General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Today was lovely on the E-line waiting at LMA with an express train from Brigham Circle to Symphony with ABSOLUTELY NO SERVICE BEHIND IT (extra 15 minutes at least). A 39 eventually showed up too, but it was drop-off only, as there was supposedly service behind. Another 39 came a few minutes later and got me to Copley.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Ron Newman said:
What these Service Plan meetings often result in is route changes (for instance, 89 now goes to Davis Square much of the time) or adjustments in hours or days of service (for instance, 87 now goes to Arlington Center on Saturdays as well as weekdays).

I know Lexington would like to get Sunday service on the 62/76, as well as possibly later weekday and Saturday runs.
Click to expand...

Ron, these meetings are for this specific project:

"The goal of the Key Bus Route Improvement Program is to improve the overall quality of service for customers on these Key Bus Routes by reducing trip times; enhancing customer comfort, convenience and safety; and making the bus service more reliable and cost-effective. The 15 Key Bus Routes to be improved as part of this Program are: Routes 1, 15, 22, 23, 28, 32, 39, 57, 66, 71, 73, 77, 111, 116, and 117."

You can read more at:
http://mbta.com/about_the_mbta/t_projects/default.asp?id=19047


Where did you hear about the 62/76 thing?

I know someone that would love better bus service to Lexington. Lex express is crap.

Perhaps winchester could get involved. The arlington/winchester/lexington border area is lacking in bus transit.

The 77 is great, but stop at the end of arlington.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Let me know when they have a meeting for the 428.



lolololneverrrrr
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

jass said:
Now if only Massdot, eot and mbta could coordinate their websites so it doesnt requre having three windows open to see the status of a transit program....(not to mention city specific websites)
Click to expand...

I can't forsee that unless you're advocating that Massachusetts adopt a model like the Commonwealth of Virginia where they have strong county government and weak local government. In that case transportation, public works, and perhaps the hundreds local school districts etc. would all be transferred into a more focused county government. (Think in the vain of the former MDC and how it handles 'local' infrastructure.)
 
Last edited:
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

jass said:
Ron, these meetings are for this specific project:

I know someone that would love better bus service to Lexington. Lex express is crap.

Perhaps winchester could get involved. The arlington/winchester/lexington border area is lacking in bus transit.

The 77 is great, but stop at the end of arlington.
Click to expand...

The MBTA needs to look at that area desperately. There should be far better service between Alewife and the Route 128 corridor...

Actually some North-South routes would be nice too. For example perhaps Waltham Center or Watertown Center to Arlington Center via Belmont Center.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

There used to be a bus route from Lexington Center to Waltham Center. It got truncated into the current Waltham-only 70A route.

The Alewife station busway is way overbuilt for the number of buses and bus routes that currently use it. Was the MBTA expecting to add lots more routes when they built the station in 1984?
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Ron Newman said:
There used to be a bus route from Lexington Center to Waltham Center. It got truncated into the current Waltham-only 70A route.

The Alewife station busway is way overbuilt for the number of buses and bus routes that currently use it. Was the MBTA expecting to add lots more routes when they built the station in 1984?
Click to expand...

Yes. It was supposed to make up for the fact that the Red Line Extension was terminating there and not Rt 128 or Burlington or Lexington. That was how they justified it; using Alewife as a transit hub for those areas, so they built a gigantic busway. Alewife is a very weird station in general. The project was scaled back late in the process. It's actually missing 2 parking levels (levels 6 and 7) that are clearly evident (stair/elevator core rises way above and the elevators have 6 and 7 listed).
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

So why did the T later decide not to add all those bus routes?
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

datadyne007 said:
Yes. It was supposed to make up for the fact that the Red Line Extension was terminating there and not Rt 128 or Burlington or Lexington. That was how they justified it; using Alewife as a transit hub for those areas, so they built a gigantic busway. Alewife is a very weird station in general. The project was scaled back late in the process. It's actually missing 2 parking levels (levels 6 and 7) that are clearly evident (stair/elevator core rises way above and the elevators have 6 and 7 listed).
Click to expand...

I don't think they ever intended to immediately build those levels. It was a preemptive "just in case". Seeing as it fills up, I'm not sure why they don't tack them on...
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Ron Newman said:
There used to be a bus route from Lexington Center to Waltham Center. It got truncated into the current Waltham-only 70A route.

The Alewife station busway is way overbuilt for the number of buses and bus routes that currently use it. Was the MBTA expecting to add lots more routes when they built the station in 1984?
Click to expand...

All the Arlington Heights/Mass Ave busses were suppose to terminate there. There was an uproar because many people wanted to get on and off along Mass Ave in Cambridge without changing to a different bus. Either the 77 or 79 was created to solve this.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Ron Newman said:
There used to be a bus route from Lexington Center to Waltham Center. It got truncated into the current Waltham-only 70A route.

The Alewife station busway is way overbuilt for the number of buses and bus routes that currently use it. Was the MBTA expecting to add lots more routes when they built the station in 1984?
Click to expand...

I was thinking that too. It actually appears to be so underutilised the MBTA has started to license some of the available space to a new bus company to run buses to Manhattan from Alewife. http://www.worldwidebus.com/ I was thinking perhaps they allowed it top operate from there since all 25 berths at the South Station Bust Terminal are in use already?
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

South Station Bus Terminal needs to be expanded. That was supposed to happen as a preliminary stage of the South Station Tower, but I don't know what the current schedule is for that project.

But World Wide Bus wanted to operate from Cambridge and Newton (Riverside) to begin with, to reach a different customer base than currently go to South Station. Either they or some other bus company earlier wanted to terminate in Harvard Square, but the city of Cambridge nixed that (probably due to traffic congestion).
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

I know Boston has a law that private buses cannot use curbside loading, which is why all the bus lines use the south station terminal but all load on the sidewalk in NYC and do not use the port authority bus station.

Cambridge probably has a similar limitation....leaving only alewife as a suitable place for long-distance buses.
 
Last edited:
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Some regional commuter buses load and unload on the street -- Yankee Line, Bloom Bus (which used to be in South Station), and a few others whose names I can't recall right now.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

It wouldn't be too difficult to expand the asphalt in the Harvard Station bus tunnel by moving the platforms back, conceivably providing spaces the city could rent out to private carriers that wanted to dock directly in Harvard Sq.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Actually that would probably be quite difficult given the location of support pillars in the busway. Alewife is a better place for this kind of docking, especially as it provides direct access to Route 2.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Yeah I dont see how they could make any changes at Harvard. I wonder if the big coach buses used for inter-city travel would even fit under the wire.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Ron Newman said:
Some regional commuter buses load and unload on the street -- Yankee Line, Bloom Bus (which used to be in South Station), and a few others whose names I can't recall right now.
Click to expand...

Actually, the LimoLiner bus to New York leaves from the street in front of the Sheraton.

This is somewhat related, but as part of the CSC/BRA process the city agreed to find a better place for tour buses to idle instead of Huntington Ave by the reflecting pool.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

jass said:
Yeah I dont see how they could make any changes at Harvard. I wonder if the big coach buses used for inter-city travel would even fit under the wire.
Click to expand...

I don't think there's much room at Harvard Sta. To my mind, the station is constructed in a 'stacked' manner already with inbound train traffic passing directly underneath outbound. And the bus tunnels are also stacked as if to again conserve lateral space. I don't believe Harvard Station is at a depth that would allow it to tunnel below Harvard's properties on either sides of Mass. Ave. (?)

Parts of Harvard station were redone by using cut-and-cover so that doesn't leave any real depth at all... If it was at a depth like Porter Square that would be something. New York's Port of Authority terminal has those long bus tunnels that seem to dive deep into the ground but Harvard doesn't have that same depth.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top