I went to Boston for my senior trip in summer 2022 and convinced my parents we didn’t need a rental car and took the metro everywhere (blue almost every day, it was our favorite) and my parents agreed it was much nicer than driving. May not be perfect but by US standards it was so nice
I am not sure what that would feel like to us Europeans in such a "great transit city" but the "boston rapid transit and the green line" might just be fitting
I think one of the most frustrating shortcomings of the MBTA is the difficulty traveling north/south along the areas served by the red, green, and orange liens. Travelling between Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Brookline and Allston is a nightmare of transfers between slow bus lines. It takes an hour to travel 3 miles from Jamaica Plain to Brookline. An subway or light rail with an orbital route between dorchester and allston is the dream!
The green line used to extend down to Forrest Hills via the Jamaica Way from Heath Street. In the 80s, the line was closed due to "cost cutting moves" with promises of restoring the line at some point. When the people brought this up, the T balked, and the bus-centric T management with the help of NIMBYs got the restoration of the line nixed. I remember taking the line to Forrest Hills and also taking the Boston Elevated (aka orange line) as a kid. I don't remember the trip taking that long. The other NIMBY kill off was the Watertown branch. That service cut too started as a cost-cutting move and as is typical was never to return once the bus-centric management nixed that also with the help of NIMBYs who didn't like the noise of the trolleys. Getting back to the orange line. That line once elevated right through to Forrest Hills served many of the neighborhoods that are now served by buses. The line took up many passengers which otherwise now clog other lines including the newly located, well 35-plus years ago now, orange line. By doing that, the T deprived the people who used the system the most an easy ride into the city.
Yep the Yellow line orbital he suggested is too far in, it needs to go JFK, Ruggles, Kenmore, Gilman, Sullivan, then into logan but around the terminals instead of his people mover.
If the Pink Line has its own station near Fenway Park that would make getting in and out of Fenway so much easier. Kenmore Station is so hot and crowded after Sox games. I’d also suggest extending the Newburyport line to Salisbury and even Portsmouth, NH. If you rebuild the rail bridge over the Merrimack River, Portsmouth can also have Amtrak service.
I am indeed assuming the Pink Line would provide a better station location for access to Fenway Park. It wasn’t clear to me how intact the line from Newburyport to Portsmouth is or how plausible reactivating that would be. I have a branch off of the Downeaster corridor that hits Portsmouth, but maybe a Newburyport Line extension would be more worthwhile?
@@thehouseoftransit2719 restoring the old line is unfortunately not an option, I live one town over and the former railway is now a gorgeous public trail. And with that now a trail unless you want to make a sharp turn extending the line directly from Newburyport‘s station isn’t an option unless you like tunnels bc it would go directly through downtown. Which is a shame because it makes the most sense in terms of ridership
Newburyport bought the rail line ROW and would never give it up. The cost to rebuild the bridge over the Merrimack and staffing it as a drawbridge would be a multi billion dollar cost.
There’s literally no chance of extending the line to Salisbury north. People are far more likely to drive that short distance, or even better, bike, from Salisbury to the train station. The Clipper City Rail Trail is one of the nicest, most scenic, and most popular rail trails in the state. And, at least for Newburyport residents, is already the needed Last Mile to the station. Forget going even further to Portsmouth along that line.
The most important project in Boston by FAR would the North-south rail link (which was originally part of the big-dig, but was cancelled) It would extend the NEC north of Boston and would finally unite the commuter rail System
IMO, that's a worse effort to improvement than the green line. Just deleting half the green line stops and putting in 20th century signalling would pretty easily double the speed. with no new track
I live in the South End and was always annoyed at how the closest rapud transit stop was a 15-minute walk away, so I am absolutely ecstatic about your ideas for the Blue and Yellow Lines (and to turn the Silver Line into a tram)
This is good to hear! It definitely feels like the South End is a very large gap in the rapid transit network, especially considering how close it is to downtown and how dense it is
@@thehouseoftransit2719 Absolutely! There is this massive gap between the Orange and Red Lines where there is just about nothing in regards to rapid transit, and it annoys the crap out of me. Hell, at least Dorchester and Roxbury get semi-frequent bus service, but the South End is left with only infrequent (>30min headways) bus service save for the Silver Line. I think it would be cool if the new Silver Line tram was extended south past Nubian. I have three ideas with varying levels of ambition: 1. Extend along the current 23 bus route (Warren Street), terminating at Four Corners/Geneva station on the extended Blue Line 2. Entirely replace the current 23 bus route and extend all the way to Ashmont (Warren Street, then Washington Street after the Blue Line interchange, then terminate at Ashmont) 3. Replace the 28 bus route and carry down Blue Hill Ave instead of Washington Street, terminating at Mattapan I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this. I think that the extension to Ashmont makes the most sense, but I see benefits in all three options
@@janAlekantuwa I'm not nearly as familiar with the 23 although I know route 28 currently serves a very important role. I think with improved service down the Fairmount Line corridor, the 28 becomes a bit less of a key route (still important, but maybe fine with a frequent rapid bus/BRT style service). I really like the idea of extending the SL Tram along the 23 since that creates new crosstown capacity and serves a currently unserved and dense part of the city down Warren, and while the streets south of there look somewhat narrow in places I'm sure there would be ways to squeeze in a tram all the way to Ashmont if the political will is there. All your ideas have a lot of merit!
@@janAlekantuwa I live between Blue Hill and Warren. I can walk to Nubian in about 12 minutes, orange line at Ruggles in about 25. Nubian is a very busy bus hub and if it could be incorporated into a more rapid-transit system I'd be thrilled. I will say that Blue Hill is probably too narrow for a double-track line unless it ran in the same lanes as car traffic, but I think Warren is wide enough to support a street car with dedicated lanes.
@@thehouseoftransit2719 I came up with an even better idea for the Silver Line tram! On the east, have it go all the way to City Point. To the south, pick option 2 (extension to Ashmont via Warren St) and them have it replace the current Ashmont-Mattapan trolley
As a Boston native this gave me a whole new perspective and shed a whole new light on what I have grown up on accepting as a dysfunctional metro system. A majority of the ideas you have for expansion and cross-utilization are perfectly logical and if executed correctly (financially and physically) will break down congestion exponentially. MBTA is a disgrace, and I say that as somebody who has been riding damn near my whole life. I’m disheartened at the fact that I’m ashamed of the historic metro system in my city, and a vast majority (if not all) of its problems stem from politicians (big surprise)
The issue/problem with your thinking is the "my whole life" part. You don't have a good feeling of just how much better Boston mass transit is to other American cities. Try Miami for instance, a place I am used to; the difference is like gigantic (with Boston a thousand times better mass transit wise). And Miami is ranked the 8th best mass transit in the country (Boston mass transit usually ranked 2nd or 3rd behind only NYC and sometimes San Francisco). The difference between 2nd and 8th is huge! My bet is that if you moved to anywhere not named NYC, you would experience an "absence makes the heart grow fonder" feeling regarding Boston mass transit.
This mostly is an American Problem. America thinks investing in public transit isn’t worth it. There are always complaints about expense. Of course it will cost, everything does, and it won’t be free. If we quit being cheap and build transit correctly, people will ride. Sadly poor transit in America will be an inherited mess for the next generation.
You should absolutely extend the red line to Arlington Heights! I live in Brookline (Brookline Hills stop on the D branch). When I go to visit my friend who lives in Arlington Heights, it takes 2-2.5 hours each way. I have the option of taking the T to Park Street and then switching to the red line, or taking the 66 bus to Harvard Square and then switching to the 77. I make my decision based on the day of the week and time of day that I’m going (people from Boston know what I mean!). The area from Porter Square to Arlington Heights would be SO much more walkable if it could get some help from better public transit!
They should connect all the commuter lines with a ring route. So if I'm in Salem, north of Boston, I can get to any other commuter line without going into Boston
I'm a little surprised that you didn't have a northern extension for the Orange Line. When it was originally being planned in the late 60s / early 70s, it was supposed to terminate at Reading. Unfortunately the NIMBYs got their way, and the line only went as far as the current station at Oak Grove. I wonder how people in Reading, Wakefield, and Melrose would feel about a rapid transit connection today?
My interpretation was that that extension assumed the commuter rail couldn’t be improved. Today it seems commuter rail improvements would be just as effective as (and much cheaper than) an orange line extension
NIMBYs also affected the Red Line which is why it does not go through Arlington and extend to Lexington. The demographics of Arlington has changed so that MIGHT be possible today.
Really appreciate any all pushes to sensible improvements to the transit system. Especially inner city train enhancements. One thing that is missing for me that i believe still proves difficult is a train system of some sort to get from the Brookline/Allston/Brighton side of the charles up the western part of cambridge/watertown area. There are tons of busses that can eventually get there but notably all transit even on the much improved map prefers to flow inward and could be a useful add.
I live in Malden, and I know that there was once a tram system here and in Everett that connected to Boston. It appears that the proposed expansion in this video revives some of the old tram lines (such as what is now the 109 bus on Broadway/Route 99) as BRT. That would certainly provide more frequent service around my neighborhood.
The best way to fix the MBTA are non-radial routes. These are routes that connect to different lines outside of the city center. This is to increase travel options, while reducing travel times across the system.
The MBTA is little more than a sick joke. Most especially the Green Line. Even cities much smaller than Boston have figured out how to use light-rail in an effective manner. Take a look at Baltimore, for example. Baltimore has one heavy metro line and 3 light-rail lines. On its light rail lines, the following all apply: 1) Trains run in 1-car, 2-car, or 3-car consists - depending on time of day and expected ridership (e.g., when a professional baseball game or football game approaches its end). If it ever gets permission to use the underground tunnel that runs from Camden Yards to North Street (currently used for freight rail), it could even run 4-car trains at peak times - each train being 380 feet long (longer than a 5-car train on the MBTA's Red Line). 2) Each train has only a SINGLE operator (the train driver), who controls the opening and closing of all doors in the entire consist 3) All doors open at all station stops 4) Fare payment is by "proof of payment" method 5) When a light-rail train approaches a road intersection on the surface, it electronically seizes the intersection, automobiles and trucks are halted by red traffic signals in all directions, crossing gates descend and block all roads that cross the light-rail right-of-way, and the light-rail train speeds through the intersection without slowing The same holds for many other light-rail systems in the United States (e.g., San Diego). The MBTA needs to learn from other cities. But I doubt that it will. It never has.
As a European accustomed to efficient interconnected transit systems, I'm absolutely *astounded* that the two principal railway stations in one of the United States' largest cities are COMPLETELY UNLINKED. It's unbelieivable! Looking at the map, the Red and Green lines of the MBTA are linked North to South between Boston, so why isn't the commuter rail system similarly connected!? If you want to travel between Quincy and Cambridge you can red the Red Line all the way, but if you want to travel from Quincy to the North End/waterfront to see all the historic sights of Boston, you have to exit South Station and either bus or walk a MILE into town!
Yes, it’s absurd that the connection hasn’t been made given how beneficial it would be. Even Philadelphia took a lesson from the Germans and built a center city tunnel connecting its terminals. Hopefully the MBTA will pursue development of the North-South Rail Link once it gets its act together.
The Red, Green, Orange, and Blue lines interconnect (2 lines each station) at Park Street, Government Center, Haymarket, North Station, Downtown Crossing, and State. Thus, you can get to the North End and the Waterfront from Quincy by switching lines once or twice without leaving the system.
Connecting the end of the Riverside line to the commuter rail line seems like a no-brainer. People could go outbound in the morning to jump over to the CR for a quick ride to Back Bay and South Station, which should lighten the inbound passenger traffic on the Green Line. This set up was used on a temporary basis in the 1990s when the green line tunnels were flooded out. Commuter Rail trains were switched into Riverside Station.
@@thehouseoftransit2719 The switch between the commuter rail and the Green line still exists. Both lines were owned by the Boston & Albany Railroad. The commuter line runs on the B&A's mainline out of Boston, and the D line runs on the B&A's Circuit line. The other end of the line would connect back with the mainline where Lansdowne station near Fenway Park is now.
One unfortunate thing about the orange line is that it used to be planned to go up to reading depot, but Melrose , the city not 3 blocks north of the current terminus in Malden, blocked the expansion.
I haven't been to Boston in a while but: The Fitchburg Line. Making it a Green Line branch seems worthy of consideration. The interchange between light rail and regional rail would seem to be at Stony Brook, just at I-95/Route 128. Getting a new route down to the Providence line seems okay, except you might have to take some private property just west of Auburndale to get the proper curve in. I'm not an engineer, so I leave that question open.
An extension I've always thought would be worth having: Take the Lowell commuter rail branch, and extend it north into New Hampshire, where it can follow existing tracks to stop at 3 of the largest communities in that state, Nashua, Manchester, and Concord. Conveniently, the rail stations could be added to the existing bus stations that sit right near the tracks in both Manchester and Concord. Given that there's a lot of car and bus traffic between those places, I suspect the line would be quite busy.
Fully agree! This is actually included in the regional rail map I show at 11:11, though I depicted it as a new service rather than an extension of the existing Lowell Line. The rail-adjacent bus stations are certainly a plus as well.
I currently use the Kingston Commuter rail in order to travel to and from Park Street in order to go to my college classes. The Commuter rail in it of itself isn’t bad, just needs to be 1) faster, 2) more frequent, 3) allow two trains to run on the same track at once-if a commuter rail train is running opposite from an oncoming train, it must stop and wait for the other to pass. Plus, the Red Line connection is a NIGHTMARE. It doesn’t come frequently even on weekdays and one might wait 15+ minutes to be able to get on a train to or from South Station. It’s also often late or having problems; I often joke and say that “even the trains have traffic” but it’s starting to get less funny. I used to live on the Cape before it got too expensive, and I would have LOVED a rail going down there in whatever form. Public transport down there is foul and the traffic of the Bridges and the traffic going into Boston is even worse. So many people would use it if it were viable.
Hmm yeah sounds like the MBTA should invest in more commuter rail tracks if there aren’t enough places for trains to pass. And the Red line is SUPPOSED to have each branch every ten minutes all day but evidently that isn’t working out as well as it should… As for Cape Cod, definitely agree! The biking trails are a really pleasant way to get around once you’re there but there needs to be an easier way of getting to them in the first place.
If I were the T I would make elevated tracks on E line on Huntington Avenue all the way to Heath Street. Then do the Same thing with the B line on Commonwealth Avenue. That speeds the trains up, prevents accidents, reduces traffic, and creates jobs.
There are a couple of things that are impossible within your current plan due to the already planned expansions. First off loading gauge is not taken into account through Newton and the MBTA is already upgrading the stations through Newton as of next month to fit the commuter rail loading gauge. They also plan to add platforms to both sides. The people mover was cancelled and the ferry terminal was also neglected in that plan which is a bit of a shame. Lastly in your plan South Boston, Waltham, Brighton, Allston and a few other neighbors were completely neglected. There are some interesting ideas in here but I'm not sure the bang for the buck is there. The E branch right of way I had never thought about but it's remarkable that they haven't separated it out yet from traffic.
Ah that’s interesting to know about the loading gauges. I do think worst case scenario the stations could be rebuilt to have low platforms to fit lrt, though obviously that feels silly when they’ve just been upgraded to high platforms. I also think that in places where the GL replaces commuter rail, it could be a slightly more cost-effective alternative to building new high platforms, while serving areas like Waltham with better service. You’re right that I didn’t quite consider Allston and Brighton. They seemed close to existing rail services but I suppose are dense enough to warrant their own routes (though I believe one of the BRT routes in the map accomplishes this). As for the peoplemover, unfortunate that it got canned but I suspect it would still be a worthy investment at some point. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Why not connect the E Branch into the new Auburndale-Revere Pink Line since the tracks would cross anyway? It would further relieve congestion on the Green Line central subway.
"The Blue Line would be extended to Lynn-- " YES! I believe you could have said more (or anything) about the buses beyond frequency. Please do GATRA next.
Noted, I’m not familiar enough about the bus system to really give specific critiques, but of course generally all-door boarding, transit signal priority, offboard fare payment, and bus lanes are very beneficial to riders.
"The blue Line would be extended to Lynn" - never!! That plan has been on the books for over 70 years; they have a right of way all ready; but it will never happen. I grew up in Lynn and took the Blue Line to school and work for 15 years. They can’t even run the Blue Line trains faster than 10 mph now due to poor infrastructure.
Blue line to Lynn used to be easy to do but some large apartment buildings built their driveways across the Right of Way and people have started to extend their backyards fences back into the right of way of the Blue Line so it is getting lost over time.
Another thing to note about the red line is that the planned route going through Arlington is right on top of the cities bike path and I doubt the residents would allow for it to be replaced
Yeah, I do think that the trail could continue to exist beneath an elevated Red Line extension. This sort of thing exists in Australia and doesn’t have to be unsightly.
There should be enough room in the right of way to have both, I imagine. There’s a few places that actually do have railtrails running next to an active line.
I find this very cool because I just moved to the Boston area and I lived on each one of these lines even though I have only been here for about 3 years I came from New York City the train system there is very fluid it's very nice the one over here is more chaotic I like your expansions and your tweaks to the train system it is very cool
I've been saying that green line needs to be extended to waltham a good while now. It's more dense than newton and has a lot more people that would benefit from more frequent cheaper stops
Orange line is fine ending at forest hills,but split it in half with the south and north parts meeting at downtown crossing,north trains use the existing platforms,and the ones from the south end on lower platforms with lift acess to the north,and the south section becomes free for the 1st month,along with the north
I agree with you on all of this except the main three subway lines. The Pink line’s Needham branch should go all the way to Forest Hills. The Blue line can be extended to Charles/MGH, but I think that’s as much as it needs. I think an elevated commuter rail station above Aquarium Station would eliminate the need for the blue line to be extended out to Fairmount. The red and orange lines’ alignments are perfect the way they are IMO.
On the commuter rail side of things, I think it would make sense to wrest back some passenger service from the freight companies that run on what used to be the Providence-Worcester Railroad and create a Providence-Worcester service and make a nice triangle between the metro areas instead of having the death trap that is 146 be consistently clogged and under repair.
Neat effort! I think a greater focus on currently underserved areas would be helpful (if we're going to build a new orbital route we would probably want to hit Nubian Square and Longwood, for example, and some more suburban extensions to the few communities that are committed to infill development would be nice). And some pretty dense core communities (Everett, Chelsea, Revere, Quincy, Lynn) get a bit overlooked in this. Worth tinkering with, maybe some of the bus network redesign thoughts would be helpful for you in continuing to refine!
Thanks for the feedback! There are definitely still areas worth expanding to, though I don’t have the data to support whether an expensive subway to Everett, for example, is easily justifiable. I’m always open to tweaking things as I learn more!
I just wish there was more transit options in woburn. Adding that south station commuter rail connection would really help me get the places i need to go.
They should link the commuter rails greenbush line with the Kingston/Plymouth line and also they should use the existing rail trail to get service back to woods hole on the cape
My biggest wish as a resident is to connect cambridge - somerville - medford with a light rail or something similar. Currently, to get from where I live on the red line over to the orange line stops around assembly square, I’d have to go into downtown boston, adding unnecessary travel. The yellow line kind of addresses this but skips into cambridge for so short a distance and in an area that is almost entirely mit campus that i don’t see it being highly useful to most residents. Feels akin to the G line in NYC - something to connect the outer boroughs without going downtown. Is there possibility for a brookline -> cambridge -> somerville -> medford line?
Hmm, yeah seems like there’s a lot of value in a line accomplishing that. Fitting in a tram on those narrow streets might be challenging, but maybe there could be a route running from around Coolidge Corner up Harvard Avenue to Allston, then running through the Harvard campus and paralleling the Red Line down Massachusetts Ave (but with more stops) to Porter Square. Getting from there to Medford (more or less what the winding route 96 does) would be difficult without significant tunneling but if the demand is there it might be worthwhile.
The mattapan line is such a weird little throwback, with its wartime PCC streetcars running on a regular rapid transit line. I’m pretty sure that they actually have to rely on places like the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine, and even cannibalizing one or two of their own stock that were damaged beyond repair in an accident, in order to keep these things running.
It’s definitely a cool line, though leaving ancient cars in service exclusively in a historically Black area of the region is a little problematic. Will be good to have them replaced (though hopefully the cars will be preserved somewhere)!
I'm pretty sure the biggest reason they are still in service is because the bridges and overpasses weren't built to accommodate the heavier and taller modern equipment. My guess is that at least a few will end up at Seashore when they are finally retired.
Although, now that I think about it, I do think Boston could benefit from a real legacy streetcar line. (Rather than just one kept out of necessity.) Perhaps in South or East Boston? Both are areas that don't really have great public transit options, and have a relative lack of old railroad RoWs that the existing system can extend into, so a legacy streetcar line (along with dedicated signaling), might make sense.
Frankly speaking about proposals to restore commuter rail service to at least Manchester NH, since NH is still on the fence at best regarding commuter rail (primarily related to costs in general), perhaps the MBTA should simply focus on extending the existing Lowell line to literally just merely a few feet south of the New Hampshire line. Now this would sound ludicrous under average conditions, but a good sized shopping mall (with plentiful back/forth highway access at multiple exits) and plentiful parking exists directly next to the existing railroad tracks in front of that mall. Plentiful parking. Redevelopment potential. Potential New Hampshire based BRT/express bus services feeding said new terminus station. Reduced crowding potential at Lowell. And New Hampshire, especially Nashua getting significant benefits without major tax increases exclusively in a bid to keep more than a noticeable handful of likely peak period drivers OFF of the historically congested Boston highways along 128 inwards. And that’s not including multiple former department store buildings at the mall getting completely rebuilt into larger scale hotels… AND MULTIPLE of them… something in particular that I already think ALL malls in North America should focus on if they even remotely want to remain relevant; on top of being a potential BRT/express bus hub If anything, I reckon New Hampshire’s (VERY tightassed) potential commuter rail dollars better working moreso towards a Newburyport extension either towards Hampton NH or all the way to Portsmouth. I very much trust that not only are said NH beaches a significant tourist draw, but also a likely summertime traffic CHOKE POINT? Any rural highway that’s 8 lanes is overwhelmingly likely that way for a real reason.
I actually really like the idea of commuter rail in the Merrimack Valley! I included one such proposal in this video, which isn’t an MBTA extension but rather a separate interurban-like service. That corridor connecting Nashua, Manchester, and Concord would be strong but I’m not sure the Lowell Line is the best way to serve it? Just my thoughts.
@@thehouseoftransit2719 just recently read that Merrimack Valley doesn’t even have regular AMTRAK services. On top of an abandoned rail to trail conversion north of Concord NH coming quite close enough to the existing Vermonter train around White River Jct. VT, what could quite effectively eventually become a one seat ride between Boston & Montreal. Since THAT doesn’t exist, that sounds like a better investment with said commuter line extensions following the paths I described to the Pheasant Lane Mall & Portsmouth NH
Great video! Love the idea for the orbital line. As an Australian, it baffles me that so many US cities still run Diesel-hauled commuter trains. We electrified the networks in our biggest cities (Melbourne, Sydney) over 50 years ago. Hope to see that north south Boston connection as well soon. Honestly I think that should have been done before the Big Dig. What program did you use to illustrate the new lines?
@@jdillon8360 It baffles me as well! I used Google My Maps for most of the map graphics. If you want to see some content that takes inspiration from Melbourne, check out our Denver video :)
Funny coming across this video, I'm actually from Arlington. Not sure if you knew but back in the 70s there was a proposal to extend the Redline to Arlington instead of having it end at Alewife. I wasn't alive yet but apparently the town was very against the idea of it (growing up I heard older people complain about the proposal when mentioned) and as a result never got the extension. I reckon times have changed and people would love to have it extended though but I'd be curious to see if history would repeat itself.
@@thehouseoftransit2719 Arlington has a reputation of being a very "townie" place, lots of families have lived there for generations and they aren't too friendly about non townie families moving in. From what I understand, Arlington wanted to remain a small suburban enclave rather than be integrated more into the Greater Boston Area. Apparently when my parents bought their house in the 90s, they were not well received by the neighbors since they were not originally from the town! Arlington has changed a lot even since I was a kid, lots of new housing and apartment complexes and more young people working in Boston choosing to live in it. I would think that if proposed again it would pass but I honestly couldn't say.
@@camt8990 Ah this makes sense. The town seems pretty built-up by now with decent density, so yes hopefully the community would be more receptive to a Red Line extension.
@@thehouseoftransit2719 Community opposition to projects can be very hard to predict, and the reasons given may not always seem to make sense. A small vocal minority can make a difficult opponent. There were a couple of such towns in New Jersey, but it turned out that NJ Transit never got the funding in place to build what was proposed.
I get that it’s fun to play armchair transit designer every once in a while, but most of this is never happening. Just at the MBTA’s current situation, should they really be focusing on expanding their network when they are barely capable of running what they have now?
Definitely true, maintaining the existing system should be the priority. All the same, we shouldn’t accept the status quo of a stagnating transit network in a region with so much potential (and yes many of these expansions might not be feasible in the short-term but they would be a way to dramatically expand the MBTA’s reach).
Fascinating. But it completely ignores the debt overhang at the MBTA that basically precludes it from taking on *any* of these projects. There is a massive overhang of debt for various transit capital investments that had to be made when the Big Dig was done. These were indeed transit projects - but all necessitated by the car traffic improvements. Until the MBTA can figure out how to handle that $5B of debt, and $125M of debt service annually, nothing like this is remotely concievable.
I live in Somerville near the orange line and since I live near a slow zone and they're still in place I leave super early for work because of that and I'm still somehow late it's ridiculous. Like the system will never be good. Like yeah it's also nice that they're extending the green line to Medford but there are more important issues to fix with the transit system than that. Does anyone know when the slow zones are going to go away for the orange line
I like how many of your ideas resemble former rail and trolley lines that existed in the past. There has been a local movement to restore the E branch of the green line to Arborway near Forest Hills. Maybe have it be elevated? The former tracks to Arborway continued on the street past Heath, and it closed in 1985. We also could expand the orange line to Reading, replacing the Haverhill commuter rail. (Haverhill line could extend run on the Lowell line until Wilmington) There were plans back in the 70s to extend the orange line north of Oak Grove. We could extend the Blue Line north of Lynn to Marblehead and Salem. Definitely Salem, given the historical attractions. I don't think it needs to be expanded to the south, other than a connection to the red line. The Fairmont line could be a third branch of the red line. All that would be needed to be done would be a connector tunnel between Broadway and the line. The idea of making the silver line a light rail is so cool! It could run from Chelsea on the already designated busway, and then run to the airport (perhaps a branch going to each terminal), South Station, and Nubian. Then it could run in a tunnel and later a median on Blue Hill ave (that would solve congestion in the area). Then it would replace the Mattapan line and end at Ashmont. I will say it will be sad seeing the PCCs go.
I’d say expand the Orange Line south along the Providence line towards Walpole & Foxborough, which would help with traffic at Gillette for game days & expand it to providence after
@@thehouseoftransit2719I’ve taken the train from Boston to Gillette & back & the 5 ish mile stretch between Walpole station & the stadium at Gillette needs some massive updates because the trains have to go really slow. Takes like 30 mins to make that stretch
The blue line desperately needs to be extended to lynn and lynn needs a newer station to handle the capacity of ppl that will be taking the station. And there’s enough space in downtown lynn for underground stations or even an overground smaller station under the train tracks by Union st.
I love it, why not expand the blue line to Salem? Every October the city triples in it's size and closes all traffic to outsiders because of how busy it gets.
Thanks! Improving service on the Newburyport/Rockport line would be just as effective and much easier to implement (while also allowing for faster trips into Boston). A Blue Line extension would be nice, but it would be very costly relative to the benefit it could provide.
I think a more practical orbital rail line would be a RT 128 parallel route (Yankee Division Highway really) that goes from Quincy all the way to Salem. I mean also this would be a huge investment so it is unlikely to happen but at the very least the 128 corridor should be connected by bus services. It's not only a largely built up corridor that has terrible accessibility to people who can't drive but it is also always congested.
Born and raised in Boston in 1977. Left 24 years ago. The T in its CURRENT version is better than anything they have here in Houston. I have a car here and live in the north suburbs of Houston,but this city is in desperate need of a mass transit upgrade.
Good video. The only knock on the plan is that it leaves the Longwood Medical Area, a large job and service center, still poorly served by rapid transit.
Thanks! That’s a fair point, the Longwood Medical Area is huge and the E (and D to an extent) might not serve it well enough. It didn’t seem like there was an immediately obvious way to better-serve the area without a whole new expensive rapid transit line, but maybe there could be a short tunneled spur line (say off of the Orange Line) to give it a higher-capacity connection.
They were planning on extending the commuter rail braintree and Providence line to Southern Massachusetts. The project is being dragged due to Nimbys in those communities.
I think at a minimum the MBTA system definitely does NEED an orbital route, the yellow line in your plans. But IMO the second of importance is a Fitchburg-Worcester (pronounced 'wor-ster' or 'wistah') link along rt190, as well as the North-South Stations link, because currently that's a Red-Orange/Green transfer rather than a direct route. Also, as long as the airport still gets free access to the subway system, almost anything would be an improvement over the silver line. (even though I take advantage of that free ride only once in a blue moon)
And also why not add a green line F branch to mattapan via Franklin park zoo and Dudley replacing the sl4 sl5 and restore the arborway line on the E branch
As someone who grew up in Needham, I can tell you that Hersey gets the most riders because it has by far the most park-and-ride capacity. People don't really walk to Needham T stations on account of the low density, so that capacity makes a big difference.
Coming from NYC, living in Boston for about 10 years as of 2022. I gotta say, MBTA is piece of shit, NYC is not the greatest thing but at least there are usually backup trains running in parallel as alternative when a train is down. I have never been stuck in a train for almost 2 hours due to a disabled train until I moved here. Cost of parking in the city runs between $400-$600 a month which is pretty expensive but god it sure feel the money is well spent whenever I hear about slowdown. If you got a coworker living nearby, it's also a great offer to take him/her home as express lane is for 2+. Boston is pretty convenient for car culture, its public transportation is horrible. I have been to NYC, Chicago, and Boston, and i gotta say Boston is the worst when it comes to subways. If you're at south station and announcement goes like "we're experiencing 15-20 minutes delay due to blah blah blah," it's best you head to Chinatown or Newbury street to grab 90 minute dinner, it's gonna be a long wait if you choose to wait. Alternatively you can get on the purple line if it happens to work for you, you can always uber from a station to where you parked. MBTA is always concentrated on expanding service instead of improving existing service, this is probably due to corruption and political gain. It's kinda like the dot com bubble, it doesn't matter how far the train goes if it doesn't take people to where they want to go reliably. MTBA in the winter is like you're traveling in a 3rd world country, weekly delay guaranteed, lucky weeks where it's out of service/delay every other day...
I agree with most of this, but I'm not so sure about the rerouting of the Worcester and Fitchburg lines, particularly the use of that bridge over the river. That section of track is not designed for high frequency use, only being used to transfer equipment between North and South Stations. It is single tracked and has little to no room for adding an additional line without demolishing some buildings, though with some clever scheduling you could possibly make it work since those lines are not particularly busy. In my opinion though, it just isn't the right place to send the two lines serving the two major centers of Worcester County. The Gardner extension I do agree with and apparently did exist at one point (Gardner, like many factory cities in the area, isn't the city it once was). In the last decade, the Fitchburg line was extended in that direction (all be it just a couple miles) to a station to serve a popular ski area and runs special "ski trains" in the winter which have a couple cars refitted to better carry skis. That said, I think I speak for everyone in Central Mass when I say we need a route between Worcester, Fitchburg, and Lowell. I-190, to Rt-2 to I-495 or any combination of the three is not a fun drive and, especially on Rt-2 and 495, prone to traffic. Tracks between Worcester and Fitchburg lines do exist, though only used by CSX and, until recently, Pan-am. They would need some upgrades though and I believe the route actually ends in Ayre a few miles East of Fitchburg) where there is a small intermodal terminal so it may not be perfect, but even Ayre and the surrounding towns are not an insignificant population and many frequently commute to Lowell or Worcester.
This video is really well-made. I definitely would have done some things differently, but its interesting to the what someone not from Boston would do. What did you use to make the map? I've used metromapmaker, but its far from ideal.
Thanks for the feedback! We’d definitely be interested in hearing some of your ideas if you want to share. The map is made in Google My Maps, which has a lot of useful features but has also been kind of neglected by Google and can be clunky at times. Would still recommend checking it out!
@@thehouseoftransit2719 As a Cambridge resident I think a bunch of what you said is mostly correct. The biggest disagreement I have is your comments on the silver line. Reliable airport transit is a really good thing to have, so I would definitely make an all rail version of the silver line that connects to at least red and green. I also think it would be interesting to think about an alternate version of your yellow line which would be a red line branch that splits off at MIT or Central and follows Mass Ave into Boston (replacing the #1 bus).
Well, unlike freeway expansions like the big dig, transit projects have meaningful impacts on reducing traffic and greenhouse gases. Unfortunately I don’t have an estimate for how much this probably-over-the-top plan might cost.
Great vid and analysis. Yes, straighten the Boylston curve. I never have my earplugs - so just resort to using my fingers. Can you submit this video and your resume to the MBTA HR people?
Rather than having the orbital make two stops at Massachusetts Avenue and Symphony, I would support a single stop in between them and connected to both, which would turn the expanded Symphony station complex into a useful transfer point outside of downtown Boston.
@@thehouseoftransit2719 oh wow! I used it too! I had a feeling that you used it too but I thought it might been a different application b/c of all the T symbols, but that must’ve just been a feature I hadn’t figured out yet.
@@The4905 oh nice! Yeah if you add a new point you can click on it, select “more icons”, and then at the bottom left if you click “custom icon” you can select either your own photos or images from google.
It would be awesome if you did one of these for Philadelphia SEPTA! We used to have a strong streetcar network that was eventually slashed and much of our subways don't actually provide transportation throughout most parts of the city.
Wouldn't it be possible to have the light rail extension through Needham and the orange line both end at Needham Junction? With that housing law passed and since this is all a hypothetical anyways, shouldn't we assume Needham could be developed more around these stations too?
Green line should be extended to ANDERSON WOBURN using the freight line.....with Green line , commuter rail connections added at Wdegemere, West Medford, Winchester, Mishawum could be reopened as a parking lot for commuters and a green line station. - and ending at Anderson Woburn with a connection to the commuter rail with the big park and ride lot there. Perhaps more EVehicle charging statyions could be added or a designated Evehicle charging lot for both teslas and non teslas at Anderson Wobrun as well.
I don't think that diverting the Worcester/Framingham line corridor to go through Cambridge and to north Station makes much sense... I feel like that could harm that line and the future uses of it for express services. But I agree that it could be beneficial to improve to the D line with even a new row and to reuse that rail line through Cambridge.
This is a valid point. I think locals from Framingham could use the Cambridge Line, but maybe expresses should still run via Back Bay (which of course poses a problem of what to do with the D). Alternatively maybe the D could become a kind of chordal line using that Cambridge right of way, but idk how thrilled existing passengers would be about that…
@@thehouseoftransit2719 yeah I could see the link to Cambridge being useful as someone who has lived along the Framingham/Worcester line and near the D line. So that idea I definitely find interesting but I still don't find it ideal. Lansdowne would definitely be an issue with trying to implement it too, I guess they would need to demolish it. But this makes me think that, obviously increase the frequencies on all the commuter rail lines, but specifically make Boston Landing to South Station more like a subway. That means easy hop on/hop off at any station and frequent with the subway fare system.
@@street_ruffian in my concept that area would have trains from Fitchburg, Worcester, and Framingham running through, so yeah you’d get those sweet sweet s bahn core subway-like frequencies
Agreed. The Boston-Worcester line is the main line to Chicago (the old Boston & Albany). Direct and - with a few more passing tracks - has capacity. The Fitchburg line is the old Boston & Maine line which also (with modifications) has capacity. As noted, the need is to connect North and South Stations and eliminate level crossings in Cambridge.
Considering that the communities west of the western extent of the commuter rail (Fitchburg & Worcester) contribute funds $$ to the MBTA, and have for many decades, the recent proposals to extend those rail passenger service to & trough the western half of the state should be approved & built.
Other than N. and S. Station, build a commuter rail that goes to the airport, but it doesn’t have to go through Boston, it could honestly break off from JFK/UMASS or Q. Center and then go from Squantum or Hough’s Neck
Extend it to Chelsea Station where we can have North and south station commuter and amtrak connector. Plus, the tunnel can start from near south station with connection to all of the commuter rail lines as well.
Something else I would add (not Boston) would be trains that follow the Connecticut river. It would be super cool to go from Springfield up to the surrounding towns that are really close to the river
Now the Red Line originally terminated at Harvard. In the 1970's the T planned to extend the Red Line to Lexington Via Arlington. The problem was Harvard the original 1912 station was in the way so they have to completely close Harvard and rebuilt it in 1980. Also the residents and the mayor of Arlington did not want any Railroads, not even for a temporary extension. There was a Railroad which began operation in 1846 and shut down in 1977 which is the Lexington branch went from Bedford to Boston via the current Minutemen Bikepath. Due to the pressure of the residents in Arlington the Red Line was only extended to Alewife. For JFK/UMass it originally opened first on the ashmont branch in 1919, the Braintree branch was planned to start from Andrew, it opened in 1971. JFk was contructed for the Braintree Branch in 1988. The problem of constructing a Flyer over Junction South of jfk is due to the Braintree branch going on a bridge, the Commuter Rail underneath would require jfk to shut down for 7 years.
I think that running commuter rail on the Grand Junction (the alignment thru Cambridge) could cause issues because there are a high number of level crossings. We would need to tunnel most of this section (and potentially place a multi-use pathway on the former surface RoW). I'm also wondering what we would do about Amtrak trains that currently interline with the Worcester Line. As of now, there is only the once daily Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, but, in the future, we may have a spur off the Maple Leaf to Toronto, increased service between Boston and Albany (or even between Boston and Buffalo), and a shunt off the Northeast Regional/Acela where trains take the inland route (via Hartford, Springfield, and Worcester) instead of the coastal route (via New London and Providence). Would these Amtrak trains now all go thru the Grand Junction into North Station (which could cause congestion if additional northward Amtrak routes, like Boston-Montréal or Boston-Québec City, are created, and/or if service frequency is increased on the Downeaster), or would they still go to Back Bay and South Stations?
@@janAlekantuwa You’re right, since this video was made I’ve come to realize it probably doesn’t make much sense to shift trains on the Worcester Line to feed into North Station
@@thehouseoftransit2719 Yeah; I think that we could accommodate the Pink Line at Back Bay by reducing the size of I-90 (or even eliminating the highway altogether). Congestion at South Station could be allieviated by highway removal as well. As for the Fitchburg Line, given that it has lower service frequency than the Worcester Line, we could still have it run along the Grand Junction, or we could have it keep its current ROW, while the Green Line gets tunneled as far as Danehy Park/North Cambridge. In the latter scenario, we'd have a couple Green Line reconfigurations/extensions: 1. Resurrect the A branch to Watertown and have it link with the Watertown GLX branch to form a loop 2. Have the B branch split off from the rest of the Green Line at Boylston and terminate at Post Office Square 3. Turn the C branch into a tram running between Kenmore and Reservoir, with free transfers to the Pink Line at Reservoir With the B branch terminating at Post Office Square and the C branch terminating at Kenmore, the downtown section of the Tremont St Subway would only have A, E, and Pink trains running thru it, which would sharply cut down on congestion As for the Waltham GLX branch, I think that merging the stretch of the Fitchburg Line between Waltham and North Station with the Fairmount Line to create a Purple Line rapid transit line could work. This, rather than the Blue Line, would replace the Fairmount Line (sans intensive tunneling projects under the South End), and it would interline with the Fitchburg CR Line (with infill stations). As for the Blue Line, I think it would make more sense to extend it westward to West Station with a tunnel into Lower Allston. This would provide much-needed rail service to Lower Allston, and would bring metro service to West Station. Blue Line stops west of Gov't Ctr would be as follows: Charles/MGH, Esplanade, Back Bay/Copley (which would have a pedestrian tunnel joining the two), Landsdowne/Fenway Park, Grand Junction, West Station, and Lower Allston
The thing that worries me the most is that it seems like the EMU's would completely phase out all push pull equipment. I don't see why they have to immediately go into full on EMU/Battery equipment when they've just spent a great deal refurbishing all their Kawasaki bilevels and further acquired more Rotem cars. Right now they should put more effort into actually electrifying and improving infrastructure before putting a great deal of thought into what they want to run under the wires. All they need for finished lines while the bilevels have a good shelf life is a new engine. Like a Siemens Sprinter or an Alstom Prima. And it would complement the EMU's since push-pull sets like that work best on express and long gaps between stations. Of course, with how long MBTA takes they all may just reach the end of their shelf life by the time they finish electrification.
