Category Archives: Commuting to Boston

0 Final Proposals Named for Northern Avenue Bridge Redesign

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Rendering of Norther Ave. Bridge redesign

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The Northern Avenue Bridge has arrived at the final 4. Next to follow are the RFP’s from the City of Boston.

From the BBJ:

The city of Boston and the Boston Society of Architects announced the winners of a competition Thursday that would reimagine the Northern Avenue Bridge, the now-closed dilapidated structure that serves as a link between downtown and the burgeoning Seaport District.

The four winning ideas — chosen by a jury assembled by the city and the BSA — range from a plan to place an elevated civic space in the middle of a revamped bridge to one that places a “greenhouse where botanical gardens flourish year round.”

You can read more about the final four Northern Ave. Bridge proposals on the BBJ.

0 Boston Helipad Near the O’Neill Tunnel?

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Credit: The Boston Globe

Credit: The Boston Globe

Commuting is a key to our city’s continued growth on the international stage, and the newest venue in that arena will be a helipad. Where the city, state and the FAA decide to put it is the next big question. Personally, I prefer the grassy plot south of Kneeland Street near an entrance to the O’Neill Tunnel.

A recent Boston Globe article notes “the state has already discussed a small patch of grass just to the south of the Tip O’Neill Tunnel, an unremarkable place so close to the surrounding highways that pilots could all but converse with motorists stuck in rush-hour traffic…But that’s just one possibility. The state Department of Transportation is also expected to look at a number of other locations close to GE’s future headquarters in Fort Point. And then there’s always the option of sticking a helipad on a barge in the water.”

You can read more on the Globe’s site, here.

0 Boston Earmarks $9.3M for Cyclist and Pedestrian Safety

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Bike riders commute around Boston

Credit: Boston.com

The city of Boston cares about your safety and if you ride you bike they want to make it better for you. The city will be spending $9.3 million over the next 3 years to improve infrastructure focused on safety.

From Boston.com:

“The objective is to … make [streets] safer, and we do that by design,” Vineet Gupta, the director of policy and planning for the city’s transportation department, told Boston.com.

This year, the city will prioritize four areas in need of improvements: Massachusetts Avenue, the Talbot-Norfolk Triangle in Dorchester near Codman Square, the area near the Orange Line’s Stony Brooke Station in Jamaica Plain, and Harvard Avenue. The transportation department selected these areas after analyzing three years of crash and speeding data, Gupta said.

0 Seaplane from Boston Waterfront to NYC

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Seaplane planned for Boston harbor

Credit: The Boston Globe

The Boston waterfront will eventually be host to another form of transportation to NYC: Seaplane. Two companies, Tailwind and Cape Air, are lining up for the $1,000 round trip fares.

Some expect this service will arrive in Boston Harbor in 2017 and will depart from a pier in the Seaport.

From the Boston Globe:

After at least two years of preparations and behind-the-scenes discussions, the rival companies Tailwind and Cape Air will each test a nine-passenger Cessna Caravan in Boston Harbor this week as they seek Federal Aviation Administration approval to use the harbor as a take-off and landing zone. One factor the agency will be watching: whether the seaplanes can safely navigate the busy airspace next to Logan International Airport, along with a harbor often crowded with boats. If they receive the federal approvals they need, both companies could launch service within a year.

“You’re really going to be able to . . . get on an airplane at 8 a.m., be at a morning meeting in New York, and turn around and be back by lunchtime,” Wolf said. “We think demand is going to be strong.”

0 Diminishing Space for Parking in Boston

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Seaport parking lot near South Boston waterfront

Credit: New Boston Post

Self-driving cars are getting airtime on talk shows and in the news.  On a recent broadcast experts believe we will see integration of them by 2036, yes 20 years.  When they do arrive, I can only imagine that cars will be able to self-park in much tighter spaces and when we wish to leave we will simply “Uber” our own car and select a pickup location.  What happens between 2016 and 2036 is the challenge.  Perhaps Boston should look at London as an example and tax cars coming into the city during peak hours.

A recent article on New Boston Post notes, “when the Boston Redevelopment Authority closed the garage, ostensibly for engineering reviews, it took the best parking deal downtown away from long-suffering Hub commuters who paid just $20 a day for one of its 435 spaces. Only a few years earlier, it was even cheaper – and this in a neighborhood where the average daily rate was close to $40 even in 2013…Boston currently has spaces for 2,310 cars and the plan approved by the BRA in January will end up eliminating half of those spaces, cutting the number available to the public to fewer than 600.”

You can read more on the New Boston Post.

0 Lyft is on the hunt for new office space in Boston

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Lyft app screen

Credit: BBJ

Lyft is on the move for a new office in Boston. CIC provided a good foothold to start the operation, but now a permanent home is in the cards according to Tyler George.

From the Boston Business Journal:

“We wanted to start at the CIC where we could integrate ourselves with a lot of really forward-thinking businesses in Kendall Square and Cambridge, but we wanted to have a permanent office to continue to grow our staff and have in-person support for our drivers,” [Lyft’s Boston General Manager Tyler George] said in an interview.

“We want to be able to have a big enough space to hold events and parties for drivers and passengers,” he said. “It’ll be a significant piece of real estate.” Venture-backed Lyft was founded in 2012 and earlier this year landed another $1 billion from investors including General Motors Corp., valuing the company at $5.5 billion.

0 Bikes Make Life Better

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Bikes make life betterBikes Make Life Better is an organization focused on just that. The vision is to integrate bikes into corporate culture to impact people, the planet and profitability. They do this through a combination of consulting, discounted product sales and ongoing operational support.

If your company is looking to roll out a program give them a shout and see if they can help you.

 

0 Government Center T station Reopens

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The Government Center T Stop will welcome commuters and visitors after a two-year renovation.

Government Center T

Credit: Boston.com

“After sitting shuttered for two years for renovations, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s 17th busiest rapid transit station will open after a midday ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 21,” according to an article on Boston.com.

You can read the full article, here.

 

0 Permit Application Filed to Dismantle Northern Avenue Bridge

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Boston Seaport Bridge under construction

Credit: The Boston Globe

The Northern Ave. Bridge is closer to becoming a memory, once joining the Financial District to the Seaport.  When it was built it would have been hard to imagine that it would come to connect two vibrant, non-industrial areas of our waterfront. Let’s hope the city moves forward with a replacement to assist in the congestion of success that has occurred.

From the Boston Globe:

In a new permit application filed with the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that oversees the waterway, the city proposes dismantling the bridge by disconnecting its three spans and transporting the pieces via barge to a city-owned storage yard in East Boston.

Full dismantling of the structure — which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and beloved by preservationists — could take up to three months, said city engineer Para M. Jayasinghe. It is expected to cost $15 million.

While the bridge is being taken down, the channel would have to be closed to accommodate the work.

 

0 Boston Officials Mull Seaplane Service in Boston Harbor

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Seaplane flys over harbor and office buildings

Credit: Kenmoreair

Seaplanes in Boston Harbor?  Well this could be one of the new commuter services being embraced by the city leadership.

According to a Boston Business Journal report, “Boston’s top economic development official said Thursday that the city will launch a waterfront planning effort intended to bring more programming and public access to the harbor while also opening the potential for commercial seaplane service in the years ahead…A waterfront plan would likely join with Imagine Boston 2030, the city’s first comprehensive master plan in the past five decades. It also comes during a construction boom throughout Boston, particularly throughout the South Boston waterfront.

You can read the full BBJ article on its website.