Transportation

Free MBTA, Bluebikes Passes for Employees in Three Squares Main Street District

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To support COVID-19 recovery, Boston's government is offering preloaded MBTA and Bluebikes passes to employees in five Main Street Districts, including Three Squares Main Street in Jamaica Plain. The first 1,000 employees who sign up for the program from Three Squares, Mission Hill, Nubian Square, East Boston, and Fields Corner, will receive the passes. This is a pilot program being phased in during the next two months. Some applicants will be selected to receive an MBTA pass with a full $60 right away, and others will get two cards after four weeks values that add up to $60, according to the city's website. Bluebikes pass-holders will be able to take as many trips as they want during the two-month period.

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Arts

Boston Cyberarts’ GoFundMe Raising $ to Make Up for COVID Losses

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The nonprofit organization that runs the Boston Cyberarts Gallery at the Green Street MBTA station has turned to GoFundMe to make up for the money its lost due to COVID. Boston Cyberarts operates the free gallery in Jamaica Plain, the Art on the Marquee project at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, and numerous other public art projects. But due to the COVID pandemic, the Art on the Marquee has been suspended, resulting in a projected los of $44,500, according to the organization's GoFundMe page. "We've brought opportunities to the general public to experience the work of thousands of new media artists, without cost.  We also pride ourselves on creating dozens of paid opportunities for MA based artists every year.

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Transportation

ICYMI: MBTA Proposes Stopping Green Line E Service at Brigham Circle, Increasing 39 Bus Service

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Due to the pandemic the MBTA is experiencing a huge decrease in riders this year. That puts a huge dent into their budget, and thus they are proposing service cuts across the board. Last year, MBTA riders took 1.26 million daily trips, and in October 2020, riders took 330,000 daily trips. That's 26 percent of daily ridership compared to 2019, according to the MBTA. Yet, the MBTA has continued to operate at 2019 service levels despite a decrease in ridership.

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Transportation

MBTA E Branch Between Heath Street-Prudential Closed Aug. 2– 29

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The MBTA E Branch between the Heath Street and Prudential stops will be closed from Aug. 2 to Aug. 20 as part of Green Line track and intersection upgrades. 

The closures are part of the accelerated Green Line Track and Intersections Upgrades Project.  Free shuttles will operate all day, every day, during the closure. The MBTA Route 39 bus will be providing regular service during the closure. Prep work for the project began July 20 and continues this week from July 27-31 at Huntington Avenue near Parker Street/Forsyth Way.

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Business

Video: 3-Year-Old Gives Amazing Tour Highlighting Jamaica Plain!

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A young boy (and his mother) made an incredible one-minute video highlighting all of his favorite things about Jamaica Plain -- the restaurants, train stations, barber shop, libraries, bicycles, karate classes -- and more! Holding a toy train to start, Santiago Arroyo begins in front of the Egleston Square mural across from the T and makes his way to the Egleston Community Garden, and then moves on to restaurants by highlighting the original Chilacates, JP Licks (what kid doesn't like ice cream?), Pikalo, and Exodus Bagels. He shouts out all the bicycles to ride, neighborhood libraries and playgrounds, mentions he takes karate classes with his mother and grandmother(!), and talks up the firefighters of Engine 28. Then he really gets into the action -- by getting a trim at Flaco's Barber Shop, and a teeth cleaning at the Brookside Community Health Center. He ends by showcasing JP's T stops.

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Transportation

New Orange Line Train Makes Its Debut

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The first of the long-awaited new MBTA Orange Line trains debuted on Wednesday afternoon. It performed three round trips, which drew plenty of excitement -- and derision around the city. There was one train with six cars that left from Wellington Station exciting riders...and made its way back to the station in the afternoon...thus, teasing expectant riders. There will be 152 new Orange Line cars when all is said and other cars are currently undergoing testing. Presently, there are 120 Orange Line cars, so the fleet is increasing, and that will increase the capacity of the line by 30,000 seats daily.

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Transportation

After Police Officer Struck in Forest Hills, Councilors Continue Push to Make Area Safer

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Is it only a matter of time before a pedestrian, bicyclist, driver or passenger dies in an accident in the Forest Hills area that could've been avoided? After a Boston Police officer was hit while working a detail on Monday, residents, city councilors and the MBTA are pushing hard to make the area safer. Thankfully, it appears the officer did not suffer life threatening injuries after a dump truck collided with a van, which then hit the vehicle the officer was in at Ukraine Way and Hyde Park Avenue, reported WCVB. Local resident Kyle Vining has witnessed safety issues in the Forest Hills area, and has complained to the city to improve the area since at least 2016. Vining tweeted after the accident:

"My heart is heavy and my spirit is sad today to hear that a @bostonpolice officer was struck today at the very intersection I have been complaining to @BostonBTD and @marty_walsh to fix for the last 3 years since I moved to Forest Hills."

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Transportation

Forest Hills Doesn’t Have a Bluebikes Station…But It Will…

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You would think that one of the major MBTA stations, a hub of transportation for the area if you will, would have a Bluebikes station. But alas, Forest Hills doesn't currently have a station for anyone to get on a bicycle and pedal away. Bluebikes is a public bicycling sharing system and there are more than 260 Bluebikes stations across Boston, Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville, with more than 2,500 shareable bicycles. But currently there isn't a station at Forest Hills. Currently, the nearest Bluebikes stations to Forest Hills are located at Williams and Washington streets (about .5 mile away); Curtis Hall (about .6 mile away); and Archdale Road and Washington Street in Roslindale (.8 mile away).

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MBTA

A Deep Dive into the Orange Line – Lecture and Q&A

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Tuesday in the Parlor - A Deep Dive into the Orange Line with Jeremy Fox and Andrew Elder
Tuesday April 9th, 7:30 - 9:30pm

Back at the Loring Greenough House by popular demand, Jeremy Fox and Andrew Elder, authors of Boston's Orange Line, will be back in the neighborhood where the elevated Orange Line had such an impact. Join us for a lecture and Q&A about all things MBTA Orange Line. Jeremy C. Fox is a writer, editor, and online producer for the Boston Globe and a previous staff writer for the Watertown Tab. His writing has appeared in the Bay State Banner, the Boston Phoenix, Film Threat, the Gay and Lesbian Review, the Jamaica Plain Gazette, Time Out, the Weekly Dig, and other publications. Andrew Elder is Interim University Archivist and Curator of Special Collections in the Healey Library at UMass Boston and is co-chair of the Board of Directors for The History Project, a community-based archives that documents, preserves, and shares the history of Boston’s LGBTQ communities.

Transportation

Better Bus Project Includes 47 Proposals to Existing Routes, Including Combining 34/34E

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It's been close to a decade since the MBTA made significant changes to its bus network, but changes are coming, and they'd like to hear from you about the proposed changes. The Better Bus Project was created to provide "long-overdue changes" to "update and modernize existing routes." The goal is to create a bus network that will provide more frequent and reliable service, as well as better connect riders to today's Greater Boston area. There are 47 proposals that would affect 63 routes, but there is only one major one that would affect bus lines servicing inside of Jamaica Plain. There is a proposal to combine the 34 and 34E bus routes into one route. The proposed line would include new service to Legacy Place.

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