Beyond Red & Blue

Is Beacon Street just a big boondoggle?

Alaska is debating whether to build what would be the only road in and out of its state capital, according to the New York Times -- a project that seems a bit less expensive and a bit more justifiable than the Bridge to Nowhere.

Still, there are objections to the plan from some Juneau residents:

“I want to keep Alaska the way it is,” said Greg Lutton, 38, waiting to catch a ferry last month in Auke Bay, north of downtown. “I’ll move down south if I want that kind of stuff.”

"That kind of stuff" referring, apparently, to the presence of Alaskans other than Juneau's population of 30,000. Making everyone else take a ferry to the State House must cut down on the number of noisy constituents.

I wonder whether the Times article will provoke feelings of envy among Gov. Patrick, Senate President Murray, Speaker DiMasi, and the residents of Beacon Hill...

Subways pick up speed in Boston, trolleys are faster nationally

The American Public Transportation Association posted more good news for itself yesterday, reporting that mass transit use went up by 3.3 percent nationwide during the first three months of 2008 compared to the same time in 2007. Boston's MBTA also posted gains, though in a different pattern than found elsewhere.

Nationally, light rail -- known as trolleys here -- had the most improved stats (up 10.3 percent), though they were goosed by the 476 percent jump in ridership in New Orleans (thanks to the restoration of service disrupted by Hurricane Katrina). Still, there were double-digit increases in Baltimore, Minneapolis, and San Francisco. In Boston, the ridership was up by a more modest 5.0 percent, but it's not surprising that our creaky -- and recently crash-plagued -- Green Line isn't keeping up with the new trolley lines elsewhere. 

Commuter rail ridership nationwide was up by 5.7 percent, thanks in part to doube-digit increases in Seattle and Philadelphia, but it was up by only 1.3 percent in the Boston area. Ridership on heavy rail (subways) went up 4.4 percent nationally, and Boston's jump of 8.8 percent was second only to that of the Staten Island Railway in New York (up 12.3 percent). Curiously, subway use went down by 1.1 percent in Philadelphia. In Boston, we seem to be shifting demand a bit from commuter rail to subway, while the opposite is occurring in Philly.

Nationwide, bus ridership went up by 2.0 percent, and it was up by 5.0 percent on the MBTA. Presumably, that figure doesn't include the shuttle bus service that goes into action when the subway breaks down.

Why can't we be more...European

Bashing Europeans -- especially the French -- for going soft on war in Iraq became a popular US pastime in the immediate post-9/11 era.  French fries were renamed "freedom fries."  John Kerry, who spent time in France as a youth, was even accused of somehow looking French, a low blow indeed!  Now, along comes New York Times columnist Paul Krugman with a startling message in the $4 per gallon of gas era: We should all try to be more European.

Writing in today's paper, Krugman says the folks across the pond have it exactly right when it comes to the new oil-price reality: "If Europe’s example is any guide, here are the two secrets of coping with expensive oil: own fuel-efficient cars, and don’t drive them too much."  That approach is possible in Europe, he says, because of a car culture that doesn't worship monstrous gas-guzzlers and metropolitan and regional planning that welcomes low-rise apartment buildings and makes heavy use of rail transit. 

By the time I finished the column, I felt practically continental -- and carbon-footprint virtuous -- for Krugman describes my transportation profile perfectly.  I have a nearly 25-year-old Saab, which gets good mileage, but spends most of the time getting the rest it needs in the driveway of my Boston home, while I take the city's MBTA subway system downtown to work.  It might be the right model for our times, but Krugman quickly reminds me what a complete outlier I am in this country, pointing out that fewer than 5 percent of all Americans commute to work via public transportation. 

It's hard to feel like you're part of a privileged elite when sandwiched on a rush-hour subway train in the heat of summer.  But if the oil-price spike keeps up, the idea won't be so far fetched.

"Flip book" subway ads old news in Boston but a big deal in L.A.

The Los Angeles Times has a story on subway billboards that appear as videos to the passengers gliding by them:

On Tuesday, commercial messages on mass transit in the Southland reached a new frontier when subway riders began seeing a 15-second video floating outside the train's window in a dark tunnel near Universal City.

The first ad was a short promo for the film "Speed Racer," featuring the main character's car zipping and flipping about. An ad for Target began showing later in the morning, complete with dancing models.

A few people in the Times story find the billboards "intrusive." I link to it for two reasons. First, it's not often that Boston can brag about being ahead of Los Angeles in glitzy forms of advertising; we've seen moving ads for Target stores, cruise lines, and (of course) luxury cars for years on the Red Line. Second, it's charmingly naive that the Times headline describes video billboards as a "big payday" for the Los Angeles transit authority. Have they made much of a dent in the MBTA's debt?

Subway use up 3 percent nationally, down 8 percent in Boston

Ridership numbers for the year 2007 were posted yesterday by the American Public Transportation Association, which noted that trips on public transit totalled 10.3 billion in the US, or 2.1 percent over the previous year's tally. Total trips on Boston's MBTA, however, decreased by 2.9 percent.

The use of light rail (trolleys and streetcars) increased by 6.1 percent nationally, though that figure was apparently inflated by the restoration of streetcar service in New Orleans. MBTA light-rail ridership was up by 1.0 percent (see data for individual cities here), but it was up by 26 percent in Philadelphia and 15 percent in the state of New Jersey.

Heavy rail (subway) ridership was up 3.1 percent nationally, led by a 13 percent jump in San Juan and a 10 percent increase in Atlanta. In Boston, subway use dropped by 7.8 percent (maybe that's because of all the times subway lines were shut down and replaced by shuttle buses).

Commuter rail ridership was up 5.5 percent nationally and up 1.7 percent on the MBTA. Bus usage was up slightly on the national level by down a bit on the MBTA.

The Nashville area had the biggest increase in mass transit usage overall, thanks to a commuter rail system that saw 92,700 trips in 2006 and 226,000 trips last year. The biggest decline was in Syracuse, New York, where bus usage (there's no other kind of mass transit there) dropped by 27 percent.

Ringing in the New Year on the T

“Peace and quiet. It has a nice ring to it” proclaim the newest ads in the MBTA’s “Courtesy counts” remedial public civility campaign. Surely they jest. With the advent of underground wireless services, quiet (such as it is on mass transit) is definitely a thing of the past. In late December, the MBTA unveiled wireless service at four downtown stations and the tunnels that connect them: Park Street, Downtown Crossing, Government Center, and State Street.

This development has the virtue of putting a minimum of $4 million into the coffers of the notoriously cash-poor transit agency, courtesy of a 15-year contract with InSite Wireless, the firm constructing and operating the network. The T stands to collect additional fees as more stations are added to the wireless network. Three cell phone service providers have agreed to provide signals to their customers.

Extending the reach of wireless services to the subway tunnels has certain benefits. Texting, surfing, and e-mailing are constructive uses of commuting downtime. Riders also will be able to report suspicious behavior, crimes, fires, and even find out the real reasons for those inevitable “disabled trains” or “medical emergencies.”

Yet while no one expects a subway car to be a den of tranquility, more than a few passengers using cell phones regularly subject their fellow carbon-based units to the exquisite agony of listening mind-numbing patter. Or worse. On a jam-packed Red Line train, I once endured a cell phone conversation of a woman (accompanied by small children) featuring a breathtaking range of expletives that would have confounded even the famously foul-mouthed Richard Nixon.

Something tells me T General Manager Dan Grabauskas probably didn’t have those facts of commuting life in mind when he extolled the service as a “major customer service enhancement” in a recent statement. New posters also remind riders that “Loud conversation can disrupt everyone around you,” which was doubtless a true eureka moment for the ad writers. Unfortunately, if you didn’t learn that at your mother’s knee, or don’t have top-of-the-line cell phone coverage, it’s doubtful that you’ll be swayed by these T-dispensed pearls of wisdom.

There are better ideas, and, they are percolating elsewhere. Last September, New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that all of its nearly 300 stations would be wired for cell phone use. To spare commuters additional unwelcome aural intrusions, the MTA made the bold decision not to wire its tunnels. But some subway riders, like some T commuters, can pick up signals on certain routes now anyway — which prompted some New York City Council members to propose “quiet cars” on trains similar to the ones in use by Amtrak and other intercity rail lines.

Does Menino see dollar signs in surveillance cameras?

Boston Mayor Tom Menino has said he wants to install cameras at key intersections to nab the city's notoriously heavy-footed drivers who think a yellow light is their cue to speed up. "A thousand Americans were killed in 2003 because people chose to run a red light," Menino's transportation commissioner, Tom Tinlin, told the Boston Globe last December. "The scope of this project is very specific. It's to tell people to stop running red lights. That's the only intent."

Maybe so. But reports from other cities suggest the added eyes on drivers and resulting traffic offense fines can also be a cash cow for strapped municipal budgets. This is a bonus that surely won't be turned down by Menino, who often complains about the city's limited means of raising revenue. Today's Houston Chronicle reports that cameras installed last fall at 50 intersections there have so far brought in $6 million. Meanwhile, the Miami Herald reports that city commissioners there gave initial approval yesterday to a plan for intersection cameras, a move that supporters say could generate as much $10 million in annual revenue for the city.

The Herald reports that a 2005 Federal Highway Administration study found a decrease in "T-bone-type" accidents at intersections with cameras, but an increase in rear-end collisions. The paper says the increase in rear-enders is presumably a result of drivers becoming skittish about the cameras and stopping quickly when drivers behind them aren't expecting it, something that could be a particular problem under Boston's yellow-light-means-go-like-hell rules of the road.

Acela is A-OK, but train whistles are a devilish nuisance

The Boston Globe' s David Abel reports on a 20 percent jump in ridership this year on Amtrak's Acela service to New York and Washington:

In the 20 years he has been selling tickets for Amtrak, Jimmy Tsang has seen his share of long lines and harried passengers. But the South Station agent says he has not seen anything like the crush of the past year.

"Every train is packed," said Tsang, who sells tickets for the Acela Express. "The trains are sold out every weekend."

Good news for Amtrak and, arguably, the environment. Terrible news for anyone thinking of going to New York with less than a month of advance planning (but you can't find a hotel on such short notice anyway). Then again, good news for polite people who don't try to hog two seats on the train by scattering their coats, books, laptop, etc. If a train is sold out, the entitled people who fend off seatmates for as long as possible will end up sitting next to the passengers who rush on at the last possible moment -- who always have too much luggage and too many things to talk about.

Trains are not as popular in certain South Shore towns that have banned whistles from commuter trains on the new Greenbush Line. According to the Globe's Peter J. Howe:

Nationally, all train engineers are required to sound their horns at every public grade crossing -- two long blasts, a short, and a long -- even at crossings protected by the kinds of striped gates and flashing lights and bells in place on the Greenbush line. But the Federal Railroad Administration grants exemptions in cities and towns where local officials petition for waivers, including ... the five Greenbush communities of Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate. Administration spokesman Warren Flatau stressed that even in no-horn zones, "if they believe there's an imminent hazard or emergency, engineers are still allowed" to sound the horn.

Some say this is a reckless policy, but given the MBTA's fiscal woes, I doubt it will follow Massport's lead in appeasing residents concerned about noise. The airport authority simply installed soundproof windows in homes under flight corridors in East Boston, Revere, South Boston, and Winthrop. That's why you'll sometimes see "Massport windows" listed as an amenity in real estate listings from those areas. (Google the phrase if you want to find a place near Logan.)

Why Johnny Can't Walk to School

"Less than 15 percent of all schoolchildren walk or ride bicycles to school," notes Charles Euchner (a frequent contributor to CommonWealth) in a fascinating Hartford Courant column. The main reason is the trend toward fewer but larger ("super-sized") schools, many of them sited far from residential areas. (Kids make too much noise, so why not put them in town's warehouse district?) But Euchner points out some of the drawbacks of this phenomenon -- not only the lack of exercise for kids who have to be driven to school, but also the fact that "gigantism requires extra layers of bureaucracy, which puts distance between educators and students."

I can think of another benefit of schools that are within walking distance of most students rather than a long bus ride away: They can start classes later and allow kids some to sleep in a little later, a need that Po Bronson explores in New York magazine.

Transit stats: MBTA ridership is southbound

Public transit fans (not to be confused with foamers) should head over to the American Public Transportation Association to get ridership stats for the first six months of 2007. The bottom line is that more people are going public -- 78 million more trips compared the first six months of last year -- but Boston's MBTA lags on all counts.

Ridership on commuter rail was up 5.5 percent nationwide and up 2.7 percent in the Boston area. Light rail (trolleys) was up 4.1 percent nationally but down 2.0 percent in Boston; buses were up 0.6 percent nationally but down 4.3 percent in Boston. And ridership for heavy rail was up 2.8 percent nationally but down 8.0 percent in Boston -- which was the steepest slide among all 13 systems in the US with subway systems.