General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Delvin4519 said:
First it was "COVID cuts", "operator shortages".

Now this is a new one from the T: "not enough buses" to return the bus network to the pre-COVID revenue service hours level of service.

Source: "This bus only runs for a few hours in the middle of the day. T riders want that changed."

The 55 is mostly duplicative, but there are plenty of other higher ridership bus routes that are still waiting for pre-COVID service levels to return.

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Do many people even ride the 55? The Green Line must be faster for the majority of stop pairs.

It would seem like any resources that could be spent on the 55 would be better off spent on Green Line Upgrades and Type 10 Vehicles to help any current 55 riders and the system as a whole.
 
The southern part of Fenway/Kenmore is just far enough from Fenway and Kenmore stations to be rather inconvenient - it's a full half-mile from Jersey and Peterborough to either station. In the time it takes to make that walk, the 55 gets you to Copley. The Brookline Avenue buses are irregular, disrupted by Sox games, and require a transfer at Kenmore. There's been continuous east-west service on that section of Boylston since 1900; that's why it's lasted this long.

With the amount of new development on Boylston Street, I think there's a need for service that doesn't require the walk to the Green Line. Pre-COVID, the 55 was primarily used at peak hours, and half the riders went to Park Street. No surprise that ridership is down with midday-only service that doesn't go all the way downtown.
 
Delvin4519 said:
First it was "COVID cuts", "operator shortages".

Now this is a new one from the T: "not enough buses" to return the bus network to the pre-COVID revenue service hours level of service.

Source: "This bus only runs for a few hours in the middle of the day. T riders want that changed."

The 55 is mostly duplicative, but there are plenty of other higher ridership bus routes that are still waiting for pre-COVID service levels to return.

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Most of the driver number make-up has been going towards trying to simultaneously make progress on BNRD. On top of which, maintaining headways with worsening traffic is requiring more operators to be used on more buses for existing routes. Just Phase 1 of BNRD required 50 of the 200 or so newly hired drivers, a lot of which only just finished the classroom training portion within the last couple weeks. More than 100 of those drivers are being used on bolstering the 7 highest ridership routes. The upcoming Phase 2 of BNRD will utilize an additional 27 operators across 3 routes.

As for the bus shortage, 216 buses are scheduled to recieve a midlife overhaul over this year. Bids were recieved in January 2025 and September 2025. So far 14 buses from the September bid are out for overhaul and an unknown number from January are out. The MBTA is awaiting 80 newly ordered electric buses. Weekday service requires hundreds of active buses and they always need many available to replace any that have mechanical issues and that go in and out of garages with different shifts due to fuel and positioning reasons. They could theoretically put more reserved buses out on service but theyd have to risk availablity for breakdowns. They could also theoretically repurpose buses that go out of service midday and move them to other routes but then you have buses based out of one garage potentially going way out of their area that then need to navigate back to their original route in the evening peak creating a logistical mess that stretches fuel with all the deadheading. Post-am peak, its quite the spectacle seeing all the school routes deadheading across half the city, like the 35s to Boston Latin heading back to Forest Hills. The "lack of buses" is pretty sound for how bus logistics work especially as the 2010 buses are probably fast approaching their 500k mile service life
 
www.bostonherald.com

Legislature considers plan to install Narcan at all MBTA stations

The Bay State is considering a proposal to make doses of the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan available at all MBTA stations.
www.bostonherald.com www.bostonherald.com
The bill — known as An Act directing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to place naloxone in subway stations — would do precisely as it is named and require that all MBTA stations have at least two “freestanding unalarmed naloxone boxes” each containing two “units of 4 milligram intranasal naloxone spray.”
“Frankly, I believe every bus and commuter rail car should have naloxone. It should be available as much as possible. It should be as common as fire extinguishers and light bulbs,” Keenan said.
The proposal would also require the boxes to be checked and restocked daily, to have nearby flyers explaining how naloxone is administered, and for the MBTA to report back on the program no more than 18 months after its implementation.
A line in the state’s fiscal 2024 spending plan set aside $95,000 to establish the original Red Line program as a pilot, and Keenan said that a report was due to the Transportation Committee on the results of the program by Sept. 1. That report has not been filed with the committee yet.
The MBTA, he said, has also not fully complied with the 2024 law’s requirements to install Narcan at all its Red Line stations, instead limiting the drug’s availability to Quincy Center, Ashmont, Andrew, South Station, and Harvard stations.
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I’ve noticed this for a few other diversions as well, but the messaging the T is putting on the advertising screens in stations is at best unclear and at worst misleading about the extent of the diversion. The copy on these screens reads:
November 4-13

No trains between Park Street and Medford/Tufts (E), Union Square (D) starting 8 PM.
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I personally would interpret that as describing an “early access” diversion, with train service suspended between 8 PM and the end of service on each day from November 4 through November 13. However, the T’s press release on November service changes shows that this is in fact a “surge” diversion, beginning at 8 PM on November 4 and continuing through the end of service on November 13.

There’s a very significant difference between those two things, and while I appreciate that it can be difficult to succinctly describe these diversions, I think the T has fallen short here.

(I did also submit feedback to the T, so I’m not just shouting into the void here.


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alewife said:
I’ve noticed this for a few other diversions as well, but the messaging the T is putting on the advertising screens in stations is at best unclear and at worst misleading about the extent of the diversion. The copy on these screens reads:

I personally would interpret that as describing an “early access” diversion, with train service suspended between 8 PM and the end of service on each day from November 4 through November 13. However, the T’s press release on November service changes shows that this is in fact a “surge” diversion, beginning at 8 PM on November 4 and continuing through the end of service on November 13.

There’s a very significant difference between those two things, and while I appreciate that it can be difficult to succinctly describe these diversions, I think the T has fallen short here.

(I did also submit feedback to the T, so I’m not just shouting into the void here.


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Oddly enough, this might be better directed to Reddit - I believe one of the managers for these passenger info screens is a regular poster on the r/mbta sub.
 
www.boston.com

Chunk of MBTA's downtown concourse ceiling falls due to water damage

“We thank the public for notifying the T about the station issue at Park Street earlier this week," the MBTA said.
www.boston.com
Part of the ceiling of the MBTA’s Winter Street concourse fell and caused a hole Tuesday morning, as commuters traveled the tunnel between the Green and Orange lines downtown, the MBTA said.
[...]
The hole in the ceiling, according to the MBTA, was caused by water intrusion. The transit agency sent bridge inspectors to remove any materials, and the director of engineering determined the area was safe for service. The debris was cleaned, and the passageway remained opened.
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The first 30 or so pages of the report are a "state of the field" report, essentially. What are current conditions in Boston, what's new in transportation, and what's being tried around the world. They point to the success of Bluebikes hubs for multimodal trips quite a lot, and they also talk a lot about Microtransit which can be in the form of The Ride, Demand Responsive Transport, or subsidized shared taxis/ubers. There's also a lot of what essentially amounts (to me, anyway) as justification for the proposals they're about to give. Why is integration important, what are the different kinds of integration, what are other places doing, what other agencies want to do integration, etc etc. It reads like you'd expect a report aimed at politicians and their staff who know far too little about the subject matter to read.

There are a few interesting tidbits in here though:
  • Bluebikes is put in the "Some coordination" bucket with EZRide and Massport rather than the "formal coordination" bucket with Amtrak and bus contractors. This seems like a major weak spot, and unsurprisingly recommendation 3.4 is very explicit in saying coordination should be improved.
  • "The future state of RTA fare-
    free funding is unknown; nonetheless, the MBTA’s fare payment system is being designed to
    consider future fare integration with these services." This reads like the MBTA expects the fare-free RTA program to end.
  • "payment advancements could enable other mobility providers to integrate into the MBTA fare
    payment system, which could allow riders in the future to access MBTA services, bike share,
    rideshare, etc. through an MBTA platform." This suggests they want to look into integrated fares beyond the MBTA system. Would this just be RTAs or could it maybe include RIPTA or Amtrak? Who's to say, they're scant on details.

On to the recommendations, which I've paraphrased slightly:

Section 1: Internal alignment
1.1: Make a map (presumably interactive using ArcGIS) of all transit services in Massachusetts - In Progress
1.2: Identify places where MBTA and other transit services could be integrated
1.3: Improve MBTA wayfinding
1.4: Partner with universities to research mobility integration
1.5: Check if hiring people is required to follow recommendations
1.6: Set goals
1.7: Train staff better and give them more resources for connecting passengers

Apart from 1.1 and 1.3 which are at least kind of specific, these area all very broad and frankly not especially helpful. I'd certainly hope that orgs like the MBTA are doing some level of 1.2 constantly, for example.

Section 2: MBTA-led efforts
2.1: Make physical and intermodal connections to/from MBTA services easier. The examples given are adding bike parking and coordinating schedules, fare integration could fall under this point but it comes up later.
2.2: Figure out what the MBTA owns and how other orgs might be able to use it
2.3: Update the Stationwide Access Study for the post-pandemic world.
2.4: Create new design guidelines for station access
2.5: Use MBTA stations as mobility hubs. Examples given are bikeshares, bike/car parking, EV charging, micromobility, and kiss and rides. I would have liked to see the report go a little bit into land use and urban integration here but they do not.
2.6: Think about doing integration when designing things
2.7: Maintain infrastructure
2.8: Expand fare integration. They highlight that the MBTA has three different payment platforms (Charlie for bus/subway, mTicket for CR, and PaybyPhone for parking). Integrating these into one platform would obviously be better, and I'm surprised so little is written about this across the report.

A mix of detailed and interesting recommendations like 2.3 and 2.8 and total nothing-burgers like 2.6 and 2.7 here.

Section 3: Partnerships
3.1: Make policies to guide/govern MBTA partnerships
3.2: Make different policies and standards to govern MBTA partnerships
3.3: Expand institutional programs for schools, universities, and employers
3.4: Coordinate more with RTAs, Bluebikes, and shuttles in the MBTA service area
3.5: Work with MPOs to plan things
3.6: Coordinate with the state, RTAs, and private companies to organize transport during disruptions and events. No specifics about if they mean transit disruptions for track work, for example, if they mean highway closures like what is expected on I-90 at some point probably maybe, or both.

3.3 and 3.6 are interesting, 3.4 is important, the others definitely fall under the 'yeah duh' category.

Section 4: Passenger experience
4.1: Consoildate different fare/payment platforms to improve the rider experience and make external integration easier. (Mostly 2.8 restated)
4.2: Explore bundled fares/subscriptions with bluebikes, RTAs, shuttles, etc.
4.3: More designated shuttle pickup stops at MBTA stations, also stop private cars from using bus stops
4.4: Coordinate with other agencies regarding land use surrounding MBTA stations
4.5: Encourage TOD

Finally we get to exploring land-use and urban spaces, albeit rather timidly. If you want long-term integration goals, this section is by far the most relevant.
 
The MBTA's Green Line trains on the D Line is reseiving new Crash prevention eqipment to help prevent crashes & derailments. The equipment will be installed on the fronts of the lead cars. This has been a long time coming!! It will save the trains from having so many collisions & derailments, thereby improving safety, stopping accidents & injuries. :)
 
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commonwealthbeacon.org

Drawbridge, Green Line investments top narrower MBTA capital plan - CommonWealth Beacon

Boxed in by prior commitments, inflation, and federal uncertainty, the MBTA is narrowing its approach to its five-year capital plan to focus on projects such as replacement of the North Station Draw One bridge.
commonwealthbeacon.org commonwealthbeacon.org
In the next three years, a trio of projects will take up much of the MBTA’s available capital funding: the roughly $1.2 billion replacement of the North Station commuter rail drawbridge, the $1 billion procurement of new “Type 10” trains for the Green Line, and the effort to stockpile enough money to qualify for a crucial federal grant that would fund Green Line infrastructure improvements.
To secure that grant, which could help cover power and signal upgrades needed to accommodate the newer trolleys, the T needs to program $1.9 billion in matching funds over the next two years, Malia said.
About 45 percent of the T’s current five-year capital plan comes from the agency itself, which borrows $600 million per year to cover these expenses and then repays that money over time. Another 40 percent comes from federal sources, and state government pays for 14 percent, according to an analysis by the MBTA Advisory Board.
Some projects get funding outside of the capital plan. The T gained an additional $850 million in bonding capacity last week, essentially allowing it to borrow more money for infrastructure work, thanks to an accounting maneuver that deployed revenue from the voter-approved surtax on wealthy households.
Those dollars will help fund a bus maintenance facility in Arborway, a rail layover facility at Boston’s Widett Circle, Green Line improvements, and the purchase of new commuter rail locomotives.
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I’ve noticed that Union square trains have regularly (at least in off-peak times) been using the brattle loop, which is nice to see. There’s no way to know that this happening if you get on west of Gov Center though.
 
BosMaineiac said:
I’ve noticed that Union square trains have regularly (at least in off-peak times) been using the brattle loop, which is nice to see. There’s no way to know that this happening if you get on west of Gov Center though.
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I also saw an E train terminate at East Somerville and reverse back to Heath St for the first time yesterday. Seems like they are experimenting with different ops adjustments to address bunching?

Terminating at East Somerville doesn’t work all that well because the switch is ahead of the station so the following train had to wait for the signal to clear before picking up the abandoned passengers. Expressing from E Somerville is very common at this point, and it also a pretty frustrating (and seemingly inefficient) experience when most of the riders are going to Gilman.

The 10mph through stations penalty makes me question how much time is even saved with expressing.
 
Delvin4519 said:

MBTA Announces December Service Changes | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com
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The MBTA will continue signal upgrade and modernization work on the Orange Line in December.
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Is there information about how far along the signal upgrade project is on the Southwest Corridor? The shutdowns have been heavily concentrated between Forest Hills and Back Bay over the past few months, so I'm wondering if that section of the signal upgrade work is almost complete.
 
An update on Boston's center-running bus lane projects, which spent most of Mayor Wu's first term in planning limbo:

mass.streetsblog.org

Boston's Bus Lane Projects Are Stuck In Red Tape, Leaving Riders Stuck In Traffic - Streetsblog Massachusetts

When Mayor Marty Walsh’s administration hosted their first open house for their plan to build a new dedicated bus transitway on Blue Hill Avenue in early 2020, they predicted that the project could save daily riders of the MBTA’s 28 bus two to three hours every week, and hundreds of hours over...
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
 
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