Michigander in Mass

Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 07:52:56 -0400
From: "Wig Zamore"
Subject: MassINC Forum on Big Dig Transit May 26th at 8 AM

Dear STEP Participants,

Thursday, May 26th is shaping up to be quite a morning. MassINC will hold a forum on the Big Dig transit commitments from 8 to 10 AM at the Omni Parker House. Then at 10 AM the Boston MPO and Exec. Office 0f Transportation meet to "consult" on the projects at the State Transportation Building. To check the Boston MPO calendar yourself, go to Meeting Calendar and Agendas at:

http://www.ctps.org/bostonmpo/involved/meetings.htm

To RSVP for the forum folks should go to MassINC at:

http://www.massinc.org/events_forums/events/index.html#forum

The forum description and other related material released by MassINC this morning follow.

Regards, Wig

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The CommonWealth Forum:
End of the Line?
Big Dig-Related Transit Projects and the Future of Public Transportation

Thursday, May 26, 2005
Omni Parker House Ballroom
8:00 - 10:00 AM

Should the Clean Air Act determine Massachusetts's transportation investments? That's what happened in 1991 when the state settled an environmental lawsuit over the Big Dig by committing to a host of commuter rail, subway, and trolley projects. But in the spring issue of CommonWealth, David Luberoff dissected the environmental and traffic relief claims of the Big Dig pact, finding that the projects not yet built - Green Line extension to Medford, Red Line-Blue Line connection, and restoration of Arborway light rail - would accomplish little, at great cost. Environmentalists and public officials, current and former, shot back in a CommonWealth Online Forum. Now, with the state preparing a capital plan for future transit construction that may not include two of the three remaining Big Dig-related projects, we take the discussion live, in a CommonWealth Forum.

Panel includes:
Stephen Burrington - Undersecretary of Commonwealth Development
David Luberoff - Executive director, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston & Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
Fred Salvucci - Former Secretary of Transportation & Senior lecturer, Center for Transportation and Logistics, MIT
Phil Warburg - President, Conservation Law Foundation

To RSVP for this event, click here or call (617) 742-6800 ext. 131.


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From MassINC this morning:

Upcoming Events & Invitations

May 26, 2005: The CommonWealth Forum: "End of the Line? Big Dig-Related Transit Projects and the Future of Public Transportation" Join us Thursday, May 26, 2005 at the Omni Parker House from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM

More on Big Dig transit: New responses in our CommonWealth Online Forum



The CommonWealth Forum - "End of the Line? Big Dig-Related Transit Projects and the Future of Public Transportation"

Thursday, May 26, 2005
8:00 to 10:00 a.m.

Omni Parker House
26 School Street
Boston

Panelists include Undersecretary of Commonwealth Development Stephen Burrington, Phil Warburg of Conservation Law Foundation, David Luberoff of the Rappaport Institute, and former transportation secretary Fred Salvucci.

Click here to RSVP or call (617) 742-6800 ext. 131

Publications

More on Big Dig transit: With the state reportedly planning to drop the Red Line-Blue Line connector and Arborway trolley from its transit construction schedule but go ahead with the Green Line extension to Medford - all projects mandated under Big Dig-related agreements - our CommonWealth Online Forum ("Dug In") is proving to be timely indeed. New additions: Ellin Reisner and Wig Zamore of the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership argue that extending the Green Line through Somerville is a matter of environmental justice, and David Luberoff responds to his critics. Send us your reaction!