MBTA bus

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority operates 170 bus routes (list of routes) in the Greater Boston area, many of which were formerly part of a large streetcar system. Some routes are for local transport within the city; others bring passengers from surrounding areas to stops on the MBTA Commuter Rail or subway lines. The MBTA has a policy objective to provide transit service within walking distance (defined as 0.25 miles (0.40 km)) for all residents living in areas with population densities greater than 5,000 inhabitants per square mile (1,900/km²) within the MBTA's service district. Much of this service is provided by bus.

MBTA bus

A New Flyer XDE40 bus at Dudley station in 2017
Parent	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Founded	1964 (predecessors date to 1856)
Locale	Greater Boston
Service area	Boston and immediate suburbs
Service type	Local, limited stop, express, and Silver Line BRT
Routes	170[1]
Fleet	1100 (Active)[1]
Daily ridership	387,815 (2013)[2]
Fuel type	Diesel, CNG, electric trolleybus, diesel-electric hybrid
Operator	MBTA; private operators
Website	mbta.com
System map

The MBTA operates a four-route bus rapid transit service branded as the Silver Line, as well as three crosstown routes that were intended to become the first part of the now-suspended Urban Ring project. Fifteen routes designed as key routes run with higher frequency at all times, including extended service hours on Friday and Saturday nights over some of these routes.

Most MBTA bus service is served by diesel, compressed natural gas, and diesel-electric hybrid buses. Silver Line routes running in the Waterfront tunnel use dual-mode buses that operate as trolleybuses in the tunnel and as diesel buses on the surface. Four routes based out of the Harvard bus tunnel run with trolleybuses in Cambridge and several surrounding suburbs.

All buses and routes are wheelchair-accessible (see MBTA accessibility); most of the MBTA's bus fleet consists of low-floor buses with wheelchair ramps, while older high-floor buses have lifts. All buses have LED exterior headsigns displaying route and destination, with automated audio/visual stop announcements for passengers.

After taking over operations in August 1964 from the former Metropolitan Transit Authority, the MBTA began rebranding many elements of Boston's public transportation network. After being found unsuitable in 1965 for what is now the Orange Line because it did not show up well on maps, yellow was chosen for the color of bus operations on January 8, 1972.[3][4]

The Boston Elevated Railway and MTA operated overnight Owl service until 1960. From September 2001 to June 2005, the MBTA operated bus service on 17 routes (7 normal bus routes and 10 routes replicating subway lines) until 2:30am on Friday and Saturday nights. Similar service on the key routes was operated from March 2013 to March 2014.[5] In 2017, the MBTA Board considered a proposal to run all-night service on several routes with pulsed connections at a central hub.[6]

Fleet

Active fleet

This is the current bus roster for the MBTA as of August 2020. All buses are 102 inches (260 cm) wide; most buses are 40-foot (12 m) length, while 102 are 60-foot (18 m) articulated buses.[1]

Order Year	Manufacturer	Model	Picture	Fleet	Qty.	Active	Propulsion	Length (ft.)	Notes
2004	Neoplan USA	AN440LF		4101–4128	28	28	Electric trolleybus	40	Equipped with left-hand doors for operating into the Harvard bus tunnel
2004–2005	Neoplan USA	AN440LF		0401–0593	162	104	Diesel	40	Overhauled by Midwest Bus from 2013–2015 To be replaced by 2019-2020 NFI XDE40 buses
2004–2005	Neoplan USA	DMA-460LF		1101–1132	32	32	Dual mode	60	Used for Silver Line Waterfront (SL1, SL2, and SL3) service 1125–1132 owned by Massport Overhauled by Maine Military Authority from 2015–2018
2006–2007	NFI	D40LF		0600–0754	155	153	Diesel	40
2008	NFI	D40LF		0756–0910	155	155	Diesel	40	Undergoing overhaul, to be complete in early 2020.[1] 0755 has been renumbered 0910.[1]
2010	NFI	DE60LFR		1200–1224	25	25	Hybrid	60	Buses to be overhauled by Northeast Bus.[1] 1222–1224 used for Silver Line (Washington Street) routes
2014–2015	NFI	XDE40		1400–1459	60	60	Hybrid	40
2016–2017	NFI	XN40		1600–1774	175	175	CNG	40
2016–2017	NFI	XDE40		1775–1924 & 3000–3005	156	156	Hybrid	40	3000–3005 assigned to privately operated routes 712 and 713[1]
2016–2017	NFI	XDE60		1250–1293	44	44	Hybrid	60	1273–1293 used for Silver Line Washington Street routes
2018	NFI	XDE60		1294	1	1	Hybrid	60	Part of an option to order up to 45 additional hybrid buses with extended-range electric operation to replace the current dual-mode fleet, which would not require a change of power between trackless trolley and diesel at Silver Line Way.[7]
2019	NFI	XE60		1295–1299	5	5	Battery-electric	60	Funded by 2015 FTA grant.[8] Will be used for two years for testing battery-electric technology in Silver Line service.[9]
2019–2020	NFI	XDE40		1925–2118	194	166	Hybrid	40	Delivery in-progress; to last until September 2020 Part of an option order from the 2016–2017 XDE40 fleet contract. Will replace the entire AN440LF diesel fleet

Future

Sixty additional XDE40 buses, an option order from a Virginia contract, will be delivered from September to December 2020.[1]

Potential future orders include the 45-bus option order for extended-battery range hybrid buses (of which #1294 is a test bus). The MBTA may begin a phased 500-bus order in 2020, with delivery from 2021–2025. Under that plan, the agency would establish a continuous procurement process with 100 new buses per year, and buses retired after 12 years.[1]

Facilities

MBTA bus routes grouped by the facility they operate from at peak hours (2016)

Albany   Arborway   Cabot   Charlestown   Fellsway   Lynn

North Cambridge   Quincy   Somerville   Southampton   Private carriers

MBTA buses are operated out of nine facilities.[1] The MBTA plans to replace Quincy Garage with a larger facility near Quincy Adams station.[10]

Name	Address	Routes	Times of Operation
Albany Street	421 Albany Street, Boston	4, 55, 57, 59, 60, 65, 170, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 553, 554, 556, 558, CT2, CT3	Weekday rush hours and middays
Arborway	3600 Washington Street, Jamaica Plain	14, 21, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 34E, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 (evenings), 40, 41, 42, 50, 51, 52	Full-time
Cabot	275 Dorchester Avenue, South Boston	1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 43, 44, 45, 47, 66, 171 Also serves routes 55, 57, 59, 65, 504, and 553 when Albany Street is closed	Full-time
Charlestown / Bennett (Somerville)	21 Arlington Avenue, Charlestown	61, 62, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 101, 104, 109, 110, 111, 112, 325, 326, 350, 351, 352 Also serves routes 90, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 105, 106, 108, 132, 134, 136, 137, 411, and 430 when Fellsway Garage is closed, and routes 71 and 73 on Sundays	Full-time
Fellsway	465 Salem Street, Medford	90, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 105, 106, 108, 131, 132, 134, 136, 137, 354, 411, 430	Weekday rush hours and middays
Lynn	985 Western Avenue, Lynn	114, 116, 117, 119, 120, 121, 424, 426, 428, 429, 434, 435, 436, 439, 441, 442, 450, 451, 455, 456, 465	Full-time
North Cambridge	2375 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge	71, 73, 77A	Weekdays and Saturdays
Quincy	954 Hancock Street, Quincy	201, 202, 210, 211, 212, 214, 215, 216, 217, 220, 221, 222, 225, 226, 230, 236, 238, 240, 245	Full-time
Southampton	230 Southampton Street, Boston	28, 39, Silver Line	Full-time

Private buses

A Blue Hill Bus Lines vehicle on the Canton–Mattapan route, now the #716 route, in 1967

See also: List of MBTA bus routes § Privately operated routes

Most local bus routes in Massachusetts outside the immediate MBTA operating area are operated by the state's other regional transit authorities (RTAs). However, some routes that connect with MBTA bus or subway service are operated by outside private contractors with partial subsidy by the MBTA. [11]

Five routes – the 710, 712/713, 714, and 716 – are numbered like other MBTA buses. The five routes are primarily commuter routes which connect with other MBTA services at their inbound terminals. They were taken over from various private operators (Hudson Bus Lines for the 710 and 716, Rapid Transit Inc. for the 712/713, and Nantasket Transportation for the 714).[5] The 712 and 713 use MBTA-provided buses and accept Charliecards; the other routes do not.

Four suburban municipalities contract with outside operators for local circulator routes, most with partial MBTA subsidy. Bedford and Beverly run single routes, Burlington runs five routes, and Lexington runs six.[5] Most are run by private operators, except for the Beverly Shuttle, which is part of the Cape Ann Transportation Authority system. Additionally, a nonprofit shuttle is run in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood.[5] Those routes appear on MBTA system maps and connect with MBTA services at designated transfer points, but are numbered separately and do not accept MBTA passes.

References

1. "MBTA Vehicle Inventory". NETransit. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
2. "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
3. Tran, Andrew Ba (June 2012). "MBTA Orange Line's 111th anniversary". Boston Globe. p. 11. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017.
4. A Chronicle of the Boston Transit System. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 1981. p. 8 – via Internet Archive.
5. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
6. Vaccaro, Adam (August 1, 2017). "MBTA may test overnight buses, Foxborough commuter rail". Boston Globe.
7. "Baker-Polito Administration, State and Transportation Officials Celebrate the MBTA's First Extended-range Hybrid Bus in the MBTA Silver Line Fleet" (Press release). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 26, 2018.
8. "Low or No Emission Vehicle Deployment Program Project Selections". Federal Transit Administration. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
9. "First-Zero-emission-Battery-electric-Buses-Join-the-MBTA-Silver-Line-Fleet" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. July 31, 2019.
10. "MBTA Bus Facility Modernization Program: New Quincy Maintenance Facility" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. January 29, 2020.
11. "Private Bus". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved 22 July 2014.

External links

• MBTA – bus schedules and maps
• MBTA – Better Bus Project