Commuter rail expansion gets skeptical response from MBTA
PHOTO/SAM BONACCI
Expansions to the commuter rail take a back seat to maintenance under the latest MBTA plan.
MBTA overseers on Monday greeted warily potential pilots for expanding commuter rail service to Bourne and Foxborough and lowering weekend fares to Plymouth to encourage greater ridership.
T General Manager Frank DePaola said local officials had approached the MBTA about offering weekend service to Buzzards Bay in Bourne and to Foxborough. Buzzards Bay is one of the stops en route to Cape Cod on the seasonal Cape Flyer train, and the T runs service to Foxborough for special events at Gillette Stadium.
DePaola also discussed potentially offering a reduced rate for weekend service to Plymouth to boost ridership.
In its draft capital plan the MBTA has emphasized repairs and upgrades to the current system over service expansion.
"We're trying to put people in empty seats," said DePaola, who said he was presenting the ideas to the board for some feedback. The projects came up during a presentation about pilot process selection methodology.
The idea of service expansion through pilot programs generated skepticism from T overseers.
"I don't see a positive impact given the fiscal situation that we're in. We're cutting late night service," said Brian Lang, a member of the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board. He said it "makes no sense" to expand service that would "put us further in the red."
"I think there are better things to use our money on," control board member Monica Tibbits-Nutt said.
DePaola said if pilots to increase service to Bourne and Foxborough increased ridership, they could have a "positive impact on our net ride subsidy" for the commuter rail.
Rather than extending commuter rail service from Middleborough/Lakeville, the pilot would provide a "feeder" rail service operated by Mass Coastal Railroad from Bourne to the Middleborough/Lakeville commuter rail terminus for $3 per trip starting in September, DePaola said.
The total cost of that potential pilot would be about $200,000 for seven months, said DePaola, who did not have monetary estimates for the other potential pilot programs.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments