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(More public transportation, fewer cars. This should have been the focus rather than the Big Dig. – promoted by eli_beckerman)

The Urban Ring is a planned public transport service to encircle central Boston, connecting the existing subway line ‘grid’ so as to allow quicker routes around Boston’s center. It is expected to move 40,000 passengers each day in phase I, to about 275,000 per day in phase III in 2025, speeding commutes and relieving central Boston’s transit system congestion.

Because most business doesn’t know now what to do with capital, interest rates are near historic lows, so it’s a great time to raise building capital via municipal bond sales.

And it is a great time to hire transit system builders, amidst this seemingly endless recession, and to thus stimulate the greater Boston economy.

The land-owners of the to-be-connected new stops on the Urban Ring stand to gain tremendously in financial terms from the Ring’s connecting these sites right to the existing subway and busway system, and it would thus be fair to partly fund Urban Ring construction by taxing the increase in land value created at and near these new stops with special taxation zones. This funding method is addressed at: http://www.vtpi.org/smith.pdf

Boston’s Urban Ring could be a step forward into a greener future for Boston, replacing private auto traffic, speeding many commutes, reducing air pollution and the resulting health costs for asthma, etc. in Boston, while helping to lessen greater Boston’s Carbon footprint.

Here are some links to more information, including maps:

http://app1.massdot.state.ma.u…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U…

http://www.abettercity.org/tra…

http://hopefulvision.blogspot….

4 Comments

  1. Republican Ram Rod Radio

    If going green is the point behind this post than I think it makes more sense to extend the existing lines to communities that don’t have subway access.  Doing this will bring more people into the public transit system and out of their cars.  

    The Urban Ring seems to just accommodate people who are already using the transit system leaving people just beyond the Wonderland Stop and the Oak Grove Stop in the dust.  

    Personally, I don’t care one way or the other.  I only came here to argue with you because you said this . . .

    The land-owners of the to-be-connected new stops on the Urban Ring stand to gain tremendously in financial terms from the Ring’s connecting these sites right to the existing subway and busway system, and it would thus be fair to partly fund Urban Ring construction by taxing the increase in land value created at and near these new stops with special taxation zones.

    We already have property taxes dummy.  AND THE TAX IS BASED ON THE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY!  GET IT?  IF the value of the land goes up the property owners property tax goes up Seeeeeeeeee?  What you seem to lose sight of in your liberal haze is that your plan will increase some poor slobs property tax, while introducing the poor bastard to Brian Cady’s brand new “Zone Tax” that he made up out of thin air.  

    So what we are left with is Brian and his 1% friends demanding money from citizens to fund their pet project that turns an 8 minute subway ride into a 5 minute subway ride.  Way to go kid.  

    You don’t own property do you Brian?  

  2. Republican Ram Rod Radio

    Hmmm this recession is tough!  [Scratching head] I got it!  I got it!  Let’s hire people to do stuff and pay them a pay check at the end of the week!  mmmmyeah  mmmmmyeah we’ll invent a public works project that will cut my 15 minute commute down to 7 minutes and “land owners” will pay for it, because ya know everyone wants a loud subway stop next to their house … think about that prized piece of real estate!

    Mmmmyeah I’m sure they will love the sound of passing subway cars every 4 1/2 minutes … they won’t move out of the neighborhood or anything!  No one wants to live in the suburbs.

    Brian – what do you do for a living?

  3. Republican Ram Rod Radio

    “The land-owners of the to-be-connected new stops on the Urban Ring stand to gain tremendously in financial terms from the Ring’s connecting these sites right to the existing subway and busway system”  – Crazy Brian

    I’ll bet anyone on this site 100 GMG Bucks that Crazy Brian is making this crap up out of thin air.  Any takers?  Anyone?  

    I’d like to see Crazy Brian cite that crazy piece of BS, before he uses it as justification to set up his “special taxation zones.”

    and it would thus be fair to partly fund Urban Ring construction by taxing the increase in land value created at and near these new stops with special taxation zones. – Crazy Brian

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