BOSTON, MA - The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority last week announced plans to begin construction on the South Attleboro Station accessibility improvements project in fall. Commuter-rail service at the station has been suspended since February 2021 due to the pedestrian bridge's deteriorated condition.
The $7 million project calls for the replacing the facility's pedestrian bridge, constructing new high-level and accessible platforms, and the installing three new elevators.
Built in 1990, the station does not meet accessibility standards and is in need of extensive repairs, MBTA officials said in a press release. Commuter-rail service at the station has been suspended since February 2021 due to the pedestrian bridge's deteriorated condition. The bridge is scheduled for demolition in fall.
The transit agency is working to acquire funding for the full reconstruction of the station, MBTA officials said.
“We’re excited to see these upcoming station upgrades reach 100% design and look forward to acquiring the necessary construction funding to make these critical repairs and important accessibility improvements at South Attleboro so that we can return commuter-rail service to the station,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak.
CLEVELAND, OH - The Ohio Department of Transportation was recently awarded $8.0 million in funding to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority for rail-car replacement, according to an August 25th report from Progressive Railroading.
An $8 million award from ODOT’s Ohio Transit Partnership Program will go toward GCRTA's rail-car replacement program. This is the third year that ODOT has awarded a grant to the rail-car program, bringing the total funding to $21.4 million, said Mike Schipper, GCRTA’s deputy general manager of engineering and project management, in a press release.
 Car 808, one of 48 cars built by Breda in 1980-1981 to replace the PCC cars
formerly used on the Shaker Heights lines.
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Overall, the transit agency has raised $197.5 million of the $300 million budgeted for rail-car replacement.
ODOT also awarded GCRTA $3.5 million for bus improvements.
"This funding will assist GCRTA in moving forward in our plans to upgrade our rail and bus fleets,” said GCRTA General Manager and CEO India Birdsong. "Funding opportunities such as these underscore the importance of public transportation to our region and subsequent investment in our communities."
SAN DIEGO, CA - Progressive Railroading reported that on August 16th the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (SDMTS) reported that its trolley ridership rose 52% in fiscal-year 2022 compared with ridership levels a year previous.
Between July 2021 and June 2022, trolley ridership totaled 29.7 million trips compared with 19.5 million trips in the previous fiscal year, MTS officials said in a press release. The transit agency has recorded more than 5 million trips a month since March 2022 on both trolley and bus service — about 75% of pre-pandemic ridership levels.
The largest increase in trolley ridership was registered on the University of California-San Diego Blue Line, which climbed 66% from 10.4 million rides in FY21 to 17.4 million in FY22. MTS operates three trolley lines in 10 cities and unincorporated areas of San Diego.
In November 2021, the agency opened an 11-mile extension to the university campus, pushing the largest ridership increase in a single year in the transit agency’s history, MTS officials said. Since May this year, MTS has offered free rides to people aged 18 years or younger under the Youth Opportunity Pass Pilot program, created in partnership with the North County Transit District and San Diego Association of Governments.
Note: San Diego has called its new LRV system the "San Diego Trolley "since it opened in 1981 despite the fac t that they never used trolley poles
