In My Travels...

Over the past week or two I've come across some interesting things in my travels. A recent ride on RTS #0010 revealed that not only has the axle-grinding problem (which produces a foul odor in the rear of the bus) not been fixed, but part of the steering column housing has disappeared as well! The speedometer also did not seem to work; it stated that we were traveling across the Tobin Bridge at zero miles per hour. The sooner that bus is sent to Everett to be scrapped, the better!

It seems that the Silver Line Washington Street extension to South Station is a step closer to becoming a reality. At least four of the Neoplan AN460's (i.e. the buses used on the Route 39 and SL Washington) have been repainted from the general MBTA paint scheme into Silver Line colors. I spotted 1030 broken down at Newton Street several days ago:

Sorry for the terrible photo.

Now with these four buses having been repainted (1018, 1019, and 1020 are the others), it seems only natural that bus assignments out of Southampton Garage would change. There are 44 sixty-foot buses in the MBTA fleet; all assigned to Southampton. With fewer "normal colored" buses available, all Route 32 trips have been dropped from the garage. Arborway will now provide all the equipment for this route. Southampton had formerly offered five articulated buses for rush hour service on the line.

No more 60' buses for rush hour service? Crowding will surely worsen on the high ridership Hyde Park route! To offset this, two or three Arborway buses have been added to the line for increased capacity. The improved rush hour headway is now every 3-4 mins. I plan to take a ride and see how things are going.

At least the Forest Hills inspector will no longer have to deal with this:


Occasionally, Southampton would send out one of their 40' New Flyer C40s instead of a sixty-footer. Very helpful!

The MBTA fare increase/service cuts workshops are coming up next week (August 10th-27th). I have yet to see tangible booklets detailing the particulars being distributed, but at least a few people managed to get their hands on them:

Found on the floor of an Orange Line train laid up at Oak Grove

I plan on attending several workshops and the final hearing at the State Transportation Building. Visit the MBTA website for workshop dates and locations. Ten points if you can find where to click on the homepage in five minutes or less.

As a final note, I snapped these two pics:



Notice anything unusual?

Ed Dana Would Be In Tears...

Pick your poison: 19.5% fare increase or draconian service cuts. As the MBTA booklet I received yesterday points out, it's "your service, your choice". The MBTA is proposing an overall fare increase to generate added revenue ($69,000,000) to "maintain the same level of service to its customers for the next two years." So what does a 19.5% fare increase look like exactly? Below is a sampling of some of the proposed new fares and pass prices:

Local Bus $1.50 (w/CharlieCard) - $2.00 (cash or CharlieTicket)
Monthly Local Bus Pass $47.00
Monthly Inner Express Bus Pass $102.00
Monthly Outer Express Bus Pass $150.00

Rapid Transit $2.00 (w/CharlieCard) - $2.50 (cash or CharlieTicket)

Monthly Link Pass $69.00

Commuter Rail Zone 1 - $5.00

Commuter Rail Zone 2 - $5.50

Commuter Rail Zone 3 - $6.00

Commuter Rail Zone 4 - $6.75

Commuter Rail Zone 5 - $7.25

Commuter Rail Zone 6 - $7.75

Commuter Rail Zone 7 - $8.25

Commuter Rail Zone 8 - $8.75

Monthly Commuter Rail passes would range from $69.00 (Zone 1A) to $280.00 (Zone 8)

For those of you who want fares to stay exactly as they are now, the MBTA would have to make drastic cutbacks in service to compensate. Even then, it would only save $55,000,000 and (in the eyes of the MBTA) be a bigger blow to commuters.

The following bus routes would be discontinued entirely:

Route 04 North Station - Boston Marine Industrial Park
Route 05 City Point - McCormack Housing Development
Route 08 Kenmore Station - Harbor Point
Route 17 Andrew Station - Fields Corner Station
Route 18 Andrew Station - Ashmont Station
Route 25 Ruggles Station - Franklin Park via Warren Street
Route 29 Mattapan Station - Jackson Square Station
Route 33 Mattapan Station - River & Milton Streets
Route 34E Forest Hills Station - Walpole
Route 48 Jamaica Plain Loop
Route 52 Watertown Yard - Charles River Loop OR Dedham Mall
Route 55 Park Street Station - Queensbury
Route 59 Watertown Square - Needham Junction
Route 60 Kenmore Station - Chestnut Hill
Route 62 Alewife Station - Bedford VA Hospital
Route 72 Harvard Subway - Huron Avenue
Route 76 Alewife Station - Hanscom Air Base/Lincoln Labs
Route 78 Harvard Station - Arlmont
Route 79 Alewife Station - Arlington Heights
Route 83 Central Square, Cambridge - Rindge Avenue
Route 85 Kendall Station - Spring Hill
Route 90 Wellington Station - Davis Station
Route 121 Maverick Station - Eagle Square OR Wood Island Station
Route 136 Malden Center Station - Reading
Route 137 Malden Center Station - Reading
Route 170 Dudley Station - Waltham Industrial Parks
Route 201 Fields Corner Station - Neponset Belt Line
Route 202 Fields Corner Station - Neponest Belt Line

Route 217 Ashmont Station - Quincy Center Station via Wollaston
Route 230 Quincy Center Station - Montello
Route 236 Quincy Center Station - South Shore Plaza
Route 238 Quincy Center Station - Crawford Square
Route 240 Ashmont Station - Crawford Square OR Avon Square
Route 245 Quincy Center Station - Mattapan Station
Route 274 Long Island - Moon Island
Route 275 Long Island - Downtown Boston OR Albany Street Garage
Route 276 Long Island - Boston Medical Center
Route 277 Shattuck Shelter - Park Street Station
Route 325 Haymarket Station - Elm Street via I-93
Route 350 Alewife Station - North Burlington
Route 351 Alewife Station - Oak Park
Route 352 Haymarket Station - Burlington via I-93
Route 354 Haymarket Station - Woburn via I-93
Route 355 Haymarket Station - Mishawum via I-93
Route 431 Central Square, Lynn - Neptune Towers
Route 434 Haymarket Station - Peabody Square
Route 435 Central Square, Lynn - Liberty Tree Mall OR Danvers Square
Route 436 Central Square, Lynn - Liberty Tree Mall
Route 439 Central Square, Lynn - Nahant
Route 448 Marblehead - Downtown Crossing via Paradise Road
Route 449 Marblehead - Downtown Crossing via Humphrey Street
Route 451 Salem Depot - North Beverly
Route 459 Salem Depot - Downtown Crossing
Route 465 Salem Depot - Danvers Square
Route 468 Salem Depot - Danvers Square via Margin Street
Route 500 Downtown Boston - Riverside Station via MassPike
Route 501 Downtown Boston - Brighton Center via MassPike
Route 502 Copley Square - Watertown Yard via MassPike
Route 503 Copley Square - Brighton Center via MassPike
Route 504 Downtown Boston - Watertown Yard via MassPike
Route 505 Downtown Boston - Waltham via MassPike
Route 555 Downtown Boston - Riverside Station via Copley Square
Route 558 Riverside Station - Newton Corner OR Downtown Boston
Route 701 Central Square, Cambridge - Boston Medical Center (Route CT1)

The following MBTA bus routes would lose all weekend service:

Route 132 Malden Center Station - Stoneham
Route 553 Newton Corner - Roberts
Route 554 Newton Corner - Waverly

The following MBTA bus routes would have their schedules "altered":

Route 07 Downtown - City Point via Summer Street
Route 09 City Point - Copley Square via Broadway
Route 14 Roslindale Square - Heath Street
Route 16 Andrew Station - Forest Hills Station
Route 31 Mattapan Station - Forest Hills Station via Morton Street
Route 64 Central Square, Cambridge - Oak Square
Route 68 Harvard Square - Kendall Station
Route 71 Harvard Subway - Watertown Square
Route 73 Harvard Subway - Waverly Square
Route 74 Harvard Station - Belmont Center
Route 92 Sullivan Station - Downtown via Main Street
Route 93 Sullivan Station - Downtown via Bunker Hill
Route 95 Sullivan Station - West Medford
Route 99 Wellington Station - Boston Regional Medical Center
Route 112 Wellington Station - Wood Island Station
Route 114 Maverick Station - Bellingham Square OR Mystic Mall
Route 120 Maverick Station - Orient Heights
Route 214 Quincy Center Station - Germantown
Route 215 Quincy Center Station - Ashmont Station via East Milton Square
Route 216 Quincy Center Station - Hough's Neck
Route 220 Quincy Center Station - Hingham
Route 326 Haymarket Station - West Medford via I-93
Route 441 Marblehead - Haymarket via Paradise Road
Route 442 Marblehead - Haymarket via Humphrey Street
Route 450 Salem Depot - Haymarket via Western Avenue
Route 455 Salem Depot - Haymarket via Loring Avenue

The MBTA supplemental bus service (i.e. the "Supplementals" and "school trips") would be scaled back; if not reduced entirely.

All remaining bus service would have service evenings and weekends cut in half.

Quincy & Lynn Garages would be closed nights and weekends.
All other routes at these garages would lose service at these times.

The following Green Line stations would close:

BU East (B Branch)
BU West (B Branch)
Pleasant Street (B Branch)
Brandon Hall (C Branch)
Saint Paul Street (C Branch)
Hawes Street (C Branch)

The E Branch of the Green Line would be cutback from Heath Street to Brigham Circle.

E Line service would also be eliminated on weekends.

Subway service overall would be reduced by 50% during the midday, nights, and on weekends.

The following Commuter Rail stations would close:

Hastings, Silver Hill, Waverly, Plimptonville, Readville (Franklin Line only), Wyoming Hill, Ballardvale, Greenwood, Plymouth, Mishawum, Rowley, West Gloucester,
Beverly Farms, and Prides Crossing

ALL Commuter Rail service would be eliminated after 7PM weeknights, and all day weekends

ALL Ferry service would be eliminated, along with the Suburban Transportation Program subsidies and the Private Carrier Program subsidies.

The RIDE service area would be extensively redefined.

Again, these things would only happen if there is NO FARE INCREASE.

Whew. So how many cities and towns would lose local MBTA service? I lost count at ten.

Pay more? Or lose service? After all, it's "your choice"!

"Left In The Dark"

This fall we shall be paying up to 20% more to ride the T. Service across the system would also be scaled back to an extent not seen in decades. More for less; a cheery prospect.

I read an article in the Metro about commuters being "left in the dark" about the proposed service cuts and fare increases coming this fall. To be honest, I am rather disappointed that the MBTA has been so quiet and seemingly reluctant to release any real details. True, any proposals put forward by the T would depend on actions taken by the legislature (really, more inaction by them), but the information made public thus far is quite vague and general. It is no surprise that people are upset. Saying that 30 "high net-cost" bus routes will be eliminated is one thing. To say that the North Shore is at risk of loosing a chunk of its local bus service is another. With so little information available to them, commuters are left in an atmosphere of suspense, wondering: "Will my route be eliminated? Is my bus one of these 'high net-cost' routes?" The typical rider has no idea how much their route costs to operate, much less what the net-cost actually means in terms of their bus being there or not. People need facts that are more concrete, not nebulous. At the very least, the T should give an actual worse-case scenario. That is, something that takes the abstract and relates it to people's lives on a more intimate level. Otherwise, to some you may as well be talking about PCC gear aspect ratios. The lack of true transparency could end up hurting the T more in the long run. If the T expects rich feedback from its "accelerated public hearings process", it must give people the information in a time frame that allows them to thoroughly digest it and to have more informed opinions. Thrusting the details at or just before the hearings will result in more public outcry than meaningful discussion.

Combing through an appendix to the 2008 Service Plan (publicly available on the MBTA website), I have compiled a list of the 25 highest net-cost bus routes that would likely be eliminated as part of the service cuts. They are listed in order from most expensive to least expensive in terms of cost per rider:

1. Route 355 Downtown Boston - Woburn Industrial Parks
2. Route 170 Dudley Station - Waltham Industrial Parks
3. Route 439 Central Square, Lynn - Nahant
4. Route 468 Salem Depot - Danvers Square
5. Route 351 Alewife Station - Oak Park Industrial Park
6. Route 48 Jamaica Plain Loop
7. Route 465 Salem Depot - Danvers Square via Malls
8. Route 76 Alewife Station - Lincoln Labs/Hanscom Field
9. Route 500 Downtown Boston - Riverside
10. Route 217 Ashmont Station - Quincy Center via Wollaston
11. Route 325 Elm Street, Medford - Haymarket Station

12. Route 435 Central Square, Lynn - Liberty Tree Mall via Peabody Square
13. Route 245 Quincy Center - Mattapan Station
14. Route 52 Watertown Yard - Charles River Loop/Dedham Mall
15. Route 436 Central Square, Lynn - Liberty Tree Mall via Happy Valley
16. Route 558 Riverside - Newton Corner/Downtown Boston
17. Route 448 Downtown Crossing - Marblehead
18. Route 78 Harvard Station - Arlmont
19. Route 451 Salem Depot - North Beverly
20. Route 431 Central Square, Lynn - Neptune Towers
21. Route 25 Ruggles Station - Franklin Park via Warren Street
22. Route 350 Alewife Station - North Burlington
23. Route 60 Kenmore Station - Chestnut Hill
24. Route 04 North Station - Boston Marine Industrial Park
25. Route 449 Downtown Crossing - Marblehead

As you can see, the North Shore and the Route 128 business corridor would be among the hardest hit areas. Perhaps the MBTA has a different list of routes marked for death, who knows? I guess we will find out in the next few weeks...

Wake Me When It's Over

So the word is out: the Globe has published a list of proposed service cuts that the MBTA is mulling over to close its $160,000,000 budget gap. I had hoped that the cuts would not be as bad as the 1981 service reductions (which seem to have faded from our collective memory), but in fact, they would be much worse. The good thing is that nothing is official...yet. To add insult to injury, many riders feel that the MBTA is just bluffing. Some people said the same thing back in 1981, then they woke up one Sunday to find that the Blue Line did not go to Wonderland anymore.

Let us take a look at some of the 2009 proposals "under consideration" and compare them with the cutbacks made in 1981; just to get an idea what we're in for.


2009 Proposal: "Eliminate service at Quincy & Lynn bus garages after 9 p.m. weekdays and all day on weekends"

1981 Equivalent: Eagle Street Garage (nee Carhouse) was closed on April 4, 1981. Its routes (110-121) were divided up between Charlestown Garage (110-112) and Lynn Garage (116-117, 119-121). Having been active since the days of streetcars, the garage was closed to cut costs. The site is now a (somewhat rundown) parking lot near Eagle Square in East Boston.

This proposal is terribly vague. Will service on the routes based at these garages be eliminated nights and weekends, or will they (like Fellsway and Albany) be covered by other garages? Lynn Garage is home to Routes 116 and 117, and I have a feeling chaos would ensue if service did not operate weeknights or over the weekend. I'm sure South Shore residents would be equally unhappy not have any service during these periods as well. And if another garage does cover them, you would have to train and familiarize the drivers with routes from another division. I know a few seasoned veterans at Charlestown who started out at Lynn...but that was fifteen to twenty years ago. Some might think that the 433 or 458 are still running.


2009 Proposal: "Eliminate customer service agents [CSA's] in subway stations"

1981 Equivalent: Some unstaffed token booths, a few station closings.

Several friends and I joked about personally staffing major downtown stations during our lunch breaks to give tourists and other riders directions, and to help with any CharlieCard issues. A volunteer CSA corps, if you will. But, alas! We could only do some much in an hour. So if you need help adding money to your card, or purchasing a ticket, I suppose you'll just have to watch someone else do it. Or visit youtube. Commuters will also lose touch with the "human side" of the T. Sure, you can call the information line or visit the website, but to have someone you can actually talk to in person; that can brighten up someone's day.

This photo happens to be from the final Route 195 trip.
TransitMaster had changed the sign before
I could get a photo of the bus displaying "195 DOWNTOWN".

2009 Proposals: "Eliminate highest net-cost-per-passenger bus routes" and "Eliminate routes due to network redundancy"

1981 Equivalent: Over 20 routes were eliminated and several pairs of routes combined (i.e. Routes 25 and 26 were merged to become the current Route 26).

Highest net-cost-per-passenger bus routes? What is "net-cost-per-passenger"? Basically, you take the total amount of money needed to operate the service, then subtract the revenue from fares ("farebox recovery"), then divide that by the total number of riders. The final value is the per-passenger subsidy the MBTA pays to keep service running. I went to mbta.com and pulled up a copy of the Final 2008 Service Plan. At the very end of the document is a table summarizing ridership, total cost of service, net-cost-per-passenger, service hours, etc.; all sorted by bus route. Doing a bit of digging I found some possible "high net-cost" candidates:

Route 48 Jamaica Plain Loop
Route 78 Harvard Station - Arlmont Village
Route 170 Dudley Station - Waltham Industrial Parks
Route 355 Haymarket - Woburn Industrial Parks
Route 435 Lynn - Liberty Tree Mall/Danvers Square
Route 436 Lynn - Liberty Tree Mall via Happy Valley
Route 465 Salem Depot - Danvers Square

Just to name a few...

The system wide average for a bus subsidy is about $1.50. These routes average over three times that amount! The "exotic routes" (i.e. Route 170 and 355) we may be able to live without. But what about the others? As for "network redundancies" (jargon, anyone?), please do away with Route 25 (Ruggles - Franklin Park via Dudley)! This route operates only during the AM Peak, with a fifteen minute headway, and carries about 203 people per day. Often when extra equipment is needed, the 25 is first to "donate" its buses. We could press on without the 25; Cabot would love to have the extra three buses available during the AM rush hour. Perhaps, however, some of the other "redundancies" would be more greatly missed.


2009 Proposal: "Eliminate E Branch on weekends, extend C Line to Lechmere; eliminate E Line service beyond Brigham Circle; eliminate Mattapan trolley after 8PM weekdays and all day weekends"; cut several Green Line surface stops.

In 1981: On Sundays shuttle buses replaced train service to Ashmont, Shawmut, Fields Corner, Savin Hill, Malden Center, Oak Grove, Suffolk Downs, Beachmont, Revere Beach, and Wonderland. The span of subway service was also reduced on Sundays; last trains were scheduled around 10PM or 10:30. Two stations were also closed completely.

What did the Mattapan High Speed Line do to deserve such a fate? After carrying passengers (daily!) since 1929, must it now become no more than a rush hour and midday only shuttle? The night and weekend alternative is Route 24.3 (a.k.a "Route 24/27"). Service on this route operates every 60 minutes weeknights and Sundays, and every 40-60 minutes Saturdays. If this proposal becomes reality, I strongly encourage Arborway to borrow some 60-footers from Southampton, otherwise you are going to have some packed (Routes 28 and 111 packed) NABIs traveling along River Street. As for the Green Line cutbacks, no more E service on weekends? Do we really want all of those extra riders on the 39? And will cutting back service from Heath Street to Brigham Circle really save any money? The cantenary to Heath Street would still have electricity flowing through it (so no energy cost savings), the stops eliminated, save for Heath, are just segments of sidewalk with a "Green Line Stop" sign above them. Well, Fenwood Road does have a tall "T" sign, but you get the idea. Frankly, B Line stops are too close together, so cutting a few may not be the end of the world. The announcements sometimes stumble over each other, the stops are so close together: "Next stop Boston University West. Entering Boston University West." And doesn't BU have its own shuttle bus system? Well, enough of my ranting about Boston University.

More to come later...

Now I'm Getting Scared

Last week it was announced that MBTA riders may face a "hefty" fare increase and substantial service cuts if the T's troubled finances are not dealt with soon. With about $444,000,000 of the FY2008 budget being spent on debt payments, one must ask: Debt relief, anyone?

This news is eerily similar to the MBTA 1981 budget crisis. A subsequent reduction in service (plus a fare increase) went into effect, with Sunday service being hit especially hard. Several subway stations were closed entirely on Sundays (with shuttle bus replacement) and the span of service was cut back (Subway service ended at 10PM, buses at 7). Things now are not looking that bad...yet. Hopefully, the state will take a new approach to financing transportation in Massachusetts.

The MBTA is only the latest incarnation of a perennial problem affecting Boston's transit systems. Every transit system in the Greater Boston area has been through a similar cycle of increasing financial woes and debt; the West End Street Railway in the 1880s and 1890s, the Boston Elevated Railway Company in the late 1940s (ridership and revenues were also down before the war), the MTA picking up the tab on the BERy Co. debt, and now the T. Each time, the subsequent agency rose from the ashes of the previous one. If MassTrans is ever created, will it only collapse after 40 or 50 years?

Let's hope history does not repeat itself.