Some other basic aspects of the physical station that could be improved: 1. There is no covered shelter. This is bad in a place with > 130 rainy days a year, cold, snowy winters, and trains that are so often delayed. Metro North (nyc northern commuter trains) have heated platform rooms, that would work really nicely here.
2. There are limited bike racks, none of which are covered. There's a janky, very exposed rack right on the platform (I would worry about kids messing with my bike if left there), and another small one in front of the twisted tree cafe. That's not enough if you want to encourage biking to the train. As a result of the above, people often drive to the station and then wait, idling in their cars. Perhaps if addressed, on the margin, fewer people would drive to the station. 3. There is no signage indicating the precise track and position for boarding or disembarking. This leaves new riders anxious about boarding or forces them to run at the last minute. 4. As mentioned above, there's no true platform / ramp... one must climb up into the train from the ground level. That's not great for bringing a bicycle, luggage, or stroller, or accessibility in general -- particularly for a town with so many older people. Is there any consideration to improve the station itself as part of any development plan? This would have to be the mbta investing money into it, right? Otherwise it feels like we will have public transit in name only, in spite of the good intentions of so many in this town to use it and keep cars off the road. I too have only used the train a handful of times … even though I was a “subway warrior” of ten years entirely dependent on trains in nyc … and almost always get forced to Uber back because the timing is so inconvenient. - Fil On Sun, Oct 29, 2023 at 3:09 PM Rachel Shulman <[email protected]> wrote: > For what it's worth, until our move this week, I lived a 2 minute walk > from the Commuter Rail station, but I found that the train didn't run often > enough to be helpful to me (I work in Cambridge). I've taken the train a > few times when using my car wasn't a choice and it was miserable. Based on > reports from friends, it is also not reliable enough for me to plan to take > it when, say, I have to be on campus on time to teach - there's no wiggle > room on that one. Finally, I need to take the Red Line a few stops, and it, > too, has not been reliable enough to count on. And, personally, I find the > noise of the train and the T overwhelming and incredibly stress-inducing. > This doesn't even take into account the cost - even with a heavily > subsidized pass, I wouldn't save enough money on a per-trip basis to induce > me to stop driving. Since early 2017, I have worked in climate education, > with the goal of fighting the climate crisis, and even I can't bring myself > to use public transport anymore. My goal now is to budget wisely enough to > be able to buy an electric vehicle in the next few years - I can't even > wrap my head around how much would have to change to get me back to taking > public transport on a regular basis (before the pandemic I lived in > Arlington and ONLY used the bus/T to get to work. Even then the noise and > the crowds were awful, but given that my T-pass was free, I couldn't > justify EVER driving to campus.) > > Building more housing by the train station (or in other parts of Lincoln) > is, in my own opinion, truly necessary for a host of reasons, but for it to > really work, we need to figure out how to get our elected officials to make > the train easier to use - it needs to run more often, more reliably, at a > more affordable rate, and, for me, at least, it needs to be quieter. > Without serious improvements to our public transport infrastructure, > building more housing only solves one part of the issue (the stupidly tight > housing market) without considering the larger structures in which that > housing is situated. > > Just my $0.02. :) > > Best, > Rachel > > On Sun, Oct 29, 2023 at 1:54 PM Marjorie Dashef <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> With all the talk about the commuter rail and HCA I would like to add >> that I cannot use the commuter rail because the east direction dies not >> have a platform to step into. It is not ADA complaint. I used the rail >> when much younger but at 4'10" stepping off it is not safe for me. Last >> trip to sister (when car was not working) in Charlestown was done via Uber. >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to [email protected]. >> Browse the archives at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> >> -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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