10.2 An Integrated Regional System

A good regional transportation system offers a range of efficient and convenient modes of travel. It supports economic development, helps shape the use of land, and connects homes, jobs, recreation and services equitably while protecting environmental resources and promoting public health.  An integrated transportation system allows municipalities to preserve their unique features while connecting them to economic as well as recreational resources.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Metropolitan Boston public transportation system includes:

• Three rapid transit lines, the Blue, Red and Orange Lines, with a total of 38 miles of track and 58 stations (37 of which are wheelchair accessible);
• The Green Line’s four light-rail streetcar lines, operating over 25 miles of track with 57 surface stops and 13 stops at subway or elevated stations (12 of which are wheelchair accessible);
• The Silver Line bus rapid transit line, which is being built in three phases, with Phase 1 from Dudley Square to downtown completed in 2002 and Phase 2 from South Station to the South Boston Waterfront and Logan Airport opened in 2004 and 2005.  (The planned Phase 3 tunnel to connect those segments is now awaiting funding through the federal New Starts program);
• A commuter rail network of 11 rail lines operating on 375 route-miles with 125 stations (80 of which are wheelchair accessible), reaching into 175 communities;
• Some 159 local and express bus routes, five streetcar routes and four trackless trolley routes, both bus routes extending to Route 128 and beyond;
• Paratransit service such as ‘The Ride’ for seniors and people with physical disabilities; and
• A water transportation system providing service from Hingham, Hull, and Quincy to Boston’s Inner Harbor and between several Inner Harbor docks, including Logan Airport, Charlestown Navy Yard, Rowe’s Wharf, and Long Wharf.

Like the region, the City of Boston has a hub-and-spoke transportation system, reflecting the development of streetcar suburbs in the late nineteenth century, railroads, and the growth of employment centers downtown.  This radial system, with its variety of transportation modes, generally serves the city well, but it lacks seamless connections across neighborhoods. Crosstown bus routes (1, 47, and 66) are some of the most heavily used in the system, connecting important centers such as Harvard, Longwood, Boston Medical, and Dudley.  Although limited-stop, extended versions of these routes (CT-1, CT-2, CT-3) were introduced in 1993, crosstown travel is often slow and unreliable, as buses are forced to navigate narrow, congested streets with few priority measures given to transit vehicles.  The Urban Ring circumferential project would connect a broad swath of the inner belt of Boston with some type of improved transit. Although there has been significant planning work for this project, construction funding has not yet been identified.