OCTOBER 1999 TRANSREPORT TRANSPORTATION NEWS FROM THE BOSTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION MBTA Institutes New Sunrise Airport Bus Service Enhanced Auto Emissions and Safety Test to Begin October 1 The Massachusetts Bay Transportation At Dudley, passengers can connect to the Authority has unveiled its new Sunrise airport bus from routes #15 and #28, Massachusetts is adding a new, enhanced airport bus service. Four bus routes, the which also have earlier start times. With emissions inspection test to the current CT3, 15, 28, and 117, now provide early departure times from Mattapan and Ash- safety test beginning October 1, 1999. morning service focused on getting Logan mont stations at 3:30 A.M., these two Generally, vehicles will be tested for emis- Airport employees and passengers to routes are now the earliest service pro- sions every other year based on model year and from the airport. The vided in the MBTA system. In and will continue to be tested for safety CT3 route, which was addition, the #117 bus from Won- annually. Motorists will be able to choose extended from Andrew derland Station to downtown now which inspection station they use as long Station on the Red Line begins service at 4:00 A.M. and as the station is licensed. The cost of the to Logan at the end of last makes a connection to the Eastie test is among the lowest in the nation for year, will now begin leav- Express bus to Logan at Maverick this type of program. The Enhanced Emis- ing Andrew at 4:15 A.M. Square. For more information on sions and Safety Test will cost $29 annu- The CT3, which normally these and other MBTA bus routes, ally. travels to Andrew and visit the MBTA Web site at There are several places to go for informa- Logan via Ruggles Station www.mbta.com. tion on the program, including the official and the Longwood Medical enhanced emissions and safety inspection Area, now originates at Dudley Station stations, the program’s Web site until 6:45 A.M., its previous starting time. (http://vehicletest.state.ma.us), the cus- TIP and UPWP Endorsed by Boston MPO tomer hotline (toll-free [877] 387-8234), and any Registry of Motor Vehicle branch At its September 8 meeting, the Boston ing was attendied by representatives from or DEP regional office. Metropolitan Planning Organization for- each of the seventeen MPO members. This is a high–tech test for today’s cars mally endorsed the fiscal year 2000 Uni- These two certification documents are which measures the pollution a car emits fied Planning Work Program and fiscal now under federal review by FHWA and • continued on page 3 years 2000–2005 Transportation Improve- FTA. Both documents will become active ment Program for the Boston region. It as of the start of the federal fiscal year, also endorsed the 1999 Redetermination October 1, 1999. of Air Quality Conformity for the INSIDE THIS ISSUE Regional Transportation Plan. The meet- MPO activities update . 2 Route 3 South Environmental . 2 Water Transportation Forum . 2 Gloucester Harbor Master Plan . 3 High Speed Rail Update . 3 Update on FAST LANE . 3 Artery Surface Restoration . 4 MPO Executive Secretary Luisa Paiewonsky, EOTC Deputy Secretary Julian Regan, MassHighway Meeting Calendar . 4 Commissioner Matthew J. Amorello The members of the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO): Executive Office of Transportation and Construction • City of Boston • City of Everett • City of New- ton • City of Peabody • Federal Highway Administration • Federal Transit Administration • Joint Regional Transportation Committee • Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority • Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Advisory Board • Massachusetts Highway Department • Massachusetts Port Authority • Massachusetts Turnpike Authority • Metropolitan Area Planning Council • Town of Bedford • Town of Framingham • Town of Hopkinton BOSTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION ACTIVITIES UPDATE SSC UPDATE AACT UPDATE On August 26 the Sub-Signatory Com- FRACAS Chair Needed mittee of the Boston MPO met and rec- The Fixed-Route Access Committee ommended MPO endorsement of the fis- (FRACAS) of the Access Advisory Com- cal year 2000 Unified Planning Work Pro- mittee to the MBTA (AACT) is looking JRTC UPDATE gram and the fiscal years 2000–2005 for a new chair of the committee. The On September 8 the Joint Regional Transportation Improvement Program for person must have knowledge of the Amer- Transportation Committee voted to the Boston region. The SSC also icans with Disabilities Act and attend reg- accept its nominating committee’s recom- approved work scopes for five planning ular and specially scheduled meetings. mendations for the new fiscal year’s elec- efforts: Experience chairing meetings is preferred. tion. The committee selected Alan • MassHighway Park-and-Ride Lot For more information, write to AACT, McClennen, representative for the town Study Ben Haynes, 10 Park Plaza, Room 2150, of Arlington, as the nominee for JRTC Boston, MA 02116. chair. Also nominated was the city of • Traffic Volume Forecasts for South Cambridge’s representative, Bill Deignan, Weymouth Access Study for the position of JRTC vice-chair. The • Fiscal Year 2000 Section 15 Passenger- Forum on Future of Water elections for the fiscal year 2000 term will Mile Estimates Transportation in Boston be held at the October JRTC meeting. • SouthWest Advisory Planning A forum on the future of water transporta- The September meeting also featured a (SWAP) Subregional Area Trans- tion in Boston Harbor will be held on presentation on the Welfare-to-Work pro- portation Study November 9 at the World Trade Center. gram by Mick Foster, the director of • Transportation/Land-Use Aspects of The sponsors of the event are the Boston TransAccess. The presentation centered the Regional Growth Plan Municipal Research Bureau, the Massa- chusetts branch of the American Plan- on the transportation challenges faced by For more information on these work people moving into the workforce from ning Association, and the Seaport Trans- scopes, contact Craig Leiner at (617) 973- portation Management Association. welfare, and what TransAccess and other 7097 or [email protected]. organizations are doing to facilitate these The forum will be in two parts: a two- On September 23 the SSC approved a fis- moves. The next JRTC meeting will be hour plenary session followed by a two- cal year 1999 TIP adjustment to satisfy the on October 13 at 3:00 P.M. at the State hour workshop at sea. The plenary session state’s commitment to a $40 million Transportation Building. will explore the universe of transportation “local” road program. For more informa- tion on this, contact David Mohler at (617) 973-7144 or [email protected]. Route 3 South Environmental Review Process to Begin The Massachusetts Environmental Protec- The outline scope for the new EIR calls tion Act office has finished receiving writ- for an examination of a number of alter- ten comments on the outline scope of natives, including a no-build alternative, and water-related issues in Boston Harbor. work for a new environmental impact the addition of two HOV lanes in the The workshop will look at issues related report (EIR) for the Route 3 South Trans- median between exits 16 and 11, the to enhancing and expanding water trans- portation Improvements Project. The Sec- addition of two general-purpose travel portation within the harbor. The empha- retary’s Certificate with the full scope of lanes in the median between exits 16 sis will be on infrastructure, intermodal the EIR will be issued on October 8. and 11, and transportation demand connections, and marketing of water- related services. The Route 3 South project is an attempt management (TDM) alternatives with to relieve congestion and improve inter- and without the addition of general-pur- The cost for the program is $30. For more changes along the portion of that highway pose and HOV lanes. Other compo- information contact Bruce Masi at (617) between Weymouth and Duxbury. The nents of the scope include wetlands pro- 451-0044 ext. 111. interchanges to be improved are the ramps tection, growth planning, and agricul- at Route 53 in Hanover, Route 139 in tural preservation. Pembroke, and Route 228 in Rockland. TRANSREPORT 2OCTOBER 1999 Enhanced Auto Emissions and Safety Test (continued from page 1) High-Speed Rail News tection Agency, and it is one of the most In early September, Amtrak announced effective ways to reduce air pollution. that the debut of the high-speed Acela Massachusetts is one of 28 states to imple- service will be delayed from its original as it is driven down the road, instead of ment an enhanced emissions program in December 1999 target date. Due to the when it is standing still as in the current recent years. need for additional testing by the manu- facturing consortium of Bombardier and test. The Enhanced Emissions and Safety Test ALSTOM, the new high-speed trainsets The new test will put the car on a tread- will result in a 25 percent reduction in the will not be delivered to Amtrak until the mill-type device called a dynamometer, smog-causing pollution emitted from cars, which will collect and analyze the emis- trucks and buses, approximately 120 tons sions under simulated driving conditions. per day. Also, for the first time the test will meas- The standards for each car will be based ure emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), on the model year of the car and the emis- not only the hydrocarbons (HC) and car- sions standards it was originally designed spring of 2000. This delivery date could be bon monoxide (CO) measured by the cur- to meet, with a comfortable margin built altered when a final date for launching the rent test. Both HC and NOx are key in to allow for wear and tear.