The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed just how much residents of greater Boston depend on buses. It is the mode of mass transit that has shown the smallest decrease in ridership since the state shutdown in March — and it has recovered the quickest. The MBTA reports bus ridership is up to 40% of pre pandemic levels, while subway service is at 24%. And MBTA data indicates the busiest bus routes serve communities where there are lower income workers who don’t own cars, like Chelsea, Revere and Lynn to the north of the city center and Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan to the south.
Improving bus service has become a top priority for the MBTA.
One way of doing that is to provide street space that allows buses to operate unimpeded by cars and trucks. So called designated bus lanes not only speed the trip for riders, but allow more vehicles to run more frequently. And in this pandemic era where safety is a priority that means less crowding on buses.
The city of Everett created the first bus lane in 2017. Soon more bus lanes appeared in Roslindale, Arlington and Cambridge. But establishing designated bus lanes has been a slow process since residents are often concerned that they will change an integral part of their community’s infrastructure — parking for local stores.
Everett is now expanding its bus lane network around Sweetser Circle and along Main Street and Broadway. The expansion is part of the MBTA’s Rapid Response Bus Lane Program. Other bus lane projects slated for completion this fall include portions of Broadway in Chelsea, Broadway in Revere, Washington Street in Somerville, and Columbus Avenue and North Washington Street in Boston. And the city of Boston is looking to reconfigure three miles of Blue Hill Avenue from Mattapan Square to Grove Hall. Although there has been some opposition, city officials consider it so important they vow to refine the design to satisfy critics and squeeze money out of a recalcitrant Congress to get it done.
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