General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

JumboBuc said:
It's not about whom they call, it's about who answers their calls.
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Aloisi is very good; him vs. Chieppo is such a not-fair fight the refs should've intervened to stop it after the first round. But damn does Comm Beacon rely on him an awful lot for op-eds and podcast bookings; he's become like a load-bearing wall for them. Their sourcing for transpo coverage and resident opinioneers has gotten painfully thin ever since Bruce Mohl retired from staff and took his contact list with him. Noticeable dropoff in quality and quality control.

As for Pioneer still inexplicably having a regular seat at their table...they need to read the fucking room already. There's nobody left out there who can make a halfway intellectually honest defense of Charlie Baker-era transportation policy and management, yet that's pretty much all that Pioneer flails around to do in their current irrelevance. Again...they're pretty much reduced to a de facto Brian Shortsleeve campaign arm nowadays. Not even the Herald returns their phone calls anymore their credibility has been so thoroughly repudiated. You can if you tried *probably* come up with some semi-coherent small-c conservative viewpoint on where we go from here--and thus Comm Beacon should keep searching for someone who can make that argument when they do these staged point-counterpoint spots--but the argument has to have a starting point from the Eng era forward not dishonestly harkening back to the "good old days" of deferred maintenance, half-assed privatization schemes, and lying about it under the guise of busywork in a formal Board setting. Both the public and the wonk class have moved well on from giving that a second thought.
 
www.boston.com

MBTA announces schedule changes, detours as nearly 1 million expected to attend Sunday’s St. Patrick's Day parade

The MBTA is preparing for nearly "one million" people coming into South Boston on Sunday for the annual St. Patricks Day parade.
www.boston.com
During last year’s parade, the MBTA was so overwhelmed with riders that the Red Line had to bypass Broadway Station. “It was out of control,” state Sen. Nick Collins, who represents South Boston, said last year to Boston.com.
However, this Sunday, the MBTA is initiating schedule changes and deploying large amounts of transit police to mitigate crowding and crime, the agency said in a press release.
On Sunday, the MBTA will run the Red Line on a “rush hour service” schedule from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Red Line may skip the Broadway stop “during certain times due to heavy crowds,” the T said. The MBTA will also offer shuttle buses from South Station to South Boston on parade day, the T said.
On Sunday, the shuttle will pick up riders at Summer Street at Atlantic Ave. and drop them off at East 1st Street at City Point Bus Terminal. The first trip will leave at 9:30 a.m., and service will end at 4:30 p.m., the MBTA said.
For those traveling into Boston, the MBTA is adding extra train cars to Commuter Rail trains to accommodate the masses. The Fairmount, Fall River/New Bedford, Framingham/Worcester, Franklin/Foxboro, Greenbush, Kingston, and Providence/Stoughton Lines will run on special schedules on Sunday, the agency said.
“Additional customer service and management staff will be available at South Station to answer any questions and assist customers,” the T said.
Bus routes 9 and 11 will be temporarily suspended on parade day. Route 9 will end service at 6:45 a.m., with the last inbound and outbound bus leaving at 6:30 a.m. The last bus for Route 11 will be at 6:15. Regular service will resume around 6 p.m., the agency said. Routes 10, 16, 17, and 47 will experience detours throughout the day, the MBTA announced.
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www.wcvb.com

Fire in switch box forces service disruption on section of MBTA's Red Line

The fire was in a switch box connected to the third rail and sent smoke into the station, which was evacuated for about 20 minutes.
www.wcvb.com www.wcvb.com
Shuttle buses replaced service between North Quincy and Braintree stations for about an hour.
Riders were also urged to use the Commuter Rail between Braintree and South Station for alternate service.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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www.bostonglobe.com

Mass. House proposes spending $10 million more on World Cup, funneling hundreds of millions to MBTA - The Boston Globe

The Massachusetts House will soon vote on a bill to infuse funding into the cash-strapped MBTA, send millions to the state’s elected sheriffs, and pad the state’s World Cup effort with an additional $10 million.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
Massachusetts House Democrats on Tuesday released a $1.8 billion spending bill that would infuse funding into the cash-strapped MBTA, send millions to the state’s elected sheriffs, and pad the state’s World Cup effort with an additional $10 million — addressing a pain point as the state readies to host seven matches this summer at Gillette Stadium.
While the bill, which lawmakers plan to vote on Wednesday, also works to conform the state’s tax law with changes at the federal level, it proposes a raft of new spending during a period of economic uncertainty, according to a summary released by House leaders.
The House’s plan leans heavily on surplus money generated last fiscal year by the state’s so-called millionaires tax, proposing to spend $1.3 billion of it. It also includes roughly $500 million, which House leaders said would come from the state’s general fund.
[...]
It also pitches spending $740 million on the struggling MBTA — a number that exceeds the $560 million budget deficit officials said the agency faces for the fiscal year that begins in July. That amount includes $60 million for physical infrastructure on the subway system, which was strained under this year’s historic winter storm.
The proposed amount exceeds the $645 million that Governor Maura Healey proposed giving the T in surplus surtax revenue.
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I was at the Focus 2050 meeting last night. I don't have too many notes but here's what I observed:
  • As the name implies, it its a successor to the very Baker-era Focus40 plan from 2019, itself a successor to the 2003 and 2009 PMTs
    • If you read each report you notice a very clear trend in ambition trending downwards each time while report quality increases, getting better at being a true visionary document. The 2003 PMT is incredibly dry but features some pretty wild and crazy ideas. Focus40 by contrast is easy to read/understand but the absolute boldest of the "We're imagining" ideas are T under D and a BL extension to Lynn.
  • Frankly this was not a good meeting. It was a strange and bizarre way of conducting the least efficient passenger survey possible. Just as an example, we were put in breakout rooms where the moderator asked questions such as "What do you think are some future transport trends in the Commonwealth?" which predictably got conflicting answers like "I think remote work will increase" and "no I think it will decrease."
  • The way the project was mentioned makes me nervous. It was explicitly stated that Focus 2050 will not be fiscally constrained, but there was plenty of talk from the MBTA staff there that suggested that this wasn't really being taken to heart. They seemed hesitant to go for really wild and crazy ideas because quote, "They will not be funded." Another attendee corrected them to state, "They may not be funded."
  • This was not a heavily attended meeting, it was mostly nerds.
  • Said nerds mainly brought up the usual suspects such as Red-Blue, the Urban Ring, and radial rail extensions as things they'd like to see discussed
  • There was a brief mention of a survey that they intend to send out in the future.
  • Final report is expected in late 2027
 
Delvin4519 said:

Spring 2026 Service Changes | Previous Service Changes | 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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map_redesign_april2026.png

Welcome to the map, 9.

Side note, it's going to be interesting to see how the official map handles this change, this is where things may start going really off the rails. The 12, 16, and 47 are going to be the real tests though.
 
TheRatmeister said:
View attachment 71517
Welcome to the map, 9.

Side note, it's going to be interesting to see how the official map handles this change, this is where things may start going really off the rails. The 12, 16, and 47 are going to be the real tests though.
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They have the map showing the 9 as a FBR already out though not in many places. They have it at South Station in the lobby and on mbtagifts.com.
 
I don't see the issue but I have absolutely zero eye for graphic design. Could someone more inclined in such explain?
 
KCasiglio said:
I don't see the issue but I have absolutely zero eye for graphic design. Could someone more inclined in such explain?
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My primary objections to the way it's shown here are that the directional arrows are absolutely tiny and basically invisible, and that the way it's shown as a loop around Copley/Arlington makes the route appear twice as thick (and therefore twice as prominent) as the other routes.

It's also a little more bendy than necessary which makes it harder to follow (see the 109 and 104 on my map vs the official one for a good example) but it's not that bad here and the 9 was one I was not able to really solve nicely regardless.

And of course the general style of this map is not great either but that's a rant for another time.
 
TheRatmeister said:
I was at the Focus 2050 meeting last night. I don't have too many notes but here's what I observed:
  • As the name implies, it its a successor to the very Baker-era Focus40 plan from 2019, itself a successor to the 2003 and 2009 PMTs
    • If you read each report you notice a very clear trend in ambition trending downwards each time while report quality increases, getting better at being a true visionary document. The 2003 PMT is incredibly dry but features some pretty wild and crazy ideas. Focus40 by contrast is easy to read/understand but the absolute boldest of the "We're imagining" ideas are T under D and a BL extension to Lynn.
  • Frankly this was not a good meeting. It was a strange and bizarre way of conducting the least efficient passenger survey possible. Just as an example, we were put in breakout rooms where the moderator asked questions such as "What do you think are some future transport trends in the Commonwealth?" which predictably got conflicting answers like "I think remote work will increase" and "no I think it will decrease."
  • The way the project was mentioned makes me nervous. It was explicitly stated that Focus 2050 will not be fiscally constrained, but there was plenty of talk from the MBTA staff there that suggested that this wasn't really being taken to heart. They seemed hesitant to go for really wild and crazy ideas because quote, "They will not be funded." Another attendee corrected them to state, "They may not be funded."
  • This was not a heavily attended meeting, it was mostly nerds.
  • Said nerds mainly brought up the usual suspects such as Red-Blue, the Urban Ring, and radial rail extensions as things they'd like to see discussed
  • There was a brief mention of a survey that they intend to send out in the future.
  • Final report is expected in late 2027
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This is disappointing to hear, hopefully they're just off to a slow start. Unfortunately the funding question is baked in to this process because the T ties it back to the CIP, even though no one knows what the funding picture looks like in 2050. Is there anything in Boston with a more ambitious long-term outlook on infrastructure to support growth, akin to the New York RPA? Some questions that could be tackled are:
  • Blue Line beyond MGH providing service across the region to... where?
  • How to utilize the non-Central Artery alignment through downtown identified in the NSRL study. Again, where would you target the service on either end assuming it's not regional rail?
  • What places could benefit from Maryland Purple Line-style service connecting areas with development potential to the existing network?
  • How to provide East/West connections through Kendall, connect the South Shore to Back Bay, connect Dorchester/Roxbury to Longwood/Kenmore, etc.
Ending up with the 1945 Coolidge Commission recommendations yet again would be a waste of the 18 months they plan to spend on this.
 
KCasiglio said:
I don't see the issue but I have absolutely zero eye for graphic design. Could someone more inclined in such explain?
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The Silver Lines are a mess. The SL 4 and SL 5 routes are shown in a very confusing way north of the Tufts Medical Center stop. The breaks in the lines there and at Downtown Crossing would seem to indicate the lines are just dead-ending at those places, but they're actually looping around. Also, directional arrows are needed on these sections of SL 4 and SL 5 to show how the loops work. The same types of graphic deficiencies are at Logan Airport for SL 1 and at Design Center for SL 2.
 
Charlie_mta said:
The Silver Lines are a mess. The SL 4 and SL 5 routes are shown in a very confusing way north of the Tufts Medical Center stop. The breaks in the lines there and at Downtown Crossing would seem to indicate the lines are just dead-ending at those places, but they're actually looping around. Also, directional arrows are needed on these sections of SL 4 and SL 5 to show how the loops work. The same types of graphic deficiencies are at Logan Airport for SL 1 and at Design Center for SL 2.
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There actually are directional arrows on the SL loops (at the end of each loop at the break point), but they are way too subtle for the average user of the map to identify their purpose. Very poor graphical design. There needs to be much clearer designation of the one-way nature of the loop service.
 
JeffDowntown said:
There actually are directional arrows on the SL loops (at the end of each loop at the break point), but they are way too subtle for the average user of the map to identify their purpose. Very poor graphical design. There needs to be much clearer designation of the one-way nature of the loop service.
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Yes, there are tiny directional arrows at the stub ends on the loops, but I couldn't even see them, and my eyes are pretty good.
 
Charlie_mta said:
The Silver Lines are a mess. The SL 4 and SL 5 routes are shown in a very confusing way north of the Tufts Medical Center stop. The breaks in the lines there and at Downtown Crossing would seem to indicate the lines are just dead-ending at those places, but they're actually looping around. Also, directional arrows are needed on these sections of SL 4 and SL 5 to show how the loops work. The same types of graphic deficiencies are at Logan Airport for SL 1 and at Design Center for SL 2.
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  • The MBTA has announced plans to combine the current SL4 and SL5 into one new "SL5" route and retire the SL4 name.
  • When the SL4 and SL5 were launched the idea of a designated busway with significant shelters was unique, but now there are a few of these (and more in design) across the system.
    • The center-running Columbus Ave bus lanes through Egleston are arguably "more BRT" than the SL4 and SL5 stretch down Washington.
    • The same would also be true for the potential future Blue Hill Ave busway.
  • The T's focus on highlighting (and mapping) Frequent Bus Routes is also relatively new, and was not the practice when SL4 and SL5 launched.
  • The 60-foot SL4 and SL5 rolling stock are regularly swapped out with other "yellow" routes, most notably the 39.
    • The SL4 and SL5 also run 40-foot "yellow" vehicles in inclement weather.
  • The SL4 and SL5 were meant to "replace" the old Orange Alignment much in the same way the 39 "replaces" the old GL-E service to Arborway.
  • The SL4 and SL5 charge bus fares.
Taking this all into consideration, I really think it's time to strip the SL4 and SL5 of their "Silver Line" branding and just bring back the (old) 49 in their place as a Frequent Bus Route. The "Silver Line" concept (with Subway fares) can live on with SL1, SL2, and SL3, which (primarily) run on true grade-separated busways (rather than bus lanes on public streets).
 
JumboBuc said:
Taking this all into consideration, I really think it's time to strip the SL4 and SL5 of their "Silver Line" branding and just bring back the (old) 49 in their place as a Frequent Bus Route. The "Silver Line" concept (with Subway fares) can live on with SL1, SL2, and SL3, which (primarily) run on true grade-separated busways (rather than bus lanes on public streets).
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I agree with all the points backing this up but think it would still be a massive unforced PR nightmare.
 
I think the time to do it would be after a big push to get bus lanes in Roxbury and Dorchester. Get Columbus Phase 2, BHA, Seaver, Malcolm X, and at least something on Warren and in the LMA. Then you can say "oh look, we've got so many routes using these busways, we don't want to put them all in the Silver Line brand, so we're going to have the SL just refer to the Transitway routes", and it doesn't look like you're just giving those neighborhoods the shaft.
 
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