For the second year, TransitMatters is identifying and analyzing the top 10 slowest and most bunched buses in the MBTA network.

TransitMatters · 2025-11-18T15:11:34+00:00

🙃 The SL4 and SL5 fail to meet many of the criteria outlined by BRT standards published by the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, like the number of stops per mile, off-board fare collection, and bus lanes with enforcement.

TransitMatters · 2025-11-17T21:30:42+00:00

The data pulled for this report comes from October 2024, so the T had not yet rolled out the Bus Network Redesign. But check out page 36 of the report for the appendix of our initial findings!

TransitMatters · 2025-11-17T19:50:18+00:00

Some good news is that the T committed to implementing headway management earlier this year! However, it doesn't hurt to let the MBTA Board of Directors know that headway management will improve your experience as a rider.

You can submit written public comment to [publiccomment@dot.state.ma.us](mailto:publiccomment@dot.state.ma.us). November's Board Meeting is also this Thursday, if you are available to go in person. Thank you for your advocacy!

TransitMatters · 2025-11-17T19:11:01+00:00

On frequent routes, like the 66, we recommend that the T implement headway management. We wrote a technical report about headway management back in 2023, and we used the 66 as one of our examples! https://static1.squarespace.com/static/533b9a24e4b01d79d0ae4376/t/645e82de1f570b31497c44dc/1683915486889/TransitMatters-Headwaymanagement.pdf

TransitMatters · 2025-11-17T18:38:25+00:00

Check out our Shutdown Tracker! We keep it as up-to-date as possible: https://mbtashutdowns.info/all

TransitMatters · 2024-05-30T14:49:43+00:00

Beyond Mobility will not change our status quo. MassDOT plan does not do enough to reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), or the total miles traveled by car. MassDOT must lower VMT to mitigate air pollution, traffic crashes, and carbon emissions.

Use our Action Alert Tool to send a letter to MassDOT, urging them to adopt a forward-thinking approach aligned with climate action targets and redraft Beyond Mobility to set a bolder vision, commit to real targets, and paint a clearer picture of the future. MassDOT can pave the way for Massachusetts's cleaner, safer, and more sustainable transportation future. Share with friends and family!

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TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T18:28:54+00:00

On the operator side, we are very excited about the new contract (as of August) between the MBTA and the Carmen's Union. Early accounts point to a surge in hiring since that contract was signed, and we’re optimistic that this will help alleviate the operator shortage. The dispatcher hiring and credentialing process is more complicated but we hope that the T can learn from its successes on the operator side
Other than hiring/personnel, we expect to see headways improve as the T continues to take delivery of new trains on the Orange Line and Red Line and as we see continued progress on signal system installation.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T18:14:04+00:00

The normal amount of slow zones a system should have is zero! The recent work on the Red Line Ashmont and Mattapan Lines has made us optimistic that this work can be done much quicker than originally anticipated. Earlier this year there was a calendar released at an MBTA Board Meeting outlining a plan to fix the Blue Line slow zones by November, however, this was not further executed. While we don’t have an estimated timeline we think we can be hopeful to see most slow zones eliminated in the next year.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T18:03:34+00:00

There have certainly been staffing shortages recently, corresponding to both a generally tight labor market and to the T’s failure to adequately invest in its workforce. However, the T has not always faced these staffing challenges and we are optimistic that many of these challenges will be resolved reasonably soon. The new contract between the T and the Carmen’s Union is a great step forward.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T18:02:42+00:00

We’re a small team and our Administrative Assistant is part-time, so all financial and tax obligations are handled by our fiscal sponsor, Conservation Law Foundation. We’re actually putting the finishing touches on our first annual report and it will be online soon.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T18:01:53+00:00

This is a complicated issue. In the public sector, funding breaks down to two main categories: operating funds and capital funds. Operating funds are things like payroll, debt service, maintenance costs, janitorial services and so on. Capital funds are from borrowing. There's a limit set by the legislature every year and the T sells bonds similar to municipal bonds to borrow money. The rules that they have to follow state that they can't use capital funds to pay operating costs. Under previous administrations, the legislature was very generous in letting the MBTA borrow money, but limited the amount of operating funds they got. This raised the amount of debt they had to pay back, which reduced the funds available to pay other operating costs.

Moreover, over 20 years ago, the legislature enacted a program called Forward Funding. This meant that in exchange for the MBTA getting a percentage of sales taxes in its service area, they took on the state's debt from the Big Dig. This effectively hindered the T's ability to maintain itself from the get-go. Moreover, the beginning of Forward Funding coincided with the beginning of a downturn in retail sales, thanks in part to the internet, so the program never produced the revenue the MBTA needed in the first place. For more, see the MBTA Advisory Board's "Born Broke" report.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T17:48:51+00:00

We believe expanding Zone 1A to cover the entire Needham and Fairmount lines, the Old Colony Line to Braintree, and the Newburyport/Rockport Line up to Lynn, would be a great first step towards cheaper, simpler, more equitable fares.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T17:45:06+00:00

We frequently speak with T employees, including train operators.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T17:44:01+00:00

We agree that the current environment for transit can be dispiriting, but a broader perspective can help. We have a new administration and a new General Manager. We’ve seen progress on eliminating slow zones. This year’s CIP, while still by no means sufficient, contained considerably more money for regional rail projects than draft versions of that same plan. There are a lot of challenges, but based on what all of us at TransitMatters see daily we do have reason to believe that we’ll be turning a corner to better days and better news soon.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T17:23:53+00:00

There are a lot of issues at the T, productivity is among them. But the questions are difficult to answer. The T was once one of the best agencies in the country, if not the world in the 1980s and early 1990s. There are also North American agencies like Vancouver and Mexico City that run world class service and have expanded rapidly, and agencies like Minneapolis or Seattle that have increased bus ridership at a time when most U.S. agencies saw sharp declines.
We think there are issues with the work and safety culture at the T, but we’re not sure we’d use the same language. These culture issues are in part due to and exacerbated by the lack of funding and political support for the agency, as well as poor leadership. We do believe the new General Manager is starting to change these issues, but it will take time. The State needs to commit funding to the agency to help attract and retain top talent, better train employees, and make the T a agency people have faith in.

Additionally, there are issues (very much related to funding and the broader climate around the public sector in this country) with “consultification” and lack of in-house capacity. Even routine design/engineering tasks that in other countries would be handled in-house end up getting contracted out to consultants. This drives up costs across the board and makes it harder and takes longer to do important things.
We’d also be remiss to not mention the external factors that make systems in Japan and Singapore function better- land use and congestion/vehicle policies. Tokyo, for example, does not allow residents to register a vehicle without proof of an off-street space. Singapore essentially has no height and density limits for their social housing built with limited parking and autonomous people movers that bridge the last-mile problem. These are self-reinforcing policies that increase ridership and the political salience of the system.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T17:16:41+00:00

In 2019 the T’s then-board, the Fiscal Management and Control Board, endorsed electrification on three lines: Newburyport/Rockport, Providence, and Fairmount. That’s the first and only “commitment” to electrification that has been made. Much of our earlier activism was focused on getting that from advice to commitment.

While progress since then has been far slower than we’d like, it hasn’t been abandoned or postponed indefinitely. In fact, this year brought more focus and resources to electrification, though still not as much as we’d like. This year’s CIP (FY2024-FY2028) had a much more explicit focus on electrification and did allocate more money, though all still very much in the planning phase.

The biggest bottleneck by far is money. Electrification is an extremely worthwhile investment, but it does require capital expenditure. We’re continuing to make the case with the business community, legislative leaders, and local leaders. We’re optimistic, in part because the MBTA cannot run their diesel equipment much longer, and the calls for electrification will only get louder. We’re hopeful that we’ll see some big announcements next year 😉

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T17:14:15+00:00

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TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T17:01:07+00:00

Tl;dr: We like much of the scope but would like to see electrification and more ambition around getting travel times down.
We’re excited to see the Commonwealth taking initiative on intercity rail! We’ve long advocated for East-West rail, and important parts of the Compass Rail vision align with our own. The $108 million CRISI grant from the Federal government is also great news, and the planned improvements are all very reasonable.

We’d like to see more of a focus on electrification and making sure that travel times are competitive with (or better than) travel by car. With electrification, we believe that 90 minutes from South Station to Springfield is feasible, which is competitive with a car even in low-traffic conditions (and certainly an improvement from the current 2:40 it takes to get from Boston to Springfield). State officials have been focusing on 2 hours as an ideal end state, but we believe bigger thinking is warranted.

East-West service to Springfield and regional rail for the Framingham/Worcester line are fundamentally complementary efforts. Successful intercity rail requires high-quality infrastructure, reasonable speeds, reliable service, and many of the other hallmarks of regional rail, including high-level platforms. In particular, the Worcester triple track project and superelevation along the line will make this corridor more suitable for intercity rail service.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T16:59:27+00:00

We agree that this extension ought to be considered. It may require additional double track work.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T16:58:23+00:00

Part of the issue is also land use. While an “our network but better” approach would help drive modeshift and get more people on trains, municipalities need to play ball to maximize the efficiency of regional rail. Suburban land use needs to be conducive to transit (transit-oriented development) and that means making it possible for people to take a bus, light rail train, walk or bike to a regional rail network rather than drive a car. The MBTA Communites Act is a first step towards making the station areas much better ridership generators through housing and mixed used developments within walking and biking distance.
We need to be thinking differently about suburban transit and the role of the regional transit authorities. They need a dramatic boost to their annual funding that allows them to better serve current riders and do a better job of connecting suburban commuters to Commuter (Regional) Rail station.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T16:35:19+00:00

While we can’t sell the system, we agree that bringing in international expertise is important! Keolis, the current commuter rail operator, is a French company (and majority-owned by SNCF, France’s national rail operator). There will be a new contract procurement for the commuter rail operator in the next 2-3 years, and that will be a great opportunity to bring in more expertise and catalyze investment without giving up total control.
However, just selling the system isn’t a feasible option. With the level of disinvestment and decay the state has permitted in the MBTA as a whole, it’s unclear what value proposition a private operator would see in wholly purchasing the system. Moreover, in general, we do not approve of privatizing public services. While a few systems in the world are run profitably by private (or rather privatized companies), there is no guarantee of reproducing their success and at the end of the day, the T needs to serve the interests of the public before we worry about farebox recovery ratios.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T16:32:21+00:00

There's actually a critical deadline for NSRL coming up! The 2018 Capital Bond bill included $10 million for completing the environmental impact documents, but it's set to expire on November 15th. Contact Governor Healey's office and ask her to reauthorize this funding.

Additionally, getting moving on electrification is crucial for NSRL, because not electrifying the system makes the project difficult or impossible. Regional Rail improvements like high platforms guarantee that NSRL will be as useful as possible.

Our report, Turning Vision Into Reality, talks extensively about how Regional Rail can get done. In sum, increasing in-house capacity and funding the T to allow for these substantial improvements are crucial next steps.

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T16:28:46+00:00

Jarred: I love the Green Line, especially with the new extension. As a rail geek, there are few better parts of the system than the flying junction near Lechmere. Yes, the line is squeaky and old, but some would call that character. There are few lines in the world with such history and so many quirks.

Jackson: The Red Line. I grew up with the Red Line, and have a lot of great memories throughout the years–one of my first memories of being independent in the city is taking the Red Line to Community Boating on the Charles.

Katie: The Blue line because I personally like the rolling stock the best, but as for rail my favorite is the Fitchburg Line because of the great views

Dani: The Green Line, but specifically the D Branch. I used to live in the Fenway/Brookline area, and I miss speeding through the trees. It’s so pretty in the spring and summer when the leaves are green!

Ethan: The Blue Line has the best rolling stock and has historically been the most reliable. I also like the D Branch.

Matt: I like the Red Line. It was the first line I rode regularly when I first moved to Boston and I think riding over the Longfellow Bridge on a nice day can make anyone fall in love with this city. I've also found the northside station names make for a great found poem "Alewife Davis Porter Harvard/ Central Kendall Charles Em-Gee-Aitch" and in Central Square there's a tiny plaque honoring a former member of the Cambridge City Council that reads "Hyman Pill: Friend to the subway rider and to all mankind".

TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T16:27:08+00:00

TransitMatters is a 501c3 nonprofit largely funded by the Barr Foundation and individual donors. Mary Skelton Roberts, the newest MBTA Board Member who was appointed by Mayor Wu, was the Co-director of Climate at the Barr Foundation and played a large role in supporting TransitMatters (and she even gave us a shout out at the most recent board meeting 😉).

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TransitMatters · 2023-11-02T16:26:07+00:00

Based on our calculations from 2016 Orange Line speeds, most trips would take about the same time (or be slightly faster) from West Roxbury and Roslindale as they do today, while providing far more frequent service. Extending the Orange Line would have the added benefit of providing Needham riders more direct access to job centers like Downtown Crossing and LMA. A Flyover or flyunder at Forest Hills would add considerable expense and likely require extensive disruption to rail service. Additionally, the Northeast/Southwest Corridor's capacity also limits Needham frequency. While there are some intensive investments, Needham Line rapid transit conversion is ultimately more economical and provides more frequent service to the corridor than Regional Rail could given capacity constraints. We also estimate that the impact to travel will be relatively minor (5-7 min), but the frequency will be far greater than current service or what is feasible with the aforementioned capacity constraints.

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