The first phase of the MBTA’s Better Bus Project will go into effect on Sunday, with major changes to several bus routes in the hopes of getting passengers where they want to go more quickly, eliminating underutilized routes, and connecting to more transit lines, including a new stop at Logan Airport.
MBTA officials say the new bus network will provide 25% more service — including weekend and evening trips — improve service reliability, double the number of frequent routes that run every 15 minutes or less every day, and introduce new connections in East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Malden, Somerville, Cambridge and Allston.
“They put a lot of time into this, and hopefully it goes smoothly after time and it delivers on the things that they’re promising, right? Better service, more efficiency and more frequency,” said Pete Wilson, senior policy director of the statewide coalition Transportation For Massachusetts.
The project started more than five years ago with the aim of responding to issues raised by community members and local transportation advocacy groups. This first phase includes changes to six routes, including eliminating the 117 bus route and shortening the 86 route to just connect Harvard to Brighton.
Katie Calandriello, the policy analyst and programs manager at TransitMatters, has been passing out flyers and chatting with commuters at bus stops. The local transportation advocacy group partnered with the MBTA to inform passengers about the upcoming changes.
Calandriello says she’s hearing “overwhelmingly positive” feedback from people who regularly ride the bus.
“The only somewhat negative thing we’ve heard is that 86 riders, because the route is shortened, there is no longer a one-seat ride between Brighton and Somerville,” she said. “However, the positive to that is that the 86 will be just more reliable off-peak.”
Calandriello said she spoke to a commuter who rides the bus from Somerville to Brighton to catch shows at Roadrunner.
“He had this sentiment of like, ‘We’ll see how the transfer goes,’” she said. “But when you’re coming back from a show at Roadrunner at 11 at night, normally you would have to wait more than 40 minutes for an 86 bus — whereas now you can more reliably catch the 86 after a show.”
Phases of the redesign will be implemented over the next five years, according to MBTA officials. Proposed changes include hiring and training new bus drivers as well as investing more than $500 million in street and intersection improvements, bus lanes, and bus enhancements. As part of phase 1, larger, two-sided signs with bus stop information in a bigger font will be posted along routes to accommodate accessibility needs.
“It’s not just a bus network redesign,” Calandriello said. “There is a lot more to it.”
The MBTA partnered with community organizations to inform commuters, brought staff out to bus stops to inform riders, sent voicemails, surveys and petitions in multiple languages and held municipal meetings, information sessions, pop-up events, coffee hours, open houses at libraries on affected routes throughout the fall.
Still, Wilson says he’ll be keeping an eye on how the MBTA communicates the changes to commuters as the plan actually becomes a reality.
“They need to be very responsive in the short term because it is a disruption,” he said. “Whether it’s a good disruption and a bad disruption, it’s still a disruption. We hope that they listen to members of the community who provide feedback on how this is going and whether or not they need to make adjustments.”
Over the last five years, officials reviewed more than 20,000 comments and suggestions from the public, MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said in a statement.
“Our bus network is a key mode for our transportation system,” he said, “and as we restore reliable bus service, we continue to seek opportunities to improve service and travel times.”
MBTA Phase 1 route changes, beginning Sunday, Dec. 15:
Route 104:
- Now a frequent bus route, operating every 15 minutes or less all day.
- New connection from Malden and Everett to Chelsea and Airport station.
- The bus route will now travel south of Everett Square to Bellingham Square and Airport station.
- Frequent bus route 109 will replace service between Everett Square and Sullivan Square.
- Service will double with expanded hours of operation.
Route 109:
- New frequent bus route will extend from Sullivan Square through Union Square to Harvard Square.
- Service will be tripled along this route.
- Route 109 will replace the 86 bus between Sullivan and Harvard Square.
Route 110:
- Now a frequent bus route with expanded Sunday service.
Route 86:
- Route will be shortened to end at Harvard Square
- 109 bus will replace 86 service between Harvard Square and Sullivan Square
- Buses will run more frequently every day with expanded Sunday service hours
Routes 116 and 117:
- Both 116 and 117 will be combined into one frequent bus route, 116.
- This route (116) will continue existing service between Wonderland and Maverick stations.
- Route 117 will no longer operate and will be replaced by frequent routes 116 and 110.
For more information about service changes, visit the MBTA’s website.
