Transportation Agenda In The News

Just about anyone in the state who cares about public transportation can name a new rail line, trolley service, or subway extension that they insist would change everything for the better.

For some, it's adding a rail branch, like a line to Fall River-New Bedford. For others, it's a key connection, like extending the Blue Line so that it connects with the Red Line. And of course, there are plans to bring the Green Line to Somerville and Medford, create an "urban ring" - bus or rail - around the perimeter of Boston, and build a tunnel connecting the two branches of the Silver Line between downtown and the Seaport.

Most of these projects have been laid out in plans or written into legal requirements somewhere in the state. But it's tough to keep track of them all, much less figure out which ones will actually get built.

A new report from the Massachusetts Public Research Interest Group, called "Connecting the Commonwealth," attempts to make sense of the projects. Of course, the people at MASSPIRG are very protransit and don't really want to say no to anything. But the report offers a pretty comprehensive description of all the options out there. You can link at it here: www.masspirg.org/report.