MBTA Key Bus Route Improvement Program

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Arlington

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The MBTA Key Bus Route Improvement Program (KeyBRIP?) was funded by a Stimulus grant. The idea was that the 15 busiest routes carry a large fraction of all bus riders and could carry more and do it faster if the routes were adjusted (they stress that they are not trying to save money).

The idea is that fewer, busier, better-equipped stops (shelters, seating, trash cans), with longer bus bays (for easier/faster in-and-out) can raise both average speed and average ridership.

The missing bit seems to be implementation, which is partly in control of the municipalities (to re-stripe).

I like what they've proposed for the 77 (for example)--eliminating about half the stops between Harvard and Porter (where ridership is heavy and every stop painfully slows the trip of many for not-much-benefit for a few).

Any other thoughts?
 
I love it. I hope they make the changes they are talking about to the 73. That would make me much more likely to ride it come winter, rather than bike.
 
This has been going on for a while now I think, I believe most of the routes had meetings/proposals back in the fall. Anyone know if anything concrete came from them?
 
BostonUrbEx said:
This has been going on for a while now I think, I believe most of the routes had meetings/proposals back in the fall. Anyone know if anything concrete came from them?
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Implementation was scheduled for fall 2011 originally.

Lols.



Also, a few years ago Brookline proposed giving the 66 bus lanes and such. They "delayed" that project to work with the key bus people.

And so the years pass and nothing is done....


Remember when the 39 was going to get bus-stop curb extensions....back in 2006?
 
http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/t_projects/default.asp?id=19047

Design plans for Routes 1, 23, 39, 57, 66 111, 116 and 117 are in progress, with construction anticipated to start in Summer 2012. The public process for Routes 71, 73, and 77 is ongoing. Routes 15, 22, 28 and 32 last phase of Key Bus Routes scheduled for implementation.
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Call me a blind optimist, but now that the T doesn't have to pay for it with their own money, given the influx of ARRA funding for this project, I bet work gets started sooner rather than later.
 
The lack of curb extensions or bump outs for MBTA buses really irks me. One thing that these improvements mention is lengthening the curb space for buses which means less parking spots.

Now I'm not one to call for more parking, but wouldn't it be easier to get cities and towns on board with these improvements if they didn't need to lose parking? If you put in a curb extension, it could be much shorter than the space needed for a bus to pull into and out of, thus saving parking spaces. This would also speed up embarking, and disembarking times.

I was hopeful when I saw the working being done on Mass. Ave. near the Mass. Ave. Orange Line because it looked like they were adding a bump out for the bus, but walking by today I noticed it's for the cross walk.

It seems like one of those things where there needs to be a better coordinated effort between the T and cities and towns, but who knows if that's even possible.
 
Neither idea is popular with car fetishists, because you either lose parking or you cause cars to be stuck behind the loading bus.
 
If Brookline eliminated all parking along Harvard Street to create bus lanes, and at the same time built a cheap parking deck on top of the current Centre St parking lot, you'd end up with net more parking and far improved bus service.

I'll buy the argument that viable commercial neighborhoods do need places for cars to sit, but I don't understand why those places need to be on the sides of busy roads? It's not like in a busy district like Coolidge Corner that you're going to ever find a parking spot right in front of the store you're going into anyway.
 
Shepard said:
If Brookline eliminated all parking along Harvard Street to create bus lanes, and at the same time built a cheap parking deck on top of the current Centre St parking lot, you'd end up with net more parking and far improved bus service.
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That's an amazing idea.

Too bad once it crossed back into Boston it would be a mess again.
 
MBTAddict said:
That's an amazing idea.

Too bad once it crossed back into Boston it would be a mess again.
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Anybody have an idea on how to improve the 66/57 from Allston Village to Union Square, Allston? This stretch of Brighton Ave seems to be in need of SOMETHING. (I'm thinking something more realistic, not like tunneling the B branch under Packard's corner with an A subway stub branch to Union Square/ or a full subway heavy rail line from Harvard Square to LMA or something). What about something that could theoretically get done on the sooner side without massive investment?
 
^ First of all, the 66's jog to Union Square Allston is a complete waste of time... up to 10 minutes out of the way to go about 2 blocks and back around to connect with other buses that you'd connect with anyway if it had continued straight down Harvard Ave to Cambridge Street instead of diverting needlessly. I actually avoid the 66 because this stupidity raises my blood pressure.

My idea here is for the block of Harvard Ave between Brighton Ave and Cambridge Street to become a transit mall - buses and taxis only, maybe a smattering of handicapped parking. Make this, not Union Square, the major Allston transit node. And make cars do the current diversion around Union Square to reach Cambridge Street.

The 66 can therefore run straight through from Comm Ave to Cambridge Street (and then, one bus tunnel I would wholeheartedly support, would continue from Franklin/Cambridge under the pike to the street's continuation in North Allston)
 
Coincidentally, there may be a tunnel at the end of Franklin already in place. The Allston subway (in the old meaning of the term) was built as a grade separated pedestrian tunnel over a century ago, and was usable up until maybe 1965. I think it may be 8' x 11' cross section however.
 
Shepard said:
^ First of all, the 66's jog to Union Square Allston is a complete waste of time... up to 10 minutes out of the way to go about 2 blocks and back around to connect with other buses that you'd connect with anyway if it had continued straight down Harvard Ave to Cambridge Street instead of diverting needlessly. I actually avoid the 66 because this stupidity raises my blood pressure.

My idea here is for the block of Harvard Ave between Brighton Ave and Cambridge Street to become a transit mall - buses and taxis only, maybe a smattering of handicapped parking. Make this, not Union Square, the major Allston transit node. And make cars do the current diversion around Union Square to reach Cambridge Street.

The 66 can therefore run straight through from Comm Ave to Cambridge Street (and then, one bus tunnel I would wholeheartedly support, would continue from Franklin/Cambridge under the pike to the street's continuation in North Allston)
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This is brilliant. I came up with something similar, but admittedly worse.
 
Matthew said:
Coincidentally, there may be a tunnel at the end of Franklin already in place. The Allston subway (in the old meaning of the term) was built as a grade separated pedestrian tunnel over a century ago, and was usable up until maybe 1965. I think it may be 8' x 11' cross section however.
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Annual report -1893. You can read excerpts:

http://books.google.com/books?id=4H...way pedestrian tunnel franklin street&f=false

The subway under the tracks is about 120 feet long and is 9 feet wide and 7 feet 9 inches high.
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Wow. That tunnel could be the most reasonable transit fix for Allston I could imagine. That should've been opened yesterday.

Edit: Has anyone read this twice? There's a freaking tunnel between the commercial center of Allston and North Allston/Cambridge-bound streets. Currently there's really just this which hardly works for pedestrians and doesn't do shit for buses/transit.
 
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How sure are we that it is still there? I can't find any mention of it on anything written since the Pike's construction.
 
I looked into it a bit, a few months ago. I talked to some long-time residents who remember using it in the early 60s. One story I heard is that someone was killed after emerging from the tunnel after dark and stepping into the street, getting hit by a truck.

It was covered over during construction of the Pike. Nobody knows if it has been filled with debris or not, or what kind of integrity it retains. It also seems that it would require significant restoration work, and floor-lowering, just to make it into a feasible one-track busway in place of a pedestrian tunnel. Also routing the 66 there would skip N.Harvard and Cambridge, which may or may not be significant.

The pedestrian overpass for the Pike there is really shitty and always getting covered in trash and graffiti. It's MassDOT's responsibility and there's been talk about redoing it, but who knows with them.
 
Matthew said:
Also routing the 66 there would skip N.Harvard and Cambridge, which may or may not be significant.
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Insignificant, I believe. With this 'Key Bus Route Improvement Program' the T released statistics for average "ons" and "offs" at each stop. This would skip 4 current inbound stops (but the KBRIP calls for consolidation to 3 stops) and 3 outbound stops. All of these are relatively lightly used and most are served by the 64 and the 501.

EDIT: Here is the pdf with stats:

http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/A...minary Design Proposed Recommendations(1).pdf
 
My god does Mass Ave. north of Harvard need curb juts and signal priority. Absolutely nothing is capable of pulling over to the curb, which blocks the right lane for thru traffic. And then the dire lack of protected left-turn signals at most streets blocks the left lane every 2 blocks. Followed by 50/50 odds of hitting every single red light in North Cambridge. There's not much the T can do itself about any of those problems, but I'm surprised MassHighway is funding the Arlington rebuild of Mass Ave. before doing anything about Harvard-Porter and/or Harvard-Route 16. The road flows infinitely better after the Central-Charles rebuild, really isn't bad at all between Central and Harvard, and Porter is better than it used to be when they re-timed those signals and tweaked the lefts at the shopping center. But they're only funding flow improvements around Cambridge Common (which admittedly needs it). This really ought to be #2 on the city thoroughfare rebuilds priority list after Comm. Ave. Allston. Maybe #1.
 
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