The service is getting people to their destination. If they stop taking the T and still need to get to work, they're going to use one of those other options. Probably driving.

None of those things are really competition in that they offer the same service (e.g., a very low percentage of the population that uses the MBTA would bike to work today, even if you paid them). USPS has direct competitors that offer basically the same set of services.

You think the MBTA doesn't have competition in the form of private cars, ride share, bikes, walking, etc? The difference between the postal service and public transit in the US is that one (mostly) hasn't been systematically sabotaged for decades.

Oh no doubt. I was simply implying that they lay on the guilt for some cash. If there's 120 million of NRE - well, MIT and Harvard lose 60 million in the couches on an average weekend.

I feel like public services do well when there is competition(USPS)—and not so well when there isn’t (MBTA), so perhaps this could work.

The difficulty is always the existing infrastructure, not technology. Neither university is good at working on utility poles or digging trenches.

I love the picture from the article:

>A Comcast Xfinity truck gets a refinement at the Seattle Pride Parade 2017. (Photo: Comcast Washington State via Flickr)

Community broadband? Nah, but how about a van with a pride sticker? Or are you a nazi?

Why the hell doesn't the city just go to MIT+Harvard and say "make this happen"?

How many city committees have studied this over the years? Meanwhile Xfinity still enjoys a virtual monopoly in the city. It’s laughable for a city that houses institutions such as MIT and Google.

KEY STUDY FINDINGS • The full capital cost is estimated at ~$194 million, incorporating a 30% contingency and inflation over a 5-year construction period, assuming a 40% take-rate. • A City contribution of ~$150 million is required to establish a sustainable FTTP business from scratch, applying reasonable assumptions under a “base case”. This contribution is the investment the City would need to make for which there would likely be no return. The remaining capex can be supported from net revenues after operating costs. • Entering into a partnership with one or more entities to lease fiber and run the business would reduce the City’s risks and potentially reduce costs. A partner could potentially leverage existing operations and assets, achieving economies of scale. 2 FTTP in Cambridge will likely require a City contribution

-A full report prepared by city staff is due Tuesday, and more hearings are needed before a decision to proceed. That would launch 18 to 24 months of market research, selection of a business model and a partner, negotiations and bonding out the expenses before years of installation.

Someone should tell the pole about the lost bookcase. That was a nice ending.

I really like it. Saw it all over Harvard square tonight

Yeah! They posted here with pics

I’m sad for the pole now. I want to give it a hug and let it know it has helped return a lost kitty to a warm home.

No way!! Did they really? The little dog?

when i finished the poem i almost started crying

An A in Guerrilla Poetry ?

Godspeed

Exactly. We can't control who sits on these boards, but we can control zoning.

The stipends make it slightly more tempting, but many of us younger folk work hard all day and have families to take care of in those hours outside of work. The system is so perversely set up as to be depressing.

The city council can not appoint or remove them, but it does have the ability to make these people useless by reforming the zoning code.

No they we’re literally all over.

That made it way less cool, I was hoping was an original creation by someone local.

Yes! This is crazy but I moved from Seattle to Somerville two months ago, and these are literally all over Seattle

Yeah I just spotted one today at Norfolk St close to Central sq

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