MBTA Buses & Infrastructure

HelloBostonHi said:
Yeah I've hung around and watched them, in very simple terms they put down a layer of wet asphalt seal then throw red sand on top of it by hand. More time consuming than pure paint, but definitely seems to wear better and has a lot more grip.

As for bike lane markings you'll find some dispute among transportation engineers about where green should be used. Some think that only having it at intersections and conflict points gives it more impact, others think it should be the entire bike corridor, and others think it's all a waste...
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I was really surprised to see them doing that very manual operation to the bus lane corridor on Washington Street in Chinatown. Lots of labor!
 
I wasn't sure where to ask this- but I was wondering- is the SL Waterfront the only BRT line in the US with off-board fare collection gates? I think most American BRT systems have proof-of-payment.
 
ra84970 said:
That new material seems to take forever to install. I suppose that's why the cities around here seem to be limiting their green bike markings to smaller areas.
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The material they are using lasts about 4-5x longer than standard traffic paints. I remember, Cambridge 'painted' their bus lanes initially since they were pilot projects and the paint was already fading a couple months in. There is a cost difference for sure, but Ruby Lake Glass (what they're using in Boston) is definitely a much more durable and longer lasting product. It's certainly worth the install time given the expected lifespan. There are a couple other products with similar lifespans, all of which require a good amount of time to put down.
 
Hubman said:
I wasn't sure where to ask this- but I was wondering- is the SL Waterfront the only BRT line in the US with off-board fare collection gates? I think most American BRT systems have proof-of-payment.
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Fresno fake BRT started with PoP but switched to regular on board fare box after the 2 year funding to pay for fare enforcement ran out. But now the whole transit system is free, so thats a plus.
 
MBTA Bus Network Redesign Project has announced a public Zoom meeting for June 8th
Preregistration is required: Register for the meeting

Meeting Info
Date: June 8, 2021 at 6 PM - 7:30 PM
Add to Calendar

Location: Virtual • Zoom • Boston, MA
Attendees: General Public
Event Description
This meeting will provide an overview of the Bus Network Redesign, an initiative to re-imagine the MBTA’s bus network.
The goals of the redesign include reflecting the travel needs of the region and creating a better experience for current and future bus riders.
Learn more about the Bus Network Redesign
Join the Virtual Meeting
The meeting will be held over Zoom.
Register for the meeting
 
The week of 5/10 set another COVID-era high for bus system ridership:

MBTA_Bus_Ridership_5_10_Week.png


With an average of 186,886 riders per weekday, the bus system averaged a ridership 46% of the index week (2/24/20). Ridership was 72% of Thanksgiving Week, 2019's average daily ridership. The previous COVID-era high (the week immediately preceding) was 44% and 70% of those weeks respectively.

The 111 had its highest ridership COVID-era week:

111_Bus_Ridership_5_10_Week.png


At 6,732 per weekday, the 111 averaged 70% of the index week's ridership and 89% of Thanksgiving '19 week's ridership. The 111 was the third highest ridership route in the system last week. It's been one of the four highest ridership routes every week for the past 11 months, serving a very transit-dependent population. Pre-COVID, the 111 had a lower ridership than some routes that have seen larger drop-offs (like the 23, 39, and SL5).

I'm happy to see that during this time, the MBTA has added an outbound bus lane on North Washington St in Boston and Broadway in Chelsea.
 
ra84970 said:
I've ridden over the red lanes in Brighton and down toward Haymarket on Blue Bikes and they are very grippy. Almost too grippy. A lot of the green ones are the same - either they're ridiculously grippy (at least at first) or they're kinda slick when wet. Both of those are less than ideal for someone like me who doesn't cycle that often.
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That lessens with time. I've ridden a lot on such lanes, and they tend to smooth in about 4-6 months.
 
Arlington said:
@Riverside and @The EGE , how can you capture the "temp-to-perm" and "AM inbound only" lanes that will run for 2 miles on Mystic Ave (but apparently be "painted" this fall) on your maps? (Joint Medford-Somerville-MassDOT project)
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This lane, announced in August 2020, will launch on June 21, 2021. (I don't want to be that guy, but...why did something so minimal take so long? I don't even think they've painted anything, but maybe I just haven't visted recently enough)

patch.com

Bus Lane Installed From Medford To Somerville

The pilot program will run along Mystic Avenue during the morning commute starting June 21.
patch.com patch.com


www.google.com

Main Street & Mystic Avenue to Mystic Ave

www.google.com www.google.com
 
Arlington said:
This lane, announced in August 2020, will launch on June 21, 2021. (I don't want to be that guy, but...why did something so minimal take so long? I don't even think they've painted anything, but maybe I just haven't visted recently enough)

patch.com

Bus Lane Installed From Medford To Somerville

The pilot program will run along Mystic Avenue during the morning commute starting June 21.
patch.com patch.com


www.google.com

Main Street & Mystic Avenue to Mystic Ave

www.google.com www.google.com
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They put down the paint and put up signs a couple of weeks ago. I figured it was already in use but I'm not ever on the road at that time. Hopefully they actually do some enforcement because people are definitely going to try driving in it when traffic is backed up.
 
Is there any indication of whether additional routes that could benefit from a left door will be moved to North Cambridge once it becomes BEB?
 
737900er said:
Is there any indication of whether additional routes that could benefit from a left door will be moved to North Cambridge once it becomes BEB?
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No. Left doors are expensive mods. They aren't ordering any buses with left doors unless they absolutely have to be assigned to Harvard busway.

The holy hell raised with City of Cambridge and various transpo advocates by trying to rip down the TT wires also isn't a done deal (hell, we're not even in the main event yet). It's a fight they've lost several times before, so I would not treat it as any sure thing. The BEB order is structured in a way that it's easy to stash them elsewhere if Cambridge doesn't work out, and unit quantities with left-hand doors haven't even been specced yet. They're stashable because the T doesn't have reliable charging range data on which routes exactly the first order will be able to cover the duty cycles on. They're likely going to have to have to make lots and lots of assignment adjustments; that's how uncertain the details of their deployment still is.
 
The Harvard Upper Busway is closed again for renovations. Currently, several men and a jackhammer are forcibly lowering the level of the concrete approach to the upper busway. Cursory conversations with people in high-vis vests suggest the upper busway will exit this second round of renovations with a level boarding area. Pictures coming soon.
 
Press release today about bus lanes being built this summer. Nothing that we didn't already known about, but perhaps sooner than expected.
  • North Washington Street, outbound between Cross Street and Causeway Street
  • Washington Street in Roslindale, outbound between Ukraine Way and Poplar Street - peak bus/bike lanes (includes improvements to the existing inbound bus lane - shelters and bus bulbs)
  • Western Ave. between Ida Street and the Belden Bly Bridge - bus/bike lanes (the site notes that this will also improve reliability for pull-outs from Lynn Garage)
  • Washington Street between High Street and River Road in Brookline Village - bus lanes and TSP
  • Centre Street between the Malden Center West Busway and Main Street - bus lanes and signal adjustments
  • Broadway, inbound between Revere Street to Revere Beach Parkway in Revere - AM peak bus/bike lane
  • Washington Street, between Rossmore Street and Inner Belt Road - queue jumps and signal improvements
 
At this point, almost every municipality with substantial MBTA bus operations has bus lanes operational or coming soon - Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Medford, Malden, Everett, Chelsea, Revere, Lynn. Of the notable exceptions, Watertown and Newton don't have a lot of high-frequency sections that are easy wins (the Watertown Square area and Washington Street are about it). Waltham and Quincy, though, definitely have viable candidates in their downtown areas.
 
Quincy has pretty significant bus operations, but they all kind of fan out from Quincy Center. At some point they need to make a bus lane on Hancock St. from Quincy Center to School St. It's too dense now to have non-metered on-street parking, but with all the construction there it might be years before there's actually a straight shot. At peak it's about 15 buses per hour.

Watertown could easily convert a lane of Mt. Auburn Street to bus only, but the traffic volume doesn't justify it, and they do have a few queue jumps right now. The 70 is what really needs help through Watertown.
 
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