Boston: Essex St Bus Lane
Ron Young
on Essex St, one way Eastbound, the left side parking meters have been
removed and that lane is now a solid reddish tan and marked for buses only.
I just crossed at about Chauncy St., but assume this must hold between
Washington St and at least the Surface Artery. Do the buses use these lanes
on Sunday? The parking peak in Chinatown on Sundays and lack of police
presence result in a lot of no stopping zones containing parked cars.
rob2507
It's the bus lane for the new SL4 route.
http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news_events/?id=18411&month=&year=
Jimmy
> It's the bus lane for the new SL4 route.
>
> http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news_events/?id=18411&month=&year=
That press release says:
"Additional amenities include: new stone curbing and sidewalks with
accessible ramps, and a state-of-the-art Mini Station at South Station
complete with seating, new lights, heat, CharlieCard access, and trip
countdowns to improve customers’ waiting experience."
Did they finally get GPS-based bus stop arrival signs working? I
thought they attempted to do this on Washington Street, but gave up.
Jimmy
Jass
The arrival countdowns have been working for well over a year, and are
generally accurate.
A walkthrough of the bus lanes can be found here
http://www.archboston.org/community/showpost.php?p=85035&postcount=296
Note that it is outdated: A shelter has indeed appeared on essex
street
The bus lane is in effect 24 hours 7 days a week, as the signs do not
indicate otherwise.
The project was funded with federal money
Elmer
Until now, I'd been reluctant to try the Silver Line, but hearing
about the new stone curbing makes me want to park my car and ride the
bus instead. I wouldn't be caught dead using a bus stop on a street
with curbs made of concrete or (heaven forbid) cheap molded blacktop!
Installing new granite curbing is one of the best investments a
transit system can make; it's certain to cause droves of new riders to
choose public transportation.
Elmer
Garrett Wollman
Elmer <elme...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Until now, I'd been reluctant to try the Silver Line, but hearing
>about the new stone curbing makes me want to park my car and ride the
>bus instead. I wouldn't be caught dead using a bus stop on a street
>with curbs made of concrete or (heaven forbid) cheap molded blacktop!
>Installing new granite curbing is one of the best investments a
>transit system can make; it's certain to cause droves of new riders to
>choose public transportation.
Of course it's rather silly for the MBTA to crow about granite curbs
when they are merely the standard statewide for all road
construction.
-GAWollman
--
Garrett A. Wollman | What intellectual phenomenon can be older, or more oft
wol...@bimajority.org| repeated, than the story of a large research program
Opinions not shared by| that impaled itself upon a false central assumption
my employers. | accepted by all practitioners? - S.J. Gould, 1993
John S
> In article <e117e7fc-c56c-446b...@f20g2000vbl.googlegroups.com>,
> Elmer <elme...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Until now, I'd been reluctant to try the Silver Line, but hearing
>> about the new stone curbing makes me want to park my car and ride the
>> bus instead. I wouldn't be caught dead using a bus stop on a street
>> with curbs made of concrete or (heaven forbid) cheap molded blacktop!
>> Installing new granite curbing is one of the best investments a
>> transit system can make; it's certain to cause droves of new riders to
>> choose public transportation.
>
> Of course it's rather silly for the MBTA to crow about granite curbs
> when they are merely the standard statewide for all road
> construction.
And another reason why the infrastructure of Massachusetts is in utter
shambles. Instead of using sturdy concrete curbing like the rest of the
nation, including the snow belt, they blow huge amounts of cash for
items like granite curbing. So instead of fixing everything that needs
repairs (e.g. crumbling bridges, moon crater roadways), they'll limit
repairs to a much smaller area so that funds can be diverted to granite
curbs. I've heard it's about $55 dollars a FOOT for granite curbing,
and somehow it always seems to need replacement, so much for a more long
lasting product.
It's real fun stepping on a granite curb on a rainy day too, as your
foot slides away from under you.
mbsbusguy
> Garrett Wollman wrote:
RIders ask why there is no direct link to the Airport bus and why
after walking a half a
block they need to go down two flights of stairs and pay another fare,
By the way, the state of the art shelter is the same as on the Green
Line without
doors. A heater keeps the ticket machines working
John S
?
Jimmy
> By the way, the state of the art shelter is the same as on the Green
> Line without
> doors. A heater keeps the ticket machines working
The ticket machines have built-in heaters, and don't need to be in a
heated shelter. They're designed by a German company, and there are a
lot of small, unattended train stations in Germany with no heated
shelters, since they've figured out how to operate marginal rail lines
by keeping costs down.
Jimmy
mbsbusguy
Jimmy,
So that why when I rode it the other night the passenger heater was
working but
the machine was fine. A driver told me it was for the machinee
The promised GPS wasn't working. And the time was wrong by five
minutes.
If you have a chance ride it from South Station to its first stop a
mile away.
The drivers have to be top notch as they pull away from the shelter,
cross
2 lanes of traffic to get into the left lane on Atlantic Ave, then
quickly move
onto Summer Street, and left again onto the Artery and a right onto
Kneeland
and a left onto Washington.
Considering ridership, a 40' bus on this line makes a lot of sense.
Jimmy
> So that why when I rode it the other night the passenger heater was
> working but
> the machine was fine. A driver told me it was for the machinee
I can't make sense of that first sentence. Why wouldn't the machine
be fine?
I think there are some outdoor ticket machines on the T system that
aren't in a heated shelter.
> The drivers have to be top notch as they pull away from the shelter,
> cross
> 2 lanes of traffic to get into the left lane on Atlantic Ave, then
> quickly move
> onto Summer Street, and left again onto the Artery and a right onto
> Kneeland
> and a left onto Washington.
How's traffic on that stretch of westbound Kneeland? I've gotten
stuck in terrible jams on weekend nights because of inefficient
traffic lights at Tremont or Charles.
Jimmy
mbsbusguy
Jimmy,
Depends on the time of day on the Kneeland St Portion. Sometimes it
is
a quarter hour from South Station to the first stop at Medical Center
in the
evening, especially if Tremont and Wasshington St are crowded. Most
other time it is a five minute ride. The hardest part is to come off
the
Artery and have to get over to the outside lane on Kneeland to turn
onto
Washington.
Ridership isn't what the T hoped. !0 people is a lot on any one
trip.