An article in Slate talks about three old school technologies that can go a long way towards solving our transportation challenges.
The elevator is perhaps the foremost example of a relatively ancient transportation technology that could allow people to live and work in closer proximity, reducing the length of commutes and fostering commercial and social vitality. Unfortunately, in most American communities the elevator has been functionally outlawed because zoning requirements will permit no building taller than a small tree.
The bus is another overlooked piece of technology that could do far more. In most American cities, buses are hard to depend on because they run infrequently, slowly, and often on routes that are holdovers from streetcar systems abandoned decades ago. Give a bus its own lane, its own route, its own authority over signals, and it can permit car-free land use to flourish alongside.
And no technology holds as much promise as the humble bicycle—especially when we include its newfangled, electrified cousins—to solve the geometry problem that is getting people short distances around a big city. Even in the United States, where everything is fairly far apart by global standards, 48 percent of automobile trips in the biggest U.S. cities travel less than 3 miles—a distance that, with the right infrastructure, could be easily covered by a smaller vehicle.
IMHO the actual technology which “holds much promise” to address (reduce or fix) future transportation in Newton — especially as regards public school — is the internet and virtual reality.
Nice try. Not buying it.
Not buying what?
Self driving cars or autonomous bus…
It wont matter if you live near public transportation or a nearby suburb.. your commute to work will be stress free as more autonomous cars are on the road.
Even a bus only lane on the pike could allow thousands of people to live in farther suburbs and still get to work in under 1 hour… no politician is brave enough to push for this…
These are more realistic than waiting for the MBTA to fix their mess..
Self driving cars will never happen.
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3042148/its-almost-2020-where-are-all-driverless-cars
disclosure- I am a software engineer with expertise in computer vision ( so called ) and I develop and have developed software for 3D image guided surgery.
I even did some consulting for local company Neutonomy, (but only indirectly on their cars; I did some work on their mapping software )
The dirty little secret is that this technology is no where near reliable ( the sensors get completely shutdown by rain, and using road line paint for lane detection is assuming quite a bit and will also shut down in the snow ). The technology coming out of this will help drivers with reduced vision and perception ( elderly, and inexperienced drivers) and that’s a good thing. But autonomous level 4 and 5 will never happen, and the best you might see is a dedicated lane ( completely shieldEd by concrete barriers ) which for efficiency might as well just be a train.
Ubers business model to move to autonomous cars is also unrealistic as they will have to buy and maintain all the cars, which is more expensive than just keeping their current model of using contractors who bear that expense.
Sorry to rain on the parade. Besides, autonomous cars don’t reduce traffic or carbon emissions either.
But on an upbeat note, we’re halfway there…
https://youtu.be/DkGMY63FF3Q
Here’s a better discussion, as a software engineer, I really feel it’s important for me to make people aware of the limitations of technology- machine learning, autonomous cars and the like, there a lot of hype and people are wishful thinkers by nature. I’m not- I’m a pessimist, by nature and occupation ( I often spend 1/2 of every day working on SFMEA documents – software failure modes analysis- required by the FDA – trying to analyze what can go wrong in the Medical software I work on, and people should be glad we do that).
Here’s the article/ video.
It’s time for people to get a little more realistic about technology solving these problems. The say “decades”. I say never.
Oops here it is
https://www.businessinsider.com/self-driving-cars-fully-autonomous-vehicles-future-prediction-timeline-2019-8
How about improving road capacity with turning lanes where possible. Take chestnut street for instance there are several intersections where through traffic is stuck if someone is making a left. Even at the intersection of Chestnut and Elliot which was recently repaved there is room for a turning lane but instead the lines are just painted straight down the middle which allows for excessively wide lanes which in turn encourages speeding.
Other intersection are much narrower and would require an expansion of the road. Thoughts?
Whenever I go for a medical checkup or non medical errand, I make it a point to ask the people working there if they used their car or public transit to get to work. I’ll bet I’ve asked over 200 people this question over the past several years. I have yet to find one person who got to work using public transportation. The overwhelming majority drive because they have no other option if they want to get to work on time and attend to family chores and obligations before leaving home. Almost none live in Newton and almost all live in communities far to the west or south from here. Try getting to Newton or Watertown by bus from Franklin, Ashland, Marlboro or Medfield. This is not going to change and it’s not their fault, or the fault of anyone writing on this blog. This is the result of 65 + years of federal policies, promoted by oil, gas, automobile manufacturers etc. that too often geared everything to advancing roadways and the private automobile while neglecting or, at times, actually destroying viable public transit systems that were seen as competing with the automobile in urban areas. Anything we do over the next 20 years will likely only change a very small part of how people get to work. This is not the fault of anyone who has to drive to work or to anyone who posts on this blog. We are all caught with largely intractable we had no part in making. The blame rests with lobbyists, decision makers and others who passed from this scene many years back. Many of the same kinds of short sighted decisions have been made with regard to motor vehicles and climate change. Here we still have time to think big. In fact, we must act big, bus wisely.
There are no quick fixes to our transportation and transit problems and we shouldn’t beat on each other
@Bugek, I would consider it. The bus is the workhorse of our transit system and is underutilized and too often overlooked. With new technologies like transit signal priority and local bus only lanes showing success I think the time has come to sell the bus hard and promote ridership.
I would like to explore the possibilty of a bus only on the Mass Pike, especially the Newton Corner/Watertown Square to Downtown Boston stretch. Why would we not prioritize the bus which can carry as many as 70 people as opposed to a private vehicle with one driver. As I am sure you know, the vast majority of vehicles on the Pike during peak times are SOV’s.
I know this sounds like an unlikely possibilty at this moment. But we have had bigger challenges and been successful.
Alison,
You are definitely brave if you propose a bus lane front and center.
The outrage of drivers on the pike having to endure an even worst commute would be too much to bear. Especially since there is no guarantee that the MBTA would provide bus service from THEIR town…
There also isn’t enough parking spaces if those folks wanted to drive to Newton and then use the Express bus.
I could certainly see private bus operators providing this service from various towns to fill any gaps…but i dont know if the MBTA lobby would allow private bus companies to enroach on their space
Alison
Great article on NYCs introduction of a bus only(city roads) lane last year. Increased ridership and only minimal impact on drivers.. and a surprising spillover benefit of increasing bike use
https://www.curbed.com/2020/1/23/21077583/bus-transit-traffic-congestion-busway-car-free
Love the idea of the bus lane on the Pike. One on Route 9 would be super too. Bugek – If there is a bus lane, the bus becomes faster than cars stuck in traffic, so more people use it, reducing the number of cars stuck in traffic. Places where the bus frequency has been improved, like Houston, have increased ridership.
The State should also be increasing the frequency, reliability and length of service on Bus #59, if they truly want to support increased housing. Bus #59 goes through Newton’s densest residential areas – Nonantum, Newtonville and Needham St. Plus it connects the express buses, Green Line and Commuter Rail.
Right now, we have multiple developments either opening or in design along route #59 – Austin St, Orr, Northland, 4 corners, Muzi Ford (in Needham)… Plus business districts and NNHS, Senior Center, and the State’s busiest library. If the #59 ran every 10 minutes until 10 pm, it would be a real transportation option. It’s not for everyone – but we don’t need to get everyone out of a car, just some people to reduce traffic.
lucia
The last 30 years has shown us the MBTA are grossly miss-managed. A policy change to make 1 pike lane bus only + 1 local lanes leading to pike would foster the growth of private bus companies to fill the gap while MBTA spend decades “thinking” about improving their service.
I could certainly imagine Uber or other startups introducing shuttle buses if one could do a door-to-south station commute in 30 mins “all day long” for $5. Or even more radical: Any company located in Boston with over 1000 employees MUST provide a free shuttle bus if over 20% of employees live in a single town
If pollution is a clear and present danger, why haven’t any local politicians screaming for low hanging fruit solutions vs “unrealistically” waiting for the MBTA to get their stuff together?
Logistically, the painting and signs on the pike for Bus only could be done within 12 months and enforcement is crazy simple.. Do new buses/drivers take more than 12 months to procure if the funding is ready?
@ Bob Burke you are correct. The green line used to go into Newton corner and down Galen street, and was torn up to accommodate more cars. And every time one flies on a plane – which many of us do for pleasure and business- there’s a tremendous carbon output associated with that. To really walk the walk you’re talking about living an Amish lifestyle.
My concern is that developers are building in Boston without adequate long range planning for flooding caused by climate change. And while reducing ones carbon output is a good idea, the rest of the “developing” world – mostly China and India – are not necessarily going to do enough so we have to start mitigation planning – now. I’m not a civil engineer but I believe Boston is going to need sea walls and pumps – much like New Orleans – and planning for that construction should start now. I also wonder about a collapse in prices of Boston Real Estate after a couple of “100 year” floods happen within 10 years of each other.
I’m thinking 20-30 years out, so I may not be around to see it one way or another.
I scanned the comments and don’t see any references. ABC On the Record has a segment airing today at 11am with Stephanie Pollack, MA Secretary of Transportation . Might be of interest
Thinking about a dedicated bus lane on the Pike… the thought experiment of running buses in a dedicated lane on the Pike is a good one. To be successful at getting people out of their cars, such a service would need to be frequent, flexible, and reliable enough that users don’t have to think about the schedule much. If you’re running late in the morning, you can just catch the next bus. The same flexibility needs to exist in the evening (so you can stick around to get that work project wrapped up, not skip out of that meeting that’s running long, or go out for a beer with your coworkers). That flexibility is important during the day, too, so you can adjust your schedule for appointments, run home if you’re not feeling well or for some family need, etc.
Moreover, people need to get *to* the frequent express buses, so they either need to originate in a variety of places moderately distant from the Pike, or there need to be good ways to get people to stations near the highway exits. There’s an issue, though, that if buses are going to pick up people along the way, getting off & back on the highway is not such a huge deal on Rte 9, but probably a non-starter on the Pike.
However, there is an existing dedicated right-of-way alongside the Pike through Newton that runs directly to major employment and cultural destinations downtown. Using it doesn’t require removing lanes from the Pike. Yes, I’m referring to the railroad tracks! Using the same 15-minute all-day schedule (with smaller, green-line-sized train cars) and the same last-mile collector bus routes as in the bus-lane solution solves the same problem.
What I’ve just described is, of course, Regional Rail, and you can see why transit advocates and urban planners are so enthusiastic about it.
Doug l,
The rail is the obvious solution but the MBTA are incapable of implementing the solution in a reasonable time frame. We should lobby for something which can be implemented in 12-24 months..
Bus only lane on the pike and private companies will provide the frequent buses if the MBTA refuse to do so.
Yes to bus only lanes. I think that a bus only lane (with increased service!! ) could work really well on Washington Street. Especially with all of the development that will be happening, it would be nice for people to be able to hop on and off to go to Trader Joe’s, the Y, Cabot’s, and home, to commuter rail stations, etc. Connect with the green line and maybe to Watertown Square so people can get on the 70 and 71 buses to Cambridge. Not improving transit on Washington Street would be a huge missed opportunity.