Recent content by JeffDowntown

Air suspension systems on buses have had "kneeling" capabilities for several decades. It is hardly "unproven tech".

The challenge with restricting left turns in much of those corridors is the street "grid" (using the term very loosely) does not accommodate a right, right, right alternative for the left turn. It becomes a "you can't get there from here" exercise. Each left turn would have to be examined...

As of rights you get 70 ft. height, multi-family residential (which means some neighborhood ground floor businesses.)

My understanding about OMNY, though, it the cap system actually increases the number of discrete credit card transactions. What used to be a once per month pass transaction becomes a series of discrete ride transactions up to the cap. That is a ton more discrete CC transactions being processed...

Contactless is apparently costing NYC a ton of fare revenue. Don't be surprised if the financial services folks pulled a fast one here. They are much better than the T at these scams.

Does anyone know how the T is going to make up for all the credit card transaction fees that the contactless payment will cost them. Moving to a system where every ride is a separate CC transaction is a huge boon to the credit card processing companies (and a huge loss in revenue to the T).

Check out the zoning for the area, completed in the Harrison Albany planning effort a decade ago. Castle Square area is specifically step-down zoning to heights appropriate to start to match South End row houses. You are not building Ink Block height structures here without a big fight.

If only they had a real last mile solution in LA. Then it would be a true HSR solution.

For CR idling noise, isn't the solution electrify the lines? We hear that complaint a lot here on the North Shore when they short turn the Newburyport and Rockport lines for track and signal work -- extended idling in locations that normally don't experience it (like Swampscott).

Mortgage rates at 8% have housing sales stalled. Developers are afraid of that.

I think the problem is the high interest rates (particularly 30-year mortgages). They not only make construction financing difficult, they make residential units hard/slow to sell.

The nature of the retail at this site is a minor part of the urban disconnect. The real problem is a suburban style low-rise big-box retail building right on the Back Bay high spine. That is the design abomination.

I can attest that I have also experienced a lot of those 20+ minute waits on the Orange Line on Sundays recently. I know it is not statistically sound, but if those are happening, there must be some 3 minutes waits some other part of the day to get to 13 minutes on average. Maybe they run lots...

Anybody with any design sense knew the Connector would never be the Great Hall (which could never exist in that site anyway) (regardless the BS pronouncements of Millennium). 1/3 of the Connector is dedicated to vertical height change ramps.

I am still rather amazed that you can do that kind of transformation to a tower. Much better.