“The wealth gap, the income gap in our society has gotten to the point where it is starting to drag us backwards. And it’s going to really start dragging us backwards if government doesn’t step in to address it.”
CHARLIE B. ON THE T: AN ILLUSTRATED FEATURE ON THE PLIGHT OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN BOSTON
Since you don’t have time to catch up on the last four years of news about the MBTA before the election, here’s a comprehensive reported comic strip on the plight of public transportation by longtime Beacon Hill reporter Andy Metzger.
CHARLIE ON THE BRT
Bus rapid transit is no longer a pipe dream in the Boston area
ACCESS THE VOTE: AT LONG LAST, ACTIVISTS WITH DISABILITIES CONNECT LOCALLY, NATIONALLY
“We started Access in January after we had had enough. … They treat you like you are the only one, but then you see that there are others. We’ve been on our own, so now we’re trying to work together.”
PUBLIC TRANSIT IN BOSTON HASN’T GOTTEN VERY FAR IN 130 YEARS
We pulled more than 1,000 words from the episode’s transcript, replaced (a minimal number of) dated terms like “horses” with more neutral or contemporary ones, and excerpted it below for you to have a good laugh (and/or cry) as you read this on an un-air-conditioned Red Line on the hottest day of the summer.
OH, SULLIVAN: I BRAVED THE NOTORIOUS CROSSHAIRS OF CHARLESTOWN, EVERETT, AND SOMERVILLE AND LIVED TO WRITE ABOUT IT
Even for this tortured region, Sullivan is something of an evil clusterfuck oasis, an otherworldly portal into gridlock that uniquely cripples multiple municipalities at once.
BROKEN MEDIA, BROKEN POLITICS
If Mass journalists were doing their jobs, Baker would not be so popular It’s always funny to hear that Charlie Baker is a very popular governor… The most popular governor in the country at the moment, according to polls. Because he doesn’t do anything very differently than his predecessor Deval Patrick did. Or […]
TERROR AT 50 FEET
Acrimony over Seaport gondola plan speaks to need for expanded MBTA service Much ink has been spilled in the Boston press over a plan by luxury developer Millennium Partners and its subsidiary Cargo Ventures to spend $100 million to build an aerial gondola system from South Station up Summer Street across Fort Point […]
THE INCREDIBLE, INEQUITABLE MBTA
To get from one place to another in Boston, many commuters use the public transit system for commuter rail, subway, and bus route services. However, the tracks and lanes that are supposed to connect residents from their homes to their jobs and other destinations can have the opposite effect, stranding us and pushing people farther away from the city and essential services.
CRISIS AVERTED
MBTA bus mechanics beat back privatization… at a cost Unionized bus mechanics represented by the International Association of Machinists Local 264 won an important victory last week when they agreed to a four-year contract with the MBTA—effectively ending a two-year effort by the transportation authority’s Fiscal and Management Control Board to privatize three […]
