Better #publictransit could save Massachusetts $20 billion

Study calls for improved public transit; touts benefits of reduced driving | WBJournal.com: "Calling for an improved public transportation system that would enable Massachusetts residents cut back on driving, a report out Monday says a 1 percent decrease in the growth rate of driving miles would improve overall quality of life and result in an aggregate $20.1 billion in savings by 2030."

People in Vermont want to spend less time in cars

VTDigger : "While alternative transportation advocates dominated the audience, almost all present raised their hands when asked if they owned a car. About half the car owners said they wanted to drive less than they did, Zicconi said."

Millennials Want More Public Transportation

U.S. PIRG : "As a Millennial myself, I can relate to many of these reasons above. I went to college where I didn’t have, want, or need a car. I’m not yet married (nor do I plan to be for a long while) and want to live in walkable areas where I can get to the grocery stores, restaurants, bars, and other attractions without a car.  But it’s the availability of technology has largely enabled me to realize that want – a number of apps allow me to find the closest bike share, map the fastest bus route home, reserve a car, or order a ride at the touch of a button.

The reasons Millennials as a whole are driving less is varied and complicated, but as the largest generation, they’re the ones with the most to gain or lose from a lack of investment in public transportation.  The decisions we make today are will define how we’re able to navigate our cities in the future and it’s clear that Millennials want more public transportation.  It’s time for our city leaders to head that call."

Survey: Boston Millennials Say MBTA Is Most Important Factor In Where They Live And Work

WBUR: "Millennials in Greater Boston say access to public transit is the most important factor in where they choose to live and work."

Public Transportation Offers Solution to Parking Issues at MGH

bunewsservice.com : "“I don’t have a car. I live in the city,” Kelsey Powers, a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, said. “But even if I did, they [the hospital] don’t give parking benefits unless you’re salaried, and even then you don’t always get it.

“They don’t really have street parking. And it’s every two hours too so I can’t come out and feed [the meter] every two hours,” Powers said."

Connecticut Public sounds off on transportation needs

nhregister : "“We need to link rail lines and bus lines so they can be complementary to each other,”"

New Haven initiative will burn calories instead of money

NHRegister: "In 2014, Go New Haven Go reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 456 tons, cut car transportation by 10,276 miles, helped save $5,754 dollars in transportation costs and helped commuters burn 154,163 extra calories, as 47 commuters pledged to bike or carpool instead of drive to work, according to the program’s website."

Massachusetts #publictransit needs more investment

Panelists talk mass transit - News - Wakefield Observer - Wakefield, MA: "“A reliable, efficient, high-quality transportation system is critical to the strength and future growth of the local economy,” Lewis said. “Environmentally, it takes cars off the roads, and it improves public health.”
However, he said, “there were failures of the public transportation system in the extreme winter weather in February, and even before, there were ongoing issues and concerns with subways, buses and the commuter rail.”
Mares noted that Stoneham, in Sen. Lewis’ Fifth Middlesex district, has just one MBTA bus line (132) and that other areas have even fewer options.
“Twenty-six percent of high-density areas in the region have no public transportation within a quarter-mile of homes,” Mares said. “A lot of pockets don’t have service. With changing demographics, we need to cover the region.”"

Sen. Jason Lewis -- "affordable public transportation is vital"

Patch: "“Reliable, affordable public transportation is vital to the quality of life and economic strength of our district and region, so I’m very pleased that our next Community Conversation will focus on this important issue,” Sen. Lewis said in the release. “The conversations I have directly with constituents across the district are the best source of information and guidance to help me do my job in the legislature. I’m excited about the ‘Community Conversations’ series as each forum provides us with a good opportunity to engage in a substantive dialogue on a timely and important topic.”"

Community Conversations forum to tackle future of public transportation

Malden Observer: "Continuing the Community Conversations issue discussions, state Sen. Jason Lewis will hold a third forum in the series, which will focus on challenges faced and opportunities ahead in our public transportation system."

What Will Be America’s First Car-Free City? (NYmag.com)

A post-automobile world?: "But the realistic chance of an outright ban on cars in any large section of Gotham is basically nil. The same is true most places in America. The most notable exception — that is, the major U.S. city that has the clearest route to going car-free — is Boston."

Opinion: Shift from fossil fuel transport

burlingtonfreepress.com: " Automobiles, which are the cause of the majority of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, also produce pollutants that are dangerous to the health of humans, especially in metropolitan areas with dense populations.

Nitrogen oxides and ozone emitted by automobiles causes a multitude of health related issues and can be minimized by a change in transportation methods and infrastructure. If we do not change our methods of transportation for short trips we run the risk of degrading the health of our citizens in urban environments and wide reaching environmental degradation on a global scale."

Boston: Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA) Pushes for Public Transit Improvements

959watd.com: "“We really are going to need to step up, as many other regions in the country and countries around the world are doing, and be prepared to maybe add a few cents to the gas tax,” Ostroff continued, “and maybe look at other ways in which we can generate revenue in order to bring our old infrastructure up to speed.”"

Merchants of Doubt Is an Anatomy Lesson in Uncertainty Campaigns

The Stranger: "Merchants of Doubt is a chilling but enthralling anatomy lesson in uncertainty campaigns that have been waged since the 1950s to battle bad news—about tobacco, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, toxic flame retardants that don’t really work—with the same tactics: deflect, manufacture confusion, create false controversy, attack the messenger, appeal to people’s sense of “freedom.” Uncertainty campaigns can stall change for decades: It took 50 years for the facts to catch up with the tobacco industry, which made its famous payout in 1998. But when it comes to climate change, Oreskes points out, we don’t have 50 years to spare."

Mass Transit to Shape Cities, CRE of the Future

National Real Estate Investor: "That is happening with a firm eye on mass transit. Today, cities such as Boulder, Colo., Nashville, Tenn., Portland, Ore., and others are enhancing quality of life with improved mobility. Developers are focusing on building in areas close to mass transit, both underscoring and taking advantage of the attractiveness of the live/walk/work lifestyle and its impact on the urban living experience."

Sustain Mid-Maine

Sustain Mid-Maine: "Sustain Mid Maine Coalition is a grassroots initiative created to conserve our resources, sustain a healthy environment, and promote economic prosperity for the Mid-Maine region. Our volunteers are divided into 7 teams: Education; Energy; Grow and Support Local Foods; Permaculture; Public Policy; Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; Transportation Team."

Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher

NYTimes.com : "He has accepted more than $1.2 million in money from the fossil-fuel industry over the last decade while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his scientific papers. At least 11 papers he has published since 2008 omitted such a disclosure, and in at least eight of those cases, he appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work."

Failure to invest in #publictransit has cost Boston area big bucks

View from the Senate: Addressing urgent public transportation needs - News - The Reading Advocate - Reading, MA: "The MBTA provides public transit services to 176 communities across Massachusetts, servicing a population of nearly five million, making it America’s fifth-largest mass transit system. A modern, reliable, affordable public transportation system is of critical importance to the greater Boston area, including our communities. It is necessary for the Commonwealth’s economic health and growth; just consider how many people-hours of work were lost due to the MBTA’s shutdowns and delays. Further, public transit vastly improves our environment by giving commuters an alternative to increasing automotive traffic. Finally, an excellent public transit system vastly improves the region’s quality of life."

You can't get there from here via public transportation if you don't have any

Maine Sunday Telegram: "BRIDGTON — Use public transportation! This directive is always on a Top 10 list of ways to reduce our carbon footprint or aid in healing the planet of its man-made environmental troubles. The question is: How many of us in Maine have a public transportation option?"

Snowstorms expose the failure of car culture

The Boston Globe: "These workers illustrate the disproportionate hardship the snow has imposed on the area’s lowest-paid workers. For them, it’s more than a temporary inconvenience. It’s a financial blow that can make all the difference in paying bills, making the rent, and putting food on the table."

Young people leaving Vermont in search of #publictransit, #walkability

Rutland Herald Online: "Not only are young adults dissatisfied with Vermont’s transportation services, they believe that the state’s limited public transportation options, combined with its limited number of bicycle-and-pedestrian facilities, are causing many of their peers to either move away from the Green Mountains or not consider Vermont when choosing a place to live, work, and raise a family."

Report: To Attract More Millennials, Vermont Must Improve Transportation Services

Vermont Public Radio: ""Young Vermonters are looking for options," said Zicconi. "They do not want to be tied to their automobiles, or even have to have an automobile at all.""

Mass Gov. admits, autosprawl does not work in snow

CBS Boston: "Baker said people should who drive should expect a difficult commute, including icy roads in southern areas that see sleet and freezing rain in the afternoon. He also said drivers should remember that a parking ban takes effect in Boston at 6 a.m. and other communities also have parking bans and snow emergencies."

Public transportation could provide answer to poverty

The Red and Black : Views: "It's a catch-22: To gain employment, one must be able to arrive to a job consistently and on time, and in order to do so one must have transportation. To have transportation in cities that have no public bus or train system, one must have a car. In order to have a car one must make money, and in order to make money one must have a job. Lack of public transportation is keeping the poor in poverty and preventing the betterment of our society. What would be the most effective way to eradicate poverty and a failing system of social welfare? Public transportation."

Go #carfree to save money and seven other reasons

8 Reasons to Adopt a Car-Free Lifestyle » EcoWatch: "1. It’s good for your bank account. Between payments, upkeep, insurance and gas, owning a car can take a major bite out of a household budget. While a post-World War II culture had a fetish for cars and saw them as a form of entertainment, today they’re more like a utility that fills a need. If that need is filled by walking, bicycling or public transportation, personal costs drop steeply. That frees up income to use in other more enjoyable ways than getting your brakes fixed."

Waltham council committee requests more public transportation

Wicked Local Waltham: "The Economic & Community Development Committee on Monday briefly discussed the issue. Ward 3 Councilor George Darcy sponsored a resolution calling for increased efforts to get additional MBTA service in Waltham."

The Reserve in downtown Meriden closes amid parking worries

MyRecordJournal.com: "MERIDEN — The closure of a 93-space parking lot at 38-44 Colony St. is miring services for churchgoers and business customers, and according to one owner, contributed to the closure of The Reserve public house and concert venue."

CT Governor admits cars choking the economy, calls it unacceptable.

Governor Malloy: "We have more to do because traffic congestion still costs the average person an extra 42 hours away from your family each year.

And for our economy, it’s the equivalent of 97 million dollars in lost time and wasted fuel, each and every day.

All told roads and bridges that are either deficient or overly-congested cost Connecticut drivers a total of 4.2 billion dollars annually.

It’s harming us and the health of our children with additional air pollution and smog.

Simply put, our investments have not kept pace with our needs, and our residents and businesses are paying the price.

It’s unacceptable. We need a new approach."