Koopzilla24
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2022
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I think we have a problem with shying away from transit routes that aren’t expected to have the greatest ridership or duplicate another service in start and end point, which is a contributing factor to why Green Line problems are so crippling to transportation in the city. The waterfront could also use a more frequent service along it as a walking accelerator without having to detour towards city all. Peer cities in Europe and Asia properly divide service between higher speed and capacity rail and lower speed and capacity bus transit along the same corridor to facilitate various transit trips and we should do the same.I'm concerned that, just like the 43, such a route won't generate very high ridership. The 55 probably wouldn't have been cut back to Copley from the Boston Common loop if there was demand for such a east-west route paralleling the Green Line (not to mention the 55 duplicates GL less than your proposal).
The 57 where it duplicates the B sees very strong ridership due to the transportation demand density that exists along that corridor without other alternatives to the two. The demographic makeup of Back Bay through this stretch and the trips taken through it are also different to that of the 43 through the South End where there’s better services a few blocks to either side on the Silver, Orange, and Green Lines, as well as a few bus routes that feed rapid transit. A more riverfront Back Bay bus would be more conducive to bus ridership potential and mode share split with the Green Line especially with the geometry of the GL versus a north of the Common bus routing for between North Station and Kenmore. The 43 also is not a frequent service that parallels true heavy rail rapid transit so from a ridership standpoint it’s in a different context than a Green Line paralleling Back Bay bus. These same differences are also true of the Marginal-Atlantic corridor. It duplicates the OL for Back Bay-Chinatown but would provide more direct service the Leather District (home to 1000 people in those few blocks) and better service along the high foot traffic Atlantic Ave and around the North End with a more direct South Station connection.
The short of it is that while downtown is where rapid transit converges we’ve decided that’s all we need and left the city vulnerable to overcrowding and a transportation nightmare when the limited options fail.