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fremenator t1_iuhy098 wrote

Reply to comment by DumbshitOnTheRight in We need a bicycle car on the commuter rail by TheTechOcogs

Absolutely it's a shit solution but the commuter rail is pretty unwilling to make even the slightest improvements so... We just gotta work around it :/

I've been taking it on and off since 2013, it's ok but the legislature will never put in the money it needs to be better.

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DumbshitOnTheRight t1_iuhzfcp wrote

The overwhelming majority of the MA communities get no benefit from the MBCR or T. Why would they put their constituent's money into it?

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fremenator t1_iuhzz48 wrote

Do you genuinely think that? How many workers does the CR move daily? What are the economic benefits generated by the commuter rail and how many businesses would be in another state if we didn't have it?

What is the list of communities that get benefits? Those that have a station? Those that have a station with 5 miles? 10 miles? How many people live in those communities?

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DumbshitOnTheRight t1_iui0q3h wrote

Once you get out toward Framingham you have a ton of towns and smaller places where people aren't using it to go to the east.

"Greater economic benefit" is hard to sell to places like Greenfield, North Adams, and Northbridge where there are other needs closer to the ground.

People overall seem to dislike seeing tax money spent on things that don't directly benefit them.

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fremenator t1_iui1jsd wrote

> >People overall seem to dislike seeing tax money spent on things that don't directly benefit them.

People are bad at realizing they live in a society. The fact is that if we didn't have things like CR then Massachusetts would have a much smaller tax base and people in towns like North Adams and Greenfield would not have the same access to state grants and funding for things that directly benefit them. Just because they don't realize it doesn't make it untrue.

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legalpretzel t1_iui6udn wrote

People in North Adams would rather drive on dirt paths 😂

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DumbshitOnTheRight t1_iui1ojx wrote

>People are bad at realizing they live in a society.

No disagreement there, but that's the reality.

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TheTechOcogs OP t1_iui5xbw wrote

They should expand it to Springfield then, Worcester has a huge train station that has been promising to expand to.

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legalpretzel t1_iui6pwh wrote

Seriously?

Boston is the economic engine for the state. If you live in the Brookfields or Great Barrington, or if you have never driven farther east than Marlborough, you have still benefitted from Boston’s economy. It stands to reason that reliable transportation for Boston’s workforce is beneficial for every single resident of Massachusetts.

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homefone t1_iuia24t wrote

I'd be willing to bet that the population of communities with a T stop is a strong plurality if not a majority of the Commonwealth.

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DumbshitOnTheRight t1_iuib7zr wrote

Which doesn't matter in the state senate where it's not done by population.

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GreatArkleseizure t1_iuirysi wrote

Why would you say it’s not done by population? Quoting from Amendment CI of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:

> The Senate shall consist of forty members. The General Court shall, at its first regular session after the year in which said census is taken, divide the Commonwealth into forty districts of contiguous territory, each district to contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants according to said census

And even a casual glance over the state senate district lines would confirm this to be the case.

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