Silver Line - Phase III / BRT in Boston

Yep, the 66 is hell. It's the only T bus i use with regularity, and it's just terrible. However, I can't see any ways to improve it.
 
I've only taken it twice, both during the past two weeks and, yep, that's what happens! Fix this!
 
They need to eliminate stops. I swear some of the routes I ride could take out 50% of the stops.
 
I don't know, I used to take the 66 and would have been fine if they had eliminated my stop. I could have just walked about a minute in either direction to get to another one.
 
They should add a CT4 route that follows most of the 66, with limited stops.
 
gooseberry said:
They need to eliminate stops. I swear some of the routes I ride could take out 50% of the stops.
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The 66 and 39 could lose half the stops on each route and be fine. The 57 could get rid of even more. This is one situation where the T really needs to seek a consensus, but realize it's probably never going to find one, and just do what needs to be done.

The MBTA can be horribly arbitrary when it's least desired (E-Line) but cave to the inevitable pressure coming from every corner of the community when it comes to something like stop elimination. There are good, obvious reasons to keep otherwise redundant stops (proximity to retirement homes and the like) but it all too often ends up being a chorus of "I don't want MY stop eliminated."

Well tough.

Take the 39 inbound between Bynner St. and Brigham Circle. There's something like 3 stops alongside the same stretch of V.A. Hospital parking lot. Then you get one for Heath St., then Back of the Hill, then a pointless stop and go past the Rt. 9 intersection. Some of the stops are less than ten seconds apart in light traffic.

The 39 improvement process was anything but transparent, but only two stops were removed in JP and nothing was touched north of Bynner. Which really changes nothing at all.

Oh well.
 
Yeah, the 39 has two too many stops, at least what I'm told by Terry every time I go with him up to the Museum. They could eliminate one at either NU central or next to the new gym and they could eliminate the Museum stop before you get to the Forsythe building stop / Law School.

The big slowdown for the 39 on that part is the double-parking outside the liquor store / Cappy's Pizza. Log-jam of epic proportions. I'd like to kick some ass.
 
I wish the Silver Line had been a light rail line, or a light metro line, or even a BRT line that was more like the Ottawa Transitway.
 
Perhaps once the seaport is built out there will be more of a justification to convert it to rail.
 
Justin7 said:
Perhaps once the seaport is built out
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Okay, let's check in 100 years from now.

[Gets in time machine]

Shit, not only have rising sea levels reclaimed half the Seaport, but the developers who own new waterfront property are still waiting to convert those surface lots to profitable development.

Oh, and there's still no money / political will to turn the Silver Line into LRT, especially after the state was forced to launch a second Big Dig - to bury the six lane "Surface Artery".
 
Man czsz, you've been on a really cynical tear recently. In at the rate Boston rearranges and upgrades itself I'd be surprised if any of us even recognized the city in 100 years.

Part of the justification of the Silver Line tunnel was that it could be upgraded to light rail. How that will happen with the tunnels falling apart from chotty construction is beyond me.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
Man czsz, you've been on a really cynical tear recently. In at the rate Boston rearranges and upgrades itself I'd be surprised if any of us even recognized the city in 100 years.

Part of the justification of the Silver Line tunnel was that it could be upgraded to light rail. How that will happen with the tunnels falling apart from chotty construction is beyond me.
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That was never, ever said. There have never been plans to make the silver line light rail for two big reasons:

-You can not put light rail on the highway that goes to logan

and

-The NIMBYs on washington street do not want rail. Hell, they even shot down 28X! Theyd bomb their own homes before allowing rail and wiring.
 
jass said:
That was never, ever said. There have never been plans to make the silver line light rail for two big reasons:

-You can not put light rail on the highway that goes to logan

and

-The NIMBYs on washington street do not want rail. Hell, they even shot down 28X! Theyd bomb their own homes before allowing rail and wiring.
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I didn't say there were plans, I said it was designed with the ability to be converted.

I was also under the impression that Washington St residents in the South End wanted Light Rail?

Also the 28X bus was something completely different and doesn't have anything to do with Washington St.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
I didn't say there were plans, I said it was designed with the ability to be converted.

I was also under the impression that Washington St residents in the South End wanted Light Rail?

Also the 28X bus was something completely different and doesn't have anything to do with Washington St.
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The 28x was an extension of the silver line, but was going to be done right, with an exclusive ROW. They bitched because the exclusive ROW would limit turns and remove parking in spots.
 
jass said:
The 28x was an extension of the silver line, but was going to be done right, with an exclusive ROW. They bitched because the exclusive ROW would limit turns and remove parking in spots.
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The primary concern, IIR, was that there wasn't any community input or study done. The state came in and threw money at it and assumed it would go smoothly.

My point still stands, however, that theoretically the Silver Line tunnels could be converted to dual use.

The only thing really stopping light rail from coming back is the politicians don't want it (pressure from NIMBYs, emergency services, etc).
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
The primary concern, IIR, was that there wasn't any community input or study done. The state came in and threw money at it and assumed it would go smoothly.

My point still stands, however, that theoretically the Silver Line tunnels could be converted to dual use.

The only thing really stopping light rail from coming back is the politicians don't want it (pressure from NIMBYs, emergency services, etc).
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Whats the use of making the silver line tunnel dual use?

I think we can all agree that phase 3 is at least 15 years away....being generous there.

Meanwhile, the silver line tunnel, which is already popular, should get much more traffic when fan pier and seaport square get built (at least in part). Thats...5 years away?

Sticking in rail and running a train from South Station to Silver Line way is pointless. I cant see track continuing along SL2....they didnt even make that part trackless trolley! Why would they pay for rail? And it's been established that running rail to the airport is impossible.

Much easier to just buy two dual-articulated buses and make them run the underground loop (the loop is actually currently scheduled service).
 
I think the argument was mostly used to defer criticism that the line wasn't light rail to begin with.
 
I never read or heard anything about anyone in the South End being for or against BRT.
 
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