Media Statement: Blue Hill Avenue Center-Running Bus Lane

BOSTON, March 5, 2024 — We are pleased that the City of Boston has officially confirmed the transformation of Blue Hill Avenue into a multimodal corridor, equipped with center-running dedicated bus lanes, that improves safety and efficiency for all. Serving more than 37,000 riders each weekday, Blue Hill Ave is a crucial corridor that connects the Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan neighborhoods. Many buses including the 28, 29, and 31 utilize the Blue Hill Ave corridor but often experience delay and unreliability. The 28 bus has the highest ridership in the MBTA network and serves mostly low-income and transit dependent riders, but it experiences severe bus bunching and slowdowns along its route due to the lack of bus priority. 

Aging infrastructure along Blue Hill Ave has created safety concerns for drivers, transit users, and pedestrians alike. This investment, with funding from the City of Boston, the federal government, and the MBTA, will improve mobility in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan. Through the implementation of this bus lane, significant time savings will be had by its thousands of riders, further promoting equity in the MBTA bus network as Black riders spend significantly more time on buses than white riders. The Blue Hill Ave dedicated bus lane, along with the project’s other mobility upgrades, is a major advancement essential to supporting historically disinvested communities. 

TransitMatters applauds the City of Boston for its robust community engagement process, which helped shape this project. The modernization of Blue Hill Ave will promote mobility and transform it into a multimodal corridor that prioritizes safety and accessibility for everyone. We're excited to see the additional beautification elements that along with the transportation improvements, will support local businesses and make the corridor more vibrant and livable. 

TransitMatters supports implementing bus priority measures, such as center-running dedicated bus lanes, to increase reliability and protect buses as a dignified transit option. The success of this project will improve experiences for those of all modes, bus riders, pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers, and create a safer and more livable corridor in the Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan neighborhoods.

For media inquiries, please e-mail media@transitmatters.org. 

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Photo credit: James Wang

Podcast 20 - Advocacy Updates: Fares, Late Night Service, Commuter Rail, GLX and Service Planning to make the MBTA network more effective

This show is focused on MBTA advocacy, with the full crew sharing our thoughts on some of the things in the media lately, and which we've been working on.

Fare increases are proposed again despite the absence of a vision for upgrading and growing our network. It's hard to ask people for more money without real improvements. Some say we should give discounts to low-income riders and raise fares for everyone else. We explore why a two-tier transit system is a terrible idea that will lead to a death spiral and actually impact the poorest riders most. Also, if a transit fare is not a tax, is it a fee?

The MBTA board (FMCB) has proposed eliminating up to 28 bus routes, largely without any analysis of what these routes do or how they operate.  A better approach is to figure out why some routes are expensive and/or attract low ridership, such as poor service quality (on-time performance, frequency, connections) and many seem to be designed to fail. The existing late night service is one example, but rather than get rid of it, service should be vastly improved and expanded to full overnight service (don't forget the early morning needs!). Commuter rail come up too.

We talk about the importance of good service planning, the different levels of planning, and how we can not only make small routine changes but also design a better network. Aside from service cuts, no routes have changed since 2008 and a comprehensive review has never been done, even though travel patterns have changed a lot since the 1964 creation of MBTA. Most routes do not meet basic service standards like crowding and on-time performance. How can we plan for upgrades?

The Green Line Extension is way over budget and horribly mismanaged, largely due to schedule pressures, not enough MBTA staff to oversee this massive project (due to austerity) and as a result contractors scamming the T. Are we learning the lessons as the FMCB looks to cut the budget even more? We explain the importance of carrying out the GLX plan which was approved through an extensive public process, and how proposed project reductions would actually cause us to spend more in operating costs to run the line.

The Transit Matters Podcast is your source for transportation news, analysis, interviews with transit advocates and more. By offering new perspectives, uniting transit advocates and promoting a level of critical analysis normally absent from other media, we can achieve a useful and effective transportation network.

Transit Matters. Subscribe to the blog and podcast, join as a member, and sign up to volunteer because we can't do this alone. Follow and engage us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, or email feedback@transitmatters.info.

Come to our next Beer & Transit on Thursday Dec 10. We'll have an update and discussion with Transportation for Massachusetts about transit policy issues and their current efforts.

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