Four communities have just received a grant to “test ideas like bus-only lanes and traffic signals that give buses priority at busy intersections,” the Globe reports today.
According to the foundation, Arlington will use the money for its one-month test to improve service on Massachusetts Avenue during the morning rush, which could include a bus-only lane. Cambridge and Watertown are planning to create all-day bus lanes on parts of Mount Auburn Street. And Everett, which already sacrificed a lane of parking for bus-only traffic in 2016, plans to make two stops on that route easier to access for wheelchairs and strollers.
All four communities also plan to test “transit signal prioritization” on these routes, technology that lengthens green lights and shortens red lights depending on how near or far a bus is from an intersection.
Is this an idea that should be tested in Newton and, if so, where would you suggest putting these bus only accommodations?
yes! yes! yes!
I suggest the Washington Street corridor as well as dedicated lanes on the Mass Pike from West Newton and Newton Corner into South Station. Another option is Watertown Street (removing street parking during peak hours in Nonantum) to connect the 57 to Watertown Square. That is close to what happened in Everett.
I think this would work well on Washington Street. I would like to see increased bus service throughout Newton and maybe if something like this was implemented it would be more enticing for people to take the bus.
I think a dedicated lane on the Mass Pike would be a game changer. The Express Bus is already cheaper and more frequent than the commuter rail; if it were faster than driving your own car it might really get more private cars off the road.
I think the city should be exploring all options. Dedicated lane on the MassPike seems like a huge win. Then to resolve the last mile issue, how to efficiently get people from their homes and office to the bus. Bike share and safe bike routes would help a lot here.
Why should we add a bus lane, and traffic signals that give buses priority at busy intersections, to benefit transit users at the expense of drivers? We are all trying to get to our jobs and meetings at the same time.
Moreover, where traffic is severely congested, bus lanes can provide a notable benefit. However, it is those places where it is difficult to reduce the amount of space available for general traffic. If you do, you increase the congestion. Conversely, when there is little congestion, installing a bus lane provides little benefit.
@NewtonCares – Because one bus holds 20, 30, 40 of those people on their way to work and the typical car carries only one or two.
@Jerry – shouldn’t we all move at the same pace?
@NewtonCares – No, I don’t think so.
The faster/better public transit runs the better it is for everyone – bus riders AND drivers. Every one of those full buses is the equivalent of many, many more cars on the road. If I’m driving, I want as many people as possible riding in buses.
@Newtoncares most cars carry just one person. So if you can move 30, 40 or 50 people through an area vs the 5 or 6 that cars around it can carry, then the tradeoff seems pretty clear-cut.
This image does a good job of showing the amount of space it takes to move 60 people in different forms of transportation: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_9F9_RUESS2E/S7tbclwxiPI/AAAAAAAACmw/uI1bCpNuKNA/s800/picoftheday0012-space-60people.jpg
I’m struggling with how this would work, but open to the possibilities. I could see it potentially working on existing high volume (relatively speaking ) routes such as Washington street and definitely the pike. And maybe the 60 on route 9.
But then a bus such as the 52 doesn’t seem viable since much of it’s route in one lane.
I think if we are going to restrict some lanes to bus only, there needs to be significant and consistent volume on those lanes. I can’t imagine drivers being restricted to a single lane (and prohibited from an adjacent lane) if only one bus passes through every 10 minutes
@Claire – yes, for Washington St it would probably be much more appropriate to use “traffic signal prioritization”.
@NewtonCares – you could ride behind the bus and get the benefit of more than your share of green lights too 😉
It does seem like you would need a lot of frequent buses on a given route before it would make sense to dedicate a lane solely for buses.
Chuck beat me to it with the graphic. That says it all. But there needs to be high demand for transit on the route, and that’s going to come with density. Washington Street is generally underutilized and is redundant with the pike and commuter rail. But yes to a bus only lane on pike (good luck with that) and some sort of bus prioritization on route 9 could make the 60 bus more attractive. It would be nice if there were a way to make TSP work on Needham Street.
I wish the 60 bus went out to Newton Highlands or there were a not-too-expensive commuter lot adjacent to it. I’d be happy to take it to work.
All these tactics appear to be useful to some extent but they don’t begin to solve the growing problem of rapid population growth. Yes the economy in N.E. is expanding at an unexpected pace but can it be sustained? Boston’s transit infrastructure was designed for a very different era. It really needs a complete overhaul. I don’t believe the roads are suited to dedicated bus lanes because the buses don’t run that frequently. The population density is low along Washington St. I do believe express buses on the Pike make sense.
To address traffic, elderly, and students I would love to see the bus route reinstated that ran from Auburndale to Lake Street via Commonwealth Ave; right down the middle of Newton. It would give easy access to the Walnut St intersection, library, NNHS, city hall, Newton Centre and Newtonville shopping, events at BC and the green line thru Brookline and into/out of Boston. Why it ever went away I don’t know. It was well used!!! After that shut down, I do know a few years back BC was offering free bus rides between Lasalle College and BC, that was really nice, but the residents on Comm Ave complained about one bus every half hour passing their homes. Too bad.
Washington Street between Newton Corner and West Newton has some extra capacity. But honestly, the busses move pretty well already in my experience (I ride the express busses thru there). I think traffic signal priority could probably make an improvement, but I’m not sure that full bus lanes are justified there yet.
As for Nonantum Center, I’m not sure what the ridership is like on the 59, but I could see it being useful to expedite it thru the square. The 558, however, only makes a 1-block drive thru Nonantum Center on Watertown St as it zigzags to Adams Street. An outer bus lane probably does not make practical sense, since the bus has to make a right turn to the right lane (which would get a lot tighter in 2 lanes) and then make a left turn (which would be tougher from the outer lane as it would conflict with the traffic on the inner part of the road). I think the route would have to be adjusted.
The bus routes in general should be re-mapped. I think there’s some contractual union issues involved in re-drawing the bus routes, but they are based on streetcar routes from 100 years ago, which don’t reflect today’s needs.
1. Yes, priority for buses over cars for the reasons stated above
2. Don’t worry about current demand. If we make buses run much faster, demand will grow. That’s the point.
3. Newton needs to do more experimenting, in general
Jon,
I agree we need to re-institute a bus along the Comm Ave corridor. What a gaping hole in the system.
Curious, are you thinking of the short lived MBTA #535 route that existed briefly in the 1970s (which the MBTA inherited from the defunct Middlesex and Boston Street Railway company), or the early 1980s “Newton Rider” bus experiment? Both were before my time but I am wondering if you are in fact thinking of “Newton Rider” what you can recall (hopefully good things) about a bus being run by the city itself?
@Meredith “I wish the 60 bus went out to Newton Highlands or there were a not-too-expensive commuter lot adjacent to it. I’d be happy to take it to work.”
I’m curious, does the D line not meet your need?
Excellent post on an important topic Greg.
I would be interested to hear from those who COULD take public transportation, but don’t. For example if you commute to Boston but drive rather than take the bus or train, why is that, and what would it take to get you to leave the car at home.
Some new transportation options coming on the scene:
For 1st/last mile bracketing bus/train commutes:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/will-dockless-bike-services-boost-bike-commuting-cities-are-betting-on-it/2017/12/02/4fd6216c-c895-11e7-b0cf-7689a9f2d84e_story.html?utm_term=.3213515fb2eb
Van rideshares could help alleviate high school traffic:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article183340381.html
https://ridewithvia.com/
@Clare – the D line stops are about 3/4 mile from my office, which is too far for me to walk many days. The 60 stops about 1/4 mile away. For me, that’s a very big difference in feasibility.
@Emily you’re looking for commuter anecdotes; here’s mine. Granted I do not drive into Boston, but in the winter I get in my car and drive the ~1 mile to the West Newton train station. In the warmer months I do this part of my trip by bike. But I do not feel safe biking the bike-lane-free streets of Newton in the evening rush hour in the dark even for this short distance. I’ve had enough close calls in broad daylight on my route.
What would it take for me to leave my car at home? Safer bike infrastructure on the north side of West Newton Square, or a collector/distributor bus that’s tied to the commuter rail schedule and stops reasonably close to my home.
One issue is that the commuter rail schedule is kind of wacky. We live a hop, skip, and a jump away from the West Newton CR station. But, when you need a train outside of their schedule, you’re kind of screwed because it could be hours before the next one arrives. My husband commutes using the commuter rail which is great as long as he doesn’t veer from his schedule. If he has an appointment or another reason for going in late/leaving early, it poses a little bit of a dilemma. There have been times where he’s stuck walking to/from West Newton to the Woodland station (almost a half hour walk) or sometimes I’ll pick him up. We’re lucky that we’re still walking distance to the green line, even if it’s a long walk, but it can be hard to rely on the commuter rail.
I don’t have a ton of experience with the express buses because I’ve only used them to get downtown for recreation and not work. But a handful of times they haven’t shown up, so I haven’t taken one in years. I don’t know if they’ve improved.
Jeremy, Im thinking of an MBTA bus that used to run along Comm Ave. Loved that bus !!! I suppose the city might run their own bus, thats an interesting idea. Definitely NOT thinking of the “Newton Rider”. I do remember the city having an experiment re new bus routes, maybe city run?, that zigzagged all over the place and was pretty much useless. Would love to see the straight shot line from Lake Street to at least Lexington St, that runs all day and evening on a regular half hour basis schedule.
For an intersting perspective on public transportation please check out this past Sunday’s Boston Globe Magazine article on the MBTA. I encourage someone with the knowhow to post it on V14.
Let’s build more housing, increase the density we now enjoy, and make everyone walk.
Nothing like a crowd to enrich our lives.
Here’s how this idea looks in Forest Hills.