MBTA Buses & Infrastructure

[millerm277]

I don't think that's the right way to consider it. If you look at any short stretch of bus lane, you'd find it only saves seconds. But string those together, and it's real time savings. It looks like in the AM rush hour, buses saved a full minute going between Dartmouth and Berkeley -- just two blocks! That's pretty big. It was able to pull that off with a total lack of bus-only enforcement. I wish we could find ten more short stretches along these bus routes where we could save a full minute. I think it'd be hard to find time savings this good just about anywhere else.

The only bus traveling Boylston on the 2nd block is the #9, which in the AM rush hour is carrying no/almost no passengers on that stretch. (Primary travel direction in the AM is towards Back Bay, and anyone traveling inbound to that area got off at the stops on St. James Ave rather than spending minutes riding it all the way around in a circle to save 30 seconds of walking).

It's not nothing and obviously helps bus operations even if few passengers are riding that portion - less time in traffic is more trips a bus can operate in a shift. But I can also see why this could be viewed as less valuable than many other interventions.

 

[okin15]

The only bus traveling Boylston on the 2nd block is the #9, which in the AM rush hour is carrying no/almost no passengers on that stretch. (Primary travel direction in the AM is towards Back Bay, and anyone traveling inbound to that area got off at the stops on St. James Ave rather than spending minutes riding it all the way around in a circle to save 30 seconds of walking). It's not nothing and obviously helps bus operations even if few passengers are riding that portion - less time in traffic is more trips a bus can operate in a shift. But I can also see why this could be viewed as less valuable than many other interventions.

As you mentioned, the seconds a bus saves compound and affect every single passenger all day long. Faster trips mean more trips, and better reliability, which means leaving less buffer on your commute.

All that said, I'm OK losing a battle here and there if momentum can be maintained and the war can be won.

 

[ritchiew]

The only bus traveling Boylston on the 2nd block is the #9, which in the AM rush hour is carrying no/almost no passengers on that stretch. (Primary travel direction in the AM is towards Back Bay, and anyone traveling inbound to that area got off at the stops on St. James Ave rather than spending minutes riding it all the way around in a circle to save 30 seconds of walking).

The bus lane seems to have helped in the PM rush hour, too, when people do ride that stretch. The average hasn't changed much, at six seconds slower. But the worst times have gotten better, by 25 seconds. So the bus on those couple of block is more reliable. And again, that's what you get with zero enforcement (and a worsening culture of food delivery cars blocking the streets).

But before getting too far in the weeds with these details, though, all I'm saying is the bus lane seems to have worked. It's speeding up buses part of the day, and making travel times more reliable. There seems to be a separate question of whether the bus lane is "worth it," and so far I keep wondering "compared to what?" Like, if we turn this back into a car lane again, how many seconds does this save drivers? If we're getting to point of questioning how many riders might be on the bus block-by-block, then how many more people in cars would get through if this was a car lane? Without anything to compare to, this feels like we're just assuming that cars have some inherent right to street space, and anything else needs to jump through a lot of hoops to justify itself.

 

[as02143]

I'm surprised that the police fire and ambulance services haven't said anything. They get traffic clear on Boylston now because cars have somewhere to move outta way.

 

[HenryAlan]

I'm surprised that the police fire and ambulance services haven't said anything. They get traffic clear on Boylston now because cars have somewhere to move outta way.

Couldn't cars move out of the way by entering the bus lane? I'm confused by your comment.

 

[TheRatmeister]

Couldn't cars move out of the way by entering the bus lane? I'm confused by your comment.

That's their point, I think. Or emergency services could use the bus lane, either one works. Is this a huge advantage that justifies putting spare lanes on every street? Probably not. Could it justify a corridor downtown though? Possibly.

 

[as02143]

Tha

Couldn't cars move out of the way by entering the bus lane? I'm confused by your comment.

Thats exactly the point. With out the bus lane it's a nother lane full of cars blocking a fire truck, ambulance, or cops.

 

[FK4]

I don't think anyone is saying that enforcement isn't needed (the TransitMatter post stresses that it is). Cities and the T haven't had the power to do automated / camera-based enforcement like New York, DC, Philly, Chicago, LA, SF, etc. have until January. That's the part that makes the Mayor's decision especially bad for bus service. It doesn't bode well for transit projects in Boston if the City is now running away from projects at the very time when they should be working to apply this new enforcement tool.

We can debate if saving 60 seconds is / isn't significant, but that overlooks the fact that if there's no priority, buses will just get stuck in traffic and get slower, less effective at moving lots of people. It's a way of preserving the service quality, not just saving time (which this project was).

I don’t understand why the conversation about “enforcement“ always seems to come down to handing over the lack of automated cameras. Don’t we have one of the biggest, most overpaid, and bloated police departments in the whole fucking country? What is stopping the mayor from working with the police department that she runs from instructing more police to give more tickets to cars and other vehicles that are breaking the law? This is not difficult. If you grew up in Boston you know that it’s basically impossible to get a ticket for almost anything other than violating a parking meter. We don’t need cameras to solve that problem.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

I don’t understand why the conversation about “enforcement“ always seems to come down to handing over the lack of automated cameras. Don’t we have one of the biggest, most overpaid, and bloated police departments in the whole fucking country? What is stopping the mayor from working with the police department that she runs from instructing more police to give more tickets to cars and other vehicles that are breaking the law? This is not difficult. If you grew up in Boston you know that it’s basically impossible to get a ticket for almost anything other than violating a parking meter. We don’t need cameras to solve that problem.

The police will refuse to do it, and become confrontational with the Mayor. That's pretty much how it went in NYC and several other large cities whose departments have given up the ghost on basic traffic enforcement. The larger the department, the more unaccountable they become to willful redirection from above. That of course shouldn't be, but the reality is that steering big-city police departments to back any initiative that gives them more work is very hard and comes with a steep political cost.

Cameras don't "cop" an attitude. That's why they're seen as holy grail.

 

[bigeman312]

The police will refuse to do it, and become confrontational with the Mayor. That's pretty much how it went in NYC and several other large cities whose departments have given up the ghost on basic traffic enforcement. The larger the department, the more unaccountable they become to willful redirection from above. That of course shouldn't be, but the reality is that steering big-city police departments to back any initiative that gives them more work is very hard and comes with a steep political cost.

Cameras don't "cop" an attitude. That's why they're seen as holy grail.

BPD is operating as if they aren't aware that many of their tasks can be automated and lead to their department's budget becoming less justifiable. I, for one, would love to see bus lane enforcement become automated. Cheaper operationally, less biased, more consistent, and more reliable.