Silver Line - Phase III / BRT in Boston

Re: Silver Bus Line - Phase III

Jane Jetson said:
I have not ridden the Silver Line. The fact that I haven't ridden the Silver Line is telling, especially since I don't have a car.
.
Click to expand...

Ive been on the orange line 3 times, and I dont own a car. Is that telling? Does it mean the orange line is useless?

Ive never ridden the e line outbound. Also useless?

What a ridiculous argument.

The silver line (both branches) is standing room only during portions of the day.
 
Yes, it is telling - it tells that you have no business in those areas, but ridership of the Orange Line is not in question.

I, however, go to and from the airport several times a year, live within a reasonable distance of the Silver Line, and see no value in taking it. I'd rather take the T.

If there are periods in the day when no one is riding the Silver Line, they should rework the schedule to send out more buses so all those people don't have to stand in the aisle, and all those buses don't have to ride around EMPTY.

And it's good to see the MBTA has such loyal employees; commitment like that is so hard to find these days!
 
I guess I can see some rationale for making people switch buses at Dudley. It would be faster to go Mattapan - Ruggles via Silver Lie, then Ruggles - DTX via Orange Line if you wanted to get downtown. That's only because the Washington St segment of the Silver Lie (from Dudley Sq - DTX) is a freaking bus with far too many stops.
 
That doesn't mean that service should be discontinuous. There can be a line servicing Dudley-Ruggles that people can transfer for while others stay on the through service to DTC. Alternatively, there can be buses signed for different destinations like the Red Line trains that branch to Ashmont or Braintree.

Ive been on the orange line 3 times, and I dont own a car. Is that telling? Does it mean the orange line is useless?
Click to expand...

It is quite useless compared to its previous alignment, which would have eliminated most of the Silver Line problems we're dealing with today. It totally reduplicates the Green Line E for about half its length, and leaves areas further south to deal with the second class bus.
 
I agree, the proposal for Phase III does not solve some of the [strike]endemic[/strike] systemic problems - no real dedicated lane in the South End (has to stop at stop lights, has to go around cars) and a mind-blowingly slow ride from South Station to the airport.

I do, however, think it's the best of all options, if we are going to continue the Silver Line bus line. Yes, adding buses to Route 28 would work to a certain extent, but let's deal with what we have and make it better.

I haven't timed it yet (has anyone?) but I am guessing that, the Blue Line is faster to the airport right now, and probably will be, even after Phase III is completed.

A good use of federal stimulus funds, in my opinion.
 
czsz said:
Meanwhile, white, gentrifying Somerville is getting real rapid transit ASAP.

Segregation, fueled by buses. Does anything here ever change (for the better)?

A second class transit system for the second class citizens of what can only be a second class city.
Click to expand...

I'm not typically a conspiracy theorist expounding on white crimes (in fact, I'm typically the first to roll my eyes at race-baiting), but in this case, I absolutely, 100% fully concur.

This sham of a solution is pathetic.
 
When they built the silver line station at south station they built temporary wall that can be punched out for the extension. At the price they mentioned I assumed they would build a down ramp at Atlantic Avenue to connect to they existing station. I can't wait to see the break down of the $114 million.
 
Christ, even the Cambridge trolleybuses have an underground connection to the Red Line.

I would say they should be put on the T "rapid transit" map with the Silver Line, too, except given the cost estimates for this project it would probably wind up costing the state $50m.
 
bbfen, it isn't a racially oriented discrimination, it's economic. Somerville looks like the next Brooklyn to the state, hence it is a priority for gentrification for the tax revenue. Same deal with the commuter rail being favored over inner city transit improvements. It's about increasing the tax revenues and making the influential voters, with the money for campaign contributions, to roll over an open their wallets. If the neighborhoods had high voter turnout, and didn't always vote like zombies for encumbants, things would be more competitive in transit expansion.
 
The governor was dead set against extending the green line to Somerville. It wasn't until it was made clear that there would be a law suit and the state had no chance to win that he suddenly supported this plan. It's part of the big dig mitigation.
 
PaulC said:
The governor was dead set against extending the green line to Somerville. It wasn't until it was made clear that there would be a law suit and the state had no chance to win that he suddenly supported this plan. It's part of the big dig mitigation.
Click to expand...

He also had the Mayor of Somerville come to him and basically say "hey governor this is extremely important for the future of our city", plus a huge number of Somerville residents contacting his office and coming to public meetings to express their support for the project.
 
This "Silver-colored bus line Phase III" is a perfect example of Deval Patrick's "Beacon Hill politics-as-usual" approach, and his complete and fundamental misunderstanding of what tax dollars mean and should be used for.

This governor ran on a platform of lowering property taxes and changing the way things are done on Beacon Hill.

He has failed on both accounts - spectacularly.

- There has been no property tax relief whatsoever
- Politics as usual without any of that "change" that he claimed he'd bring

Fail!

But they're going to paint the 28 bus silver and buy real fancy bus stops!
 
pelhamhall, I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but the funds for the Silver Line expansion are coming from the federal stimulus funds, not directly from Massachusetts taxpayers. Even if it were, I don't see how your first two points relate at all to improving transit in Boston. I don't think Governor Patrick expected a global financial meltdown, leading to far fewer tax revenues than predicted. I don't know what kind of miraculous "change" you were expecting but from what I see he's trying to institute a lot of reform and set some new priorities at the state level, which in most cases he can't do alone (he needs the legislature's support). And aren't property taxes collected by local cities and towns, and not by the state?
 
It's fine for us to bloviate about this merits of this project, but the people I'd really like to hear from are the regular riders of the 28 route. Only they can say for sure whether this would be a useful service improvement.
 
I am going to laugh when these buses are just sitting in rush hour traffic on Essex st. I would love to see how they expect to have bus only lanes running through China Town.
 
mass88 said:
I am going to laugh when these buses are just sitting in rush hour traffic on Essex st. I would love to see how they expect to have bus only lanes running through China Town.
Click to expand...

They expect nothing. But they can paint "Bus Lane" on the street and say they've created a rapid transit line. That's the part that matters.
 
pell, political charades aside, are you really against improving bus service? What matter is it if they paint it Silver? It's still better service.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top