MBTA Buses & Infrastructure

[jbray]

"Drivers need to pay more" and "People should pay for the transit they use" are not even close to being mutually exclusive. Car infrastructure is subsidized and negative externalities are not adjusted for, drivers, particularly in Boston, should need to pay higher taxes on gas, vehicle registration, and congestion charges.

That's only one half of my point. I'll restate: Western, Central, and South Eastern Massachusetts are subsidized by the economy of Boston. That economy cannot function if everyone drives. Given that transit users choices (and cyclists and pedestrians) are allowing this economy to continue, car users underpay. By charging ALL taxpayers in the economy, transit users pay for THEIR service and drivers help fund a system THEY unequivocally benefit from either in time savings or redistributed tax dollars from the economy. You are saying that is "less fair" and I disagree. Also, such a distributed tax would include monies for RTAs in local areas and not just the MBTA. I'm part of the advocacy for reducing fares or making public transit free at point of service because the benefits to the environment and economy are undeniable.

 

[HenryAlan]

Man, that TM map shits all over 3 of 4 northside mains' inside-128 stops by punting them into Zone 2 while every southside line's + Fitchburg's 128-and-in stations (and then some...Weymouth, Holbrook) get the Zone 1 advantage. I can't believe Lynn is still outside of the inner core fare zone; that's a big FAIL right there. The general concept of fewer fare zones is pretty good, but the 'equity' still needs lots of work geographically.

It also makes no sense to me. Is it the same cost for both Zone 1 and Zone 2? Why have both? Maybe I'm just not interpreting the key correctly.

 

[Teban54]

It also makes no sense to me. Is it the same cost for both Zone 1 and Zone 2? Why have both? Maybe I'm just not interpreting the key correctly.

The difference seems to be primarily for the "crossing X zones" scenario, particularly trips that do not enter downtown Boston. So a trip from Zone 4 to Zone 2 costs less than Zone 4 to Zone 1.

Because of this, I think @F-Line to Dudley's interpretation of Lynn being unfairly treated is actually incorrect. There's no difference in fares between a Lynn-Boston trip and a Dedham-Boston one, as it takes $2.40 both within the same zone and when crossing two zones. But the distinction becomes significant for, say, Newburyport-Lynn, which is now cheaper than Newburyport-Boston.

 

[StreetsblogMASS]

City of Boston will abandon Summer St. curbside bus lane, which was so frequently blocked by drivers that it created no measurable improvements to bus travel times:

The Slow Bus To Southie: Boston Will Abandon Frequently-Blocked Seaport Bus Lane - Streetsblog Massachusetts

The City of Boston will remove a shared bus-and-trucking lane through the Seaport neighborhood after acknowledging that the design, which was frequently blocked by cars, failed to deliver measurable benefits to bus riders. “Based on the analysis of this data and feedback, we have decided to...

mass.streetsblog.org

 

[bigeman312]

Sad, but hopefully this is an indication that future bus infrastructure projects will be more than paint as city officials wake up to the reality that paint and no enforcement does absolutely nothing.

 

[KCasiglio]

If only we could, say, mount a camera on a bus or a bollard or something to issue citations to bus/bike lane blockers. If only that were possible.

Oh well, guess this is just a totally unsolvable problem and we can't have nice things.

 

[The EGE]

 

[Arenacale]

One annoying thing about that bus lane was they kept the ability to turn left out of Pumphouse Rd. from the right lane, so I always forgot the bus lane was there and had to bail quickly. Making that right lane right turn only would have kept at least some cars out of it.

 

[cubbe8]

Saw a 66 going to Watertown Yard.

 

[737900er]

Saw a 66 going to Watertown Yard.

School trip

 

[as02143]

Saw a 66 going to Watertown Yard.

school trip, no?

 

[MBTA DMA]

school trip, no?

Yes it is a school trip.

 

[Stlin]

In interesting bus news, apparently the first BEBs are mostly built, and should show up in Boston in November. Apparently, we should expect the first 10, 5 standard 5 with left side doors, to be delivered this winter. That begged the question of where exactly they planned on charging the things - N. Cambridge isn't scheduled to be finished until the fall of 2025, and Quincy March 2027, so I went digging. Apparently, they're building the capacity to charge up to 8 buses simultaneously at the Charlestown garage. That's fully ¼ of N. Cambridge's future full capacity, and if we take the Southampton Garage example where they have a 5-3 BEB to charger ratio, could possibly support more.