Reasonable Transit Pitches

Motivated by recent news on the Blue Hill Ave redesign: Which bus corridors do you think are (economically and politically) feasible for easy BRT implementation and/or center-running bus lanes?

My own picks (excluding BHA and Columbus Phase 2 that are officially in planning):
  • Summer St (Seaport)
    • A pilot program is almost ready, as I just mentioned here
  • Columbia Rd
    • I have no idea why the road redesign didn't consider center-running bus lanes. Sounds like it should have been a no-brainer to me.
  • Warren St north of MLK Blvd
    • Basically an extension of the Blue Hill Ave bus lanes, with similar road conditions. Too bad the section between MLK and Grove Hall is too narrow.
  • Mt Auburn St (in Watertown)
    • I think @TheRatmeister was the first one to suggest this. The road does seem very wide and can use a road diet for the 71.
  • Western Ave - Arsenal St corridor
    • Western Ave in Lower Allston was covered by this corridor study, and a transitway is being planned in the long term, though looks like some parking needs to be eliminated which may complicate things.
    • Arsenal St is just ridiculously wide.
  • Broadway (Somerville)
    • Bus lanes are already in place along large stretches of the road, and where they aren't, there are wide medians
  • Tobin Bridge to Chelsea
    • Even just the ridership on 111 alone justifies it, and Tobin Bridge replacement (which I believe is mandated to have bus lanes) gives us hope for at least some improvements over the status quo.
    • Chelsea streets are quite narrow, but there could still be some hope of expanding bus lanes beyond just Broadway. Not sure how much that counts as BRT, though.
Honorable mention: Mass Ave. Full bus lanes are direly needed along its entire length, but looks like it needs just too much parking eliminations (and road reconfigurations in places), especially across busy commercial districts, to be politically feasible.
 
Teban54 said:
Motivated by recent news on the Blue Hill Ave redesign: Which bus corridors do you think are (economically and politically) feasible for easy BRT implementation and/or center-running bus lanes?

My own picks (excluding BHA and Columbus Phase 2 that are officially in planning):
  • Summer St (Seaport)
    • A pilot program is almost ready, as I just mentioned here
  • Columbia Rd
    • I have no idea why the road redesign didn't consider center-running bus lanes. Sounds like it should have been a no-brainer to me.
  • Warren St north of MLK Blvd
    • Basically an extension of the Blue Hill Ave bus lanes, with similar road conditions. Too bad the section between MLK and Grove Hall is too narrow.
  • Mt Auburn St (in Watertown)
    • I think @TheRatmeister was the first one to suggest this. The road does seem very wide and can use a road diet for the 71.
  • Western Ave - Arsenal St corridor
    • Western Ave in Lower Allston was covered by this corridor study, and a transitway is being planned in the long term, though looks like some parking needs to be eliminated which may complicate things.
    • Arsenal St is just ridiculously wide.
  • Broadway (Somerville)
    • Bus lanes are already in place along large stretches of the road, and where they aren't, there are wide medians
  • Tobin Bridge to Chelsea
    • Even just the ridership on 111 alone justifies it, and Tobin Bridge replacement (which I believe is mandated to have bus lanes) gives us hope for at least some improvements over the status quo.
    • Chelsea streets are quite narrow, but there could still be some hope of expanding bus lanes beyond just Broadway. Not sure how much that counts as BRT, though.
Honorable mention: Mass Ave. Full bus lanes are direly needed along its entire length, but looks like it needs just too much parking eliminations (and road reconfigurations in places), especially across busy commercial districts, to be politically feasible.
Click to expand...
  • Most of Washington St is already wide enough for median bus lanes with minimal parking elimination, so that's probably at #2 on my list (After BHA)
  • If Columbus 2 doesn't all of Seaver St then that.
  • Dorchester St and E Broadway in Southie
  • Morton St/Arborway, potentially at least some Gallivan Blvd as well.
  • Hyde Park Ave, though I might argue that money spent there would be better used on frequent, electric CR service on the Providence Line.
  • VFW Pkwy if there's demand (And redevelopment of strip malls)
  • Continuing after Watertown Sq and Mt Auburn St along Galen St to Newton Corner
But I'll continue to hype a Watertown LRT. Watertown likes to pretend it's still a streetcar suburb, so let's make it one (Again)
 
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Teban54 said:
Motivated by recent news on the Blue Hill Ave redesign: Which bus corridors do you think are (economically and politically) feasible for easy BRT implementation and/or center-running bus lanes?

My own picks (excluding BHA and Columbus Phase 2 that are officially in planning):
  • Summer St (Seaport)
    • A pilot program is almost ready, as I just mentioned here
  • Columbia Rd
    • I have no idea why the road redesign didn't consider center-running bus lanes. Sounds like it should have been a no-brainer to me.
  • Warren St north of MLK Blvd
    • Basically an extension of the Blue Hill Ave bus lanes, with similar road conditions. Too bad the section between MLK and Grove Hall is too narrow.
  • Mt Auburn St (in Watertown)
    • I think @TheRatmeister was the first one to suggest this. The road does seem very wide and can use a road diet for the 71.
  • Western Ave - Arsenal St corridor
    • Western Ave in Lower Allston was covered by this corridor study, and a transitway is being planned in the long term, though looks like some parking needs to be eliminated which may complicate things.
    • Arsenal St is just ridiculously wide.
  • Broadway (Somerville)
    • Bus lanes are already in place along large stretches of the road, and where they aren't, there are wide medians
  • Tobin Bridge to Chelsea
    • Even just the ridership on 111 alone justifies it, and Tobin Bridge replacement (which I believe is mandated to have bus lanes) gives us hope for at least some improvements over the status quo.
    • Chelsea streets are quite narrow, but there could still be some hope of expanding bus lanes beyond just Broadway. Not sure how much that counts as BRT, though.
Honorable mention: Mass Ave. Full bus lanes are direly needed along its entire length, but looks like it needs just too much parking eliminations (and road reconfigurations in places), especially across busy commercial districts, to be politically feasible.
Click to expand...
I would add:
McGrath/O'Brien Hwys, Fellsway and Fellsway West, and Revere Beach Pkwy.
 
Charlie_mta said:
I would add:
McGrath/O'Brien Hwys, Fellsway and Fellsway West, and Revere Beach Pkwy.
Click to expand...
I do feel like there's a distinction between these and the others in that these are all more like urban highways rather than boulevards, so a more complete overhaul of them and the surrounding area which is often just car wasteland would be needed to give buses not just a place to go, but a reason to go there. Otherwise with relatively few destinations along the route perhaps any alignment created for buses would be better used for rail of some form because of the large distance between stops and relatively flat, straight alignments.
 
TheRatmeister said:
I do feel like there's a distinction between these and the others in that these are all more like urban highways rather than boulevards, so a more complete overhaul of them and the surrounding area which is often just car wasteland would be needed to give buses not just a place to go, but a reason to go there. Otherwise with relatively few destinations along the route perhaps any alignment created for buses would be better used for rail of some form because of the large distance between stops and relatively flat, straight alignments.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I buy that distinction. People live along these corridors and would use the bus if it were good. Plus, building out high quality public transit will in part encourage less auto-centric development.

And besides, those roads @Charlie_mta mentions all seem more boulevard-y than you might be thinking. A lot (but not all) of Fellsway/Fellsway West looks like this:
www.google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com www.google.com

O'Brien has lots of stuff going on. Google Street View hasn't been updated since 2020, so it doesn't even capture all the new recent development. There have been plans for a road diet there, and also plans to tear down McGrath and replace it with a boulevard. I don't know the status of those proposals, but that seems like a perfect corridor for BRT.

Revere Beach Pkwy I'm less familiar with, but you're right, that seems more highway-y with more limited walkshed. Even still, there are parts where it runs through residential neighborhoods in Everett that seem promising. Plus a lot of busses already use some of the Parkway to get to Wellington Station on the Orange Line. I don't know what the traffic is like there. Safe bet is "bad." But that alone could justify Bus Only lanes.
 
ritchiew said:
I'm not sure I buy that distinction. People live along these corridors and would use the bus if it were good. Plus, building out high quality public transit will in part encourage less auto-centric development.

And besides, those roads @Charlie_mta mentions all seem more boulevard-y than you might be thinking. A lot (but not all) of Fellsway/Fellsway West looks like this:
www.google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com www.google.com

O'Brien has lots of stuff going on. Google Street View hasn't been updated since 2020, so it doesn't even capture all the new recent development. There have been plans for a road diet there, and also plans to tear down McGrath and replace it with a boulevard. I don't know the status of those proposals, but that seems like a perfect corridor for BRT.

Revere Beach Pkwy I'm less familiar with, but you're right, that seems more highway-y with more limited walkshed. Even still, there are parts where it runs through residential neighborhoods in Everett that seem promising. Plus a lot of busses already use some of the Parkway to get to Wellington Station on the Orange Line. I don't know what the traffic is like there. Safe bet is "bad." But that alone could justify Bus Only lanes.
Click to expand...
I think only a portion of the Revere Beach Parkway makes sense as a transit corridor.

The area from Ferry Street east has first Route 1 then the end of the Chelsea Creek Marsh as one side of the parkway, essentially eliminating half of the transit walkshed in that area. West of Ferry Street probably makes sense.
 
Teban54 said:
Motivated by recent news on the Blue Hill Ave redesign: Which bus corridors do you think are (economically and politically) feasible for easy BRT implementation and/or center-running bus lanes?

My own picks (excluding BHA and Columbus Phase 2 that are officially in planning):
  • Summer St (Seaport)
    • A pilot program is almost ready, as I just mentioned here
  • Columbia Rd
    • I have no idea why the road redesign didn't consider center-running bus lanes. Sounds like it should have been a no-brainer to me.
  • Warren St north of MLK Blvd
    • Basically an extension of the Blue Hill Ave bus lanes, with similar road conditions. Too bad the section between MLK and Grove Hall is too narrow.
  • Mt Auburn St (in Watertown)
    • I think @TheRatmeister was the first one to suggest this. The road does seem very wide and can use a road diet for the 71.
  • Western Ave - Arsenal St corridor
    • Western Ave in Lower Allston was covered by this corridor study, and a transitway is being planned in the long term, though looks like some parking needs to be eliminated which may complicate things.
    • Arsenal St is just ridiculously wide.
  • Broadway (Somerville)
    • Bus lanes are already in place along large stretches of the road, and where they aren't, there are wide medians
  • Tobin Bridge to Chelsea
    • Even just the ridership on 111 alone justifies it, and Tobin Bridge replacement (which I believe is mandated to have bus lanes) gives us hope for at least some improvements over the status quo.
    • Chelsea streets are quite narrow, but there could still be some hope of expanding bus lanes beyond just Broadway. Not sure how much that counts as BRT, though.
Honorable mention: Mass Ave. Full bus lanes are direly needed along its entire length, but looks like it needs just too much parking eliminations (and road reconfigurations in places), especially across busy commercial districts, to be politically feasible.
Click to expand...

+ Washington St in South End (overhaul the SL corridor)
+ Hyde Park Av
+ Brighton Av in Allston (overhaul side-running lanes)
+ Malcolm X
+ Mass Ave, Cambridge - Arlington (as far as Route 60)
+ Columbus Av-Tremont St (in process)
+ Broadway-Alford St, Everett-Boston (Sweetser Circle into Sullivan)
+ Washington St, WR (such space in that median)
+ Huntington Av (west of Brigham)
+ North Station to Summer St via Congress (in process)
+ Morton St - FH to Blue Hill Av
+ North Washington - Rutherford Av (overhaul side-running on NW)
 
Teban54 said:
Motivated by recent news on the Blue Hill Ave redesign: Which bus corridors do you think are (economically and politically) feasible for easy BRT implementation and/or center-running bus lanes?

My own picks (excluding BHA and Columbus Phase 2 that are officially in planning):
  • Mt Auburn St (in Watertown)
    • I think @TheRatmeister was the first one to suggest this. The road does seem very wide and can use a road diet for the 71.
Click to expand...

They are redesigning Mount Auburn right now. The most recent design I've seen (which I believe is final) basically has the status quo for the whole route or replaces one travel lane with a bike lane and buses will operate in mixed traffic.
 
For the love of God, simplify the Airport shuttles from the Blue Line Airport Station and make service very very frequent (5 minutes or less). I think 97% of people who use the shuttles from the blue line just want to get to the Airport Terminals. Just provide shuttle service from the Airport Station to all of the Airport Terminals; that's all you really need to do. Every time I park at Wonderland to get to the Airport, I cringe at the shuttle transfer. There are six different shuttle routes from the Airport station: Route 11, Route 22, Route 33, Route 55, Route 66, and Route 88. Some stop at only certain terminals, and to make it as confusing as possible, many shuttles simply say 'Rental Car Center" even though they also serve the terminals. There's also a fun trick that MassPort likes to play where they'll have a shuttle park at the door closest to the station and the driver will leave the bus but turn the lights on and keep the doors open to create the illusion that the shuttle bus will leave soon. So people hop on the shuttle and sit only to watch seven other busses stop by and leave before the driver eventually decides to return to the vehicle.

Better yet, create an extension of the blue line that more directly serves the Airport. But in the meantime, please fix the shuttles.
 
Smuttynose said:
For the love of God, simplify the Airport shuttles from the Blue Line Airport Station and make service very very frequent (5 minutes or less). I think 97% of people who use the shuttles from the blue line just want to get to the Airport Terminals. Just provide shuttle service from the Airport Station to all of the Airport Terminals; that's all you really need to do. Every time I park at Wonderland to get to the Airport, I cringe at the shuttle transfer. There are six different shuttle routes from the Airport station: Route 11, Route 22, Route 33, Route 55, Route 66, and Route 88. Some stop at only certain terminals, and to make it as confusing as possible, many shuttles simply say 'Rental Car Center" even though they also serve the terminals. There's also a fun trick that MassPort likes to play where they'll have a shuttle park at the door closest to the station and the driver will leave the bus but turn the lights on and keep the doors open to create the illusion that the shuttle bus will leave soon. So people hop on the shuttle and sit only to watch seven other busses stop by and leave before the driver eventually decides to return to the vehicle.

Better yet, create an extension of the blue line that more directly serves the Airport. But in the meantime, please fix the shuttles.
Click to expand...
I think the people mover is up for another study, so who knows, maybe we'll get that at some point.

Still doesn't fix the problem of there not being good connections after security but we can deal with that later I guess.
 
TheRatmeister said:
I think the people mover is up for another study, so who knows, maybe we'll get that at some point.

Still doesn't fix the problem of there not being good connections after security but we can deal with that later I guess.
Click to expand...
An APM is definitely needed, but there is no interim reason for the shuttle bus system to be so bad. It used to work quite well, back when the car rental agencies operated their own buses, and the MassPort buses were exclusively for transportation to and from the terminals, Blue Line, and remote parking. I have often waited 25-30 minutes for a bus that will serve my needs, that should never happen at a busy airport.
 
HenryAlan said:
An APM is definitely needed, but there is no interim reason for the shuttle bus system to be so bad. It used to work quite well, back when the car rental agencies operated their own buses, and the MassPort buses were exclusively for transportation to and from the terminals, Blue Line, and remote parking. I have often waited 25-30 minutes for a bus that will serve my needs, that should never happen at a busy airport.
Click to expand...
I have to think a lot of the bus problem is the sheer volume of traffic on the airport loop roads. Buses get caught in that traffic and cannot possibly keep a schedule.
 
Rumor has it that Massport wants passengers coming from the rental car center to always have a waiting bus - so they make each bus wait there until the following bus arrives. It certainly seems to match my experience.
 
The EGE said:
Rumor has it that Massport wants passengers coming from the rental car center to always have a waiting bus - so they make each bus wait there until the following bus arrives. It certainly seems to match my experience.
Click to expand...

That...would really explain that annoying delay at the rental car center. It would certainly make a twisted kind of sense...not that having all the Blue Line shuttles also serve the RCC makes much sense.
 
Brattle Loop said:
That...would really explain that annoying delay at the rental car center. It would certainly make a twisted kind of sense...not that having all the Blue Line shuttles also serve the RCC makes much sense.
Click to expand...
I mean, you can kind of make the argument that the rental car center is "inbetween" BL station and the terminals, and that having all buses serve both BL and RCC improves frequencies for both, compared to dedicated routes for them.

Of course, that doesn't excuse the dwell at RCC, nor explains the 22/33 split.
 
TheRatmeister said:
I think the people mover is up for another study, so who knows, maybe we'll get that at some point.
Click to expand...
Where did you hear the APM was up for another study? Not saying it doesn’t deserve it but I haven’t seen any indication that Massport is looking into it again.

They’re definitely looking into BEB upgrades for their shuttle buses tho. Here’s the link to their 5 year Capital Investment Plan: https://www.massport.com/media/5rtmciwy/fy23-27-board-book-final-3-17-23.pdf
 
TheRatmeister said:
Still doesn't fix the problem of there not being good connections after security but we can deal with that later I guess.
Click to expand...
Adding onto this, perhaps Massport could team up with Delta to provide a post-security connection between Terminal A and E, since they would have the most to gain from the connection. Whether it be an APM or moving walkway, that would really speed up the connection.
 
BosMaineiac said:
Where did you hear the APM was up for another study? Not saying it doesn’t deserve it but I haven’t seen any indication that Massport is looking into it again.

They’re definitely looking into BEB upgrades for their shuttle buses tho. Here’s the link to their 5 year Capital Investment Plan: https://www.massport.com/media/5rtmciwy/fy23-27-board-book-final-3-17-23.pdf
Click to expand...
Apologies, I got confused between the people-mover and the pedestrian walkway between Terminal E and the BL station, which is being considered. That being said, it's not like it's totally off the table. There's still this page on the Massport site talking about the project.
 
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