If Back Bay can have a Logan Express shuttle, then Kendall Square in Cambridge should have one too. The amount of conference travelers going from the airport to that Kendall Square Marriott must be massive. Plus Main St in Kendall already has plenty of curb space for bus loading and layovers. A bus every 30 minutes would do wonders for airport congestion.
Logan Airport Capital Projects
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citydweller
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perhaps a dumb question but why is lounge space important? What annoys me is limited and over-crowded seating at the gates. I think the lounges for the various carriers are members-only, right?For reference:
JeffDowntown
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Lounge space it for airlines to pamper their most valued customers. Frequent (usually business) travelers who often pay full fare, buy upgrades, etc. These are the travelers who actually keep airlines in business.
These customers are valuable enough that airports risk losing flights (and even carriers) if they don't make the space available to the airlines.
I believe the profit margins for the airlines in selling their miles to AMEX, Chase, etc. are quite high (by airline business standards). One of the ways they can drive value for these cardholders and thus continue to sell all of these miles is by having lounge spaces. Also, card issuers need to drive value for their cards and one easy way to provide perceived value.
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For reference, in 2023, United earned some $2.7B from the sale of miles to its partners, primarily credit card issuers. Over the same period, they made only just about $1B in profit as a result of actually flying planes, but sales of MileagePlus miles account for ~5% of all of United's revenue.
JetBlue on the other hand earned some $422M from sale of TrueBlue points, about 4.3% of revenue.
That said, I don't think the credit card agreements are why JetBlue is building lounges - lounges aren't targeted at your run of the mill business travelers either, since they're very high cost amenities. It's why Chase, Amex only offer it to the most expensive cards - it's part of the lifestyle marketing. United and the rest of the US carriers don't include lounge access for most domestic trips, even for first class or holders of their tippiest top status levels. Instead, they're targeted at those who contribute the most heavily to airline revenue - the folks who know they're going to be spending 2 hours in Newark every week this year and are willing to pay the 650 for membership, or are flying international (which tend to be higher margin trips) often, and therefore have status. United only includes lounge access for mid tier and up status holders on international trips. It's also why the big three differentiate with premium lounges, above their standard club offering. United Polaris, AA flagship, Delta One lounges - the premium lounges are for those who contribute the most most- people who are flying in international business class. They get the most real estate, both in the air and on the ground, because they're paying an order of magnitude more.
My thesis has consistently been that JetBlue doesn't want to be a low cost carrier - they want to be seen as a viable competitor to the big three, which was behind their European push. As part of being viable competition, they need to make the Mint experience also competitive. While it's by far the best domestic first experience, it's actually lacking on the international level, and lounges are a piece of that. Look at terminal E - Air France, BA and Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Emirates etc each maintain lounges there for a scant handful of daily fights. It's because lounges are such a part of the expected international premium travel market. My opinion is, since JetBlue's only international hopes are out of BOS/JFK (since their planes can't do much else), it's them reaching to get to the same playing field as the international majors.
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JeffDowntown
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A short form answer would be:
Domestic focus, lounges are about credit card agreements (and the $$$ they drop to the carriers).
International focus, lounges are about your premium tier fliers and keeping them happy. You don't get frequent international business class flyers dropping the big bucks (and high margins) without a great lounge network.
Domestic focus, lounges are about credit card agreements (and the $$$ they drop to the carriers).
International focus, lounges are about your premium tier fliers and keeping them happy. You don't get frequent international business class flyers dropping the big bucks (and high margins) without a great lounge network.
Wouldnt a North Station one be helpful for Commuter Rail transfers?
Brattle Loop
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Probably not worth the effort. There's already Logan Express service to Danvers and Woburn (the latter to the CR stop at Anderson RTC) and those run a much more convenient schedule than the Commuter Rail. Part of the point of the Back Bay service (and this would be true to some extent of Kendall as well) is that it's a significant destination in and of itself, not just a transfer node, but accessing BBY from Logan is not at all convenient (requiring either Shuttle->Blue->Orange or Silver->Commuter Rail with its subpar schedule). The demand for North Station as a destination in its own right is going to be pretty low, and the North Shore express buses are a significantly more convenient option bracketing multiple CR lines than a CR->NS Logan Express transfer would be.
Also, worth keeping in mind the paucity of CR stations that allow overnight parking generally - being unable to park at the CR station overnight means that a CR transfer to Logan would be basically impossible for most trips.
That said, I do think there are holes in the Logan Express coverage. If you look at the existing 4 suburban locations, from outlying areas you will drive past one of them on your way to Logan - from the south I95/93 you'll pass Braintree, from the West Framingham off of I90, and from the North you'll hit Woburn on I93, or Danvers on 95/128. Any further in and it's easy to get to a MBTA terminal. That covers almost all of the highways into Boston - except one, RT2.
That corridor admittedly has poor access to Logan generally - Google maps generally wants you to exit it and connect via 95 to 90 or 93, but it's what I find to be a hole in the system since you're never encountering Logan Express, so I'd love to see an expansion on the I95 arc between I90 and RT2 - Hanscom seems the obvious candidate, or Waltham (by the Market Basket) or even Alewife if that garage continues to exist and be underutilized.
That said, I do think there are holes in the Logan Express coverage. If you look at the existing 4 suburban locations, from outlying areas you will drive past one of them on your way to Logan - from the south I95/93 you'll pass Braintree, from the West Framingham off of I90, and from the North you'll hit Woburn on I93, or Danvers on 95/128. Any further in and it's easy to get to a MBTA terminal. That covers almost all of the highways into Boston - except one, RT2.
That corridor admittedly has poor access to Logan generally - Google maps generally wants you to exit it and connect via 95 to 90 or 93, but it's what I find to be a hole in the system since you're never encountering Logan Express, so I'd love to see an expansion on the I95 arc between I90 and RT2 - Hanscom seems the obvious candidate, or Waltham (by the Market Basket) or even Alewife if that garage continues to exist and be underutilized.
millerm277
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I think the obvious problem there is "how do you get the bus from Alewife to Logan in a remotely reliable or efficient manner." Especially since the bus isn't allowed on Storrow or Mem Dr, and isn't allowed on the parkways. There's nowhere to run a bus from there other than crawling across Cambridge local streets.
To my mind part of the value of Logan Express for those that it works for (I have issues with the early/late service) is that it's not too terrible of a time proposition.
You lose some predictable enough time to the mode switch, but once in motion the bus will take a similar enough amount of time to get to Logan from there as your private car does - possibly a little better on occasion with the HOV/shoulder access on parts of 93.
I don't feel like that proposition is on offer with Alewife.
Is Mystic Valley Parkway cars only?
millerm277
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I know at least part of the Alewife Brook Parkway between Alewife + the intersection with MVP is.
Not much of a citation, but here's "No Trucks or Buses" a sign on street view (MA-16 + Broadway) supporting that statement: https://maps.app.goo.gl/z49Youm2aAhLX1fW8
Alewife Brook and MVP are DCR parkways - My understanding is that most, but not all, DCR parkways ban trucks & heavy commercial vehicles generally, but there's a process for permits. I believe there's a blanket exemption for state/municipal plated vehicles (to include the T) but other operators like moving companies or Yankee can and do pay $150 for an annual permit - there's no reason MassPorts Logan Express operator couldn't do the same.
I use Woburn location frequently, and it is starting to fill up a bit. Do we know how many people transfer from CR to Silver Line to Airport at South Station? I could see other use cases where the CR to NS to Airport link would be helpful: for employees at the airport and airlines, and also for pick up and drop offs. I have been encouraging my 15 year olds to go wander around Boston by themselves over the summer, taking the CR from Ayer, but still drop and pick up my 18 year old from the airport. There is a bit too much variability in trying a Airport -> SilverLine -> Redline -> CR trip, and if I am driving to Woburn, might as well drive all the way to the airport.