Silver Line - Phase III / BRT in Boston

bbfen said:
I'm a Green Line person (commute between Copley/Hynes and Audobon Circle), and wonder what was wrong with the shelters seen on the C Line? Or is that the style you're referring to?
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The problem is that Washington Street is very wide without any substantial street trees to disperse strong winds. In the wintertime or during downpours it can be brutal to stand at one of those stops for a significant amount of time.
 
The T needs to look at Johannesburg, Jakarta and Bogota if they want examples of how to do BRT correctly.
 
Seattle-Transit-Tunnel.jpg


Seattle.

I saw this image here and it made me weep a bit to think that Boston is so fucked when it comes to transportation.
 
Ha, I have been in that Seattle tunnel. Basically, it was only buses (Silver Line without the surface level BRT) until they added the one LRT line, which connects a downtown station with the airport and not much else.

This is the closest thing Seattle has to a subway. It's still almost completely dependent on buses.

Anyway, if anything that image brings hope that Boston could run LRT in the Silver Line tunnel along with the buses someday.
 
Really Kennedy?

Hands down, they are the nicest stations in the entire MBTA system.

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All they need is a suitable mode of transportation passing through them...
 
Because you don't know what you are talking about. The courthose station is as nice as that one.
 
Shepard said:
All they need is a suitable mode of transportation passing through them...
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I guess you just figured out what I was referring to as "beautiful."

The LRT.

Absolutely I agree that the Silver Line stations are the nicest - only because I've seen tons of pictures. But I've never had the need, or desire, to use the transit within.
 
kennedy said:
I guess you just figured out what I was referring to as "beautiful."

The LRT.

Absolutely I agree that the Silver Line stations are the nicest - only because I've seen tons of pictures. But I've never had the need, or desire, to use the transit within.
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Then how can you claim LRT > BRT if youve never ridden the damn silver line?

The silver line is very useful and popular (the first two stops anyway) and works well at what it was designed to do: bring people to that area + airport.
 
And you're telling me it wouldn't do a better job as a dedicated tramway?

I've ridden buses before. I've ridden LRT and trams. Anything rail based is vastly superior in my experience.

Perhaps I was a bit brash and spoke too soon, but are you actually disagreeing with me that the SL wouldn't be better as an LRT line?
 
Since one of its primary purposes is to get people to the airport, yes I'll disagree. At least until someone finds money to build another harbor tunnel for it.
 
LRT won't practically go to the airport. That should be a separate BRT, express from South Station.

Seaport should be served by light rail through what is currently the Silver Line. It should continue through to residential Southie on that end, and on to the Greenway on the other, beyond South Station.
 
I've said for years that we need the Silver Line to operate as both modes. The picture of the Seattle tunnel points the way to the future -- LRT and BRT sharing the South Boston transit tunnel. The trams can proceed further in to Southie, and the buses can go to the airport. And maybe someday, if phase 3 is built, it will serve as both a Green line branch and a Silver line branch.
 
Seaport should be served by light rail through what is currently the Silver Line. It should continue through to residential Southie on that end, and on to the Greenway on the other, beyond South Station.
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This is probably the best routing. The Washington St. Silver Line can be converted into LRT that terminates at Boylston (or even continues along the Green Line tunnels to Gov't Ctr, N Station, and Lechmere) and given a separate color.
 
One of the unsolved problems is getting from the Back Bay hotels to the Convention Center. You have to take the Green Line to Park Street, then the Red Line to South Station, and then the Silver Line to World Trade Center. Very unlikely that visitors will want to do this and, as a result, conventions use a fleet of big slow chartered interstate busses. Silver Line phase III would reduce this from 2 changes to one, but that's never going to happen. Suggestion: establish a trackless trolley line running from the vicinity of the Sheraton Boston, thence along Stuart Street eastbound (St James Avenue westbound), Kneeland Street, and into the Silver line tunnel where the present loop is, terminating at Silver Line Way.
 
I feel like you could somehow have a line using the Orange Line heavy rail from Back Bay station and continuing along the conventional rail tracks into South Station (using the space opened up by the Postal Annex), linking up with the Silver Line tunnel there.
 
Back Bay to South Station -- just hop on the Commuter Rail to South Station. The trip is free, but not very well publicized about this option! Then obviously connect to Silver Line.
 
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