City to drop bus/truck lanes on Summer Street in South Boston; they didn't much improve bus service and motorists kept using them anyway

The Boston Transportation Department reports the dedicated bus/truck lanes on Summer Street in South Boston failed and so it's going to eliminate them and return the road to its basic configuration of two general travel lanes in each direction.

Dedicated bike lanes and longer pedestrian-crossing times, however, will remain in place, the department says.

In its report on the dedicated-lane pilot, the department says the lanes resulted in only "marginal improvement" to bus service - because there are not currently enough buses to make it worthwhile and because disgruntled motorists kept using the dedicated lane, which had only paint on asphalt, not barriers, further slowing the buses that did use the lanes.

The biggest challenge with the pilot were the violations of the dedicated bus/truck lane, with drivers frequently using the exclusive lane to bypass traffic at busy intersections and at peak times.

The pilot demonstrated positive safety benefits for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers with limited negative impacts to general traffic. The temporary materials used for the bus lane, lack of enforcement, and increased signal delay at key intersections resulted in no clear benefit to bus riders.

The department says the lanes could one day return, however:

With additional transit service coming to Summer Street as part of the MBTA Bus Network Redesign, refining the corridor cross-section and bus/truck lane design to further reduce transit and truck travel times and address operational challenges remains a priority.