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.
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Comments
When they write, “The Summer
By Frelmont
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 1:44pm
When they write, “The Summer Street Pilot successfully encouraged more people to bike, providing a better bike connection between South Boston and Downtown†do they mean more people are biking on that specific route, or more aggregate people are biking in Boston? I.e., did the bike/bus/(truck?) lane empirically and significantly get people to bike who otherwise wouldna?
Should they have written, The Summer Street Pilot successfully encouraged more people to bike on Summer Street…?â€
It’s about words and truth and my antipathy towards “spin†and “rightspeak.â€
I don’t take extreme views on bike lanes. I trust the reports of data that they save lives. I spent thirty years without incident biking without bikelanes and my heart trembles whenever loved ones are biking. My heart trembles when I see people biking on the roads. (The only bike accident I saw was an old guy getting knocked unconscious on Minuteman storm washout in Arlington, but I see the white bikes and mourn. My friend’s co-worker’s husband got killed on a road in Lexington thirty years ago and my EMT instructor (took a class for shits and giggles) described a guy’s kidney still attached to his severed leg, so it’s no joke. ) Anything to calm and simplify the roads is great. I assert that perfect enforcement is anathema to the functioning of civic life, keeping shelves stocked, dropping off elderly, handicapped, pregnant ladies and whatnot. We all gotta get along.
Can you please explain in one
By anon
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 2:16pm
Can you please explain in one sentence what your point is in the last paragraph? It seems like a lot of words to say "there are good people on both sides" without taking a side yourself, which doesn't really add anything to the discussion.
The best I can understand this AI word salad is that you dont think laws should be enforced because if we do, our grocery stores shelves will be bare and, pregnant ladies something something, you know.
This isn't "a discussion"...
By eddie van halen
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 6:10pm
it's a comment board. People aren't obligated to post a comment that meets your binary standard of one way or another on a topic. People don't have to reach final conclusions about subjective issues based on one article, although you are certainly free to do that if you so choose.
The more comments of Frelmont
By Brent Jeffries
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 6:58pm
The more comments of Frelmont's I read the more convinced I am that they are written by a bot.
Maybe
By Cleary Squared
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 9:15am
Occasionally when you respond to them, they'll come back with, "hey, that's not nice, why did you say that?" but I'm in the court of "it's a bot that's advanced, but needs a lot of improvement; they spout word salads that need firming up."
Kudos to you for trying.
By Lee
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 10:43am
Your points are well taken.
Now just scroll on when you haven’t the time or patience.
I can no longer read any that are more than paragraph or are all about self reflection. But I still read the short ones. Its a benefit and useful to be able to triage posts to suit personal tastes.
Hope this was helpful.
More people on that route
By SwirlyGrrl
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 4:17pm
The city and state use counters to evaluate usage by all modes.
Circular logic in the report
By anon
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 2:52pm
They say the frequency of the #7 bus makes it not necessary when this is exactly the problem with the #7 bus! People queue up for longer than their trip to get onto the bus in S. Boston. Make it more frequent! More people will take the bus if it's reliable.
Exactly.
By Lee
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 7:00pm
Just like build the bike lanes and people will use them proved true, put more buses out in the lanes and people will fill them up.
They already do actually, if they can even get on the buses that are rolling already.
Flip flop
By anon
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 4:41pm
and I don’t mean footwear. Wu makes divisive decisions on every policy she created then when the shit hits the fan she changes policy.
"divisive" lol
By lbb
Mon, 09/16/2024 - 9:44am
Ah yes, "divisive", another word that low-vocabulary people learned to parrot since the dawn of the Trump era. How in any way is this "divisive"?
Sad day, Mayor Wu surrendered
By anon
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 4:41pm
Sad day, Mayor Wu surrendered.
She is letting criminal, lazy
By Kinopio
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 7:02pm
She is letting criminal, lazy, selfish, obese drivers win. This isn’t the platform she ran on.
Move to Somalia? Criminal lazy obese?
By anon
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 6:57am
Based on this comment, and the other comment telling people who disagree with you they need to move to Somalia, I suggest you seek help. This is not an internet troll suggestion. This is from one human to another.
If the presence or lack of presence of a bike lane or bus lane triggers you that much, that's unhealthy and harmful to your own well being. That much anger over this issue is troubling.
anons are human?
By Lee
Mon, 09/16/2024 - 8:05am
.
If you come across a vehicle
By Kinopio
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 7:04pm
If you come across a vehicle in a bus, bike or fire hydrant spot do everything you can to not fall into it key first. But if you have to break your fall on their suv key first then don’t feel bad about the vehicle of a criminal. People are more valuable than cars no matter what local governments say. Save yourself before saving the illegally parked vehicle.
LOL!
By Lee
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 7:12pm
I trip a lot keys in hand. But now I will be careful to hold them in a safer position.
Yesterday I had to lean against a car parked in the crosswalk on St James at Dartmouth near the farmers market. I lost a small handful of delicate delicious organic local grapes. But fortunately the door handle was there to catch their remnants and prevent them from landing on the curb cut where a driver on foot might have slipped and fallen.
Cars are real lifesavers!!
This was a study.
By Lee
Sat, 09/14/2024 - 7:04pm
Needs an immediate after study to see how going back to the bad old ways affects traffic.
Some people learned better driving habits during this study. May they hold on to them for a bit while the city gets things right and reinstalls the bus lanes. Perhaps with some improvements like Tim suggested.
Good-the MBTA and the city need to do better
By MyManMyMelo
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 8:22am
This whole install bus lanes but then don't increase service thing is beyond annoying.
It makes the bus lanes look like something they're doing for bragging right among their peers in other major cities. Just to say they're doing it.
If you're not going to increase frequency a bunch (they haven't with the busses traveling through Egleston) then don't make a bus lane. You're not incentivizing people to take the bus more. You're just stoking opposition toward bus lanes.
Boston is great at half step measures to being a grown up mature city. Clearly they're not ready to enforce the laws or provide the busses to make it work. Its more than dismaying that the new Blue Hill Avenue bus lane plans make no mention of a significant increase in frequency.
Well said.
By Lee
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 10:48am
Half measures seems to stem from clashing territorial agencies. This is out of control in Boston. So many egos. Like UHub. Lol.
I’ll just keep griping myself. And reading posts Ike this so I’m better prepared in real life advocacy.
One little problem
By lbb
Mon, 09/16/2024 - 9:46am
The city owns the streets and can create bus lanes. They don't own the buses and they can't create more service.
Victory is ours. Glad to be
By anon
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 8:50am
Victory is ours. Glad to be one of the hero’s that ignored those foolish lines and signs. A little civil disobedience can go a long way.
Pretty telling to announce yourself as a hero.
By Lee
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 10:54am
I’ll keep up the “jaywalking†slash taking back the streets as well as standing in bus lanes at bus stops to help drivers get to the curb for the disabled folk and those who aren’t yet disabled and who want to stay this way.
But I won’t call myself a hero and no one else will while I block you and your territorial instincts gone haywire due to lardass to brain syndrome.
lol
By lbb
Mon, 09/16/2024 - 9:47am
If that's your notion of civil disobedience, no wonder you spell it "hero's".
Magoo sez
By MisterMagooForYoo
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 11:45am
Magoo ‘members a time when Magoo and Magoo’s hooman folk all got along nicely. For Magoo is the Man from Earth and Magoo has been here for longer than time can ‘member. Magoo.
I travel Summer Street daily
By anon
Sun, 09/15/2024 - 3:45pm
I can tell you for a fact that very few cyclist use the bike lanes here and the City’s own survey figures also support that.
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