ-Pass would do all the billing too, No need for a "special “Charlie” pass, etc…this would free up congestion and slow downs in some locations. IMHO
Calling MBTA commuter rail as it exists today “one of the premier commuter railroad systems in the country” is one helluva stretch. It may have been so once but it certainly isn’t now. Maybe Keolis can put it in that category once again. Good luck to 'em.
The Boston pols and MassDOT consider the T’s transit riders to be children of a lesser God. They favor the the motorists driving through the very thing that robbed Boston (and the rest of the state) of transit and road improvements, the Central Artery tunnels and the Zakim Bridge. The commuter rail (and Amtrak) infrastructure at and approaching South and North Stations are utterly dwarfed by and in the shadows of the Central Artery’s soaring ramps and interchanges, and at North Station by the above Zakim Bridge. Until the Boston pols and MassDOT decide to take transit across the metro region seriously, nothing will change.
And the one thing that might have given transit in the Boston metro region a shot in the arm would have been to build, along with the vehicular tunnels, a double track rail tunnel linking the two stations. That would have allowed the through routing of commuter rail services as is done in Philadelphia with the Center City Connector. But the proponents of a South Station/North Station link were told to drop dead. And in the fullness of time, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo said the same to those advocating a rail transit line across the new Tappan Zee Bridge.
The 3/6 Boston Globe carried a front page story announcing that Mass Bay Commuter Railroad is attempting legal action against the T and I guess MassDOT as well for not renewing the contract and going with Keolis. I haven’t a clue if MBCR has a legal leg to stand on but this could get interesting. This begs the question of why the T and MassDOT steadfastly refuse to grow some backbone and take commuter rail in house. It’s in house at New York’s MTA and in house at Philadelphia’s SEPTA. And Chicago’s Metr
The previous group that ran the T was made up of former T managers. Their contract was written so that they seldom if ever got fined for anything and they just kept the status Quo all the time they ran it. The new contract carries hefty fines and incentives for not doing or doing things right.