Letters

LETTER: Watertown Deserves to be a Priority in MBTA’s Investment Plan

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Letter To The Editor

The MBTA recently released its “Focus 40 Investment Plan.” On pages 13-19 of that plan, the MBTA gives an overview of which communities it considers “Priority Places”  in its Focus 40 investment plan. https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/files/projects/focus40/2018-07-30-focus40-draft-plan-digital.pdf

I believe that Watertown (East Watertown in particular) deserves the “Priority Place” designation because it’s fits many of the criteria for a Priority Place listed on page 14 including:
“• Lack rapid transit service, but bus usage exceeds available capacity
• Face traffic congestion that compromises the performance of MBTA buses in mixed traffic
• Host major centers of activity or dense residential populations, but lack efficient public transit access
• Feature population or employment densities that support higher frequency transit”
I urge Watertown’s residents and local and state representatives to contact the MBTA to add Watertown to its “Priority Places” so that our small but growing city can get the public transit investments we need for our future,

 

Teddy Kokoros
Watertown Resident

Transportation

See When the Garage at Alewife MTBA Station Will be Reopening

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The following information was provided by the Mass. Department of Transportation:

Following the weekend closure of the Alewife Station parking garage, work crews were able to address areas of concrete deterioration, which will allow all levels of the garage to reopen at 5 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 13. Out of an abundance of caution, the MBTA proactively closed the garage on Friday, Aug. 10, to allow crews to expedite concrete repairs and to conduct a comprehensive engineering assessment. During the weekend closure, crews were able to address additional areas of deteriorated concrete, inspect and cover expansion joints where appropriate, and secure the paths of travel for pedestrian and vehicular access to the garage.

Alewife

MBTA Closing Alewife Garage Over the Weekend

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The MBTA sent out this message about the repairs on the Alewife Garage. NOTE, this story was updated at 4 p.m. on Aug. 10: 
The safety of its customers and employees is the MBTA’s highest priority. Today, the MBTA is announcing that out of an abundance of caution, the Alewife garage will be closed through the weekend to allow for continued repairs and a comprehensive engineering assessment. 
Through ongoing assessments and repair work, additional areas of deteriorated concrete that need to be addressed have been discovered. As such, the garage will be closed over the weekend to address these areas and to expedite the repair plan.

Around Town

Queue Jump Lanes Added to Mt. Auburn Street in Effort to Improve Bus Service

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The following information was provided by the Department of Public Works:

Following days of initial testing, the Town of Watertown has debuted two “queue jump” lanes at School Street and Walnut Street. Queue jump lanes allow buses to move more quickly through intersections by “jumping” to the front of a line of traffic. Bus rapid transit (BRT) systems around the world use queue jump lanes to create a faster and more reliable bus ride and improve overall traffic flow. “Roughly 5,000 bus trips are made each day in Watertown in this corridor, and the Route 71 bus is an important asset to the community,” said Matthew Shuman, Town Engineer for the Town of Watertown. “We also know from research in other places that moving Watertown closer to BRT with queue jump lanes has the potential to speed up the commute for everyone by separating buses from cars at intersections.

Transportation

Commonwealth Ave. Bridge Project Will Impact Pike, Trains, MBTA Service

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The following announcement was provided by MassDOT:
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has announced that intensive construction operations for its project to replace the westbound side of the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge in Boston began successfully on the evening of Thursday, July 26. “On Thursday evening, Commonwealth Avenue as well as the Boston University Bridge were closed to all vehicular traffic, detours were implemented for MBTA bus routes, and a section of the Green Line B branch is now replaced by bus shuttles,” said Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver. “Our crews have started initial work-related activities including roadway milling, staging equipment, and bringing in bridge beams and materials. The public is asked to avoid the local area if possible as significant travel impacts are in place, and make informed decisions on route, timing, and mode of travel.”
Crews will start demolishing the westbound side of the bridge on the morning of Saturday, July 28. The MBTA Commuter Rail Worcester/Framingham line and the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited line will be replaced for some station stops by bus shuttles throughout the weekend, and during the following weekend, in order to ensure adequate room for operations.

Transportation

MBTA Starting Better Bus Project to Improve Existing Bus Network

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The MBTA announced the launch of the Better Bus Project, a program focused on making improvements to the existing bus network through operational changes, targeted capital investments, and stakeholder partnerships. Throughout 2018 and 2019, the Better Bus team will identify improvements in bus service that would have a positive impact on nearly 450,000 people in 50 communities who rely on MBTA bus service every weekday. In early 2017, the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board adopted a set of standards and goals for bus-service delivery. The MBTA collected riders’ comments and feedback for over two years, which were integrated into the policy. With the policy in place, the Better Bus Project is focused on closing the gap between current service delivery and the adopted policy standards.

App

MBTA Piloting Bus App for Blind Riders Developed by Perkins School, Raizlabs

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The following information was provided by Perkins School for the Blind:
Perkins School for the Blind has enhanced its groundbreaking micronavigation app, designed to help commuters with visual impairment find their bus stops, by bolstering it with new technology that makes traveling even easier. Still free to use, BlindWays 2.0 now alerts riders along select MBTA bus routes when they’ve found their outdoor stop via signals from bluetooth beacons, installed in bus stop signs, that trigger iPhone vibration. “Perkins continues to foster innovation by working collaboratively, as we are with the MBTA and developer Raizlabs on this initiative, to solve challenges for people who are visually impaired,” said Luiza Aguiar, executive director of Perkins Solutions. “We’re motivated to help create a transportation infrastructure that is equally accessible to all riders. Augmenting BlindWays to leverage beacons speeds us along that path.”
The first iteration of BlindWays was released in fall of 2016, providing users with crowdsourced landmark clues to help them navigate the last 30 feet of frustration standard GPS models leave between users and their exact destinations.

Bus Lanes

Traffic Patterns Changing to Speed Up Buses on Mt. Auburn St. During Pilot Program

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Some changes to traffic patterns on Mt. Auburn Street will be tested during a Bus Priority Pilot in effort to speed up buses on the roadway through Watertown and Cambridge. A community meeting will be May 1, 2018, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Tufts Health Plan (705 Mount Auburn St., Watertown) to discuss the Bus Priority Pilot, but Watertown Department of Public Works officials gave some details prior to the meeting. The pilot will test ways to get buses down Mt. Auburn Street faster, Shuman said, because so many people use public transit to commute.