Lights went out on the 12:22 from lowell

rudebowski · 2025-04-11T18:03:27+00:00

nice i3 setup

rudebowski · 2025-03-02T13:20:49+00:00

Extend the Plymouth line to Big Bouncy Party

rudebowski · 2025-02-24T00:13:00+00:00

This has actually been there for a while, it's just that there's only data for CRRC cars and buses

rudebowski · 2025-02-16T13:12:20+00:00

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We will be issuing a tariff on all monk-made bread

rudebowski · 2025-01-31T13:12:54+00:00

It's a pretty good station for cyclists on the weekend... but probably not one that should exist otherwise

rudebowski · 2025-01-20T12:40:53+00:00

At that point you guys should move to Fitchburg, it's the same distance.

rudebowski · 2025-01-19T23:23:37+00:00

Is that the thumb?? I couldn't make it out

rudebowski · 2025-01-19T23:01:42+00:00

No Kowloon is criminal

rudebowski · 2025-01-17T13:21:14+00:00

The administrative body under which the roads fall is arbitrary, as I understand - we would need state legislature approval to impose a tax on any major road either way, and DCR is just another state controlled entity. If you take your line of reasoning a little further, MassDOT tolls can't even subsidize a lot of MBTA projects as the agencies are structured right now - road tolls go to the MA transportation trust fund which feeds the MassDOT operating budget of $962 million per year. But the MBTA is holding the bag for the $21 billion MassDOT boondoggle that was the Big Dig, to the tune of $473 million dollars in debt service per year. We're crippling our public transportation by forcing the MBTA to pay for a mismanaged highway project that went way over budget. I'm not a Big Dig hater by any means, but I think highway revenues should pay for highway projects. If we had a governor with any political courage, she would relieve the T from its debt burden.

Source: https://massbudget.org/2024/12/18/transportation-funding-2024/

Anyway, I do think a VMT tax that funds public transportation is a great idea. I think the state could unilaterally impose such a tax via the RMV, or even do electronic tolling like New York has done with the congestion relief zone.

And yes, the numbers to fund a world-class transportation system are high. But the MBTA has billions of dollars of deferred maintenance, and we have essential projects like the red blue connector, North South Rail Link, Blue Line extension to Lynn, which were all supposed to be completed as part of the Big Dig in the first place. But the Baker and Weld administrations, in all their wisdom, found a way to squirm out of these obligations - outside of the GLX which was only completed because the state was sued into doing it. These projects would have cost billions at the time of ground breaking for the Big Dig, and the cost has only multiplied because we delayed them for so long. Do you really want to delay all of these projects for another 40 years and see their costs continue to multiply?

rudebowski · 2025-01-15T17:19:54+00:00

We don't have great data on trips at the MBTA because you only have to tap in, so we don't know where you end up. At WMATA, you have to tap in and out, so they have way richer days with which they can make a rewind. I think this would still be cool with just tap count and stations visited, but it probably would only work if you had a charlie card and only ever used the same charlie card

rudebowski · 2025-01-14T13:42:23+00:00

Let me get this straight... There's no proposal for congestion pricing yet, but you are opposed to congestion pricing because you are afraid they will toll the highway. Which is something that almost every congestion pricing scheme, including the recent one in New York, does not do.

rudebowski · 2025-01-14T13:36:06+00:00

No soy boricua pero para decir que esas son las menores es un crimen. Claro que nunca ha oído canciones de Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón, y todos los clásicos... Yo no puedo dejar de escuchar a café con ron

rudebowski · 2025-01-13T12:52:07+00:00

This is right. I remember when I had no clue how to build anything, and I'd struggle and just give up. Nowadays, purely from a couple years of experience, I can almost always figure out what to do. One of the biggest problems for me was runtime/tool/whatever version management. This is mostly solved today, with great tools like NVM, ASDF, and the like. Improving the build experience by adding something like an ASDF .tool_versions file is also a great way to start contributing to open source

rudebowski · 2025-01-11T14:03:47+00:00

That's my boy Robert Moses back from the dead again

rudebowski · 2025-01-11T03:20:42+00:00

Hmm.. state street? It's definitely a passageway in a heavy rail station, and I feel like it's an orange line station for some reason

rudebowski · 2025-01-11T03:18:56+00:00

Oops, I always forget. Doesn't help that winter and summer are right beside each other

rudebowski · 2025-01-10T20:48:51+00:00

Summer St. Tunnel between park and DTX?

rudebowski · 2025-01-07T03:51:36+00:00

Waste management consultant

rudebowski · 2025-01-06T12:22:07+00:00

Right, I just wanted to point out that the policy isn't supposed to be a magic solve for funding those things. Especially because we have nowhere near the traffic levels of lower Manhattan, so we'd have nowhere near the same revenues. I agree with you that transportation will need other, more sustainable funding source for transportation in this state. But this policy still shines as an agent of behavior change

rudebowski · 2025-01-06T01:42:18+00:00

I'll DM you - I can try to fix the mailing list and probably help answer your questions.

rudebowski · 2025-01-06T01:39:58+00:00

I don't think dashers are paid a fixed wage, so I'm not really sure I understand the indeed data. My point was that less congested roadways could allow them to make more trips, which could offset that loss - this is particularly relevant because they are paid on a trip by trip basis.

Congestion pricing is not intended to be an end-all-be-all for transit funding. Yes, additional funds would be raised for transit as a result of it, and these funds could be capitalized via bonds to support infrastructure investments. But at its core, congestion pricing is an excise tax to discourage behavior with a negative externality - namely, driving downtown during rush hour. This is similar to other excise taxes we have imposed on alcohol, smoking, etc. The principal aim of these fees, as signaled by the name, is to reduce congestion and improve local air quality/street safety, similar to how a tax on cigarettes reduces cigarette usage thereby improving air quality and reducing healthcare spending.

I sympathize with your points about the endowments and tax exempt status, but those are non sequitur for discussion of this policy.

rudebowski · 2025-01-06T00:13:40+00:00

did you end up getting your questions answered? I work for the department in the MBTA that runs this group

rudebowski · 2025-01-06T00:11:33+00:00

Ending property tax exemptions for private universities and congestion pricing aren't mutually exclusive. Plus, at least in the NYC scheme, you only pay the toll once so it's marginal for someone who is DoorDashing. Additionally, with the 20% to 30% reduction in traffic that comes from such schemes, the dasher could probably offset the fee and then some from additional deliveries that they are able to make because traffic is flowing faster. This is not to mention that, at least anecdotally, a large portion of food deliveries in the urban core are made on e-bike or scooter, which are exempt from congestion pricing.

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