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Christopher Friend

@friendchristoph.bsky.social
470 followers 186 following 319 posts

interim executive director @transitmatters

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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 1h
the density required for a viable extension makes this an unlikely proposition www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/09/m...
bostonglobe.com
A changed Arlington reconsiders the Red Line - The Boston Globe
The town has changed a lot over the last half-century. So much that many wish the subway could run there after all.
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
We were curious to see what the stopthestop.com model would say for stop consolidation along the #MBTA Green Line. So here’s the Boston version: stahpthestahp.com
stahpthestahp.com
Stahp the stahp
MBTA stops ranked by the net weekday rider-hours of removing each one: time saved by riders passing through, minus extra walking for riders who used it.
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
mayor wu’s efforts here to move a (proposed) center running bus lane to the curb stand in sharp contrast to mamdani’s bus efforts in nyc, which are 1) outcome-oriented, focused on faster bus speeds 2) are all about creating center running bus lanes www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/05/m...
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Time for Cambridge to bring back the “9 Minutes to Park St” sign at Harvard
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Reposted by Christopher Friend
WCVB NewsCenter 5, Boston @wcvb5.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Boston's slowest buses are getting even slower, according to new data from TransitMatters. Have you noticed? Tell us in the comments. More on the top 10 list here: www.wcvb.com/article/mbta-slowest-b… 
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
reading the SEPTA regional rail report and notable that their plan for rolling stock—single level EMUs, for acceleration and dwells—is the exact opposite approach that the MBTA has taken with their latest procurements (bilevel BEMUs, battery-electric locos)
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
last week @transitmatters.bsky.social released our annual Pokey/Schleppie awards. in a bit of dark humor, the slowest bus route on the #MBTA is the SL4, one of a handful of routes designated as BRT the full report (read it!) is here: static1.squarespace.com/static/533b9...
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
some evidence the T’s deployment of new Red Line cars is taking off
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
hello I am very excited to be starting as the interim ED @transitmatters.bsky.social this week. please reach out if you want to chat about transit in Mass and greater Boston! and be on the lookout for a lot of great stuff coming from the TM team this fall
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Reposted by Christopher Friend
StreetsblogMASS @mass.streetsblog.org · 16/09/2026
@mbta.com Buses Keep Getting Pokier As Wu Administration Policies Increase Congestion: mass.streetsblog.org/2026/09/16/b...
mass.streetsblog.org
Buses Keep Getting Pokier As Wu Administration Policies Increase the City's Congestion - Streetsblog Massachusetts
Since 2024, Mayor Wu's administration has cancelled and removed numerous bus lanes in favor of providing more taxpayer-subsidized space for private vehicle traffic.
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
really excited to see the enormous intersection at Beech & Elm is finally on its last legs
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
this got me thinking about AFC 2.0. last public update was in May 2024, where the new Charlie Card was to be launched in 2025 and expanded to CR this past spring. it doesn't appear like we're anywhere close to that? where's all door boarding on buses and GL? or PoP on CR?
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
The #MBTA blue line is having a lot of issues, but why are they describing the wires of the OCS system as sagging when the Blue Line has had a constant tension system since the 90s?
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
The MBTA insists on inspecting the overhead wires on the Blue Line for hours in the middle of each day, which results in 1 in every 6 trips dropped. With huge costs and very unclear benefits, the T needs to find a different way to do this
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Reminder: the editor of the Globe is openly anti-bike and wrote one of the silliest, worst articles on bikes of the past few years: www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/05/m...
bostonglobe.com
Is the Boylston Street bike lane necessary, or is someone just trying to prove a point? - The Boston Globe
City leaders thought it was absolutely imperative that they crowbar bike lanes onto a street that was thriving without them. The whole thing now feels like a crowded, unkempt, chaotic mess.
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
a decade ago, Massachusetts spent roughly the same on highways and the MBTA (~$7b). today, the T’s capital spend has barely kept up with inflation ($10bn) while spending on highways has exploded to $17bn
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
REM review: excellent build quality terrible land use weirdly bad headways (15m branch) for an automated system
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Part of how the MBTA ended up procuring the most expensive rail vehicles in history —>
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Sorry, I’m just learning today that any 10 registered voters in a Massachusetts town can effectively pause most development for a couple months at a time by filing a bad faith zoning petition? www.cambridgeday.com/2026/06/12/w...
cambridgeday.com
Will new Cambridge buildings get cut down to size?
Policy order, resident petition take aim at zoning for residential development. Some councillors warn of impact on affordable units.
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
the #MBTA costs are out for the BEMUs. they’re the most expensive rolling stock ever procured. but not just that—at roughly $25m/car ($525m npv over 21 usable cars), they are 2x more expensive than any other rail cars ever bought (per transitcosts.com/rolling-stoc...)
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Cambridge has already approved 7 public drinking districts for this summer, which will probably be more than the rest of metro Boston combined. the city’s ability to quickly implement things people want (is this governance?) is unmatched www.cambridgema.gov/news/2026/06...
cambridgema.gov
City of Cambridge Approves Seasonal Sale of Alcohol-to-Go, Public Consumption Districts, and Extended Hours to Support Local Businesses
Acting on recommendations from the City Manager’s Office, the License Commission has authorized the sale of alcohol-to-go for permitted businesses within designated open container districts/public con...
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Fairmount BEMUs delayed 2-3 years, partially because the T didn’t specify they wanted each car in the trainset to be fully accessible cdn.mbta.com/sites/defaul...
cdn.mbta.com
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
If you strip out wayfinding (not a WC ops expense?) and security (I think will be reimbursed) then an $80 ticket at full sellout gets you to ~100% recovery…would not be surprised if this is how they priced it Too bad they won’t sell out (~37% as of yesterday)
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Why is MassDOT spending $4bn on new bridges to the Cape without any mitigation for transit? Why are they allowed to? www.wcvb.com/article/cape...
wcvb.com
Cape Cod leaders push for expanded commuter rail service
Cape Cod lawmakers and transit officials are calling for expanded commuter rail service to Bourne and beyond.
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Reposted by Christopher Friend
Jesse Kanson-Benanav @jessekb.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
It is simply dishonest for anyone in Boston to claim that "macroeconomic conditions" are solely to blame for our construction slowdown. NYC has the same high interest rates, land & labor costs as Boston. The difference is policy reforms under city's power to accelerate housing production citywide.
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
of course this isn’t true—per the Singaporean census, while roughly equal numbers of people have bus only and rail only commutes, the poorest are 2-3x more likely to have a bus only commute, while the richest are 2-3x more likely to have a rail only commute www.singstat.gov.sg/publication-...
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Always fun to read an article about how people respond to incentives and how leaders are shocked by this. Cambridge cut its penalty for not moving during street cleaning and, shocking, more people parked on the street during street cleaning www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/30/m...
bostonglobe.com
Even with $100 fines, many in no-tow Cambridge aren’t moving their cars for street sweeping - The Boston Globe
Parking violations surged when the city ended towing for street sweeping violations. Doubling the cost of a ticket hardly made a dent.
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StreetsblogMASS @mass.streetsblog.org · 12/05/2026
@mayorwu.boston.gov is postponing a long-standing plan to improve State Street in downtown Boston with wider, wheelchair-accessible sidewalks, safer crosswalks, and a protected bikeway connection. mass.streetsblog.org/2026/05/12/s...
mass.streetsblog.org
State Street Improvements Delayed: One of Downtown's Most Poorly-Designed Streets Will Get A Fresh Coat of Asphalt Instead - Streetsblog Massachusetts
Mayor Wu is postponing a plan to improve State Street in downtown Boston with wider, wheelchair-accessible sidewalks, safer crosswalks, and a protected bikeway connection.
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
What’s going wrong with the #MBTA BEMU procurement? Now running 8 months late on a 4 month timeline without an update in sight. BEMUs were supposed to be a near term solution. By the time this is done, it would have been faster (and cheaper) to build the wires and buy the EMUs
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Notably, if you normalize by excluding people who do not pay for the item childcare and college rank as far more unaffordable than housing. Also note that public transportation is the single most affordable item in the survey
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
It was possible to install a HPWH, an EV charger, and do a panel upgrade in Mass on rebates & 0% interest loans but it took coordinating across 3 contractors, two agencies, a bank and all had to be done in the same year
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Why am I just learning now that the #MBTA doesn’t plan to introduce level boarding on the Green Line until 2037? The new cars should all be delivered by 2031!
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Laura @3deckerlaura.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
MassHousing, apparently: have you considered maybe building LESS housing here?
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Does Cambridge have the lowest recycling contamination rate of any US city over 100k? National avg is low 20s
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StreetsblogMASS @mass.streetsblog.org · 22/04/2026
Mayor Wu’s Latest @boston.gov Budget Plan Eliminates Funding for Over a Dozen Street Safety Projects: See the List mass.streetsblog.org/2026/04/22/m...
mass.streetsblog.org
Mayor Wu's Latest Budget Plan Eliminates Funding for Over a Dozen Street Safety Projects: See the List - Streetsblog Massachusetts
Mayor Wu's recently-published fiscal year 2027 budget proposal appears to eliminate dozens of capital projects from the city's five-year capital plan, according to a comparison of this year's 2027 bud...
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
I am fascinated by the differences in rhetoric justifying these incredibly expensive tickets in Boston vs NYC. The T focused on the $35m capital project to make station improvements, NJT claims it will cost $48m just in ops costs to move 40k people x 8 matches?
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
in the last week I > had an off-leash dog chase my toddler around a playground > nearly crashed my bike into an off-leash dog sprinting after a frisbee on the community path
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StreetsblogMASS @mass.streetsblog.org · 09/04/2026
As it turns out, @mayorwu.boston.gov possessed more robust polling data that debunked those claims. There is, in fact, broad support for bike and bus lanes among Boston residents. We're now making that polling data public for the first time. Read it here: mass.streetsblog.org/2026/04/09/i...
mass.streetsblog.org
Internal City Hall Polling Reveals Broad Support for Bike Projects, Blue Hill Ave. Bus Rapid Transit - Streetsblog Massachusetts
StreetsblogMASS has obtained internal City of Boston polling results that show a strong majority of city residents support the proposed Blue Hill Avenue bus transitway project, and that a plurality of residents support bike lane projects, even when it comes at the expense of car lanes and on-street parking.
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
I am highly skeptical the #MBTA is going to be able to sell 10k tickets to each World Cup match, much less 20k tickets, at $80 each
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
learning today that making the C branch of the #MBTA Green Line accessible required two 100+ page environmental filings for MEPA because the filing standard is cutting down 5 medium size trees
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
these service cuts are gonna be massive, aren’t they
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
had two cars attempt to run red lights at speed while I was the in the crosswalk /with a stroller/ this morning. automated enforcement can’t come fast enough
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Why is this legal to do at 3am?
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The T raised their special event prices from $20 to $30 for the World Cup friendly yesterday and only filled 40% of their seats (2300/6000). $75 would be an enormous own goal
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
the T says the quiet part loud: if you want us to meet the electric bus mandate we are going to have to cut service. commonwealthbeacon.org/transportati...
commonwealthbeacon.org
Where the rubber meets the road: MBTA questions if electric bus mandate is worth the tradeoffs
State law requires the MBTA to purchase only zero-emissions buses starting in 2031 and to have the entire fleet transitioned by 2041. Now, to the ire of a key lawmaker, agency leaders want to kickstar...
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
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StreetsblogMASS @mass.streetsblog.org · 25/03/2026
SCOOP: @mayorwu.boston.gov's Administration Delays @mbta.com Columbus Ave. Transit Project; City Hall Planners Told to Cancel Meetings With T mass.streetsblog.org/2026/03/25/w...
mass.streetsblog.org
Wu Administration Delays Columbus Ave. Transit Project; City Hall Planners Told to Cancel Meetings With MBTA - Streetsblog Massachusetts
A public records request reveals that City Hall transportation planners were "directed to not participate in external meetings, including meetings with partner agencies, without express approval for (...
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
tough to say the #MBTA is taking rail electrification seriously when they can’t be bothered to correctly identify rolling stock in use at other US agencies
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Boston MPO & MAPC proposing to triple the number of e-bikes (750 to 2250) in the BlueBikes system this year www.bostonmpo.org/data/calenda...
bostonmpo.org
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Christopher Friend @friendchristoph.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
new center-running bus lanes on Blue Hill Ave, among other transit priority projects, are under an unannounced, Mayor Wu directed stoppage and have been for the past year www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/15/m...
bostonglobe.com
Delayed projects, low morale: Boston’s streets department is stalling under Wu, long a transit champion - The Boston Globe
Advocates and city staff say the policy change has caused an epic bottleneck, stalling the majority of Boston’s transit and street safety projects for the past year.
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