Category Archives: Transportation

SREcon Americas 2023, a report

Posted on 2023-03-28 by Garrett Wollman

Attention conservation notice: 6,200 words about conferences you didn’t attend and idiosyncratic constraints that make it unlikely I will attend again any time soon. My apologies that this report is so long, but it would take much too long to … Continue reading →

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Question 1 passed, so now what?

Posted on 2022-11-21 by Garrett Wollman

Given the ongoing issues with Twitter, as detailed in my previous post, I’m trying to move more of my mid-length writing back onto the blog so I’m not generating as much free content for the South African emerald-mine heir. This … Continue reading →

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More comments on the MBTA’s capital plan

Posted on 2022-05-25 by Garrett Wollman

Since my last post, the state legislature has gotten down to work in earnest on the FY23 budget, but unfortunately I have not had time to do a dive into the Senate version of the budget before the logrolling started … Continue reading →

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Comments on the MBTA’s FY23-27 Capital Investment Plan

Posted on 2022-04-04 by Garrett Wollman

At its last board meeting in March, the MBTA released its first five-year Capital Investment Plan (CIP) since the COVID-19 pandemic sent the agency scrambling. This marks a significant change from prior CIP cycles, in which the MBTA’s and MassDOT’s … Continue reading →

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The Turnpike Extension is too wide

Posted on 2021-08-26 by Garrett Wollman

For two decades, my homeward commute (when I’m driving, and these days when I’m also not working from home) has been the same: head south on Mass. Ave. to Newbury St., take the on-ramp formerly known as “exit 21”, and … Continue reading →

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A busy week for transportation legislation

Posted on 2021-05-30 by Garrett Wollman

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and in Massachusetts that means two things: the state legislature is debating the budget and the state’s draft Capital Investment Plan has been published for comment. In Washington, the Biden Administration has published its official budget … Continue reading →

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Weekend excursion: Stations of the B&M New Hampshire Main Line/MBTA Lowell Line

Posted on 2021-05-04 by Garrett Wollman

As I’ve neared the end of this series of posts, I’ve gotten a bit better at procrastinating, so most of the photos this post is based on (see the associated photo gallery) were taken a month ago now, and I’m … Continue reading →

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Automatic generation and validation of train schedules

Posted on 2021-04-28 by Garrett Wollman

Passenger railroads throughout the world have mechanisms to generate timetables for both service and capital planning purposes. The way I’ve done this in the past is with the Mk. 1 eyeball: you come up with a schedule, maybe draw some stringline … Continue reading →

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It’s budget time again (already?)

Posted on 2021-04-17 by Garrett Wollman

Last week, the House Committee on Ways and Means reported out its version of the state budget for fiscal year 2022, H.4000, and the Mass. House of Representatives gave it second reading. It’s supposed to be taken up again a … Continue reading →

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Weekend excursion: Stations of the Old Colony Railroad (MBTA Kingston and Middleboro Lines)

Posted on 2021-04-14 by Garrett Wollman

Of all the passenger routes bringing commuters from Boston’s suburbs into the city, none were hit quite so hard by the automobile age as those of the former Old Colony Railroad. The construction of the Route 3 and Route 24 … Continue reading →

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