MBTA plans to discontinue Silver Line SL3 branch to City Point due to low ridership

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Arborway

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Spotted this in the MBTA 2008 Service Plan

The MBTA said:
In a major restructuring, it is recommended that the SL3 service be eliminated, and the resources used to increase SL2 service and simplify the schedule.

Eliminate SL3: There are only 30 weekday boardings for the stops which are unique to SL3, or an average of 0.4 passengers per trip. An experiment which extended the route to P Street failed because of noise concerns from residents. Furthermore, it is unclear that any route extension farther into South Boston would attract more customers, since the Route 7 has a lower fare, more frequent service, a shorter direct route, and better distribution within the Financial District. These resources would be better used elsewhere.
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So we've gone from four Waterfront branches to two. Though, To be fair, SL4 to Andrew made it to a number of MBTA station maps, but never actually went into service. (I forget why)
 
No one's riding it? No shit, it doesn't go anywhere people need to go. It doesn't even go to E. Broadway, it just goes down 1st St. If I remember the residents didn't want the buses clogging the streets.
 
They also want to cancel the #6 (Haymarket-South Station), the #48 (Jamaica Plain loop), and the #500 (Riverside-Downtown Boston Express).

The #6 would seem to be tailor-made for me, since I work at Union Wharf, but I've never ridden it even once in the four years I've had this job. I often see these buses going by empty. Long past time to get rid of it.

The #48 has never made much sense to me, wandering down a bunch of tiny JP side streets.

The #500 lost ridership because of the last fare change, which simultaneously increased the bus fare (from $3.45 to $4 each way) while cutting the D Line subway fare (was $3 inbound, $1.25 outbound; now $1.70 each way)
 
1) Service was decreased last year, no weekend or late weekday SL3 service. It also has the lowest frequency. I believe airport is every 10 minutes, SL2 every 10 minutes, and SL3 every 30 minutes.

2) All items in the report are recommendations.
 
Recommendations they may be, but nobody is going to stand up and beg for SL3 to continue. 60' buses are always in short supply, and they could be put to better use on the rest of the line.
 
it's hard for me to imagine too many people standing up for #6 or #48 either. The #500 may still have a vocal constituency despite the ridership drop, as some people are willing to pay premium fare for a faster and non-stop trip.

As for SL3, could the T have developed new summer ridership for it by running it all the way to Castle Island (not just to Farragut St)?
 
Ron Newman said:
They also want to cancel the #6 (Haymarket-South Station), the #48 (Jamaica Plain loop), and the #500 (Riverside-Downtown Boston Express).

The #6 would seem to be tailor-made for me, since I work at Union Wharf, but I've never ridden it even once in the four years I've had this job. I often see these buses going by empty. Long past time to get rid of it.
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I have tried catching that bus so many times, and have never once gotten it. It runs a handful of times everyday, its no wonder no one takes it. As we all know the same route once supported an el train, and now it has dwindled to nothing? I imagine if it ran consistently, people knew about it, or even if it just stuck to the greenway, it would be used.
 
And yet ... in the building where I work, next to the mailboxes, someone plastered a bunch of "Save the #6 Bus" leaflets.
 
Ron Newman said:
As for SL3, could the T have developed new summer ridership for it by running it all the way to Castle Island (not just to Farragut St)?
Click to expand...

Apparently the bus noise was a problem for residents when the T tried to extend it a bit further on a trial basis, so I doubt this would have been received well.
 
Do Silver Line buses make more noise than regular ones? The #7, #9, #10, and #11 all go to City Point already.
 
I can't find the exact numbers on decibel levels at the moment. I know some of the older Neoplan articulated buses have experienced major squealing problems, but I've never encountered that on the ones serving the Waterfront. Those buses just seem to be in much better shape than the rest of the artic fleet. Compare them with the ones you find on the #39 or Washington St. branch of the Silver Line.
 
If the route were electric all the way theyd make even less noise...
 
Didn't people complain about the prospect of the overhead lines going any further? If so, I wonder who it was. We're talking about a nearly deserted wasteland - even more so at the time the Silver Line was being built.

Other benefits aside, overhead lines creates a sense of permanence, something BRT struggles to establish in the minds of prospective riders and developers. Bus routes change all of the time, and you can't count on them to be there for you in the future. It's one of the main obstacles to getting people to take BRT seriously.

While it's nice that the T is capable of removing a line that is, by all accounts, a redundant waste, I'm not sure the "Everything after Silver Line way is subject to change" approach is going to encourage people to accept it as something on, or near the same level as the Red, Green, Orange or Blue lines.
 
The T complains about having to update all the rapid transit maps after a name change or extension, so I doubt they will do this, they had a somewhat tough time after the ICA moved and the New England Medical facility changed its name.
 
Hopefully the T reinstates this service if the Boston Edison area is developed.
 
I take that bus route to get to & from my bank!!

it's a bitch trying to find a parking spot over there!!! :mad:
 
I didn't know that.

The line is still running, so they must've canceled their plans to kill it.
 
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