New bus routes announced as T talks up a better bus system

More than two dozen MBTA bus routes changed on Labor Day weekend – ranging from the elimination of some trips to the addition of new weekday service –- as the transit authority begins implementing widespread and customer-driven changes to the entire bus system, officials announced last week.

The alterations include both addition and subtraction of stops, new weekday service, and elimination of a handful of trips. Designed with input from officials and thousands of public comments over the past year, the modifications are the first as part of the MBTA’s Better Bus Project to redesign and modernize the bus network.

MBTA officials say that while the adaptations may require some passengers to travel to different stops or alter their commutes, they will help increase reliability and frequency of service across the bus network.

“The modifications to these select routes are the first wave of changes to improve service for close to one-third of MBTA customers who depend on our buses to get to work, school, and other activities,” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said in a press release. “These modifications represent the most significant changes to our bus service in over a decade and are the results of both a comprehensive analysis of how our bus routes perform, and an unprecedented level of engagement with our customers.”

A total of 29 routes will change effective Sept. 1. Five different routes — the CT1 across Boston and Cambridge, the 5 through Dorchester and South Boston, the 448 and 449 running from Boston to Marblehead, and the 459 covering Boston to Salem — will be permanently cut. However, T officials said most of the lost service will be covered by additional trips on similar bus routes.

The Route 16 bus to JFK/UMass and the McCormack housing development will see new weekday and Saturday service. The Route 90 will no longer travel to Wellington Station, instead stopping at Assembly Row, while the Route 92 will begin and end at Sullivan Square and will not travel to Assembly Row.

A full list of the changes is available at mbta.com.

The T’s oversight board earlier this year approved an additional 24 route changes, and those will go into effect in the winter or later, T officials said. Buses across the entire MBTA system host an average of more than 340,000 riders every weekday, according to data presented in June. When announcing the new changes, the MBTA said about a third of all public-transit users rely on buses.


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