Everything about Mbta totally explained
|lines=12 (commuter rail)
4 (rapid transit)
5 (light rail)
4 (trolleybus)
4 (ferryboat)
183 (bus)
|stations=123 (commuter rail)
51 (rapid transit)
74 (light rail)
22 (BRT)
|ridership=1.1 million (weekday, all modes) making it the
fourth busiest subway system in the
United States. The
Green Line and
Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line of the T comprise the
busiest light-rail system in the U.S, with a weekday ridership of 255,100. The MBTA also operates its own independent law enforcement agency, the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police.
Subway
The subway system has three
rapid transit lines - the
Red,
Orange and
Blue Lines - and two
light rail lines - the
Green Line and the
Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line (designated as part of the Red Line). All four colored lines meet downtown at a square configuration, and the Orange and Green Lines (which run parallel) meet directly at two stations. The Red Line has two branches in the south -
Ashmont and
Braintree, named after their
terminal stations - and the Green Line has four branches in the west -
"B" (
Boston College),
"C" (
Cleveland Circle),
"D" (
Riverside) and
"E" (
Heath Street). The
"A" Branch formerly went to
Watertown, filling in the north-to-south letter assignment pattern, and the
"E" Branch formerly continued beyond Heath Street to
Arborway. The colors were assigned on
August 26,
1965 in conjunction with design standards developed by
Cambridge Seven Associates, and have served as the primary identifier for the lines since the 1964 reorganization of the MTA into the MBTA.
In FY2005, there were on average 628,400 weekday boardings on the rapid transit and light rail lines (including the Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit), or 55.0% of the MBTA system.
The Orange Line is so named because it used to run down Orange Street (now lower Washington Street); the Green Line because it runs adjacent to parts of the
Emerald Necklace; the Blue line because it runs under
Boston Harbor; and the Red Line because its northernmost station used to be at
Harvard University, whose school color is crimson, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The three rapid transit lines are incompatible: trains of one line would have to be modified to run on another. Orange and Blue Line trains are nearly identical, but Blue Line trains have
pantographs for use north of Boston Harbor. However, some of the new Blue Line cars from
Siemens Transportation are being tested on the Orange Line after-hours. There are no direct track connections between lines, except between the Red Line and Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line, but all except the Blue Line have unused connections to the
national rail network, which have been used for deliveries.
A segment of Green Line tunnel from Park Street opened in 1897, making it the first subway in the United States. The downtown portions of what are now the Green, Orange, Blue, and Red lines were all in service by 1912. Additions to the rapid transit network occurred in most decades of the 1900s, and continue in the 2000s with the addition of Silver Line
bus rapid transit and planned Green Line expansion. (See History and Future plans sections.)
Commuter rail
The
MBTA Commuter Rail system is a
Regional rail network that shares its tracks with
freight trains. In 2007 there are 12 lines, three of which have branches, and another branch provides access to
Gillette Stadium for events. Eight of the lines converge at
South Station, with four of these passing through
Back Bay station. The other four converge at
North Station.
Amtrak uses two of the south-side lines and one of the north-side lines for long-distance intercity service
There is no passenger connection between the two sides, although there have been proposals to fix this with the
North-South Rail Link. The opportunity for such a connection, in association with the burying of the
Central Artery in the
Big Dig was passed over. Passengers must take the Orange Line between Back Bay and North Station, the Red and Orange Lines between South and North Stations, or take a
bus or
taxicab.
A south side commuter rail line, the
Greenbush Line, recently completed construction and testing and opened for commuting on Wednesday, October 31, 2007
(External Link
); a south-side branch to
Fall River and
New Bedford is in the planning stages. Trackage exists to extend the
Middleborough/Lakeville Line to restore passenger service to
Cape Cod, formerly part of the
Old Colony Railroad lines. The Commuter Rail system has used the color purple on train cars and system maps since
October 8,
1974, and consequently it's sometimes called the "Purple Line."
(External Link)
Each Commuter Rail line is divided into up to 9 fare zones (previously 10 on some lines), numbered 1A, and 1 through 8. Riders are charged based on the number of zones they travel through. Tickets can be purchased on the train or at designated ticket vendor locations near major stations. If a local vendor is available, riders must purchase a ticket before boarding to avoid a surcharge. Fares range from $1.70 to $7.75, with monthly passes available.
In FY2005, there were on average 135,900 weekday boardings, which was 11.9% of the MBTA system as a whole.
Within MBTA's bus service area, transfers
from the subway are
free if using a
CharlieCard (for local buses); transfers
to the subway require paying the difference between bus and the higher subway fare (for local buses; if not using a CharlieCard, full subway fare must be paid in addition to full bus fare). Bus-to-bus transfers (for local buses) are free unless paying cash. Many of the outlying routes run express along major highways to downtown. The buses are colored yellow on maps and in station decor.
The
Silver Line is the MBTA's first service designated as
bus rapid transit, even though it lacks many of the characteristics of bus rapid transit. The first segment, replacing the 49 bus, which in turn replaced the
Washington Street Elevated section of the
Orange Line, began operations in
2002, with free transfers to the subways downtown until
January 1 2007, when the fare system was revised. The "Washington Street" segment runs along various downtown streets, and mostly in dedicated
bus lanes on Washington Street itself. It is categorized as a "bus" service for fare purposes.
The "Waterfront" section opened at the end of
2004, and connects
South Station to
South Boston, partly via a tunnel and partly on the surface. These buses run dual-mode,
trackless trolley in the tunnel and
diesel bus outside. Service to
Logan Airport began in June
2005. The Waterfront segment is classified as a "subway" for fare purposes.
Four routes to
Harvard still run as
trackless trolleys; there was once a much larger trackless trolley system.
In FY2005, there were on average 363,500 weekday boardings of MBTA-operated buses and trackless trolleys (not including the Silver Line), or 31.8% of the MBTA system. Another 4,400 boardings (0.38%) occurred on subsidized bus routes operated by private carriers. the first elevated railway and the first rapid transit line in Boston came three years before the first underground line of the
New York City Subway, but long after the first elevated railway in New York.
Various extensions and branches were built to the subway in both directions, bypassing more surface tracks. As more elevated lines were built, more and more streetcar lines were cut back for faster downtown service.
The Boston Elevated Railway started replacing rail vehicles with buses in
1922. In
1936, it started replacing some rail vehicles with
trackless trolleys. The last Middlesex and Boston Street Railway streetcar ran in 1930. By the beginning of
1953, the only
remaining streetcar lines fed two tunnels - the main
Tremont Street Subway network downtown and the short tunnel (now the
Harvard Bus Tunnel) in
Harvard Square.
The old elevated railways proved to be an eyesore and required several sharp curves in Boston's twisty streets. The
Atlantic Avenue Elevated and
Fairmount Lines were closed in
1938 and
1944 respectively amidst sliding ridership. As rail passenger service became increasingly unprofitable, largely due to the increasingly popular
automobile, government takeover became necessary to prevent abandonment. The MTA purchased and took over subway, elevated, streetcar, and bus operations from the
Boston Elevated Railway in
1947.
In the
1950s, the MTA ran new subway extensions while the last two streetcar lines running into the
Pleasant Street Portal of the
Tremont Street Subway were substituted with buses in
1953 and
1962.
On
August 3,
1964, the MBTA succeeded the MTA, with an enlarged service area. The original MTA district of 14 cities and towns was expanded to 78 cities and towns. The MBTA was formed partly to
subsidize existing commuter rail operations. As this happened, the MBTA acquired the lines in stages from
1973 through
1976 amidst large cutbacks in service and coverage area. Since then, many of these lines have seen service return.
The MBTA assigned colors to its four rapid transit lines in 1965, and lettered the branches of the Green Line from north to south. However, shortages of streetcars, among other factors, caused bus substitution of rail service on two branches of the Green Line. The
"A" Branch was replaced in its entirety in 1969. The portion of the
"E" Branch from
Heath Street to
Arborway was replaced by buses in
1985.
The MBTA purchased bus routes in the outer suburbs to the north and south from the
Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway in
1968. As with the commuter rail system, many of the outlying routes were dropped soon before or after the takeover due to low ridership and high operating costs.
In the 1970s, the MBTA received a boost from the
BTPR areawide re-evaluation of the role of transit relative to highways. Producing a moratorium on highway construction inside Route 128, numerous transit lines were planned for expansion by the Voorhees-Skidmore, Owings and Merrill-ESL consulting team. The removal of elevated lines continued and the closure of the Washington Street Elevated brought the end of rapid transit service to the
Roxbury neighborhood. Between
1971 and
1985, the
Red Line was extended both north and south, providing not only additional subway system coverage, but also major
parking structures at several of the terminal and intermediate stations.
In the 21st century
By 1999, the district was expanded further to 175 cities and towns, adding most that were served by or adjacent to commuter rail lines (including Maynard), though the MBTA didn't assume responsibility for local service in those communities.
A turning point in funding happened in 2000. Prior to
July 1,
2000, the MBTA was reimbursed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for all costs above revenue collected (net cost of service). Beginning on that date, the T was granted a dedicated revenue stream consisting of amounts assessed on served cities and towns, along with a dedicated 20% portion of the 5% state
sales tax. The MBTA now must live within this "forward funding" budget.
The Commonwealth assigned to the MBTA responsibility for increasing public transit to compensate for increased automobile pollution from the Big Dig (see "Big Dig remediation projects" below). The T submerged a nearby portion of the Green Line and rebuilt Haymarket and North Stations during Big Dig construction, however these projects have strained the MBTA's limited resources since the Big Dig project didn't include funding for these improvements. Since 1988, the MBTA has been the fastest expanding transit system in the country, even as
Greater Boston has been the slowest growing metropolitan area. When, in 2000, the MBTA's budget became limited, the agency began to run into debt from scheduled projects and obligatory Big Dig remediation work, which have now given the MBTA the highest debt of any transit authority in the country. In an effort to compensate, rates underwent an appreciable hike on January 1, 2007. Increasingly, local advocacy groups are calling on the state to assume $2.9 billion of the authority's now approximate debt of $9 billion, the interest on which severely limits funds available for required projects.
With the
2004 replacement of the
Causeway Street Elevated with a subway connection, the only remaining
elevated railways are a short portion of the
Red Line at
Charles/MGH and a short portion of the
Green Line between
Science Park and
Lechmere.
In the mid-2000s, the MBTA cut trips from published train and bus schedules without informing passengers, referred to as “hidden service cuts” by the MBTA general manager. In 2008, he admitted that MBTA lied to its customers.
(External Link)
On
October 31,
2007 the MBTA reestablished
commuter rail service to the Greenbush section of
Scituate, the third branch of the Old Colony service.
(External Link)
Capital improvements
Capital planning process
The Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization is responsible for overall regional surface transportation planning. As required by federal law for projects to be eligible for federal funding (except
earmarks), the MPO maintains a fiscally constrained 20+ year Regional Transportation Plan for surface transportation expansion, the current edition of which is called
Journey to 2030. The required 4-year MPO plan is called the Transportation Improvement Plan.
The MBTA maintains its own 25-year capital planning document, called the Program for Mass Transportation, which is fiscally unconstrained. The agency's 4-year plan is called the Capital Improvement Plan; it's the primary mechanism by which money is actually allocated to capital projects. Major capital spending projects must be approved by the MBTA Board, and except for unexpected needs, are usually included in the CIP.
In addition to federal funds programmed through the Boston MPO, and MBTA capital funds derived from fares, sales tax, municipal assessments, and other minor internal sources, the T receives funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for certain projects. The state may fund items in the
State Implementation Plan (SIP) - such as the Big Dig mitigation projects - which is the plan required under the
Clean Air Act to reduce air pollution. (As of 2007, all of Massachusetts is designated as a clean air "non-attainment" zone.)
In 2005, the administration of then-governor
Mitt Romney announced a long range transportation plan that emphasized repair and maintenance over expansion.
Due to the financial constraints on the MBTA budget, the Executive Office of Transportation (controlled by the state governor and headed by the Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation) has agreed to plan and fund (through the state legislature) all expansion projects beyond the Silver Line Phase 3 project (which will be funded from MBTA capital budget and the federal New Starts program, if approved). The T will continue to be financially responsible for maintenance and enhancement of existing segments.
Projects underway
- Several stations on the Blue Line are being rebuilt to accommodate six-car trains and be handicap-accessible. As of February 2008, the first new Blue Line train-set was put into service, and eventually the entire Blue Line fleet will be replaced with new trains.
- The Kenmore Square, Copley Square, and Arlington stations on the Green Line are being rebuilt.
- A new station at T. F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, 13 miles south of Providence that will allow expansion of MBTA commuter rail to that airport and Wickford Junction (Funded in the ; work is expected to be completed in 2009). Amtrak could use the station as well.
- Rail renovation on the Green Line "D" Branch took place in the summer of 2007. The MBTA should begin using new, low-floor cars on the line early in 2008.
- Several commuter rail bridges and track sections are being replaced.
- From June 2006 through December 22, 2007, the Mattapan-Ashmont trolley line was closed for renovation. When it reopened, all stations had been upgraded so that they're now ADA accessible and the 60+ year old streetcars had been overhauled. The huge inter-modal station at Ashmont is still under construction until 2009. Work is also continuing at the Shawmut and Fields Corner Red Line stations.
Big Dig remediation/SIP projects
After a lawsuit by the
Conservation Law Foundation, Massachusetts agreed in
1990 to build several transit projects as remediation for the
environmental impacts of the Big Dig, mostly increased air pollution due to automobile traffic.
The projects which have been completed include:
Adding 20,000 new parking spaces
Restoration of Old Colony Commuter Rail Service (Middleborough, Plymouth and Greenbush Lines)
Restoration of Commuter Rail Service to Worcester
Restoration of Commuter Rail Service to Newburyport
Completion of the Silver Line Phases I and II
Remediation projects which are proceeding include:
Extending the Green Line north beyond Lechmere, partially along commuter rail rights of way, to Tufts University and possibly to Union Square, Somerville. The governor's office has applied for a $300 million federal grant and aims to have the line in service in 2014. Money has already been transferred to the MBTA for the design of additional Green Line cars to serve this extension. The project was spurred along when the cities of Medford and Somerville had threatened to sue the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2005, claiming the state hadn't mitigated the increased air pollution caused by Big Dig traffic routed through these communities.
Extending the Blue Line to Charles/MGH to connect with the Red Line. Money has been committed to the design of this extension, but none has been allocated to actually build it. Owners of historic buildings near Charles Street have expressed concerns that the excavation required might damage their foundations. The nearby medical facilities have sued for the connector, saying they based their expansion plans on previous promises, and that it's essential to connect the major medical facilities with the North Shore rapid transit line.
One of the original projects was the restoration of Green Line "E" Branch streetcar service to The Arborway and Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, which was "temporarily" suspended in 1985. Some Jamaica Plain residents and merchants object to the restoration of streetcar service, on the grounds that it would create traffic snares on busy main thoroughfares, and be accompanied by the probable elimination of on-street parking in an area with no garages or large parking lots. Some bicycle advocates favor the elimination of streetcar tracks for safety reasons, and there's some concern about emergency vehicles being able to navigate around trolleys. In the meantime, the corridor previously served by the E branch is now served by the 39 line, which uses articulated buses.
After some activity with the Arborway Rail Restoration Project Advisory Committee from 2002-04, in late 2005 the T decided it would be more cost-effective to drop Arborway and the Red-Blue Connector, replacing them with:
Increased service and new stations on the Fairmount Line, originally a community-originated proposal called the Indigo line. (This is now under construction.)
Building an additional 1000 commuter rail parking spaces.
Public comment was taken from November, 2005, to January, 2006, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection agreed to this plan. Later 2006, after negotiations with the Conservation Law Foundation, the T promised to investigate other improvements to the Arborway corridor, and to allocate money for the design of the Red-Blue Connector; otherwise the CLF agreed to the T's project substitutions, given a fixed timetable. As of 2007, this change is awaiting approval by the Environmental Protection Agency, which enforces the Clean Air Act on which the lawsuit was based.
On February 13, 2007, the Arborway Committee sued the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to restore E-branch service to Forest Hills.
These projects will be paid for by the Commonwealth as part of the EPA-approved State Implementation Plan.
State and federally funded projects
As of December 2007, the statewide transportation plan included the following expansion and enhancement projects:
Improved service on the Worcester Line
Improved service on the Fitchburg Line
A new or restored Commuter Rail line to the Fall River/New Bedford area (bus alternatives are also being considered as part of the planning process)
Urban Ring Phases 1 and 2 (Bus Rapid Transit)
Blue Line extension to Lynn
A new commuter rail line to Fall River and New Bedford. This should be in service by 2015, according to Gov. Deval Patrick. Possible future extension from Fall River to Newport, Rhode Island.
Outside funding has been approved for:
Yawkey Station improvements
Fenway Park area improvements
A new Orange Line station at Assembly Square in Somerville
Any additional Commuter Rail service at peak times will require more tracks at the South Station terminal, which includes acquiring adjacent lands currently owned by the U.S. Department of Defense and Massport (currently housing the U.S. Postal Service Annex.)(External Link), (External Link)
Silver Line Phase 3
Silver Line Phase 3 is intended to connect Phases I and II, potentially by extending the existing Silver Line tunnel from South Station to the Boylston Station area (with several routing alternatives under study). This project is contingent on receiving federal New Starts funding to match the MBTA's contribution (which covers design and preliminary engineering).
No allocated funding
Notable projects with no programmed funding include:
Connecting North Station and South Station via the North-South Rail Link.
Extension of the Lowell Line to New Hampshire.
Urban Ring Phase 3 (Rail service from Assembly Square to Dudley Square via Cambridge)
The MBTA Program for Mass Transportation contains many more potential projects for the next 20 years.
Criticism
As of 2007, the MBTA is facing significant debt, and in response it has hiked fares significantly. The MBTA has endured criticism that the increases have outpaced inflation.
When the Orange Line was realigned in the 1980s, its course was altered away from the poorer areas of Everett, Chelsea and Roxbury, where residents are less likely to own cars, and depend more heavily on public transit, toward the more affluent towns of Malden and Medford, as well as the trendier sections of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood (where car ownership is higher, and thus, reliance on public transit is far lower). In response, the MBTA built a bus line operated by articulated silver buses equipped with specialized dispatching equipment. The MBTA christened the service under the name Silver Line, and classified it alongside other rail-based mass transit services. The service has been criticized in many respects, most notably for its slow speed, and the fact that it utilizes the same roads as cars and other "street" traffic, subsequently increasing gridlock and collisions, earning it the nickname "Silver Lie" among many.
Transportation advocates in Boston have raised the issue that residents can't go from one outlying area to another without first riding downtown and changing lines. The Urban Ring Project (MBTA), which would provide more circumferential service, is in the planning stages and has largely not yet been implemented due to lack of funding.
The T stops running at 12:45 a.m. each night, despite the fact that bars and clubs in most areas of Boston are open significantly later. Since the MBTA's subway (unlike the New York City subway) doesn't have parallel express and local tracks, rail maintenance can only be done when the T isn't running, and "with a 109-year-old system", says the MBTA press secretary, "you have to be out there every night". The T did experiment with Night Owl bus service for several years in the early 2000s, but this was abandoned on account of the $7.53 per rider cost to the MBTA to keep the service open, five times that of a regular bus route.
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