MBTA Buses & Infrastructure

mass88 said:
Why were they not capable of building a station that had few leaks in the first place?
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If I remember correctly one of the big problems was poorly designed sump pumps which routinely get clogged and fail, which to me sounded an awful lot like a design fault from whichever engineering firm did the original designs
 
HelloBostonHi said:
If I remember correctly one of the big problems was poorly designed sump pumps which routinely get clogged and fail, which to me sounded an awful lot like a design fault from whichever engineering firm did the original designs
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I think there is a general engineering design failure in Boston underground transportation construction.

Throughout our underground road and transit structures, we seem to rely on the active sump pump mechanism, rather than effective waterproofing of the structures. Active systems will fail, even with backups and maintenance.

Our designs don't really try hard to be waterproof in the first place, they leak like sieves. You cannot expect sump pumps to compensate for that.
 
The Big Dig originally proposed a full tunnel inside the slurry walls, but that was VE’d into using the slurry walls directly as part of the tunnel box.
 
I don't see a lot of leakage in the tunnels. The Courthouse Station seems to have the major issue. I have never seen it dry.
I hope they also get the signs and anouncements working for the outbound side. You never know when/what the next SL will arrive. Rant over
 
ceo said:
People are pretty good about the painted bus/bike lane on Broadway in Somerville, even though there sure was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth when it first went in.
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Lynn has some bus lanes already on N Common Street, S Common Street, and Market Street. They're not particularly well respected, and there's little chance that painted bus lanes on the Lynnway would be much better respected. As someone who drives that stretch of 1A frequently... The bus lanes are gonna need physical separation if you want to do it right imo.
 
Around and around we go. The upper busway has re-opened at Harvard, and the lower one has re-closed.

PXL_20210731_031819960.jpg
 
Info page for August 29 service changes is up. Not a lot exciting - minimal changes to subway, and nothing to CR and ferry. On the bus side, the highlights are that routes 351, 428, 451, 456, and 505 resume, and route 67 gets midday and evening service back.
 
The EGE said:
Info page for August 29 service changes is up. Not a lot exciting - minimal changes to subway, and nothing to CR and ferry. On the bus side, the highlights are that routes 351, 428, 451, 456, and 505 resume, and route 67 gets midday and evening service back.
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Missed opportunity to tighten up mid-day frequencies on the 23, which has higher ridership than some more frequent routes, even cracking the top three in ridership on some weeks.
 
Route 75: Weekday, Saturday, and Sunday schedule changes. Weekday peak-service (formerly 72) via Aberdeen Ave is added. With Harvard Busway Renovation complete, inbound service resumes via busway.
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Is 72 is officially dead?
 
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737900er said:
Route 75: Weekday, Saturday, and Sunday schedule changes. Weekday peak-service (formerly 72) via Aberdeen Ave is added. With Harvard Busway Renovation complete, inbound service resumes via busway.

Is 72 is officially dead?
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It resumed service when fall schedules took effect in August of 2020. As just a weekday rush-only bus route (as part of the Better Bus Project changes that took effect in December 2019), ridership was abysmal:

Week ofAverage Weekday 72 Bus Ridership
8/31/2022
9/7/2022
9/14/2024
9/21/2025
9/28/2023
10/5/2028
10/12/2027
10/19/2028
10/26/2024
11/2/2026
11/9/2036
11/16/2030
11/23/2028
11/30/2022
12/7/2023
12/14/2016

In December 2020, the 72 was temporarily suspended due to extremely low ridership. At that point, the 72 and 195 joined 15 other routes that were "temporarily suspended."

The MBTA suspended nine more routes in March and consolidated four to two.

Four routes were restored in June, but the 72 was not one of them.

Six more routes are being restored this month, but the 72 will not be one of them.

By my count, the 72 is one of 14 bus routes that remain "temporarily suspended," and not "officially consolidated," (even though many of these are unofficially consolidated/absorbed by other route changes) through the fall. These are the 72, 79, 84, 170, 212, 221, 325, 326, 352, 434, 465, 502, 503, 710.

In my opinion, restoration of the 79, 212, 325, 326, or 465 is questionable.

Restoration of the 72, 84, 170, 221, 352, 434, 502, 503, or 710 is doubtful.

I'd bet on the 72 having taken its last trip.
 
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The EGE said:
Info page for August 29 service changes is up. Not a lot exciting - minimal changes to subway, and nothing to CR and ferry. On the bus side, the highlights are that routes 351, 428, 451, 456, and 505 resume, and route 67 gets midday and evening service back.
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No indication if the other Waltham/Newton express buses (553, 554, 556, 558) will start going downtown again, or will still start/end at Newton Corner.
 
An interesting artifact I saw during the Columbus Avenue busway construction: a section of old streetcar rail, last used in 1956. It was used by route 43 (North Station–Egleston), which was cut back to a new loop at Lenox Street.

800px-Old_rail_on_Columbus_Avenue%2C_July_2021.jpg
 
And some photos of the bus platforms themselves (taken July 8). They're definitely a step up from the Silver Line stops on Washington Street - the shelters are shaped to provide decent weather protection, and the lollipop signs are a nice touch.

Dimmock Street southbound:
1024px-Southbound_platform_at_Dimmock_Street_under_construction%2C_July_2021.jpg


Dimmock Street northbound:
1024px-Northbound_platform_at_Dimmock_Street_under_construction%2C_July_2021.jpg


Bray Street, southbound at right:
1024px-Bray_Street_platforms_under_construction%2C_July_2021.jpg


The platforms at Egleston Square were actually in use while construction was underway on the curb lane. Westbound:
1024px-Westbound_platform_at_Egleston_Square_under_construction%2C_July_2021.jpg


Egleston Square eastbound:
1024px-Eastbound_platform_at_Egleston_Square_under_construction%2C_July_2021.jpg


Walnut Street, westbound at right:
1024px-Platforms_at_Walnut_Street_under_construction%2C_July_2021.jpg
 
How high are the curb "platforms" on these stops? They appear to be a little higher than usual, and if they provide for level boarding with the busses, that would be amazing- and another step towards true BRT.
 
Hubman said:
How high are the curb "platforms" on these stops? They appear to be a little higher than usual, and if they provide for level boarding with the busses, that would be amazing- and another step towards true BRT.
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Per the MBTA - they're "Near-level boarding" which seems odd to me. Why not fully level? Will they still have to deploy a ramp if someone in a wheelchair is trying to get on?
 
KCasiglio said:
Per the MBTA - they're "Near-level boarding" which seems odd to me. Why not fully level? Will they still have to deploy a ramp if someone in a wheelchair is trying to get on?
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My guess is that the various models of T bus don't all have the same height, so fully level for one bus may not be fully level for another.
 
KCasiglio said:
Per the MBTA - they're "Near-level boarding" which seems odd to me. Why not fully level? Will they still have to deploy a ramp if someone in a wheelchair is trying to get on?
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I had two theories about this but no real answers. One, MBTA buses are all kneeling buses so it's better for the platform to be a little low rather than a little high and two, if the platform even slightly higher than the bus then the wheelchair ramp isn't going to deploy properly and I believe that even with near level access they still are required by the BCIL settlement to deploy ramps on request, even on the green line and silver line it's a requirement. Also expecting bus operators to pull perfectly up to the curb within a centimeter or two is pretty optimistic unfortunately.
 
Last week's update on the Columbus Avenue lanes from the MBTA. Not much substance - the canopies have already been up for over a month - but it does include the tidbit that the lanes are expected to open in September.
 
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