| In 1987 the Washington Street Elevated train was torn down and community members awaited rapid replacement service between Dudley Station in Roxbury and Downtown Boston. Commuters boarded busses each day and finally in 2002 the official replacement, the Silver Line, opened. It too was a bus, touting the benefits of bus rapid transit but lacking the infrastructure to uphold the 'rapid' moniker. This document supports the documentary film: Equal or Better: The Story of the Silver Line and explores the larger issues of transit equity and mode choice for the replacement service project. The film interviews community members, state officials, and transit riders and attempts to unearth how well the Silver Line fulfills the promise of "equal to or better than" transit service made to the neighborhoods. With such a subjective question comes a subjective answer dependent upon neighborhood, race, and class. The film can be found in the Tufts Univesity library coolection and online at ww.smallcraftadvisoryproductions.com. |
