Last week, TransitMatters released a sweeping vision for regional rail in the region. Please read it. I’ll wait here.
Amazing, right?
TransitMatters is a group of transit-obsessed citizens trying to make transit work better for Boston. What they’ve done in the Regional Rail for Metropolitan Boston report is apply their geeky transit understanding and their deep concern for sustainable transportation in the region to imagine an inter-city rail system that abandons the outdated commuter-rail notion — bring folks into Boston from the suburbs in the morning and get them home at night — for a more expanded notion of inter-city rail with frequency that supports both commuters to downtown, but also those who would like to move between towns and cities in both directions at all times of day. It’s a vision that could not only shift transportation modes, but transform land use at every stop along every line. Imagine the conversation we’d be having about Washington St. development if there were trains in both directions from West Newton and Newtonville (and Auburndale) every 30 minutes or more frequently!
What’s amazing about the report is not just the scope and clarity of the vision, but the compelling case TransitMatters makes for the economic necessity of it. A regional rail system needs only a rethinking of capital priorities and a redirection of investment to deliver the substantial benefits it offers over the commuter rail model. Those investments include electrifying all regional lines, raising platforms for direct entry to trains, and creating the North/South Rail Link between North and South Stations.
Back to Newton, TransitMatter’s regional rail vision would mean regular, dependable service not only between Newton and Boston, but also between Newton and Wellesley, Natick, Framingham, Southborough, and Worcester. Imagine folks living in the Orr Block who want to go shop in Wellesley without negotiating traffic. Have lunch with friends in Natick Center. Head out to Worcester for the day. Take a ride into the new Allston neighborhood that will be built around West Station in the old Beacon Park Yard and walk down to the Charles.
A key nugget in the TransitMatters report: they propose eliminating the Needham Line and replacing it, in part, with the long-proposed Green Line extension along Needham Street in Newton and on into Needham Heights.
The vision that TransitMatters has laid out in their Regional Rail report would provide significant benefit to Newton. The city should embrace and advocate for the vision.
Too many factors for this to be reality:
-Allocation of funds to affluent suburbs will not be tolerated. Politically, service should be expanded and improved in poorer neighborhoods
-short term planning to satisfy political points. No political benefit for long term goals
-funding issues because of pension costs
Summary: dont rely on mbta, we have better hope of Uber expanding to shuttles and autonmous car tech.. or privitisation of rails
There is a funding mechanism moving through the legislature right now focusing on the idea of value capture. This would allow a better connection between transit investment and the increases in land value that often come with that investment as a method of paying for the improvements.
Also moving through the legislature is a bill to allow for regional ballot initiatives so that multiple municipalities can get together and raise money for transportation investment rather than going all the way to the state for those funds.
If we are to rely on Uber and Lyft, we will need to find a way to encourage people to move to pooled services. Right now most of the rides are individual and they are adding significantly to traffic congestion.
More likely resistance to western suburb expansion is the not-so-secret desire to block transit that would encourage out-of-town riff-raff to travel to their precious bedroom communities. I hope not, but recalling any buildup to the Greenbush Commuter Rail expansion and pretty much any mention of a bike path development can foretell what to expect.
To Bugek’s larger point, there will be a lot of resistance for whatever reason and a lot of political washing to fold, but I would love to see what can happen from a plan like this.
@Doug – from what I’ve seen over the decades, a lot of the resistance to western (and north/south) expansion has been in the legislature, from reps for the rest of the state who object to more state money being spent on Boston area transportation. The central and western half of the state feel neglected by the state (with reason).