Today's TAG meeting canceled

[Michael Halle]

Hi everyone, I missed the clerk's deadline for meeting announcements for TAG, and we are light on an agenda at any rate.

I like Adam's suggestion of an in-person May meeting. Let's look forward to that!

Thanks.
--MIke

[Lucia Dolan]

Could we get an update on the Hammond Pond Parkway traffic counts in May? Pre and post improvement? We walk there regularly and don't notice a back-up. Though the no right on red when the thru light is green on Beacon St does seem to cause some confusion.

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Lucia Dolan

617 775-8609 cell

[Michael Halle]

I don't know if the state has data, but I can ask.

The reason for the no right on red is because of the bike signal. When the bike signal is green, traffic can't turn across the lane. Right turns are only allowed when HPP traffic has the green light.

That's bound to make people who were used to the old system angry or confused.

--Mike

[Lucia Dolan]

It's not the anger that's the issue; it's that most drivers ignore it. The sign provides bikers a false sense of safety.

[Michael Halle]

If driver's ignore the sign, I don't know what the fix is. Separated facilities are always going to have the problem that a rider might be to the right of the driver, and the turn prohibition is the only thing I can think of to address the issue.

Variations of this problem would be true with any bike lane, or even without.

--Mike

[Nedeljkovic, Srdjan S.,MD]

Hi all,

Since TAG is not meeting this month, I thought I'd share a few thoughts.... about St. Gallen!

Please take a look at the attached map. It's fascinating to see how a relatively small city like St. Gallen (in Switzerland) can manage such a comprehensive bus network. A quick data search reveals that St. Gallen has a population of 76,213 with a population density of 5012/square mile. On paper, this is similar to our city of Newton, which has a population of 88,923 and a population density of 4988/square mile.

Yet, even with Newton being adjacent to a large urban center, there are only 2000 bus trips per day and the buses run sparsely in Newton. St Gallen is surrounded by farmland, woods, and has a large lake nearby. Yet, it's public transit utilization is high by US norms. 

We could do a lot better in Newton! What are all of the bus routes that we could imagine? Would it be more cost efficient to have sections where buses run on electric catenary, since modern trolleybuses can travel 15-20 miles or more off-wire using battery power while recharging while connected to the overhead wire? Is this technology more reliable, carbon neutral, and efficient than having only buses with electric batteries? St. Gallen is committed to 100% electric buses by 2030, but they have also installed new catenary in addition to purchasing all-electric battery buses. 

Realities can only happen if there is a nucleus of imagination to start with.

Srdj
 

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