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MBTA Bus

A New Flyer XDE40 bus at Dudley Station in 2017
Parent	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Founded	1964 (predecessors date to 1856)
Locale	Greater Boston
Service area	Boston and immediate suburbs
Service type	Local, limited stop, express, and Silver Line BRT
Routes	177[1]
Fleet	1022[1]
Daily ridership	387,815 (2013)[2]
Fuel type	Diesel, CNG, electric trolleybus, diesel-electric hybrid
Operator	MBTA; private operators
Website	mbta.com
System map

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority operates 177 bus routes (list of routes) in the Greater Boston area, many of which were formerly part of a large streetcar system. Some routes are for local transport within the city; others bring passengers from surrounding areas to stops on the MBTA Commuter Rail or subway lines. The MBTA has a policy objective to provide transit service within walking distance (defined as 0.25 miles (0.40 km)) for all residents living in areas with population densities greater than 5,000 inhabitants per square mile (1,900/km²) within the MBTA's service district. Much of this service is provided by bus.

The MBTA operates a four-route bus rapid transit service branded as the Silver Line, as well as three crosstown routes that were intended to become the first part of the now-suspended Urban Ring project. Fifteen routes designed as key routes run with higher frequency at all times, including extended service hours on Friday and Saturday nights over some of these routes.

Most MBTA Bus service is served by diesel, compressed natural gas, and diesel-electric hybrid buses. Silver Line routes running in the Waterfront Tunnel use dual-mode buses that operate as trolleybuses in the tunnel and as diesel-electric hybrid buses on the surface. Four routes based out of the Harvard Bus Tunnel run with trolleybuses in Cambridge, Massachusetts and several surrounding suburbs.

All buses and routes are wheelchair-accessible (see MBTA accessibility); most of the MBTA's bus fleet consists of low-floor buses with wheelchair ramps, while older high-floor buses have lifts. All buses have LED exterior headsigns displaying route and destination, with automated audio/visual stop announcements for passengers.

After taking over operations in August 1964 from the former Metropolitan Transit Authority, the MBTA began rebranding many elements of Boston's public transportation network. After being found unsuitable for what is now the Orange Line because it did not show up well on maps, yellow was chosen for the color of bus operations.^[3]

The Boston Elevated Railway and MTA operated overnight Owl service until 1960. From September 2001 to June 2005, the MBTA operated bus service on 17 routes (7 normal bus routes and 10 routes replicating subway lines) until 2:30am on Friday and Saturday nights. Similar service on the key routes was operated from March 2013 to March 2014.^[4] In 2017, the MBTA Board considered a proposal to run all-night service on several routes with pulsed connections at a central hub.^[5]

Fleet

Active fleet

This is the current bus roster for the MBTA as of December 2018^[update]. All buses are 102 inches (260 cm) wide; most buses are 40-foot (12 m) length, while 102 are 60-foot (18 m) articulated buses.^[1]

Order Year	Manufacturer	Model	Picture	Fleet	Qty.	Active	Propulsion	Length (ft.)	Notes
2004	Neoplan USA	AN440LF		4101-4128	28	28	Electric trolleybus	40	Equipped with left-hand doors for operating into the Harvard Bus Tunnel
2004-2005	Neoplan USA	AN440LF		0401-0593	193	191	Diesel	40	Overhauled by Midwest Bus
2004-2005	Neoplan USA	DMA-460LF		1101-1132	32	32	Dual mode	60	Used for Silver Line Waterfront (SL1, SL2, and SL3) service 1125-1132 owned by Massport Overhauled by Maine Military Authority from 2015-2018
2006-2007	NFI	D40LF		0600-0754	155	154	Diesel	40
2008	NFI	D40LF		0755-0909	155	155	Diesel	40	To be overhauled by Midwest Bus, by mid-2019.[1]
2010	NFI	DE60LFR		1200-1224	25	24	Hybrid	60	1222-1224 used for Silver Line (Washington Street) routes
2014-2015	NFI	XDE40		1400-1459	60	59	Hybrid	40
2016-2017	NFI	XN40		1600-1774	175	175	CNG	40
2016-2017	NFI	XDE40		1775-1924 & 3000-3005	156	156	Hybrid	40	3000-3005 assigned to privately operated routes 712 and 713[1]
2016-2017	NFI	XDE60		1250-1293	44	44	Hybrid	60	1273-1293 used for Silver Line (Washington Street) routes
2018	NFI	XDE60		1294	1	1	Hybrid	60	Part of an option to order up to 45 additional hybrid buses with extended-range electric operation to replace the current dual-mode fleet, which would not require a change of power between trackless trolley and diesel at Silver Line Way.[6] Bus is currently undergoing testing. As of December 2018, this bus can be used on all Silver Line routes [1]

Future

In February 2015, the MBTA was awarded a $4.14 million FTA grant to purchase five 60-foot articulated battery electric buses from New Flyer. These buses will arrive in 2019.^[1][7]

An option orders for an additional 194 XDE40 hybrid buses from 2015-2017 New Flyer order was exercised in October 2018.^[1]

Facilities

MBTA Bus routes grouped by the facility they operate from at peak hours .mw-parser-output div.columns-2 div.columnfloat:left;width:50%;min-width:300px.mw-parser-output div.columns-3 div.columnfloat:left;width:33.3%;min-width:200px.mw-parser-output div.columns-4 div.columnfloat:left;width:25%;min-width:150px.mw-parser-output div.columns-5 div.columnfloat:left;width:20%;min-width:120px

Albany   Arborway   Cabot   Charlestown   Fellsway   Lynn

North Cambridge   Quincy   Somerville   Southampton   Private carriers

MBTA buses are operated out of the facilities listed below.^[1]

Notes:

• * = Route during evenings & weekends
  


• ** = Route during Sundays
  


• *** = Route 72 will return to trolleybus operation out of North Cambridge in early 2019


• † = Route during evenings
  


• ‡ = 1 trip only, runs daily, serves Lemuel Shattuck Hospital
  

Private buses

A Blue Hill Bus Lines vehicle on the Canton - Mattapan route, now the #716 route, in 1967

Most local bus routes in Massachusetts outside the immediate MBTA operating area are operated by the state's other regional transit authorities (RTAs). However, some routes that connect with MBTA bus or subway service are operated by outside private contractors with partial subsidy by the MBTA.
^[8]

Five routes – the 710, 712/713, 714, and 716 – are numbered like other MBTA buses; their operators accept MBTA passes on CharlieTickets, but do not have CharlieCard readers. The five routes are primarily commuter routes which connect with other MBTA services at their inbound terminals. They were taken over from various private operators (Hudson Bus Lines for the 710 and 716, Rapid Transit Inc. for the 712/713, and Nantasket Transportation for the 714).^[4]

Five suburban municipalities contract with outside operators for local circulator routes, most with partial MBTA subsidy. Bedford, Beverly, and Dedham run single routes; Burlington runs five routes; and Lexington runs six.^[4] Most are run by private operators, except for the Beverly Shuttle, which is part of the Cape Ann Transportation Authority system. Additionally, a nonprofit shuttle is run in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood.^[4] Those 15 routes appear on MBTA system maps and connect with MBTA services at designated transfer points, but are numbered separately and do not accept MBTA passes.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to MBTA Bus.

• MBTA - Bus Schedules and Maps


• MBTA Bus Route Performance Indicators (2012)