Blue Line extension to Lynn

I wonder how many more people would be calling for improved MBTA service to Logan if we didn't already have the fastest, most frequent, versatile (two routes to choose from), and cheapest CBD-airport transit connection in North America.
 
Chicago's L goes right to both Midway and O'Hare. DC Metro (WMATA) goes to Washington National airport (I refuse to call it 'Reagan'). San Francisco's BART now goes to SFO. No shuttle buses required for any of these.
 
I don't think you can consider the BART SFO connection as not requiring a shuttle, when it's anywhere from a 10 to 20 minute walk from any terminal other than the international terminal. AirTrain provides good connections, but it's still a shuttle service. And once you're at the BART station the service is slower (27 minutes to Civic Center), less frequent (only every 15 minutes even in the peak) and more expensive ($5.35) than either of the two Boston services.

CTA's trip time from airport to Loop is either longer (27 minutes) or much longer (40 plus) from Midway and O'Hare than both Boston services. Both of the lines serving the airports are less frequent than the MBTA's Blue Line and the fare is higher.

I'll grant you National though. It takes a little longer to get to downtown DC (10 minute to L'Enfant or 15 to Farragut West) on Metro than a Blue Line trip to Aquarium (5 minutes), but service frequencies and fares are comparable and the station is a short walk from the terminal. DCA is, of course, an expensive airport to fly into and the transit connection for the majority of DC-bound travelers flying into Dulles or BWI leaves much to be desired.
 
Ron Newman said:
Where did you read that? The Blue Line station could not be closer without actually moving the tracks.
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I dont remember where I read it. Looking at google maps, there is ample space to curve the tracks and station into the airport via a landswap with the athletic facilities.


But yeah, Boston has the best airport transit option in the country.

Miami is supposed to be getting a rail connection, but the 10 year project is moving slower than even Boston standards
 
One thing to keep in mind is that the Blue Line was built through East Boston and Revere in the 1950s, on the right-of-way of a former narrow-gauge railroad that long predated any airport.
 
Wikipedia has some good general information about the former line Ron is talking about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston,_Revere_Beach_&_Lynn_Railroad

One thing we can learn from these small precedent studies is that these rail lines were once catalysts of their time, and ultimately helped form the communities we know today as Wonderland, Oak Island, Point of Pines, and Central Sq in Lynn.

I think that it's important to look at past rail examples(especially in Massachusetts) and take a deeper look at its history. In the case of the narrow gauge route, it is absolutely a better option because it servers the communities it once gave life to. A Blue Line extension to Lynn would really reinvent these communities, bringing new and exciting demographics to this post industrial area.

I'm going to write to Mayor Ambrosino of Revere within the next week or so asking for his reasoning behind the other two options over the narrow gauge route. I feel that his negative response to the option is a little narrow minded and a bit disconnected. Maybe he's only thinking of the wealthier Revere homeowners who live out in these communities. In any case, I'm sure we can all come to a compromise ... especially if its for the greater good of the North Shore.
 
While public transit access to Logan is amongst the best in the nation (in my opinion), it could be better.

When one considers that South Station is, as the crow flies, barely two miles (if that far) from Logan property, it should not take 20 minutes at best (took me 29 today--hopped on the massport bus at 1:40 and was walking in the front door of S. Station at 2:09) to get there--one can almost walk the distance that fast.

For example, you can get a hell of a lot further in 20-30 minutes from Reagan on the Metro . . . though I guess if you stayed on the blue line for 20 minutes or more you'd get to either Bowdoin or Wonderland.

Regarding the walk from the airport blue line to Terminal E, yeah, it's doable and sidewalked most of the way, but every bit of a half mile if not more. I paced it off an it is just over a mile from the station to Terminal B (where I do most of my flying into and out of).

This would make for one very long (and presumably enclosed and elevated) moving sidewalk. I like the idea a lot and if it could tie into central parking you can access all the terminals (not very easily at present but that arrangement might be able to be improved upon), but seems like it might be a bridge too far, pardon the pun.
 
Was your trip by Silver Line or Blue Line? If it was Blue Line, did you walk from Aquarium to South Station?
 
Riverworks said:
I'm going to write to Mayor Ambrosino of Revere within the next week or so asking for his reasoning behind the other two options over the narrow gauge route. I feel that his negative response to the option is a little narrow minded and a bit disconnected. Maybe he's only thinking of the wealthier Revere homeowners who live out in these communities. In any case, I'm sure we can all come to a compromise ... especially if its for the greater good of the North Shore.
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If your only argument for using the Narrow Gauge route is to serve Oak Island and Point of Pines, I don't think you'll get very far with the mayor. There are maybe 250 homes in Oak Island and another 400 in Point of Pines. In both cases there is almost no room for additional development due to wetlands. And certainly in the case of middle class Point of Pines, almost everyone living there would gladly keep the transportation status quo then to have Blue Line trains rumbling by their homes every 4 minutes or so. Both of these T stations would likely surpass Suffolk Downs for lowest ridership at a rapid transit station.
 
belmont square said:
I don't think you can consider the BART SFO connection as not requiring a shuttle, when it's anywhere from a 10 to 20 minute walk from any terminal other than the international terminal. AirTrain provides good connections, but it's still a shuttle service. And once you're at the BART station the service is slower (27 minutes to Civic Center), less frequent (only every 15 minutes even in the peak) and more expensive ($5.35) than either of the two Boston services.

CTA's trip time from airport to Loop is either longer (27 minutes) or much longer (40 plus) from Midway and O'Hare than both Boston services. Both of the lines serving the airports are less frequent than the MBTA's Blue Line and the fare is higher.

I'll grant you National though. It takes a little longer to get to downtown DC (10 minute to L'Enfant or 15 to Farragut West) on Metro than a Blue Line trip to Aquarium (5 minutes), but service frequencies and fares are comparable and the station is a short walk from the terminal. DCA is, of course, an expensive airport to fly into and the transit connection for the majority of DC-bound travelers flying into Dulles or BWI leaves much to be desired.
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The CTA Blue Line, which travels to O'Hare for great part via the median of the JFK Expressway, is undergoing a bunch of construction to make trains faster, By the end of this year it will take 45 minutes to go from the Loop to O'Hare.

In any event, the Logan station should have been made closer, or an automated people mover should have been put in place. Either way, going to downtown Boston from Logan is very easy when compared to other cities.

I don't know if anyone has ever rode the Tube to Heathrow Airport in London, but the walk from the station to the terminals is no short distance and it is a very popular way to get to the airport.
 
I've flown out of London's Stansted Airport a bunch of times, after taking the National Rail (equivalent to Boston's commuter rail). It's about a 40 minute ride out of the city and drops you off right in front of the departures entrance. It's an amazing transfer if you're flying Ryan Air or one of those cheaper, less popular airlines.

Geographically speaking, Logan is in an absolutely phenomenal location. The transferring part just needs to be improved. The buses have to go. Either a high speed walkway or rail/people mover connection needs to be made. If it connected to central parking, there would be no need to stop at every terminal. Let the passengers circulate from one central location to their respective terminals.
 
The transferring part just needs to be improved. The buses have to go.


No transferring part needs to be improved upon for those of us going to South Station (and Commuter Rail heading south) from Logan. I hop on the Silver Line at Logan, get off at South Station, buy a ticket to Bridgewater...if time, I get a coffee at Starbucks across the street, then hop on the train and I'm in Bridgewater...less than a mile from the old homestead! Piece of cake! I love the Silver Line, so much easier than taking the Logan Express to Braintree and having someone pick me up there. I've done the Blue Line in nice weather just to walk the RKG from Aquarium to South Station but under most circumstances it makes no sense for me to use the Blue Line if I'm going to South Station and then hop on Commuter Rail. Silver Line is the easiest, most convenient way to do it.
 
Well this is kind of interesting...

I was just trying to book a flight on Sidestep.com and I clicked on the airport listings. Once on that page, it lists which airports are the most popular by how many searches it received. Boston rated NUMBER 3 behind New York's JFK and Los Angeles' LAX. This is out of WORLD airports. Unreal.

Obviously Sidestep.com is not a statistical determinant ... but it is a popular website. I would at least think O'Hare or Heathrow Airport would rank 3rd. Where could we find some concrete numbers that would maybe prove this? Massport's website is a joke.

Now only if we could keep all these people in Boston... :)



http://www.sidestep.com/airports/
 
Riverworks said:
Now only if we could keep all these people in Boston... :)
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Wait, make it easier for people to transfer! Closer Blue Line connection, no more stupid buses (Silver Line and Logan Shuttles) ... maybe develop a tourism program at Logan, with clever marketing, etc. Make them never want to leave Boston!

Sorry for going off a little here...
 
Riverworks said:
Well this is kind of interesting...

I was just trying to book a flight on Sidestep.com and I clicked on the airport listings. Once on that page, it lists which airports are the most popular by how many searches it received. Boston rated NUMBER 3 behind New York's JFK and Los Angeles' LAX. This is out of WORLD airports. Unreal.

Obviously Sidestep.com is not a statistical determinant ... but it is a popular website. I would at least think O'Hare or Heathrow Airport would rank 3rd. Where could we find some concrete numbers that would maybe prove this? Massport's website is a joke.

Now only if we could keep all these people in Boston... :)


http://www.sidestep.com/airports/
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Boston's ranking is probably affected by the fact that its a big origin and destination airport, unlike, say Atlanta.
 
I think a Blue Line spur directly to the terminals would be good, as long as it's possible to maintain proper train headways and service to the rest of the line north of East Boston.

What I think would really be cool is to build a north-south AMTRAK and commuter rail link tunnel from South Station to Logan Airport, which would then connect to rail lines to the north via underutilized/abandoned rail lines through East Boston, Chelsea and Everett. The Amtrak/commuter rail station would be located directly under one of the main terminals, and a subsidiary people-mover type rail system would link the rest of the terminals to the main rail station. The people mover could also tie in with the existing Blue Line Airport station, thus doing away with the need for a direct Blue Line spur to the aiport terminals. SEATAC aiport in Seattle has a good subway-type people mover system.

Locating the North-South AMTRAK link under Logan Airport would provide complete regional inter-modal connectivity between passenger rail and air, and possibly some linkage between freight rail and air as well.
 
so, what can we do to proactively make this happen? i've only recently joined the forum community to see what is going on with public transit, but so far i've liked the ideas i've seen. it's all very organic, and has a good structure for flushing out ideas.

the next step (specifically for the blue line extension) is to bring these thoughts to government. unfortunately there seems to be a disconnect between what we want here and what actually gets implemented.

sounds like things are progressing...but slowly.

does anyone know of any advocacy groups that already fulfill this role that i may be able to join? second, i would like to reach out to State Reps McGee and Walsh as well as Rep Tierney to show support for the project.

in terms of funding, this seems to be the most challenging. i'm thinking of a different approach - solicit philanthropists.

as an example, i look at the ivy league schools and see billions and billions in endowment funds. i don't have statistics in front of me, but we often see large donations to universities for buildings, research projects etc. why can't we make an appeal to people with deep pockets to work with the state/mbta on a very unique, privately funded project?

we can discuss further, but public transportation serves the community at large in so many ways.....i would love to see something like 50% funding from the private sector with a match by state and federal funds...
 
I actually was thinking the same kind of thing, but was too embarrassed to suggest it.

A good example would be looking at how Harvard is interested in having a part in the Urban Ring. They want one of the stops to run through their Brighton/Allston Campus, and they've hinted at helping out the MBTA financially.

In terms of the Blue Line, it's mostly residential and there aren't many companies close by that will benefit from an extension to Lynn. The only two I can think of already have their own station - Suffolk Downs and Wonderland. Maybe this needs to be researched more...

As a resident of the North Shore, I would love to help out with any petitioning or advocacy of a Blue Line extension. Let me know.
 
A Casino north of Wonderland would have been an excellent way to do this.

Oh :(
 
riverworks - thanks for the support - good points. glad to see someone else thinking along these lines.

jass - no casino...please!

i'll get back to my previous post in a bit. i wanted to share the city of lynn's plans to reclaim the waterfront along the lynnway:

http://projects.sasaki.com/lynnwaterfront/Documents/LYNN_ALTERNATIVESPPTFORWEB.pdf

someone earlier posted that any track between wonderland and central square is over useless land.....a blue line extension in conjunction with lynn's efforts on the waterfront could drastically change the area. with the right attractions on the waterfront, the blue line would serve both commuters originating from lynn as well as passengers traveling to the waterfront.

i dream of the day that route 1A is not a parking lot each and every morning.

the problem and solution seem so obvious.
 
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