While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
The MTBA is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding and adding platforms along the Green Line to make them ADA-accessible. However, the platforms’ accessibility will again fall short as soon as 2027: the Green Line is expecting 100 new “supercars,” some of which will hit the tracks in 2027, and all of which are too tall for disabled passengers to board without the MBTA also raising every Green Line platform to meet the new cars.
“Eventually, Green Line riders will have to live through an additional bout of construction and shutdowns as the T reworks the platforms to make their height compatible with the so-called Type 10 cars,” Diti Kohli writes for the Boston Globe. “It’ll require another pool of public money, and riders with disabilities who can board Green Line trains independently at some stations this year may later again need drivers’ assistance getting on and off with powered ramps, until the T can lift its platforms another 6 inches to align with the new trolleys.”
Laura Brelsford, the agency’s assistant general manager of systemwide accessibility, said her team is focused on making the Green Line accessible sooner, even with additional construction expected in the future, the Boston Globe reports.
Read the full story: The T is spending millions to make the Green Line more accessible. Soon, it may have to redo its work.
The Massachusetts town that didn't get the T wants a re-do
Fifty years ago, Arlington said no to a stop on the MBTA Red Line connecting it to Boston. Now, the town wants a second chance.
MBTA extends commuter rail discounts and lowers express bus fare to keep passengers riding into the fall
Boston-area commuters can access half-price monthly passes through November.
MBTA threatens to use eminent domain to pedestrianize Boston streets during World Cup
Boston city hall has been unusually reluctant to align with MassDOT and MBTA's proposed crowd management plans.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority