General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

That's what it seems like. Based on a picture from zombie reddit:

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Here's the link: mbta.com/lasttrip
And from that link:

Most trains run between about 5 AM and 1 AM, and some lines have service as late at 1:50 AM.

To make the final train connections of the night, get to one of these downtown stations by 12:35 AM:
Service runs more frequently during rush hour, between 6:30 AM – 9 AM and 3:30 PM – 6:30 PM on weekdays.

See all subway schedules
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737900er said:
Honestly I wish they would just run 24/7 service on all the lines and do extended-access bustittion as necessary.
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Given the current financial cliff the MBTA is facing, I'd rather they conserve the money they have to run more service during peak daytime hours (and actually get bus & CR service back up to pre-covid peaks).
 
cubbe8 said:
To allow for more time for track work.
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But that would only apply to the train side. Or did I misread? I’m talking about when I take the last train to forest hills and the last 34 bus is waiting for the last train to pull in, for example. And less than a year ago, the last train was incredibly delayed and it was amazing that the last bus also waited way late for that last train to pull in.
 
FK4 said:
But that would only apply to the train side. Or did I misread? I’m talking about when I take the last train to forest hills and the last 34 bus is waiting for the last train to pull in, for example. And less than a year ago, the last train was incredibly delayed and it was amazing that the last bus also waited way late for that last train to pull in.
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The "w" bus trips won't change (including the 210 Fields Corner-Braintree run)
 
FK4 said:
But that would only apply to the train side. Or did I misread? I’m talking about when I take the last train to forest hills and the last 34 bus is waiting for the last train to pull in, for example. And less than a year ago, the last train was incredibly delayed and it was amazing that the last bus also waited way late for that last train to pull in.
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The Mattapan trolley is still slated to wait for the last Ashmont train for the Winter 2025 schedule.

Buses should also still have "w" attached to their last trips of the day if they are scheduled for departure after 1am.
 
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themissinglink said:
The lack of overnight parking at MBTA stations can be a big obstacle for suburbanites looking to park and ride the T into the city to stay overnight, catch a flight, or transfer to an Amtrak train. It's obviously not an issue for people who live near a station that offers overnight parking, but it can be a real pain if you don't live near one of those stations. Overnight parking often gets overlooked when it comes to conversations about getting suburbanites to ditch cars for the T.
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TheRatmeister said:
It seems like allowing 1 night maximum should be achievable. Riverside might be a good place to pilot a system like this, it's well positioned for Longwood hospital visitors who would be quite likely to only stay one night at a time.
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(moving this convo because it belongs here more than the Logan thread)

I quickly threw together a map of all the stations with overnight parking to better visualize the current parking situation. I also made a second iteration of the map to highlight the stations that I think should have overnight parking. I excluded any of the Rhode Island stations because that's their ballgame.

Existing:
overnight1.JPG
overnight3.JPG


Proposed:
overnight2.JPG
overnight4.JPG
 
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A realization from a discussion on TransitMatters - just how ridiculous it is that Hynes station isn't yet accessible. Within 6 months, it will have more ridership than all the non-accessible commuter rail stops put together.

FY 2019 ridership at Hynes was 7,041. 2018 ridership for the 31 non-accessible CR stops (including those that haven't reopened since 2020) was 8,081. Subtract Natick Center and the 4 stations with mini-highs under construction, and you're down to 4,714. Even with CR ridership recovery higher than subway, Hynes is probably higher.

Boylston is second, with 5,265 daily riders in 2019. But it's just 600 feet from Chinatown and 1400 from Park Street, and the historic status does make it more difficult.* Hynes is 2200 feet from Kenmore and 2700 from Mass Ave; the nearest subway stop (Symphony) isn't yet accessible either. Mass Ave is also a fairly significant bus transfer station whereas Boylston is not.

Once the B and C projects are completed in 2026, and a few more CR stations get temporary mini-highs, Hynes will probably have as much ridership as every other non-accessible MBTA station save Boylston.

* Though not impossible. Arguably, if you re-add north headhouses (removed 1958 and 1962) as elevator entrances, it could be closer to its historic appearance than currently.
 
The EGE said:
* Though not impossible. Arguably, if you re-add north headhouses (removed 1958 and 1962) as elevator entrances, it could be closer to its historic appearance than currently.
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Can I just take a moment to be angry with the early 1900s people who thought the original headhouses were "too pretentious" and then all the following ones for projects like the Washington St subway and East Boston tunnel were really boring? We could have had more cool stations like this.
 
I think a track grinding train has been going back and forth on the MBTA Needham Line in Roslindale. Two car set moving slowly with lots of sparks coming from the undercarriage of one unit.
Photo from above on a hillside looking down through trees with an apartment building just beyond the tracks.

IMG20241211015528.jpg
 
HenryAlan said:
So no existing riders ride the routes that are re-configured under BNRD? Is that really your position, that it's entirely new ridership on BNRD and all existing riders are therefore less well served? This is utter nonsense and I can't believe you are actually staking out that position.
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I think that the people that stuck with the T through the pandemic should probably get their service restored before the T adds new service.
 
sneijder said:
Given the current financial cliff the MBTA is facing, I'd rather they conserve the money they have to run more service during peak daytime hours (and actually get bus & CR service back up to pre-covid peaks).
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The fiscal cliff will be so much worse than the fairly long but not extreme overnight dance of the trains. If I recall correctly someone was out there saying that it would likely be commuter-only commuter rail (like 3 trips inbound on CR in the AM and 3 out in the evening), cancellation of all ferries, reduction by 50% of all buses, and perhaps no subways service after 8:45 p.m.
 
as02143 said:
I think that the people that stuck with the T through the pandemic should probably get their service restored before the T adds new service.
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This isn't some far-flung suburban extension. This is increased frequency on existing corridors - which have some of the highest ridership recovery - in one of the two worst gaps in the subway network.
 
The EGE said:
This isn't some far-flung suburban extension. This is increased frequency on existing corridors - which have some of the highest ridership recovery - in one of the two worst gaps in the subway network.
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Whose service was restored or brought to more than 100% very early in the pandemic and have remained as much.

There are many neighborhoods that experience crowded buses where you can't board today that are still well below prepandemic service but have just as bad crowding as those other areas.

The 83 looks to have a service cut for example. Though I don't live there anymore, that part of Somerville is still far from Porter Red Line or the Union Sq Green Line. The first service cuts a couple years ago meant some times in the morning I couldn't get on the 83 - so I started taking the bike more. Now it seems like the T is doing a dizzying death spiral since they appear to have cut it again for the winter schedule.
 
TheRatmeister said:
Could it be related to the man getting killed after being caught in the doors? I know that happened since the doors closed on them rather than anything relating to doors opening, but maybe there are extra checks for both?
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Not sure if this has been answered there's a lot to read through I might've missed it but yeah the dwell times and slow doors are a response to the door malfunction death and the various FTA safety initiatives. The operational procedure has been to establish a line of sight on the platform when closing the doors (not properly adhered to before), but for the past few months or so it has been extended to opening the doors as well so that the motorperson is viewing the entire boarding/alighting process.
 
The EGE said:
This isn't some far-flung suburban extension. This is increased frequency on existing corridors - which have some of the highest ridership recovery - in one of the two worst gaps in the subway network.
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Not the 104 though. That's entirely brand new service where the T prematurely wasted a bunch of capital dollars on setting up new bus stops for new service while existing riders face continued 15% service cuts across the board for the 3rd to 5th year in the row (depending on the route).

That's a slap in the face and a flat out insult to existing riders who rode the T through the pandemic and saw their bus service get cut back and reduced.

Death by a thousand cuts.
 
as02143 said:
The fiscal cliff will be so much worse than the fairly long but not extreme overnight dance of the trains. If I recall correctly someone was out there saying that it would likely be commuter-only commuter rail (like 3 trips inbound on CR in the AM and 3 out in the evening), cancellation of all ferries, reduction by 50% of all buses, and perhaps no subways service after 8:45 p.m.
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There was a thread on zombie reddit about it.

People don't seem to know how to multiply the 2021 proposed service cuts by 5x (quintuple the scope), since this fiscal cliff is 5x worse and federal funds for capital expansion is likely going to go to nil with the incoming federal administration. So I've just opted to round the 700 million fiscal cliff up to like a billion (How much federal funds did the T get for capital projects this year?)

My thoughts, (I've haven't strayed too far from it), entails:
  • 20 - 30 minute rapid transit headways (with some GL street level branches and outer D moving to off peak 40-60 minute headways)
    • Span of service reduced perhaps: the subway would run from 5AM - 8:30/9PM weekdays, 7:30AM - 8:30/9PM Saturdays, and 10:00AM - 7:00PM Sundays
  • All (off peak) CR service gets cut; except for Fairmount and Salem/Beverly, which retain at least rush hour service (if not weekday midday service as well)
  • All non-key bus routes get eliminated completely
    • SL5/Warren St/Blue Hill Ave. will retain service, alongside SL3/SL1, both corridors either get massively reduced frequency, or alternatively, through routed to maintain some frequency (through running maintains 20-30 minute frequency and some Saturday service)
    • If KBR are still running, then it'd be 30-60 minute headways, runs from 5:30AM - 8PM weekdays and maybe 9AM - 7PM on Saturdays if lucky. Sunday service retained on the SL5/28 combo corridor as well as the SL1/SL3 combo corridor (but that'd be 10:30AM-6:00PM Sundays).
    • The only non KBR that may still be running are perhaps the 9, 16, 21, 31, 36, 70, 86, 106, and 455; but all become only peak only (or hourly) service weekdays only, with all weekend service eliminated.
  • All ferry service is eliminated completely.
  • All capital projects go to the death bed until federal funds get replaced with state & local funding (don't expect the feds to give anything anymore)

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as02143 said:
Whose service was restored or brought to more than 100% very early in the pandemic and have remained as much.

There are many neighborhoods that experience crowded buses where you can't board today that are still well below prepandemic service but have just as bad crowding as those other areas.

The 83 looks to have a service cut for example. Though I don't live there anymore, that part of Somerville is still far from Porter Red Line or the Union Sq Green Line. The first service cuts a couple years ago meant some times in the morning I couldn't get on the 83 - so I started taking the bike more. Now it seems like the T is doing a dizzying death spiral since they appear to have cut it again for the winter schedule.
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22 bus routes are seeing reduced service this winter, compared to 14 non-BNRD routes and 5 BNRD routes, which means more bus routes with reduced service than newly added service (22 with reduced vs. 19 with added).

The 83 is going to hourly service on weekdays. A huge insult, why is there hourly bus service smack in the middle of a dense city of 1.6-2.6 million strong?
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The 80s, 90s, and 100s routes have been hurt the most by the operator shortage induced service cuts, with service cuts across all days of the week, compared to the 0-60s routes and the 110s, 2xx's, and 4xx's routes, where cuts mostly affect only weekday schedules. The 80s, 90s, and 100s routes had weekday interpeak, Saturday, and Sunday service cuts to hourly and less than hourly service. Malden, Medford, Charlestown, and Somerville have been impacted the most.
 
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