Newtonville Commuter Rail station not included in Federal Accessibility Grant Program

On May 31, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced its 2024 All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) grants for eight projects across the country. The award, totaling $343 million, includes $67 million for MBTA Green Line “B” and “C” branch improvements to make fourteen stops on those lines completely accessible for people with mobility issues. The Newtonville station of the Framingham/Worcester Commuter Rail, which has been a priority for major accessibility upgrades, was not among the ASAP funding awards.

The Newtonville Commuter Rail station is not compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, as passengers access trains via thirty-eight steep, narrow stairs to the platform and steep metal stairways from the platform to the train. Local and state officials have suggested that passage of the MBTA Communities Act, expanding by-right development near transportation, would likely make state and federal dollars available to repair and remodel the Newtonville station, but the project was not included in either the MBTA FY25-29 Capital Improvement Plan or the Federal ASAP grants.

Advocacy by Local, State, and Federal Officials

In a May 15 letter to MBTA General Manager Philip Eng, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller decried the omission of the Newtonville station upgrade in the state’s FY25-29 Capital Improvement Plan. “Newton cannot wait another decade for an accessible station and frequent, reliable commuter rail. The lack of accessibility hobbles our residents and people who work in Newton.” 

State Representative Kay Khan – who represents the 11th Middlesex House District, which includes all three of Newton’s Commuter Rail stations – has spent much of her nearly thirty years in the Legislature working to prioritize the upgrade of these stations, and most recently, the Newtonville station. While praising the Healey/Driscoll Administration for focusing “on improvements to our transportation system as a whole,” she expressed her disappointment that the Newtonville station is not among the ASAP awardees. “This funding opportunity would have moved the Newtonville Commuter Rail station towards addressing the issues of accessibility (and) reliability.” She urged her colleagues to continue to lobby for funding construction projects. 

In his response to the ASAP grants quoted in the MBTA’s response, Rep. Jake Auchincloss, whose district includes the “B” and “C” lines, noted that “The Green Line upgrades are another example that what happens in Washington matters: This bipartisan infrastructure law funding will improve the commutes for my Brookline and Newton constituents. Next up: the Newton commuter rail stations, which require the same attention from the MBTA as the Green Line Stations.”

Funding from the state would likely bring additional federal dollars to augment the station’s construction project, according to Rep. Jake Auchincloss. He told Fig City News that FTA funding depends on the Commonwealth first providing about $30 million toward the project. Without that state funding, the Congressman doubts that the federal government will provide the money to upgrade Newtonville. He believes that the state will have the resources to allocate such funds through mechanisms like the Millionaires Tax. He and Mayor Fuller have worked together to try to convince the MBTA to include the Newtonville station upgrade on its priority list. Conceding that there might not be a straight line to the funding, Rep. Auchincloss remains optimistic that “we will zig-zag our way to the money.” Rep. Auchincloss is a former City Councilor from Ward 2, site of the Newtonville Commuter Rail station, and he was a regular commuter when he worked in the private sector.

Assurance from MassDOT: “It’s going to get built”

On May 14, in an address to the Charles River Regional Chamber, MassDOT Acting Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt assured the audience that a new Newtonville Commuter Rail station will be built. When City Councilor Susan Albright asked, “Are you going to build it, or just design it?”, the Secretary said, “We’re not going to do the design and not actually finish it. …Yes, it’s going to get built.” She noted that construction costs cannot be included in the MBTA’s Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan until after the design is finished.

Prioritizing Projects

According to the FTA website, the ASAP grants are awarded by evaluating projects on the following criteria, which are each rated from Highly Recommended to Ineligible:

1. Demonstration of Need 
2. Demonstration of the Benefits 
3. Planning/Local Prioritization
4. Local Financial Commitment
5. Project Implementation Strategy
6. Technical, Legal, and Financial Capacity. 

All of the 2024 ASAP awards were made for large, heavily traveled, urban bus, subway, light rail, and commuter rail transit facilities.

Analysis of Commuter Rail ridership in 2018 (pre-Covid; the most recent data available to Fig City News) shows that Newtonville station traffic (fewer than 500 passengers per day each way) at that time represented less than 2.6% of ridership on the Worcester-Framingham line. The traffic for all three Newton Commuter Rail stations combined (fewer than 1,000 passengers per day each way) represented less than 5.5% of line ridership. (Source: MBTA Framingham/Worcester Line – Weekday Boardings, Alightings, and Loads, Spring/Fall 2018, Central Transportation Planning Staff of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization)

Fig City News thanks Thomas J. Humphrey — Retired Chief Planner, Transit Service Planning, Central Transportation Planning Staff of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization — for his assistance.