FLEET-FOOT Fridays: New Subway Lines See Light at Tunnel's End

New lines and more walkable areas are the theme of new mass transit lines going up around the world. Boston's transit agency is building the Assembly Square station on the Orange Line, serving a blighted part of East Somerville (which would have been less-blighted if small, but vocal opposition hadn't driven a proposed IKEA away and out to the car-dependent suburbs).

New York is continuing to build a subway under Manhattan's Second Avenue, but train trips are five years away.

In Toronto, new stations are being built on the Toronto-York Spadina line, extending the line from Downsview to Vaughn Corporate Park. Still no direct service to Toronto's International Airport--not a real priority unless you're worried about the carbon footprint of the airport and its impact on global-warming.

Oh, and if you happen to be heading to Xi'an, China, perhaps to see the Terracotta Warriors, the city just opened its first subway line.