Silver Line - Phase III / BRT in Boston

Marley said:
Are the NB buses going to enter the transitway at south station for a 1 seat ride from Dudley to Logan? Or would one have to connect to the silver line again?
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You have to get off the bus and go down the the subway to transfer. They can't make anything easy.
 
Anyone know if parallel parking was removed in the Chinatown stretch to accomodate the new lane layouts?
 
To my knowledge, the Silver Line tunnel has no portal at the South Station end, so 'making it easy' would require substantial construction.
 
From every plan I've seen there is an underground loop with provisions for a tunnel to Boylston St. Since they never dreamed they wouldn't be able to build Phase III they never made plans for a second portal (or they were never seriously considered).
 
commuter guy said:
Anyone know if parallel parking was removed in the Chinatown stretch to accomodate the new lane layouts?
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A look at google maps says yes.

Also, this document answers many questions:
http://www.eot.state.ma.us/SouthSta...Direct Connect - Notice of Project Change.pdf

Looks like the station WILL be that concrete thing I took a picture of - in contrast to the slideshow. Top of page 4.

Also, they will be buying 4 new buses - hybrid articulated ones which will arrive in April. No word what will be used until then.

The asphalt is also not painted, but red asphalt.
 
Veering a bit off topic - it obvious from Jass' pics that the bus lane removed parking along one side of the street through chinatown. I can't tell pics whether curb parking has been removed on the other side of Essex St., but it appears so. A glance at google maps indicates that there was curb parking along both sides of Essex street in Chinatown. Many cars are often parked in this area loading groceries, goods etc after shopping at the adjacent Chinatown markets and stores along this street. I imagine the business owners are not happy about the removal of parking. The removal of curb parking turns the street into a faster moving traffic sewer. Generally speaking accomodating cars in urban areas results in a poor urban ambiance, however allowing parking along the curb calms traffic, buffers pedestrians and overall improves the pedestrian experience. Over the years, a pattern has developed in the city and its transportation dept of removing curb parking along downtown streets including but not limited to along Arlington Street adjacent the public garden, Congress Street in govt center Boston, etc.
 
The most curbside parking killed in one fell swoop was the mid 80s reconfiguration around the Back Bay Fens. If the parking isn't metered, the city seems to care less about preserving it irregardless of local need.

Any time the city can kill parking bordering parkland in order to increase the speed of traffic it does. Look at the Greenway, very few if any curbside parking spaces were created in the new street alignments.

One could argue increased bus service negates the need for parking. However, in this case loading and unloading zones are desperately needed for local businesses.
 
As far as I know, there were no community meetings about the removal. The document I posted above says multiple times that "the bus lanes will not lower vehicle capacity" which someone in the agency feels is of utmost importance to the neighborhood.

That being said, I approve of the removal of parking, as it should encourage use of mass transit.
 
Removing curbside parking to speed traffic hurts pedestrianization more than it helps mass transit.
 
Chessplayer said:
Removing curbside parking to speed traffic hurts pedestrianization more than it helps mass transit.
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Then perhaps someone should petition to get parking added....in one of the car lanes.
 
If Washington Street through Downtown Crossing and Summer Street from the Corner of Washington was reopened to automotive traffic that would be a possibility. The city has a really bad habit of creating massive traffic problems by eliminating through streets and specifying one way streets which restrict route choices to the point of calamity.
 
Spotted my first SL4 bus heading for South Station tonight. It was a 40' model that veered right onto Essex while the 60' SL1 bus continued on towards DTX.

If they're using the 40' weekend / icy road fleet to run SL4 service, then what happens when it snows the 60' buses stay home? As it is outbound 40' buses are often overwhelmed by the time they make it to Boylston.
 
Arborway said:
Spotted my first SL4 bus heading for South Station tonight. It was a 40' model that veered right onto Essex while the 60' SL1 bus continued on towards DTX.

If they're using the 40' weekend / icy road fleet to run SL4 service, then what happens when it snows the 60' buses stay home? As it is outbound 40' buses are often overwhelmed by the time they make it to Boylston.
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Theyre doing that because they wont have new buses until April of next year (according to the documents anyway)

As for what theyll do when it snows....steal buses from other lines perhaps?

What does the 39 do?

Edit: According to netransit, 50 RTS buses are in storage, so they have plenty of extras.
 
October 13, 2009
Silver Line "Direct Connect" to South Station
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Transportation Secretary James A. Aloisi, Jr. and Mayor Thomas M. Menino today officially launched the addition of a new Silver Line route between Dudley Station and South Station to improve bus transportation service along the Silver Line Washington Street corridor.

The $1.7 million project funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act creates a new route, SL4, that will for the first time provide a direct connection between the Roxbury and South End neighborhoods and South Station, improving connections for residents and visitors to the Financial District, South Boston Waterfront, and Logan Airport.

With cooperation from the City of Boston, the Executive Office of Transportation and the MBTA designed Silver Line Route SL4 in the direction of Downtown to serve the existing stops along the Washington street corridor, up to Chinatown Station. Route SL4 then turns right onto Essex Street into a dedicated bus lane along Essex Street. Outbound service will serve all stops from Tufts/New England Medical Center Station to Dudley Station.

Visit the MBTA website. Learn more about Direct Connect here. More information after the jump.

Additional Direct Connect amenities include: new stone curbing and sidewalks with accessible ramps, and a state-of-the-art Mini Station at South Station complete with seating, new lights, heat, CharlieCard access, and trip countdowns to improve customers? waiting experience.
Silver Line Washington Street customers are now provided two options into downtown Boston where they can connect easily to their destinations, and other modes of the transit system. The existing Silver Line service between Dudley Station and Downtown Crossing with stops at Temple Place and Boylston Street, has been renamed Route SL5. Route SL5 frequency will not be reduced. The recently added Route SL4 - Dudley to South Station will operate every 10 minutes during the weekday morning and evening rush hour. Daytime service on weekdays and weekends will operate every 15 minutes, and late evening service will operate every 20 minutes. Note: Silver Line Route SL4 does not make stops at Temple Place and Boylston Street.

Silver Line ridership continues to grow with 29,670 boardings per weekday. There are 14,709 weekday boardings on Silver Line Route SL5 - Dudley to Temple Place. There are 14,961 weekday boardings on Silver Line Waterfront Routes SL1 & SL2.
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link
 
I noticed all the new signage, system maps and whatnot around South Station heralding the Super Duper Brand New Silver Line this week. I'm glad that at least they got rid of that horrid black-and-white split logo that was unreadable at a glance, but at this point all the signage reminds me of another stationwide ad campaign. So now I go thru South Station and I see Yay Silver Line! Look at how awesome it is! Follow any of the arrows to Silver Line! Drink bourbon!

Hmm, that last part doesn't sound so bad...
 
Ooooh a new state of the art mini station. I don't think that the countdowns will ever work. Most likely they'll just display an error message of some sort. The heat definitely will never work. This thing is going to fall into disrepair just like all the other stations.
 
ManchVegas said:
Ooooh a new state of the art mini station. I don't think that the countdowns will ever work. Most likely they'll just display an error message of some sort. The heat definitely will never work. This thing is going to fall into disrepair just like all the other stations.
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The countdowns along washington street work just fine.
 
jass said:
The countdowns along washington street work just fine.
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They have about a 20% functional rate in my experience..... I rarely see them working at Herald Street, Berkeley Street, or Dudley Square (my most frequent stops)
 
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