General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

[stick n move]

.....at a time when the Commonwealth has a $5+ billion revenue surplus and started receiving $9.5 billion (over 5 years) from the federal infrastructure bill..............Morons taking historical naps.

When Opportunity knocked, our pols were in the backyard searching for four leaf clovers. Jeebus, it's right there on a silver platter!

How much is nsrl predicted to cost again? We also just passed sports betting where were predicted to make up to $75 million a year in new tax revenues and 45% of that goes into the general fund. We really should be reinvesting this money towards the future.

 

[BosMaineiac]

Given the bill doesn't say one way or another, is it actually reasonable to assume that we're jettisoning the battery hybrid model, and returning to the conventional?

FWIW there’s an open RFI on the MBTA site for EMU vehicles and operations. It makes no mention of BEMU’s or battery power. Could mean nothing but I thought it was interesting to see it more focused on strictly EMU

 

[Riverside]

My understanding is they will serve both. A north bound shuttle will come up Columbus, turn left onto Dartmouth and stop at back bay, continue up Dartmouth and stop again in front of the BPL, then loop around Boylston/Clarendon to catch southbound Back Bay riders at the bus loop before proceeding back down Columbus.

Edit: to this end, as I’ve said before Dartmouth will be closed to general traffic in front of the BPL and will only be open to southbound general traffic between Huntington and Columbus

I have to admit that the map-making part of me is relieved to hear this... almost immediately after I posted, it occurred to me, "Ah jeez, what if they run the shuttles Mass Ave-Copley-Back Bay, or in a big 39-style loop? That feels like it'll be impossible to draw on this map!"

 

[Riverside]

Yup, looks like it. Great work on that. Weird to see the Orange Line routed to Copley, though that does make the most sense for the transfer. (I may have missed it, has the T said if the shuttles are serving Copley or Back Bay proper?)

The weirdness honestly is part of why I wanted to make the map. It's important to recognize that bustitutions represent a distortion of our system: it's inaccurate to remove the lines entirely from the map, and it's inaccurate to leave the map unchanged. This map highlights that, far from Government Center being the edge of a No Man's Land, it now instead will be the entry point for all Blue Line traffic, all northern Orange Line traffic, and all northern Green Line traffic. That stretch from Copley to Government Center has now become the only way to cross the city, the only transfer to the Red Line and Blue Line.

 

[Stlin]

The T has finally posted it's final diversion plan, and has launched both a website and created a consolidated PDF "Rider's Guide to Planning Ahead," which also contains the CR mini schedules previously discussed including the Haverhill Line.

As far as the city of Boston is concerned, engineering and temporary measures to facilitate shuttles are underway - they don't expect everything to be in place by the 19th, but mods apparently start Monday, and they've launched a website of their own to encapsulate city efforts, and through the Twitter thread embedded below. Pop up bike and bus lanes, in addition to extra blue bike stations at new "transit mobility hubs" feature prominently though no details yet. Also, I can't find anything from the other municipalities.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1558206928731381760

 

[jklo]

Apparently the Green Line lost power last night near Kenmore to the point where riders had to walk back to Kenmore on the tracks.

 

[Riverside]

The T has finally posted it's final diversion plan, and has launched both a website and created a consolidated PDF "Rider's Guide to Planning Ahead," which also contains the CR mini schedules previously discussed including the Haverhill Line.

Lots of details emerging now (and unsurprisingly I will need to update my map to indicate shuttle bus service to Science Park and Haymarket, though apparently only in the southbound direction at Haymarket (no idea how I'll show that...).

Something that I didn't catch earlier this week: the Globe is reporting that the T is aiming for shuttles to arrive at each stop every 45 seconds. Assuming 50 seats per bus, that comes out to a bit more than 460 passengers every 7 minutes (the normally-scheduled peak headway of an Orange Line train).

The SPTAC has shared the map they received of the Green Line shuttle route:

Which answers my question about Haymarket being served inbound only -- buses are turning in a loop that hits both Haymarket and Government Center as it travels clockwise, which makes sense. I will note that the North Station stop is actually about a quarter-mile away from North Station, but there is precedent, as that's where the EZRide shuttle departs from.

Apparently the Green Line lost power last night near Kenmore to the point where riders had to walk back to Kenmore on the tracks.

Yeah and this points to a big concern of mine for the shutdown (and illustrated by my bustitution map): we're gonna see a massive increase in system fragility.

 

[guitarguynboston]

From the graphic with the walking options, why would you walk from Ruggles to NE? Shouldn't it say Ruggles to MFA?

 

[ant8904]

Apparently the Green Line lost power last night near Kenmore to the point where riders had to walk back to Kenmore on the tracks.

You know what I really want to know? What exactly was this power issue. I think typically "power issue" the most detailed we get when this happens. Some are pretty self-explanatory like when all of Kenmore had no power, I can't really be mad at the MBTA if the entire neighborhood has no power (unless the topic is the necessity of power backup but right now I'm not going there).

From what I can tell (I wasn't there), it looks like just power in the tunnel died. Or maybe even just a train. What caused this failure? Because these failures needs to addressed too.

 

[Riverside]

From the graphic with the walking options, why would you walk from Ruggles to NE? Shouldn't it say Ruggles to MFA?

Northeastern is a slightly shorter walk, particularly if you are exiting from the main station concourse. Northeastern also keeps you going in the right direction if you're heading inbound -- going to MFA is a slight doubleback.

Screenshots of Google Maps from a midpoint between the two ends of the station -- if you exit from the main coucourse, it becomes 4 min to Northeastern and 7 min to MFA, which definitely points to walking to Northeastern. (Also note that Google Maps appears to be inaccurate regarding the locations of crosswalks and the E Line platforms -- if you put in "Northeastern" as the transit stop, it sends you on a much more roundabout route.)

On a different note: I really hope they extend/divert the 4, 92, 93, 111, 426, 428 and 450 to provide a transfer at Government Center instead of Haymarket. At the very least, they should extend the 111 and the 400 buses to terminate at Gov't Center instead, so they don't just dump their passengers at Haymarket and let them walk. The neighborhood map below is 10 years old, so some of the routes don't run anymore, but it gives you an idea of the area.

 

[Riverside]

I have updated my bustitution map. Changes include:

• Addition of service to Science Park
• Indication of inbound-only shuttle service to Haymarket
  • This was a challenge and I'm not thrilled with my solution, but it seemed like a good balance of being noticeable while not being distracting
  • Everything old is new -- the loop routing that yields one-way service at Haymarket is highly reminiscent of the tunnel structure that led to Adams Sq being a one-way station, in nearly the same location over a century ago
• EDIT: I also eliminated North Station as a Green-Orange shuttle transfer point -- I'm unclear where the Orange Line shuttle stops will be, but the Green Line ones are about a 4 minute walk from North Station proper, which to me should not be indicated with a transfer.
  • There is precedent for this: during the construction of the North Station Superstation in the mid-2000s, the transfer connector at North Station was also eliminated. See the 2004-11-16 map here.
  • I also did not include HAymarket as a transfer point -- partially to make it easier to indicate the one-way service at Haymarket and partially because, again, I think there are a few different reasons why Haymarket will not be a suitable transfer point
• Color adjustment: someone with a better aesthetic sense than I pointed out that the white fill within the color outlines may be too subtle, so I've added in very light colored fills into the shuttle lines
• Future-proofing: in case the T does decide to extend the 111 to Government Center, this design is future-proofed to accommodate that

View attachment Aug 2022 System Map with bustitution v1.1.2 13 Aug.png

 

[guitarguynboston]

Oh I didn't know they moved the NE Inbound stop closer to Forsyth St. Either way they are pretty close according to your maps. I think the transit rider in me also thinks one stop earlier inbound means the train is less crowded and you wouldn't have to deal with weaving around all those college kids going through NE Campus to get to the NE stop. Lol

Northeastern is a slightly shorter walk, particularly if you are exiting from the main station concourse. Northeastern also keeps you going in the right direction if you're heading inbound -- going to MFA is a slight doubleback.

Screenshots of Google Maps from a midpoint between the two ends of the station -- if you exit from the main coucourse, it becomes 4 min to Northeastern and 7 min to MFA, which definitely points to walking to Northeastern. (Also note that Google Maps appears to be inaccurate regarding the locations of crosswalks and the E Line platforms -- if you put in "Northeastern" as the transit stop, it sends you on a much more roundabout route.)

View attachment 27246

View attachment 27247

On a different note: I really hope they extend/divert the 4, 92, 93, 111, 426, 428 and 450 to provide a transfer at Government Center instead of Haymarket. At the very least, they should extend the 111 and the 400 buses to terminate at Gov't Center instead, so they don't just dump their passengers at Haymarket and let them walk. The neighborhood map below is 10 years old, so some of the routes don't run anymore, but it gives you an idea of the area.

 

[stefal]

I have to say the City of Boston's agility, cooperation, and transparency with all of this is refreshing.

Perhaps the Chief of Streets could be considered for the next GM? (only half kidding... Managing street layouts/shuttle routes is only one slice of a much larger MBTA pie, but their performance so far and background is promising)

 

[JeffDowntown]

I have updated my bustitution map. Changes include:

• Addition of service to Science Park
• Indication of inbound-only shuttle service to Haymarket
  • This was a challenge and I'm not thrilled with my solution, but it seemed like a good balance of being noticeable while not being distracting
  • Everything old is new -- the loop routing that yields one-way service at Haymarket is highly reminiscent of the tunnel structure that led to Adams Sq being a one-way station, in nearly the same location over a century ago
• EDIT: I also eliminated North Station as a Green-Orange shuttle transfer point -- I'm unclear where the Orange Line shuttle stops will be, but the Green Line ones are about a 4 minute walk from North Station proper, which to me should not be indicated with a transfer.
  • There is precedent for this: during the construction of the North Station Superstation in the mid-2000s, the transfer connector at North Station was also eliminated. See the 2004-11-16 map here.
  • I also did not include HAymarket as a transfer point -- partially to make it easier to indicate the one-way service at Haymarket and partially because, again, I think there are a few different reasons why Haymarket will not be a suitable transfer point
• Color adjustment: someone with a better aesthetic sense than I pointed out that the white fill within the color outlines may be too subtle, so I've added in very light colored fills into the shuttle lines
• Future-proofing: in case the T does decide to extend the 111 to Government Center, this design is future-proofed to accommodate that

View attachment 27261

Really nice map.

The only suggestions I would make would be to try to show where Orange Bustitution is actually walkable from Green, rather than needing to use the Bustitution.

Example walkable alternatives:

Copley -- Back Bay
Symphony -- Mass Ave.
Northeastern -- Ruggles

The way the E line is laid out versus the Bustitution makes them seem much farther apart then they really are. (I know you are using the E Line as drawn on current maps.)

 

[millerm277]

You know what I really want to know? What exactly was this power issue. I think typically "power issue" the most detailed we get when this happens. Some are pretty self-explanatory like when all of Kenmore had no power, I can't really be mad at the MBTA if the entire neighborhood has no power (unless the topic is the necessity of power backup but right now I'm not going there).

From what I can tell (I wasn't there), it looks like just power in the tunnel died. Or maybe even just a train. What caused this failure? Because these failures needs to addressed too.

Well, as of late 2019 - there was an estimated $1bn of power systems work (system-wide) in the capital backlog and only about $170m of it actually in the 5-year CIP to be done. Not sure how it's changed since.

System-wide Power Assessment - Capital Needs

 

[737900er]

Yeah and this points to a big concern of mine for the shutdown (and illustrated by my bustitution map): we're gonna see a massive increase in system fragility.

I can't remember what it was, but I feel like I remember an issue where the T diverted Yankee's buses from a planned diversion to an emergency one or extended them. Maybe I'm just making that up in my old age though.

 

[737900er]

I have updated my bustitution map.

This map is awesome!

If you really wanted to make another unnecessary change, my reading of the Commuter Rail policy says that all Zone 1A, 1, and 2 stations -- not just those that overlap the Orange Line -- will be free, which includes some that aren't included on the official map like Weymouth Landing and Auburndale.

 

[stefal]

I can't remember what it was, but I feel like I remember an issue where the T diverted Yankee's buses from a planned diversion to an emergency one or extended them. Maybe I'm just making that up in my old age though.

Very recently they presumably rescheduled Red Line weekend diversions to allocate them to the Haymarket Garage emergency shutdown.

 

[as02143]

Very recently they presumably rescheduled Red Line weekend diversions to allocate them to the Haymarket Garage emergency shutdown.

They had to extend the Alewife-Kendall shuttle to an Alewife-South Station diversion. I had to be out of Camberville into Boston on that day and the MBTA's troubles yeeted me onto a Bluebike. Took that shuttle on the way back to Davis and that was not fun at all.

 

[Riverside]

A series of portraits on Twitter of Orange Line riders who will be affected by the shutdown (with a full article at the end). Communications are always hard, but it’s dismaying to read that riders haven’t heard about it yet. The lack of signage in cars and the decision not to display the closure messages more prominently in the digital signs seems unfortunate.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1559109688825888768