The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 22

B2 THE BOSTON GLOBE MONDAY, MAY 10, 1399 StartsaStops THOMAS C. PALMER JR. A bright idea: red strobes to save energy, get drivers' attention I'M. prised that there aren't more fatal collisions each day. "All around the city the total disregard for traffic lights is at an all-time high.

Something needs to be done." Logan on the Web ings on MBTA bus service in Boston will be held at the Boston Public Library, Dudley Square Branch, Wednesday at 1 p.m. and Thursday at 5:30 p.m.... The number of track accidents at the MBTA has dropped from 20 last year to sue so far this year, possibly due in part to the Operation CARE awareness effort. You can't get there. Those red-light bursts sure get your attention.

We encountered a set of the red strobe-like lights on Gloucester Street approaching Commonwealth Avenue one morning last week, and it reminded us of ones on Beacon Street in Brook-line, at a place where drivers tended to ignore pedestrians crossing. Boston transportation officials tell us their lights have a similar effect, but a different purpose. Primarily, they're energy savers. The city is installing the LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, in place of the old red bulbs. "These are supposed to save electricity while giving a better light," said Para Jaya-singhe of the Boston Transportation Department To get a little more detail, we called David Gillogly, former commissioner of transportation, who spearheaded the switch.

"They're brighter than the normal incandescent bulb we use behind a red lens," he said. The state Highway Department is introducing them at interchanges in eastern Massachusetts. The city is changing over its 3,600 stoplights at a rate of 200 a month. The fact that the light is brighter and a little more focused is an added benefit. The old bulbs were cheap, but they burned out every six months or so.

"These are supposed to last six years," Gillogly said. Boston Edison subsidizes the purchase of these Dialights, as they are called. They cost the city a little over $100 each. But, "The energy saving for us is in the 80 percent range," Gillogly said. That is, each replacement will save the city $47 a year on electricity use.

All the red lights, red arrows, and walk signals will be changed over within about a year. Next to be replaced may be the green lights. But they don't need any strobe-like effect to be noticed. As one of our e-mail correspondents put it, "I know that this subject has been brought up many times, but what will it take for drivers in Boston to realize that when the light turns red that means stop, not go? "My daily commute takes me from Mission Hill to Cambridge, and the number of cars ignoring red lights is phenomenal. I'm sur- 5I i fe 3t Hi i -1 'A 1 a I he Storrow Drive and Lever- ett Circle onramp to the Cen tral Artery northbound and southbound will be closed week-nights, 11 p.m.-5 a.m., and weekends 11 p.m.-8:30 a.m.

Until May 29. The Herald connector, the extension of Herald Street under the Expressway between Albany Street and Frontage Road northbound, is gonzo. You've got to go south of Herald Square to get to Herald Street now. This is a permanent closure to allow for construction of the new Expressway overhead and the approach to the Turnpike interchange. Service will be altered beginning Saturday on some of the MBTA's southside commuter-rail lines to accommodate Amtrak's electrification project.

Check new schedules at Back Bay Station and South Station. Amtrak's intercity service will be affected too, with longer trips between Boston and New York. The MBTA has begun tearing down and reconstructing the Cypress Street Bridge in Newton, working 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Two-way traffic will be maintained. Completion: Next winter.

The parking lot at the MBTA's Route 128 Station in Westwood is now closed and won't reopen till early next year. The, MBTA has leased space at a warehouse next door for 275 parking spots. We ansiver as many inquiries each week as space allows. Please, no phone calls. You can reach us on E-mail at startsglobe.com.

The column is also on Globe Online at Boston.coin, which can be found at httpvVwww.boston.com Use the keyuvrd starts. Our mailing ad-dms is Starts Stops, P.O. Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-2378. e're not quite sure what the handsome new cov ered walkways at Logan Airport with floors designed by Jane Goldman have to do with the World Wide Web; maybe it's all part of being connected. The Terminal covered walkway was the site of the unveiling last week of Logan's Web site.

It was shown off for travel agents and will be up and available with the click of a mouse in June. It's the law Under Chapter 90, Section 9D, "No person shall operate any motor vehicle upon any public way with: 1) a sign, poster or sticker so as to obstruct, impede or distort the vision of the operator; 2) nontransparent or sunscreen material, window application so as to make such windshield and said window glass areas in any way nontransparent or obscured from either the interior or exterior." Dukakis on dirt heard former governor Michael Dukakis wax enthusiastic last week about high-speed rail to New York and a lot of other transportation subjects. We couldn't write fast enough to keep up with him. He said he liked the prospect of Turnpike financial official Jim Rooney going to City Hall, because it was "Jimmy" who started the "Mini Mod" program, where teams of maintenance people went from station to station cleaning them up. "Those stations glistened," Dukakis said.

Dukakis doesn't like what he sees now, Project Clean or no Project Clean.v'I came here on the Orange Line," he told his luncheon group. "The maintenance ain't so good. There's graffiti on the walls. Those are the things that drive you crazy as a former governor" By maintenance, he said, he The association, Parents for Residential Reform, said strict standards governing how public school children are transported do not apply to private facilities. "Why are our kids not as important?" asked Andrea Watson, co-founder of the association.

In the Middleborough case, a teacher at the F.L. Chamberlain School was driving three students to the special-needs high school when you through the day. GLOBE TODAY? MY GLOBE (1-688494-5623) ti A passenger walked down the new covered walkway connecting Terminals A and at Logan Airport last week. The walkway was the site of the unveiling of Logan's Web site (right). The site will be available with the click of a mouse in June.

means simply the physical condition. "Longwood Station has needed paint for two years. I'm looking at paint peeling. There's no excuse for it. How long is it going to take them to paint Kenmore?" Dukakis rides commuter rail, too.

"Beverly and Lowell. Filthy. I'm not exaggerating. The goal should be zero graffiti and zero litter." You asked regular user of Interstate 93 north wondered what all Uhe construction is up in Wo- burn. Jon Carlisle of the Massachu he allegedly lost control of his The crash killed Danielle Mo-gado of East Falmouth and injured two other students.

The teacher, Leo Montero, 27, of New Bedford, has been charged with vehicular homicide, driving to endanger and speeding, Middleborough police said yesterday. Attempts to reach officials at the school yesterday were unsuccessful. Police did not know if the teacher Crash fatality turns focus to special-needs school regulations By David Armstrong GLOBE STAFF GLOBE STAFF PHOTOS WENDY MAEDA coverage of the Greenbush saga. The MBTA's new Greenbush commuter-rail liaison, Kevin Dacey, is not yet on the job. "He has extensive knowledge of the background and history," said spokesman Brian Pedro.

Pit stops This week is National Transportation Week, and the MBTA has a display on the second floor of the Transportation Building Raytheon Co. has sensing technology that may help prevent some of the 15,000 truck rollovers that occur in the United States each year Public hear stance, must have a special license, referred to as a 7D, to transport students. This license requires up to 20 hours of extra training. In addition, the required safety checks on vans and buses owned by the private facilities are not as strict Three years ago, officials of the Registry of Motor Vehicles predicted a catastrophe because hundreds of vehicles that carry private-school students were exempt from state of girl probed As of yesterday, no charges had been filed against the officer, whose identity was withheld by police. Police said the alleged victim had not filed a formal complaint.

that he heard of it later from other neighbors. Providence police officials declined comment yesterday. EarhVr. Providence police Major Richard Sullivan confirmed that the accused officer was on duty at the tone the alleged assault ocrarred. After raELig 91 1 to report the alleged assault, the 17-year-old was taken to a local hospital here she was treated and rvk a--d.

It is nt known exactly here the alleged assault occurred. regulations regarding licenses, inspections and criminal records checks for school buses or drivers. The private schools have actively opposed efforts to lift the exemptions, arguing the regulations would add millions of dollars to their budgets and result in little, if any, improvement in safety. Watson's group is also pushing for tougher background checks on private school employees. An accident that claimed the life of a 16-year-old girl on her way to an alternative high school Friday in Middleborough highlights the substandard regulation of the transportation provided by privately operated special-needs facilities across the state, an association of parents charged yesterday.

setts Highway Department says it's a new $14 million interchange, which got under way in the fall of 1997 and will be completed this coming fall. The interchange is about a mile north of Route 128 and will allow motorists access to Commerce Way. "So it will mitigate some of the congestion there," Carlisle said. He noted that the interchange will also provide access to a planned regional transportation center in Woburn, which will have bus and rail service and Logan connections. More on that soon.

Alex and others want more drove the students every day. Watson said a teacher from a public school would never be allowed to drive students to and from school. Her group is urging state regulators, including the Department of Education, to force private facilities to accept the same strict regulations required of public schools. State law exempts the private schools from many of those regulations. Public school drivers, for in As of yesterday, no charges had been filed against the officer, hose identity was withheld by police.

Police said the alleged victim had not filed a formal complaint The officer has been put on desk duty and an internal affairs investigation is pending. No one at the Pembroke Avenue house that was the scene of the weekend party would talk to a reporter yesterday. But several neighbors on the block of closely-set triple-deckers near Providence College complained that police are frequently called to the two-story house to quiet loud parties. "They have parties all the time and the cops are ah ays there," said Lenny Abruzzo, 21, who liv es directly across the street. Abruzzo, who said he came home from work at a nearby club between 130 and 2 a m.

Saturday, said he and several friends saw three young omen across the street crying and approached them to see what was wTong. "We went ov er there and asked what happened, and she said something happened to her he said, referring to one of the women. None of the women told him of the alleged assault. Abruzzo sjl. ailinT RJ.

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