South Boston Route Change January 2016

Effective immediately, South Boston bus service will permanently continue to travel inbound via
Broadway rather than E. 4th St to match the outbound routing. The temporary route has been in place
since last winter when roadway configurations changed in response to historic accumulations of snow,
and this change makes the temporary route permanent. Benefits include wider lane widths, wider
sidewalk widths, and less susceptibility to delays caused by double-parked vehicles, garbage trucks,
delivery vehicles, and emergency vehicles.
Based on a comparison of weekday travel times from P St at E. Broadway to L St. & E Broadway from fall
months before and after the change:

Average travel times are shorter throughout the day on E. Broadway compared to E. 4th St. The
average weekday bus through-passenger saves 79 seconds of travel time aboard the bus via the
new routea 26% savings in travel time on this segment.
Over the course of a weekday, shorter bus travel times via E. Broadway result in 4.5 fewer bushours on the streets of South Bostoneven for the same number of trips.
During the 9AM and 10AM hours, the average travel time savings are 133 seconds and 126
seconds per tripa 40-47% savings in travel time on this segment.
Travel times are less variable on E. Broadway than they are on E. 4th St. The standard deviation
of travel time on this segment decreased from 85.3 seconds to 78 seconds with the new E.
Broadway routingan 8% improvement in variability.
The longest travel times experienced by severely blocked buses are shorter on the E. Broadway
route than on the E. 4th St route. Over the course of a weekday, the longest trip times in each
hour were on average 111 seconds shorter via E. Broadway. During the 12PM hour, the longest
observed travel time via E. Broadway was 323 seconds shorter than the longest observed travel
time on the former route.

Two public meetings were held to discuss the bus route changes; the first was held at the Condon
School on September 23, and the second was held at the Tynan School on September 30. Below is a

South Boston Route Change January 2016

summary of the major themes that arose from the public in questions and comments, either in person
or through written or email channels. Based on existing or subsequent analysis, these are followed by
MBTA responses.

What happens next?

Buses will remain at the temporary bus stops established on E. Broadway. The MBTA and
consultant team will advance designs for accessibility improvements and bus stop consolidation
at remaining bus stops planned for E. 1st St, Farragut Rd., E. Broadway, P St., and L St.

Last winter when the buses were first moved from E. 4th St. to E. Broadway, we were told that
the diversion was temporary. The change in message is upsetting.
When the changes were first implemented, the best information available at the time was that
they were temporary, which is the message that MBTA and City of Boston officials released.
Since then, MBTA staff began to pursue making the change permanent due to the observed
operational benefits of using E. Broadway.

I live on E. 4th St., and moving the buses to E. Broadway is common sense.
MBTA staff agree that there are operational benefits of using E. Broadway, such as wider lane
widths, wider sidewalk widths, and less susceptibility to delays caused by double-parked
vehicles, garbage trucks, delivery vehicles, and emergency vehicles.

Why consolidate the stops? There are already too many people waiting at each stop.
Most of the existing stops were installed decades ago when traffic conditions, passenger
volumes, and bus stop accessibility design guidelines were much different. Closely-spaced and
too-short stops result in long trip times, traffic delays for both transit and general traffic, and an
uncomfortable slow ride for passengers. Consolidating stops will improve reliability and reduce
gaps in service that contribute to large crowds. The changes will allow the MBTA to bring stops
into compliance with modern stop accessibility guidelines while minimizing parking impacts.
Placement of bus stops in locations with wider sidewalks will also improve the experience for
waiting passengers and increase passenger waiting space.

Bus drivers never pull all the way up to the curb.

Nearly all bus stops in South Boston do not meet MBTA minimum length requirements, so it is
difficult to maneuver a bus to the curb; furthermore, 29% are 40 feet long or less, which makes
it physically impossible for a bus to pull to the curb. The Bus Stop improvement program will
bring each affected stop up to current standards allowing buses to pull up to the curb.

South Boston Route Change January 2016

What about seniors and persons with disabilities? Consolidating stops will require bus users to
walk farther.
The consolidated stops are expected to increase walk times by 1-2 minutes for most customers,
but this is offset by travel time savings from consolidated stops and reliability improvements.
The changes will also upgrade the existing stops, which do not meet MBTA accessibility
guidelines. If the longer walk prevents someone from accessing the transit network because of
a disability, the MBTA does offer complementary paratransit service as required by the ADA.

Curb extensions are a great way to keep bus traffic flowing with minimum impact on parking.
Has the MBTA considered installing them on Broadway?
Curb extensions are a physical treatment that can increase space for waiting customers at bus
stops, allow the bus to pull to the curb reliably, and minimize stop length and parking impacts.
They require the bus to stop in the travel lane, so they only work where there is ample roadway
width, typically two or more lanes in each direction. These may be an option on some portions
of Broadway; one drawback is that they are expensive, especially if they require changes to
roadway drainage systems.

What have you done to ensure the structural integrity of the roads? My foundation is now
cracked because of all the extra buses on Broadway.
City of Boston roadways are open to general public including MBTA buses and truck traffic
unless otherwise posted. The MBTA makes up only a fraction of the total traffic and truck traffic
on Broadway.

The buses are speeding down the hill on Broadway to make the light at L St. What can you do to
make sure drivers are obeying the speed limit?
Safety is top priority at the MBTA and we take erratic and unsafe driving very seriously. Since
the issue was brought to our attention at the public meetings in September we have assigned
training and supervisory personnel to regularly monitor bus speeds.

Has a traffic or environmental impact study been done to determine the impacts of more buses
on Broadway?
A traffic or environmental impact study is not required for bus route changes such as this. Buses
make up a small fraction of total vehicles on Broadway and help reduce traffic volumes in South
Boston by keeping more cars off the roads. Nearly 12,000 passengers travel by bus in South
Boston each weekday, and streets would be far more crowded if they were traveling by personal
car for these trips. This proposal is expected to reduce the amount of bus traffic in South
Boston by 4.5 bus-hours per day in the aggregate, due to shorter travel times for the same
number of trips.

South Boston Route Change January 2016

The stop at L St and Broadway is too close to the intersection. The bus is unable to make the
turn and service the very popular stop.
This stop does not meet our bus stop guidelines. Improvements to this stop are recommended.

Route 7 should go down 1st St to either D St or Pappas Way so that more South Boston residents
can connect to Downtown Boston and the South Boston Waterfront area.
The MBTA considers new routes and route extensions as part of the Service Planning process
and will keep this proposal in mind. With the current number of buses available, the Route 7
cannot be extended without resulting in reduced frequency on the existing portions of the
route, but other possibilities may exist in a larger context.

Are you planning to increase the number of buses on crowded routes?

At this time there are no plans for additional buses to be added to the schedule as all available
vehicles are already in use during peak hours. There are alternate ways to increase frequency
by reducing travel times, such as by consolidating bus stops (as proposed in this process),
omitting Otis & Summer St. on certain Route 7 trips, or having morning trips return to the City
Point bus turnaround via E. 1st St and avoiding Broadway; however these changes may result in
tradeoffs to customer convenience. We will continue to monitor ridership and look for ways to
improve reliability, frequency, and capacity.

Can you reroute the Route 11 onto Day Blvd.?

This change will be evaluated as part of the next Service Plan process. The change would likely
increase the walk time for nearly all Route 11 customers, although this would be offset by some
reductions in bus travel time.

Can the City Point bus terminal be improved?

In a separate initiative, Massport has plans to reconstruct the City Point bus terminal. The
MBTA will coordinate to see if there are opportunities for improved transit amenities or other
neighborhood benefits as part of this process.

When it snows how will I know if the Route 11 is traveling on the snow route?
In the event of severe weather, various modes of travel are likely to be impacted and the MBTA
may have to make service adjustments. Service information can be found at the MBTA's winter
resource hub: mbta.com/winter. Please use this site as your source for information on MBTA
service during the winter months and remember to check T-Alerts regularly for updates at
mbta.com/rider_tools/transit_updates/ We will also work with Bus Operations staff to ensure
that drivers following the correct route when diversions are in effect.