Key MBTA Bus Routes

[Arlington]

I don't think the Urban ring is casted far enough west to be effective. I think the Urban Rings's role could be a new way to expand new bus routes into the 128 corridor, or create better connections between commuter rail stations outside the main central downtown core. I would rather have seen two halfs of which try to bring new outer regions/communities more into the fold. Perhaps North as Chelsea-Everett-Somerville-Medford-Arlington-Belmont-Watertown Ctr.

A southern route could be Dorchester through Waltham or Newton or so. Perhaps Dorcherster-Roxbury-Brookline-Brighton-Watertown Ctr.-Waltham
By moving the urban ring further-out you can make use of the fact that less traffic heads outbound in the morning.

Well, sure, but then you'd have to call it the Suburban Ring. Somewhere there must be an Urban Ring thread where we can discuss this more.

 

[Matthew]

There is, for instance, the 51, which is Cleveland Circle to Forest Hills Station via West Roxbury. And the 59 which runs Needham to Watertown via Newton Highlands. Neither gets much ridership. Not compared to the trio of buses between Roxbury and Cambridge, the 1, 47 and 66. Those three run through congested areas, but, that's where the riders are.

 

[Digital_Islandboy]

There is, for instance, the 51, which is Cleveland Circle to Forest Hills Station via West Roxbury. And the 59 which runs Needham to Watertown via Newton Highlands. Neither gets much ridership. Not compared to the trio of buses between Roxbury and Cambridge, the 1, 47 and 66. Those three run through congested areas, but, that's where the riders are.

When I worked out at B.C. but was taking classes in South End the 51 was so unreliable it was actually quicker for me to walk to Back Bay, hop on the Orange, take that to DTX, walk the tunnel to Park get on the Green (D) to Reservoir and take the B.C. shuttle to the campus.

The alternative of taking the Orange to Forest Hills, and then taking the 51 to get off at Reservoir was about an hour slower in getting to B.C.. I avoided the 51 at all costs even though it was an alternate route. I could have saved even more time walking a block further (to Copley) and taking the D from there. however the farther away from Government Center where you board the more you increase your chances that there will be no space for you to even get on the Green Line.

In terms of 52 that is also somewhat infrequent. I would wager it is probably quicker for Needham folks to take the Needham Commuter Rail?

Or getting transport to the Waltham area and taking one of the express 500s down the turnpike.
I've taken the express 502/504 from Watertown Yard. It used to get me from Newton Corner to Copley Square Boston in ~ under 20 minutes at 5PM on weekdays via the Mass. Turnpike. Certainly quicker than if I took the 70 to central and hopped on the red, or 71 to Harvard and hopped on the same red.

I'd assume the 554 from Waltham using the Turnpike was probably somewhere close to that timeframe also. The 60 From Chestnut Hill mall uses Route 9 and Boylston to Kenmore and also isn't bad when traffic is moving. Just waiting on the 51 or 52 to arrive is half the battle.

 

[Matthew]

Looks like someone got started...

 

[Digital_Islandboy]

Looks like someone got started...

Corner of Harvard & Brighton Aves.?

 

[Coyote137]

(Is there a general bus thread?)

Cool New Maps Illustrate a Day of Bus Travel Across Boston, by Speed

Transit data visualizations got a lot more interesting with the advent of real-time information. Now, we can tell not just where bus stops are located, or how often trains are scheduled on a given line. Now in many cities, time-stamped, geo-referenced data reveal exactly where a given bus was located at a particular time... and then another time just a few minutes later. And this means that we can clock the metric that matters most to many commuters: speed.

The above map, created by Andy Woodruff of the great cartography blog Bostonography, illustrates a single day's worth of bus travel across Boston, by speed. Each little line on this map represents one bus (tracked as the crow flies between data points, not along its actual route), with red showing speeds of less than 10 miles an hour, yellow of 10-25 miles per hour, and green faster than that.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

There's a general MBTA thread, "Driven by Customer Service" which attracts misc posts.

 

[elemenoh]

The JP Gazette is reporting that the improvements ot the 39 route will begin this month...

Route 39 project to start this month
June 7, 2013
By Peter Shanley
The Route 39 bus improvement project has a general starting date and location after being delayed numerous times. The project calls for several “bump-out” curb extensions, including at the inbound Perkins Street, Roseway Street and Seaverns Avenue stops.

All stops will remain open, but some will be relocated during construction.

“In the middle of this month, work will start at the St. Mark Street stop on South Street and work north to Centre Street,” said MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo in an email to the Gazette.

He said work on Centre Street will take place between the last week in June and the end of July. The work will continue north onto S. Huntington and then Huntington Avenue, according to Pesaturo. The project is expected to be substantially completed around Labor Day, he said.

The project, which will also affect several other bus routes that use the same stops, has been postponed several times. The latest delay was when the MBTA pushed the start of construction from last winter to this spring.

The Route 39 bus is slated to undergo several changes, including the consolidation of some stops and improved amenities like new shelters and benches and “bump-out” curb extensions. The project is meant to speed service and improve accessibility.

Jamaica Plain Gazette

 

[Arlington]

the MBTA Key Bus Routes site has been updated in June to show that *all* lines have their construction start in "Spring 2013" so that fits the message Matthew posted, above.

http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/t_projects/default.asp?id=19047

 

[Digital_Islandboy]

(Is there a general bus thread?)

Thanks for positing.
Look at all those greens along with the Mass Turnpike! As I felt, that's where its at as a commuter! The 502/504/554 etc. Sometimes quicker in West Cambridge to head outbound get one of those and sail into Back Bay in no time. There just needs to be better connection between W/North Cambridge and that Watertown Yard. Look at that jungle/sea of red at Harvard Square. Then if the Red Line is broken down, forget-it your morning is shot!
If I can avoid it. No thanks on abandoning a car northwest of Boston to aim for something much slower.
Kinda surprised about so much Green on Route 2? (just to the northwest of the Harvard Square cluster of red.) I feel sorry for any "Urban Ring" which thinks it's going to sail through either Kendal Square or Harvard Square. Both areas with heavy heavy traffic... I dare the MBTA to try a 1 month pilot (when school is back in session at that) and look at the trip times along their proposed ring route. They need to cast further outside the congested core and funnel more people on smoothe sailing points like the Turnpike.

 

[Matthew]

That map isn't as useful as you think it is. It just shows that express buses go 25 mph+ (duh) and that local buses make a lot of stops (also duh). It just looks cool.

 

[Matthew]

http://mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news_events/?id=27012&month=&year=

BOSTON – MBTA General Manager Dr. Beverly Scott announced that construction on the Key Bus Routes Improvement Program will begin this week with work on Routes 22, 23, 28 & 32.

Projected Work Dates for Key Bus Routes
Route 1 – July 1st – July 25th
Route 15 – June 24th – July 12th
Route 22 – June 17th – July 17th
Route 23 – June 17th – July
Route 28 – June 17th – August 30th
Route 32 – June 24th – August 8th
Route 39 – July – August
Route 57 – July 15th – August 30th
Route 66 – June 24th – August 1st
Routes 71-73 – August 1st – August 30th
Route 77 – July 25th – August 26th
Route 111 – August 9th – August 30th
Routes 116/117 – July 19th – August 30th

Also it appears they've uploaded updated maps to the key bus routes website.

 

[Digital_Islandboy]

That map isn't as useful as you think it is. It just shows that express buses go 25 mph+ (duh) and that local buses make a lot of stops (also duh). It just looks cool.

This shows this could be an effective way to run express-service past the slow zones directly to/from Boston and work outwards from this new route on the periphery.

Does a decrease in stops really make a route faster? I seem to notice a tendency of the MBTA when placing new bus stop of placing a stop not before a red light, but after going through an intersection.

 

[Arlington]

Does a decrease in stops really make a route faster? I seem to notice a tendency of the MBTA when placing new bus stop of placing a stop not before a red light, but after going through an intersection.

The key thing about bus speeds isn't so much the absolute speed, but things like:
- speed relative to competing modes.
- predictability of arrival times
- predictability of total trip time

Turns out that removing stops is helpful for all 3. Extra stops expose the bus to both extra minutes not moving, and extra, unpredictable delays.

SO they come up with "ideal" distances between stops, that try to optimize trip time and reliability. The average person has to walk farther to their stop, but benefits while moving from the advantages of not stopping as often.

 

[Arlington]

(Is there a general bus thread?)

We should probably start one called "MBTA Buses General Discussion" because the "Driven By Customer Service" thread is very busy and very scattered.

 

[Matthew]

I seem to notice a tendency of the MBTA when placing new bus stop of placing a stop not before a red light, but after going through an intersection.

Yes, they're moving to a far-side policy, which is generally regarded as superior. Particularly for signal-priority if it is ever implemented, because it can be triggered by the approach of a bus instead of needing some kind of special "done loading" sensor.

 

[jass]

Yes, they're moving to a far-side policy, which is generally regarded as superior. Particularly for signal-priority if it is ever implemented, because it can be triggered by the approach of a bus instead of needing some kind of special "done loading" sensor.

Theres also a car reason.

Right turns.

 

[Arlington]

Theres also a car reason.
Right turns.

Gives you some sense about when the last time they thought seriously about where bus stops should go. Signal preference has been possible for 25 years and right-turn-on-red has probably been legal since 1974 (anyone know?)

I recall a hearing for the 77 Bus in Arlington where the lady complained about how "[The T] cut down our tree to move the stop to the [before intersection] side of the cross street and now 40 years later you want to move it back" (she had an air of "all this back-and-forth-all-the-time, when will it end?")

...Is it safe to assume that before right-turn-on-red became legal (which generally coincided with the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo) that in the '60s and '70 it was the style for buses to stop before the cross street?

 

[Matthew]

I was thinking about that too yesterday but I had to run and get the door while typing.

Actually it's more than just right-turn-on-red, and this thread occurred to me today as I boarded the 57 bus at the corner of Harvard Ave today. No-turn-on-red there (although often ignored) but the bus gets backed up behind a bunch of drivers who pull over into the bus stop to wait for the right turn. We almost always end up boarding the bus several car-lengths behind the actual stop, out in the travel lane. As far as I recall, this particular stop is not being moved so it will remain as such.

Fashions have changed over the years, and the difference is marginal without signal priority, so I wouldn't be surprised if there's some historical vacillation.

Random note: the Nextbus prediction for the 57 has become wildly overoptimistic the last week or so. It always was predicting arrival a few minutes too early, but now it's like 5-10 minutes. Anyone else notice?

 

[George_Apley]

Gives you some sense about when the last time they thought seriously about where bus stops should go. Signal preference has been possible for 25 years and right-turn-on-red has probably been legal since 1974 (anyone know?)

I recall a hearing for the 77 Bus in Arlington where the lady complained about how "[The T] cut down our tree to move the stop to the [before intersection] side of the cross street and now 40 years later you want to move it back" (she had an air of "all this back-and-forth-all-the-time, when will it end?")

...Is it safe to assume that before right-turn-on-red became legal (which generally coincided with the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo) that in the '60s and '70 it was the style for buses to stop before the cross street?

I know it's beside the point, but I love the anecdote considering right-on-red turns are illegal in Arlington lol.