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Oped: Transportation

American Citizenship, Transportation
June 21, 2023

MBTA retirement fund is headed for a financial reckoning

The new MBTA Retirement Fund Actuarial Valuation Report shows the fund is only about 51 percent funded. In 2006, it was 94 percent funded. A “death spiral” generally accelerates when retirement system funding dips below 50 percent.
American Citizenship, Education, Opportunity, Transportation
June 12, 2023

Installing bike and bus lanes requires public debate

The problem isn’t with the concept of bike lanes but, rather, the lack of public conversation or transparency. Municipal governments are changing the infrastructure and character of entire neighborhoods and small commercial centers with little input from those most affected.
American Citizenship, Transportation
November 20, 2020

Contracting with private providers could avert MBTA cuts

In response to a collapse in MBTA service in the winter of 2015, the newly formed Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) set the authority on a course of bold reforms. The COVID-19 pandemic is once again presenting new and significant challenges to T leadership that require a rethinking of how service is delivered to stave off painful service cuts.
American Citizenship, Transportation
October 13, 2020

During construction, the Allston Mass. Pike project must address commuters' needs

As part of the state’s $1 billion reconfiguration of the Massachusetts Turnpike in Allston, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack recently announced that a narrow strip of land known as “the throat,” will be considered for an at-grade option in addition to a proposal to rebuild the highway viaduct by Boston University.
Transportation
January 7, 2020

Employers should offer commuter benefits to employees

There is no single solution to solve our traffic congestion crisis, but offering employees commuter benefits programs, which bring economic and environmental benefits, among others, can help.
Transportation
December 10, 2019

Dynamic pricing for the Expressway

By Jim Stergios & Conrad Crawford Published in The Boston Globe on December 6, 2019 Earlier this year, INRIX, a mobility analytics firm, announced that Greater Boston now has the nation’s worst rush hour traffic. Tell us something we don’t know. It’s been years...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
October 29, 2019

An easy transportation fix? Commuter benefits

This op-ed appeared in The Boston Business Journal on October 29, 2019. By Robert Dawson and Mary Connaughton MassDOT’s recent report, Congestion in the Commonwealth 2019, found what millions of commuters already know: Massachusetts has reached a tipping point. Congestion is no longer...
Transportation
May 31, 2019

The Mass. Pike is in for some massive disruption. Are we ready?

The Boston Globe By Mary Connaughton and Jim Aloisi May 31, 2019 Beginning this summer, commuters are in for longer rides as the Massachusetts Department of Transportation prepares to extend the Prudential tunnel under parts of Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street to...
Transportation
May 16, 2019

Uber May Not Be Perfect, But Do We Want To Give The Transportation Revolution A Flat Tire?

This op-ed appeared on WGBH News. You’d be right to shake your head at how the press hyperventilated about the “thousands of customers” that were going to be inconvenienced by the so-called “Uber strike.” If you live in the real world, you...
American Citizenship, Transportation
May 3, 2019

Mass Pike rebuild shouldn't impact Worcester commuters, but it will

This op-ed originally appeared in The Worcester Telegram & Gazette May 3, 2019 The sleeping giant of MetroWest and Worcester commuters is about to be stirred, thanks to an ill-conceived plan by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that would severely impact their...