New Forecast Suggests MassDOT Underestimated East-west Rail Ridership
Yesterday, state Sen. Eric Lesser joined Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin; Kimberly Robinson, executive director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC); and Lyle Wray, executive director emeritus of the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) for a virtual press conference announcing significant ridership findings based on a new sketch-level analysis on east-west passenger rail in Massachusetts. The analysis was prepared by AECOM for CRCOG and PVPC and comes as a follow-up to the Metro Hartford-Springfield Rail Improvements Economic Impacts Study released in April, which demonstrated an addition of up to 40,000 jobs over 30 years and an economic return-on-investment ratio of 10:1.