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Maybe time for some of those extra-long buses on Hyde Park Avenue

Horde waiting for a 32 bus at Forest Hills

Jen takes the 32 from Forest Hills to get home. From the top of the stairs at the station this rush hour, she looked down at the 32 berth and concluded:

We need more 32 buses!!!!!!!

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Comments

Funny, I had lunch with a bus driver friend who said that there's no reason why any of the key routes can't have the longer buses all the time . The old issue where it would front fish-tail is gone as all the newer buses have at least 1 axle in each part of the bus providing motion. ("4WD" LOL) So not sure what the T's issue is, except buying them.

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The T isn't able to add more buses, or upgrade more route to articulated buses, because their garages are overcrowded today and suffer from years of deferred maintenance. They are getting started on designing upgrades, but it'll be years until the existing nine garages are fixed -- and who knows when new ones will be built to help grow the fleet.

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The five new battery articulated test buses (1295-1299) have two powered axles. The hybrid artics (1250-1294) still only have the rear axle powered and still get pulled from service when it snows,

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Welcome to the Hyde Park Avenue corridor. It’s been like this since the new station opened in the 1980s. The 32 is a very heavily used line.

My advice is to walk a few stops up the line. You’ll be able to take the place of whoever gets off, and you’ll get some exercise to boot.

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For those with mobility issues?

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Try to cram on the bus at Forest Hills.

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I live in Wolcott and take the bus every day until the end ever since I moved to HP so two years. I would take the commuter rail but that is too expensive.

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I will say that the times I’ve taken the 32 inbound from Cummins Highway I’ve had no problems (other than a crossing guard at Walk Hill set on causing traffic). Outbound is another story. Often I end up walking to Cummins, but were I doing your commute, stroll down to the Pagel Playground. You’ll get on the bus with perhaps missing one that your bus will catch up to.

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And compared to the 16, 31 and 21, when I am there, more people are waiting for the 32.

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a crossing guard at Walk Hill set on causing traffic

Who knew that crossing guards were the ones who caused traffic? I guess we should get rid of them.

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They aren't "the" ones who cause traffic, but an overzealous crossing guard can certainly make traffic worse than it needs to be to help pedestrians cross safely.

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From context, I'd guess the missing word was chaos. As in "cause traffic chaos".
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Easily believable. Most crossing guards are good. I've seen a couple in my daily Boston commute over the years, however, that are dangerous and should indeed be re-trained or fired. Not dangerous to my "toxic evil car driver insecurity" - dangerous to life and limb.
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One is particular was horrific - had the mentality of "I'm not a cop, but I'll step out and try to direct cars that are going through an intersection with a green light & clear lane beyond to stop in the middle of the intersection in order to cross people in front of them on a DON'T WALK!" So, disrupting vehicle traffic (for that road and the cross street) and unsafe for pedestrian traffic.
I tried to get City and BPS to do something about it and got nowhere. I finally started taking an alternate route a little bit off of my most direct route - decided to avoid the minor traffic frustration and the dread of the prospect of being there to see it the day that crossing guard finally gets some kid killed or maimed.

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There was a crossing guard who would wait for Hyde Park Ave to have the green light at Walk Hill, then would stop the traffic to let the students cross. The result would be a half mile backup. I've watched crossing guards at other locations, and those who staff areas with traffic lights would tend to use them.

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I never would have imagined that an incompetent public service would be endangering the public in the Commonwealth.

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But please, point out where I wrote "endangering the public." I was merely pointing out where the commute of bus riders in the morning on the 32 gets bad. Perhaps you don't like bus riders, but I do.

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It shouldn’t be like this so no we should have to just deal with it because “that’s how it’s always been.”

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So, where have you been for the past 30 years?

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23 to Ashmont is always packed any time of day any day of the week. It goes where I want to go but I never bother as I can never get a seat.

In Roxbury/Dorchester/Matapan areas which have no train the bus is literally your only option and they either need bigger buses or run them more frequently.

Oh yeah plus they should be free.

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They would put a subway line to replace the 23.

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Never should have stopped there ... should have gone all the way to Milton/Dedham line.

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for the next time some developer tells you how close his condos are to public transportation.

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The 32 actually used the articulated 'bendy' buses back in 2007. I'm not sure why it stopped.

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The #32 was using the articulated units a sa test to see how they would fair but there were issues turning them both at Cleary Sq. and Wolcott Sq. While they often made it turning around OK, it was a matter of the driver doing it just right. The other issue was illegally parked cars which would prevent a smooth turn, and once you are in a turn it is hard to back those things up to make a 3-point turn, let alone see what's behind you. Often when those articulated buses get stuck they need to send someone out as a spotter to help them back up.

The articulated buses were also on the #16 for a while and still may make occasional runs, but those skipped the South Bay Mall and went straight up Boston Street because they could not make the turns in the parking lot. Now, with the bus stops moved at South Bay there could be a return but we'll have to see what happens.

What they need is a set of "short turn" buses on a number of routes during peak service times to alleviate the crush that often gets off within the first 2 miles. An example might be a #32A that truncates at Hyde Park Ave and American Legion Highway, then loop back via ALH and Cummins to HPA. They also need short turns on other routes but this is the concept.

I distinctly remember getting on a special bus a couple of years ago that the supervisor had run from Forest Hills just to Roslindale Sq via Washington St. to alleviate the crowd due to a cancelled bus or two. More of this.

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The fact that illegal parking is seemingly regarded as an unsolvable problem by BPS is so weird.

There are specific pinch points where it would be seem to be easy to have a person empowered to write tickets deployed at specific hours to deal with traffic constriction due to illegal parking, whether it's the double-parking at Forest Hills by the pick-up zone to Cleary and Wolcott Sqs.

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I report every illegal cab parked on the northbound travel lane on arboretum side of forest hills

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"The other issue was illegally parked cars which would prevent a smooth turn, "

Oh yeah, then there's no solving that, for sure, it's like weather and the passage of time, an inevitable natural phenomena for which there's no solutions. too bad :(

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Specific runs at specific times on the 16 are designated via Boston St or via South Bay, whether or not they're articulated or regular buses.

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The #32 was using the articulated units a sa test to see how they would fair but there were issues turning them both at Cleary Sq. and Wolcott Sq.

I wonder if the new traffic pattern in Wolcott Square would make it easier to turn them around? The bus stop has been moved off of HPA to the little stub end of Prescott St, so now they turn around by making a left at the light instead of banging a uey from the far right lane every time. I bet the articulated buses would have an easier time now!

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It's like that at 7:45 AM every school day too. They run more buses early in the morning though I think.

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What percent of the running time is wasted on the traffic light stupidity at the entrance to the Forest Hills busway? Fixing stuff like that is the easiest way to speed up service, and get more trips out of the same number of buses and drivers.

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We hear a lot about the new subway trains in production for the Orange line, etc... and how that capacity is coming online in the next 4 (to 10) years.

Is anything similar being done with buses? Is this a labor or equipment shortage to add more buses to popular routes?

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As of today a lot of the bus investment at the T is going into fleet replacements to replace buses deemed a maintenance issue, or those reaching the age-out time. There are existing issues with some maintenance facilities as well being outdated. For example the garage at Quincy needs to be replaced ASAP and the T has Targeted a former Lowes location on Burgin Parkway for their new facility but so far it is getting some community push-back. Regardless of where the garage goes, the Quincy facility needs to be replaced.

Innovation may lag. The CNG-powered buses are mostly at Forest Hills because no suburban city/town would license them a CNG fueling depot, so their hands are tied to use diesel. Hybrids will remain experimental for a while. Electrics (battery) remain experimental and those need places to plug in at night.

Keep in mind the new Orange Line cars have precipitated a major rebuild of the train repair facility at Wellington station. So part of the equation to new equipment is a maintenance and repair facility that can handle the new technology. While many people demand better public transit, few are willing to have a garage in their neighborhood. Catch-22

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This is one issue with the proposed development of the Arborway bus yards I think - is that capacity being created elsewhere or just assumed that it will work out?

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The Arborway Yard Bus Facility is already functioning - as a "temporary facility" (since 2003-4). The buses are there, but they're parked outside. If/when a "permanent" facility is built, it will include buildings for storage & maintenance... and 8 acres for community use.

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Bus lanes would help a lot as well. If a bus can make each trip faster, that bus can carry more people and make more trips.

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