Celebrating 10 Years Of Advocacy: TransitMatters' NightBus Initiative That Pushed the MBTA to Pilot Late-Night Bus Service

TransitMatters is celebrating 10 years of advocacy! For the next 4 weeks, we will be highlighting landmark moments in our history so far. Next up: Our NightBus initiative that pushed the T to pilot early-morning and late-night bus service.

In 2014, the MBTA launched late-night service until 2:30am on Friday and Saturday nights. The T had no ridership goal, but late-night service on weekends served around 16,000 riders a night. By the next year, late-night service ridership had halved and the MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) planned to kill the service.

From the start, the MBTA focused on the wrong ridership base when providing late-night service. The T's late-night service was designed to fail: routes did not connect nor form a comprehensive network, late-night demand was not restudied to see how it differed from daytime coverage, the coverage area omitted key low-income and Environmental Justice communities, and promises for additional outreach and marketing of late-night service were not fulfilled.

Without an equity analysis, the T officially cut late-night service in February 2016. According to data collected by the T in 2015, 54% of late-night bus riders were minorities and 64% were low-income.

NightBus concept route map.

In March 2016, we outlined a new late-night service in the Commonwealth Beacon called NightBus. In our initial proposal, NightBus consisted of: overnight service, 7 days a week, the use of current bus stops and corridors, and a pulse point in Copley Square. In September 2016, we pitched NightBus to the FMCB and they directed MBTA staff to survey for demand and interest in overnight transit service! The next month, we regularly met with the T and the Cities of Boston and Cambridge to draft survey questions.

Survey outreach.

The MBTA, the Cities of Boston and Cambridge, and TransitMatters volunteers spent the end of 2016 distributing and sharing the survey. The Cities of Boston and Cambridge also surveyed employers and collected other sources of information about existing overnight travel in the region. 

From March to July of 2017, we worked with the T and the Cities of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville to draft a pilot proposal for overnight service. In July, we presented the proposal to the FMCB. In August they approved Phase 1 of overnight service, which extended early-morning bus routes and in October, they voted to forward Phase 2 of overnight bus service, which included late-night service!

In January 2018, the T began looking for a vendor to provide vehicles and drivers for the singular overnight bus route between Mattapan, Downtown, East Boston, Chelsea, and Revere. In June, the FMCB voted to pilot late-night buses on key routes starting in September. The pilot included extended service until 2:00am, an added trip at the "end" of the night, and improved frequency between 10:00pm and 12:30am to alleviate crowding.

TransitMatters helped the T promote early-morning and late-night service on social media.

The FMCB deemed Phase 1 successful in December and, in April 2019, early-morning service became permanent! We planned to work with the FMCB in 2019 to make overnight service permanent, but in June, the FCMB voted to end the pilot, citing low ridership.

Although we did not secure overnight service, NightBus did succeed in providing riders with more early-morning and late-night trips. TransitMatters and our partners also changed the conversation about late-night transit from serving “drunk college kids” to serving hospitality and third-shift workers.

Our work on NightBus also produced data that is still proving helpful in illuminating how people travel in the overnight period and TransitMatters' collaboration with the municipal, private, and nonprofit sector was a model for the future! For the future of NightBus... the City of Boston is exploring late-night transit options as a part of a study on local transit needs beyond T service. Stay tuned…

TransitMatters Analysis: Fast Work On Slow Zones

The southbound section between JFK/UMass Station and Savin Hill Station remained the only segment with speed restrictions as of November 6, 2023.

BOSTON, November 6, 2023 —  On August 24, the MBTA announced that it would shut down the Ashmont Branch of the Red Line and the Mattapan Line from October 14 to October 29 to expedite critical track work. The agency claimed it would otherwise take six months of night and weekend diversions to complete. MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng assured the public that 28 speed restrictions present on that section of the system would be lifted following the completion of the shutdown, resulting in faster travel times for the 40,000 riders traveling on the Ashmont Branch and 3,700 riders traveling on the Mattapan Line every day.

On October 30, the MBTA announced the successful completion of the shutdown and that “all speed restrictions that were in place prior to the shutdown have been alleviated in this area.” TransitMatters wondered: did the T, as Eng promised, clear this section of the system of slow zones?

While the MBTA maintains its own dashboard showing the state of slow zones across the system, our algorithm predates the T’s official reports. We visualize this using our Data Dashboard and proactively communicate both new and fixed slow zones to the public via our Slow Zone Bot, which posts to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, as well as Mastodon. Using these tools, we analyzed the shutdown and the work done on the Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line to answer our original question. Our analysis will focus on the Ashmont Branch.

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PRE-SHUTDOWN

In October 2018, the average travel time between JFK/UMass Station (where the Ashmont and Braintree Branches of the Red Line diverge) and Ashmont Station was 9 minutes and 38 seconds southbound and 8 minutes and 33 seconds northbound, with no slow zones present on the branch.

By September 2023, this average travel time was up to 17 minutes and 6 seconds southbound and 15 minutes and 7 seconds northbound, almost double the average travel times. The entirety of the Ashmont Branch had a slow zone of some kind—northbound, southbound, and between all stations. It is worth pointing out that by the T’s numbers, this degradation of just the Ashmont Branch has resulted in a collective 390 days of slow time for riders every day, assuming a round trip for each of 40,000 daily riders. Roughly the same number of people were affected by the Sumner Tunnel shutdown. Despite this, the state government has generally paid more attention to the state of the Sumner Tunnel than that of the Red Line.

OCTOBER 30 (DAY ONE)

The first day the Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line reopened, the MBTA claimed it removed all speed restrictions, improving travel times by over 10 minutes for Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line riders. Our data shows that travel times between JFK/UMass and Ashmont took an average of 12 minutes and 26 seconds southbound and 10 minutes and 44 seconds northbound. Compared to pre-shutdown travel times, travel times improved by 4 minutes and 40 seconds southbound and 4 minutes 23 seconds northbound. Combined with improvements to the Mattapan Line, it is fair to say the MBTA did improve travel times by over 10 minutes for riders.

However, not all speed restrictions, or slow zones, were removed on Day One. Our Slow Zone Tracker shows that several speed restrictions remained on October 30. That’s not to say that the T was entirely incorrect on this claim. We have seen in previous shutdowns that slow zones can persist—due to, for example, track settling or operators acclimating to new track conditions. As a result, we wanted to continue our analysis for the remainder of the week to see if that was the case here.

OCTOBER 31

Day Two did see further improvements in travel times for the Ashmont Branch. Our data shows that travel between JFK/UMass and Ashmont took an average of 9 minutes and 48 seconds southbound and 9 minutes and 1 second northbound—a combined further travel time improvement of 4 minutes and 21 seconds. Our Slow Zone Tracker shows many of the slow zones that persisted on day one had disappeared by day two. The southbound section between JFK/UMass Station and Savin Hill Station remained the only segment with speed restrictions.

NOVEMBER 1-5

Days Three to Seven saw operations stabilize to fairly consistent travel times on both directions of the line, perhaps stemming from operators becoming more accustomed to the new speeds allowed for by the track work. Travel times between JFK/UMass and Ashmont took on average 8 minutes and 56 seconds southbound and 8 minutes northbound—an overall travel time improvement of 15 minutes 17 seconds for a round trip compared to September 2023 averages. A single slow zone between JFK/UMass and Savin Hill southbound has persisted. However, we should note: that zone has seen substantial speed improvement, and riders have still seen massive time savings on the branch.

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CONCLUSIONS

Below is a table summarizing our day-to-day analysis of the performance of the Ashmont Branch in the week following the shutdown, with the October 2018 and September 2023 numbers included for comparison.

We can visualize the above table with the Data Dashboard:

• Here is an overview of the line from the beginning of September to now, southbound.

• And here is that same overview for the line northbound.

From all this data we can make several conclusions:

1. The shutdown resulted in the restoration of historic travel times. Red Line trains are finally moving along the Ashmont Branch as fast as they did in 2018, resulting in over a year of collective time saved by riders every day.

2. General Manager Eng was correct about his statement regarding travel times; however, somewhat missed the mark with his claim of immediate removal of all speed restrictions. While the majority of speed restrictions did dissipate during the week, several restrictions remained on the first day of reopening. Eng’s statement shows a step in the right direction for honest communication from the MBTA to the public. However, the T needs to work on transparency for the general public to regain trust in the MBTA and its leadership.

3. Shutdowns only work if they are properly planned, communicated, and executed. Last year, the MBTA announced the month-long Orange Line shutdown with barely two weeks of notice for riders and produced disappointing results. Already, the Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line shutdown has yielded more positive feedback, proving these shutdowns can work if you give riders adequate time to prepare, viable alternative forms of transportation, and, most importantly, tangible results to show for the inconvenience.

   We applaud the MBTA for the measures they took to ease the pain of this shutdown for riders. The agency created a tailored Riders’ Guide to help riders find alternative travel options, and allowed riders to show their CharlieCard to ride free on the Fairmount Line, a line that TransitMatters has identified as a high-priority candidate for electrification and conversion to a Regional Rail model. We hope the popularity of the Fairmount Line as an alternative during this shutdown encourages the state legislature and MBTA to prioritize those enhancements to that line and continue using Commuter Rail alternatives during future shutdowns.
   At JFK/UMass Station, the T utilized the extended closure to install new floors, apply fresh paint, and deep clean. Continued efforts to improve stations helps enhance the rider experience, which is key to retaining riders during extended diversions. While riders can feel the work done through a faster ride, riders need to see the work as well.  

Ultimately, TransitMatters would like to see the MBTA continue with similar expedited closures to alleviate all slow zones system-wide. With the exciting success of the Ashmont Branch and Mattapan Line shutdown, the MBTA should promptly create and release a strategy and calendar of future diversions intended to fix slow zones.

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

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Banner Photo Credit: Brooke Winter

Celebrating 10 Years Of Advocacy: TransitMatters Exposes MBTA’s Nearly $7M Mistake With Auburndale Station

For the next five weeks, we will be highlighting landmark moments in our history so far. Next up: Our exposure of the T’s nearly $7 million mistake with Auburndale Station.

Photo credit: “Auburndale station (MBTA)” Wikipedia page

All of Newton’s Commuter Rail stations—Auburndale, West Newton, and Newtonville—currently only have single-side, low platforms. Before the 1960s, Auburndale had a station designed by H.H. Richardson and landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted (pictured right). In 1961, the state demolished the station and two out of four tracks for the MassPike extension into Boston. On top of being inaccessible, having a platform on just one side of the tracks means it is not possible to serve passengers in both directions throughout the day. For years, the Commuter Rail has neglected riders by leaving large gaps in service to Newton.

Responding to advocacy for an accessible Commuter Rail station in Newton from residents and Representative Kay Khan, the MBTA began redesigning Auburndale Station in the late 2000s. The T initially redesigned the station with mini-high platforms due to wide freight rights, but this did not impress the community. The T went back to the drawing board, and nothing public-facing happened with Auburndale Station for about five years.

Then in 2016, there were rumors that the MBTA would finally do something with the station. In February 2017, the T presented the final Auburndale Station design to the community. The T's new plan continued to have just one platform, but now on the opposite track. However, the T didn't plan to move other single-platform stations in Newton to the opposite track. Consequently, the MBTA planned to spend 58% of the total project cost on new switching equipment for trains to swap tracks between stations. To make matters worse, the T failed to confirm whether it was possible to maintain the Framingham/Worcester Line's schedule with trains swapping tracks in Newton.

Photo credit: Miles in Transit

The T was not only about to continue neglecting Newton riders, it was about to degrade service for riders on the entire Framingham/Worcester Line. Two TransitMatters members called attention to this issue at a public meeting for the final design. The T said it hadn't checked with railroad ops.

After a few months of TransitMatters raising the alarm about Auburndale, then-Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack scrapped the design and sent the MBTA back to the drawing board in May 2017.

In 2019, the T revealed their new plan to build accessible platforms on the opposite track at all three Newton Commuter Rail stations and expected the final design in the spring of 2022. The MBTA's newest design would still cause large gaps in service Commuter Rail for Newton. However, in 2021, the T changed course and committed to building two-platform, accessible stations at all three Newton Commuter Rail stations!

The MBTA's Accessibility Initiatives report from June 2023 reported that Auburndale, West Newton, and Newtonville Stations are approaching 75% design. According to this report, the MBTA should complete the final design by February 2024. However, the MBTA has still not identified a source of funding for constructing the stations. The T will not be able to afford three full station rebuilds under the current capital funding constraints. This is one of the many reasons why the T needs more funding and a dedicated funding source.

Banner Photo Credit: Leslie Anderson/THE BOSTON GLOBE