I have posted a site about transit that primarily extracts and organizes data:
Transit along Washington St in Newton MA
The purpose of this data site is to supply information about transit along Washington St in Newton MA since that data sometimes takes significant effort to extract. This should enable Newton citizens to assess the current quality of transit along Washington St.
There is also a photo essay about the Newtonville commuter rail station. This is intended to illustrate the commuter rail infrastructure issues in Newton.
The photos in this essay may be especially helpful to those planning to attend Thursday’s meeting
- MBTA Update on Newton Commuter Rail Station Accessibility (Thursday, July 25th at 6 p.m.) at Newton Free Library, Druker Auditorium
For convenience, I supply directly the three main data links in the site:
Commuter Rail Line Schedule in Newton
Washington St Bus Route Stops in Newton
Newtonville Commuter Rail Station: A Photo Essay
This is a guest blog post submitted by Newton resident Richard Rasala, a retired Professor and Associate Dean in the Khoury College of Computer and Information Science at Northeastern.
Great photo essay on Newtonville. I complete agree with your conclusion: “To have frequent and robust train service in Newton, it is essential to have two updated and fully accessible platforms (south side and north side) that are in full
time daily use.”
Thank you for posting this before the MBTA accessibility meeting!
The photo essay is great. So many people don’t realize how difficult it is to navigate the stairs, especially if you are disabled or even able and trying to carry something.
Very useful data.
My takeaway is that there’s a ton of frequent bus service into Boston so if you live near Washington Street, there’s really nothing to complain about transit-wise.
I would much rather have 12 buses between the hours of 7am and 9am than 3 commuter rail trains (which is the schedule we have in Needham). If you miss a bus, then you can just hop onto the next one a few minutes later rather than waiting an hour for the next train. Also, CNG bus service is much more environmentally-friendly than the disgusting diesel locomotives on the Commuter Rail, and waiting for a bus in say, Copley Square is a lot better for you than getting carbon monoxide poisoning standing around on the platform in Back Bay Station.
The only drawback to the bus might be traffic jams on the Pike, but it’s not as if the Commuter Rail is actually reliable – it struggles to achieve on on-time performance of even 90%, which is pretty atrocious when you need to be at work on time.
The elephant in the room that I wish that transit planners would acknowledge is the strong socioeconomic segregation between suburban buses and commuter rail – on the Needham train line, for example, it’s clear from a quick scan of the clientele that it’s 99% white and between the ages of 18-64. On the 59 bus, however, it’s 95% people of color and/or elderly and many of the riders seem to be urban residents using it to get to work in the suburbs.
There’s evidently an expectation among quite a few white suburbanites (the majority, I would say) that they should be entitled to rail service into the city, and that they shouldn’t have to ride on the bus (albeit with the limited exceptions of those bus services that offer unbeatable convenience). And those entitled suburbanites who aren’t provided with the rail service to which they believe they are entitled will simply eschew public transit altogether and drive their SUVs down the Pike into the city.
“My takeaway is that there’s a ton of frequent bus service into Boston so if you live near Washington Street, there’s really nothing to complain about transit-wise.”
Depends on when and where you are commuting. The express buses are only practical if you work downtown(ish) with mostly standard business hours.
Michael said: “My takeaway is that there’s a ton of frequent bus service into Boston so if you live near Washington Street, there’s really nothing to complain about transit-wise.”
That assumes your only destination is Boston. And you live near an accessible bus stop.
I prefer to look at another way: Washington St. is a perfect opportunity for first class transit, including buses and subway-frequency rail service, connecting critical destinations in Boston with current and future commercial and residential centers all along the corridor, all the way to Riverside and points west. It can connect to multiple other destinations via bus routes, transit, walking, and biking. It will allow people to live lives both more sustainably AND more conveniently. And we shouldn’t waste that opportunity. That’s not complaining. That’s envisioning a better future, asking why not, and refusing to take no for an answer.
“The only drawback to the bus might be traffic jams on the Pike”. I think that counts as a pretty big drawback. Consistency matters to many people, even at the expense of frequency.
“I would much rather have 12 buses between the hours of 7am and 9am than 3 commuter rail trains”. Definitely depends where you live AND work. Express buses all go to one very small area near the financial center of Boston. Framingham/Worchester commuter rail provides direct access to the transit hubs of South Station and Back Bay in around 20 minutes from the Newton stations on a dedicated right of way. My commute from West Newton to Longwood is a dream on the commuter rail, even with today’s imperfect service.
“Also, CNG bus service is much more environmentally-friendly than the disgusting diesel locomotives on the Commuter Rail” It would seem that way, but I’m not sure it’s actually true. Diesel/electric locomotives and train sets are quite efficient (over 450 passenger-miles per gallon). What’s better, they can be converted to electric. Diesel emissions and noise are definitely not awesome, however.
As to the rest of the comments, while there are plenty of socioeconomic issues related to transit, I don’t think they are primary drivers for Newton/Washington St. in the way you present. Commuter bus or rail both skew towards higher incomes than does local bus service. If there were express buses that, for example, has a dedicated lane on the pike AND connected to more transit hubs and core destinations, I have no doubt they’d be wildly popular with the current commuter rail crowd. If you want to talk underserved populations, let’s have a discussion about places not served by transit *at all*, or by inadequate local bus service.
As for the rest of the commentary, everyone has their biases and limits on their experiences, but most people are just trying to get by. I don’t think we need to get into who we think feels entitled and denigrate them. Today’s MBTA fails at its current requirements, much less its potential, for almost everyone.
Most public transportation is a poor experience especially at rush hour. Standing room only on most trains and buses is just not something I’m willing to put up with. Call me a snob, or whatever. They pack people in like sardines and that’s supposed to be attractive? The only thing going is that it’s at least a very short express bus trip, and the train from Newtonville is fast. But the icing on the cake is the reckless stations in Newton and west Newton. If s private company built an access like that they wouldn’t be able to insure it. I’d be interested to see what was proposed at last nights meeting.
Last night’s meeting was still going on when you posted that, and for a while after! The MBTA proposed the bare-minimum for ADA compliance, single full-high platforms constructed on the opposite track from the current platform. Nothing that would allow any sort of increased service as part of the project, and de facto postponing any service increases for at least a decade and more likely three. It was an extremely disappointing presentation and I’m going to spend some time today contacting my various elected officials.
It was incredibility disappointing that the MBTA didn’t seem to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. 15+ years of planning for ADA improvements along the WA St. commuter rail line with no consideration for how the improvements impact ridership. Because, like, traffic congestion is not a problem in the Greater Boston Area.
Echoing some of Michael Halle’s comments above, Washington Street does represent a chance for Bus Rapid Transit in Newton. There are places in the Boston area, like Everett, that are experimenting with bus/bike combinations that can move people quickly through an area. That’s certainly possible for the length of Washington Street from West Newton to Newton Corner. If we also spent short money on upgrading the stops we could also create a more respectful experience for bus riders. Too often I’ve seen snow piled up in front of bus stops and people struggling to wave down buses. In the summer, standing on small strip of brown grass and broken concrete wedged between a 4 lane road and a 6-lane highway isn’t an inviting experience in the least.
Creating a bus-only lane on the Pike between Newton Corner (or even W. Newton) and downtown would help make that ride considerably more inviting for local commuters. It would be interesting to test and see how many cars it would pull from the morning commute.
The most interesting opportunity, however, is Longwood. On the D Line, Longwood is a major exit point for many commuters. But getting from the north edge of town to Longwood can be a more cumbersome experience.
Good point about Longwood. I know so many people in my West Newton neighborhood that commute to Longwood including my husband and mostoy they do the CR to Landsdowne then walk the rest of the way which can be more than a mile depending on where in Longwood they work.
Call me a realist but understanding that the MBTA has limited funds I’m very happy to see all three Newton stations will be getting upgraded. This is a vast improvement over just upgrading Auburndale. I just wish they could build it faster than 5 years!
There is just not demand to justify building the second platforms right now. There are no large office buildings near the commuter rail stations so there is not a significant number of people reverse commuting.
Now if some office development is proposed along Washington St perhaps part of the approval would be helping to fund the south side station.
Lastly the MBTA service schedule is designed based on ridership, if we want more service we need more riders. So you either want more development and therefore more riders or you want to keep it the way it is.
Longwood service to Newton would improve tremendously with a connection of commuter rail to Riverside. Landsdowne (the old Yawkey) Station is at the edge of Longwood, but the MASCO and hospital shuttles help significantly to get people to and from the station.
The big problem with the MBTA’s presentation for Newton commuter rail is that their plans are about the T’s interest, not the Commonwealth’s interest. The T is a projection of the Commonwealth, and the state should implement policy using it as a tool.
Housing is a regional problem. Transportation (and congestion) is a regional problem. The need for good, well-paying jobs is a regional problem. The need for employment mobility is a regional problem. Maintaining quality of life is a regional problem. Energy, climate, air quality, all regional challenges. Improved commuter rail in Newton allows the city to help address these regional issues, as well as enhance the lives of its own citizens.
If communities embrace the political and planning challenges of increased higher-density development close to transit in order to help solve regional problems, the state simply must step up and enhance transit through the MBTA, as only the state can do.
The Mayor is right, though: we need to grab what we can get now (ADA accessible stations with a path to better service). At the most basic level, universal accessibility of transit stations should be fully funded by the state.
But we simply can’t stop there. It isn’t in Newton’s interest. And it isn’t in the Commonwealth’s interest.
A lot of the new development on Washington Street s being touted as a being urbanish, wanting to limit cars, and pushing people to use public transit. And as it stands, the commuter rail really is what is name says and is just for commuting into Boston during business areas, but I think it needs to be more than that for people to be able to ditch their cars. Or we could improve bus service in the interim. There’s gotta be a way!
Will the presentation by the MBTA be online at some point? Was anyone taking a video?
They did promise that the presentation would be posted online. An audience member was taking a video on her phone; unfortunately I’m not sure who it was, so as to know where to expect to see it.
I was at this meeting. I stayed until about 7:45, when questions seemed to be tailing off and/or getting repetitive. The presenters assured us that the presentation materials will appear online soon. If history serves they’ll appear as a link off of the meeting page, https://mbta.com/events/2019-07-25/newton-commuter-rail-stations-accessibility-improvements-public-meeting
I went into this meeting expecting nothing more than the plans that were presented — the signs from the preliminary report a year ago all pointed to this conclusion. Even so I was disappointed, especially at the huge price differential for the 2-track options.
One issue that concerns me about this project as proposed is that the T has allocated only $20 million of the projected $45-ish million of even this minimal project. The implication was that if the City or someone else ponies up the rest, the project might possibly actually occur on the schedule outlined. But if not, who knows. I think the presenters heard from the audience that this is unacceptable, and I hope Newton officials can continue to hammer this home.
The T presenters made it clear that their goal for this project is ADA, with a side helping of easier-to-maintain stations (covered stairs that don’t need shoveling, for example). Increased service levels, to them, are not worth the extra money.
I think Mike Halle hit the nail on the head with his above comment that what we face is a regional issue. If Newton is willing to be a good state citizen and add housing to try to help address the regional housing crisis, the state needs to come to the table with the transportation tools we need to make such a plan workable. But in my opinion it’s the City’s responsibility to drive this, as part of the larger Washington Street process. And I think it’s 100% in the City’s court to extract funding from development to enable better transit.
Anyway, one other interesting aspect that I haven’t seen mentioned thus far: someone in the audience proposed “option one and a third”: to investigate double-sided platforms at one of the three Newton stations to at least provide some form of off-peak / reverse-commute options. The presenters seemed to agree to develop this concept more fully. I suspect the MBTA will still not be willing to finance this option, but my opinion is that such an option may be more within reach of being done with funds from development.
I did the video on Facebook Live and it’s public on my page. I’ll try to geit t on YouTube asap. Missed the first 10 or 15 minutes of the presentation because I stopped to say goodbye to a dog in Lowell leaving work, and on the other end traffic was bumper to bumper on Comm Ave eastbound between Washington St and City Hall at 6pm (what’s up with that?). I came in on the slide about # of trains each way. Got all the Q&A.
I posted this on another thread and it didn’t spark any discussion, but this is what’s being proposed at one of the Wellesley commuter rail lots:
Why can’t we get deals like that?
Is this a trick question?
OK. I will pretend it isn’t.
Because the folks who think Newton should remain exactly the same as the day they moved in would say it’s too dense and insist on reductions that would make it impossible to include all those affordable units.
@Tricia: Unlike Greg, I’ll claim that unlike Wellesley, some City leaders don’t know how to/or don’t want to bargain.
Have any of you guy folks actually been to that Wellesley stop? It is apples and oranges from our current situation.
Does it border a major highway!
Does it have a grade change of almost two stories?
Does it have limited land use for building a head house?
Nope. Nope. Nope.
So basically we have two vastly different projects. Ours is more like the Fenway commuter rail stop, or Boston landing. That was a 20 million dollar project. The Fenway stop was largely paid for by the developer I think, but he is building two very tall buildings in return.
And Amy and Greg you are both right. Hallaulah! Amy, any project with any density gets torn apart in our city. If it wasn’t for 40b, projects the size of Austin street would be the absolute Maximum size, far too small for any significant givebacks like a commuter rail station.
And Greg, our city council and Mayors have a pretty spotty track record in such negotiations.
@Kyle: double platforms will make it possible to provide increased service in Newton during rush hour as well as off peak. More frequent service will make the trains a more attractive option for commuters, even without considering development and demand for reverse commutes.
@Richard, Jonathan: Julia Malakie was taking video and she has posted it on FB https://www.facebook.com/JuliaMalakie/videos/vb.100001757125701/2305466622855219/?type=2&theater
@Doug L: The MBTA sometimes does post presentations long after the fact (took 3+ weeks and multiple requests for the Newton Highlands presentation) . I spoke towards the end to say that it’s ridiculous that in 2019 the MBTA can’t post the presentation the day of the meeting, if not sooner. The response was that the presentation would be send out to those who signed up in the back of the room. If you weren’t there, too bad.
Thanks to Kay Khan and TransitMatters for getting us this far, but the presentation was a huge disappointment. The MBTA isn’t stepping up to provide better service or anything beyond the bare minimum to meet ADA. Estimates were absurdly expensive but, surprise, in line with other inflated MBTA projects. The MBTA showed no imagination. How about public/private partnership? With a road diet, perhaps there is more land for a head house than you’d think, Fig, not to mention the potential for future development in the immediate area like the Star Market lot.
Even without going that far, most people in attendance realized that there were many good options between alternatives 1 and 2, namely building one double platform station in Newton so there would be at least some increase in service. The MBTA gave a hand wave and said that there should be no cost to postponing alternative 2 except inflation, but some found it hard to believe. Who would do a construction project without careful design and planning for future stages of the project? (The presenter came back with a promise to put together some sort of rough estimates for an alternative 1 1/3)
There was also mention of bridge and track realignment work for a double platform at Newtonville, figured into the inflated alternative 2 costs, but probably unnecessary. When I questioned them, it seemed clear they had not investigated alternate sites for the station which might avoid these issues.
We’ve seen a long streak of bad planning from MassDOT and the T. West Station, GLX, old Auburndale ADA design, Newton Highlands ADA… As usual they presented their plans as a done deal. We should question everything they say and demand better.
Adam, I actually think there could be plenty of room, especially if we are willing to sacrifice a few parking spots. But I was just trying to make the point that the Wellesley comparison was not apples to apples. Much easier project in Wellesley due to grade and space.
The MBTA is never going to make Newton a transit priority. This is going to take real leadership from every one of our Newton representatives. Mayor, state legislative branch, and city council. And it will take years. We should have started 20 years ago.
At some point, if the city doesn’t get its act together, the solution will be to shut down 2 out of the three stations, in the names of efficiency and cost.
I think part of the problem is that transportation is not an exciting enough issue for most politicians. And it doesn’t lend itself to small, incremental change. We seem to be a community that virtue signals consistently (plastic bag ban! Water bottle ban! Random votes on national issues!) but our elected officials (and we the voters who keep electing them) have real issues getting to the meat of the problems in front of us, even the ones that could be solved with a broad enough coalition (increased affordable housing of at least 10%! transportation improvements! high school start times!)
I’m happy to support some of those virtue signaling votes, and I don’t mean to degrade the small ball approach to solving problems. But I think this issue in front of us cries out for a leadership approach that pushes a longer term solution with funding and a serious plan to get there. Our leadership nibbles at these problems and pats itself on the back. It is very frustrating, and I’m usually the one defending the incremental approach in government. Sometimes though, we need to go big.
Going big isn’t popular in the short term. It could mean additional taxes, additional density, combined with major lobbying to get additional sources from state wide actors. But I’d give up some added density and height along washington Street for dedicated 2 way commuter rail, and I’d support an override if it improved the streets, improved public transport, and improved elder transport.
The impression I got from the tone and overall presentation is it was little more than a check box so the MBTA could say they had a public meeting. It was clear that the main factor for them was what was the cheapest and quickest way to meet ADA requirements and nothing else, and they did not have good answers for any of the questions such as why other stations are getting proper dual-platform remakes while the Newton stations remain single platform. They didn’t seem to be prepared for much besides a minimal presentation, would have been quicker to just jump to the alternative 1 slide and say that’s the choice. It’s also worth emphasizing that even the cheapest option is nowhere near fully funded, and the expectation from the MBTA seems to be for Newton to pitch in for what they should have done years ago. Their reference projects for other cities were fully funded dual-platform remakes while they want Newton to shoulder part of the costs for a sub-optimal single platform design.
I think it’s telling that even though the MBTA Rail Vision is looking at three potential urban rail options they are not willing to commit to dual platforms as part of this redesign. They do say that their single option platform would be extendable but my feeling is that if they don’t do it now they aren’t going to any time in the near future. Not a good look when the supposed message is transit is a critical priority.
If this is the level of commitment they’re going to have towards something that’s required by law I would assume we’re going to get the bare minimum level of maintenance and nothing more, even with a redeveloped Washington St and Riverside development that are both critically dependent on a functional rail system. The responses they gave at the Riverside land use meeting weren’t much better – no commitments outside of what they’re already doing and they explicitly stated that the increased revenues from a potential Riverside development aren’t necessarily going to be used to improve MBTA service in Newton. If the expectation is for northern Newton to drastically increase density to support regional needs then there should also be an equal investment to make sure our rail system can support it. What they’re proposing for the commuter rail falls far short of that.
I need to help Julia get a different site for her videos than Facebook. Everyone should really get off Facebook – I won’t go there.
Maybe Greg could host them on this Site?
Anyways, I take one look at the train station in Newtonville and it’s hard to imagine the T really spending the money to make that stop be “modern”, the cost is no doubt huge. It’s just a reality of the situation.
One of the concerns about the Washington Place development was that it was touted highly as public transportation oriented – but those of us who live over here were cringing as we heard that because we know how bad the commuter rail stops are.
I asked a friend who lives in Newton Center “have you ever seen the Newtonville Commuter Rail stop”? He said no. I showed him the photos, and he said, ” oh my god!”.
This is why I resent the way the Washington Street projects have been handled. Those of us who live here know much more about the realities of day to day life.
Recently, I read the mayors ponderings in the Tab about “sidewalk cafes”, and such. Well, the Pike noise at Washington Place, as measured by yours truly, is 90 dB with peaks as high as 114 dB ( think jackhammer).
No one is going to sit outside at Washington Place. No one. The residents won’t even be opening their windows if they want to hear the radio.
You want to know what things work and what things don’t? Talk to the people who live there. ( and I mean within blocks, not miles).
Good luck with the commuter rail upgrades.
Julia has been a regular contributor to Village 14 for many years. However we don’t allow electeds and candidates to start threads here (except as an occasional guest post) so she has currently recused herself as one of our bloggers.
If you’d like to see her return here (and post videos) you should root for her to lose in November. 😉
@Adam – the MBTA could increase service now by having express trains stop, but it’s not needed based on today’s ridership. If the second track were added the only service the MBTA was willing to add was reverse commuting which we have minimal demand for.
@Rick – it’s obvious that you don’t take the train on a daily basis as I do. The vast majority of the time there are seats available and the train arrives at south station within 5 minutes of the scheduled time. While the stations and trains won’t win a beauty contest they do a very good job of getting people to work and back. I’m not saying it couldn’t be improved upon because it certainly can.
The Washington St corridor with frequent bus and train service is a fantastic location for commuting to Boston. Living here has allowed my wife and I to easily get by with one car and we much prefer public transit to driving on the pike!
@Kyle you’re right I don’t. When I’m not at my office in newton Center I typically commute out to Southborough where I have to be on site.
I have taken the commuter rail once, carrying a suitcase down the stairs and I said that’s the last time I’m doing that. And, the cars wiz by you only a few feet away. If there was ever an accident people standing on the waiting area would be severely injured if not killed. The train is fine. It’s the station that’s the problem. And to do it “right” is going to cost a lot of money.
The MBTA presentation from this meeting has finally been posted: https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/2019-08/2019-07-25-newton-cr-stations-public-meeting-presentation.pdf