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The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) maintains a large public transit system in the Boston, Massachusetts area, and uses various methods to name and number their services for the convenience of users.
The subway system consists of four trunk lines, all of which meet downtown. Each is assigned a color, as follows:
The Red Line has two branches, in the south, called by their terminals - Ashmont and Braintree. Additionally, the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line, a streetcar line to Mattapan, is also colored red. Some trains use the letters A, B and C for Ashmont, Braintree and Alewife (the north terminal) respectively.
The Green Line is a streetcar/light rail system with four branches to the west, labeled "B" to "E" from north to south. The trains operate underground in the downtown area; outside of downtown, all but the "D" branch run along city streets, with frequent grade crossings at intersections. Rollsigns and newer electronic signs use the following labels:
Until 1965, the lines were called by their names:
They were also known by various numbers, used only on maps (see below for more details), as part of an integrated system of rapid transit, streetcars and buses:
After taking over operations in August 1964, the MBTA began rebranding many elements of Boston's public transportation network. On August 26, 1965, the four rapid transit lines were assigned colored names related to their history and geography. The Red Line was named for Harvard University's crimson branding, the Blue Line for passing under Boston Harbor and along Revere Beach, the Green Line for running along the Emerald Necklace, and the Orange Line for running under a section of Washington Street originally known as Orange Street. [1] [2] [3] When designing the rebranding, Cambridge Seven Associates originally planned for yellow instead of orange, but yellow was rejected after testing. [4]
On August 26, 1965, the current colors were assigned. The Green Line branches were lettered A to E in 1967, ending the use of map numbers for the remaining rail routes. The A branch was discontinued in 1969, before lettered rollsigns were ever used on the line. [1] As cars were interchangeable between the Green Line and Ashmont–Mattapan Line, rollsigns also included the letter F for Mattapan service, but this was later changed to M.
On some later rollsigns, short-turn trips were displayed with a slash through the letter. This use included:
Many rollsigns only use the letters for outbound trips, with no letters next to downtown destinations. When the letters were first applied, the inbound destinations all used letters.
The Red Line branches were initially assigned letters in 1968 – A for Quincy/South Braintree and C for Ashmont. At the time, a branch to Brockton was being planned, which might have gotten the letter B. These letters were never used much, and never appeared on maps, and newer rollsigns omitted them. In 1994 the current letter coding was assigned with new cars.
Bus routes are assigned numbers, which are displayed on maps and buses. Generally, the numbers increase from South Boston clockwise to East Boston. Numbers above 202 are used by outlying routes, assigned by region as follows:
The Silver Line Phase I (Washington Street) service have SL4 & SL5. SL5 to Downtown Crossing is internally the 749, as it replaced the 49. The SL4 to South Station is internally 751. The branches of Phase II (South Boston Waterfront) are assigned labels SL1, SL2, and SL3. Shuttles running only to Silver Line Way are not labeled. Internally, the shuttle is 746, and the branches are SL1 as 746.1 or 741 to Logan Airport in East Boston , SL2 as 746.2, or 742 to Design Center in South Boston, and SL3 as 743 to Chelsea.
The two (formerly three) crosstown routes are publicly assigned CT1 to CT3. Internally, they too are given 700-series numbers, based on a parallel route. The former CT1 mostly ran the same route as the 1, so it was the 701. Part of the CT2 parallels the 47, so that part is the 747, and a more recent extension is the 748 (always through-routed). The CT3, paralleling the 8, is the 708, and the former extension was the 709.
Night Owl buses were assigned in the 700 series as well (with a suffix of N). Night Owl buses that replaced other buses were given the normal bus number with N.
Additionally, several private bus companies are subsidized by the MBTA. Some of those are assigned numbers from 710 to 716.
The first numbers used were implemented with Hunter sign boxes, approximately from 1910 to 1917. Numbers were three digits, with the first referring to the division. [5] In 1918, the network was substantially reorganized, and numbers were no longer used. However, from then until 1967, a similar four-digit system was used internally.
Numbers resembling the current system were first assigned on the 1936 map. However, until the 1942 edition, the numbers changed with each new printing as routes were added and removed. In addition, these routes were only used on the map, not even on schedules. From 1942 on, the numbers generally remained the same, with a minor renumbering in 1967 prior to implementing the numbers on rollsigns and schedules.
As the MBTA began to take over suburban bus systems, it assigned them numbers in higher ranges.
The Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway's buses were taken over on March 30, 1968, and numbers were assigned as follows:
The Middlesex and Boston Street Railway buses were subsidized by the MBTA in September 1964, and they were assigned numbers from 20 to 36 (extended to 39 in November 1967, on the takeover of routes from Transit Bus Lines), duplicating existing MBTA numbers. The MBTA took over the M&B on June 30, 1972, and added a 5 in front. The routes were given unused numbers from 52 to 76 in September 1982, and in 1996 the ones operating express to downtown Boston via the Mass Pike were again assigned a 5 in front.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. Earlier modes of public transportation in Boston were independently owned and operated; many were first folded into a single agency with the formation of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947. The MTA was replaced in 1964 with the present-day MBTA, which was established as an individual department within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts before becoming a division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) in 2009.
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south and east underground from Alewife station in North Cambridge through Somerville and Cambridge, surfacing to cross the Longfellow Bridge then returning to tunnels under Downtown Boston. It continues underground through South Boston, splitting into two branches on the surface at JFK/UMass station. The Ashmont branch runs southwest through Dorchester to Ashmont station, where the connecting light rail Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line continues to Mattapan station. The Braintree branch runs southwest through Quincy and Braintree to Braintree station.
The Green Line is a light rail system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in the Boston, Massachusetts, metropolitan area. It is the oldest Boston rapid transit line, and with tunnel sections dating from 1897, the oldest in America. It runs as a deep-level subway through downtown Boston, and on the surface into inner suburbs via four branches on several radial boulevards. With an average daily weekday ridership of 152,200 in 2019, it is the second most heavily used light rail system in the country. The line was assigned the green color in 1967 during a systemwide rebranding because several branches pass through sections of the Emerald Necklace of Boston.
The Silver Line is a system of bus routes in Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It is operated as part of the MBTA bus system, but branded as bus rapid transit (BRT) as part of the MBTA subway system. Six routes are operated as part of two disconnected corridors. As of 2019, weekday ridership on the Silver Line was 39,000.
The Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, also called the Mattapan trolley and M Line, is a partially grade-separated light rail line which forms part of the MBTA's Red Line rapid transit line. The line, which runs through Boston and Milton, Massachusetts, opened on August 26, 1929, as a conversion of a former commuter rail line. It exclusively uses historic PCC streetcars for rolling stock, supported by a maintenance team of blacksmiths and metalworkers who make livery parts. Passengers must transfer at Ashmont to access the rest of the Red Line, which uses heavy rail metro rolling stock.
The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street Railway via lease and merger to become the city's primary mass transit provider. Its modern successor is the state-run Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which continues to operate in part on infrastructure developed by BERy and its predecessors.
Key bus routes of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) system are 15 routes that have high ridership and higher frequency standards than other bus lines, according to the 2004 MBTA Service Policy. Together, they account for roughly 40% of the MBTA's total bus ridership. These key bus routes ensure basic geographic coverage with frequent service in the densest areas of Boston, and connect to other MBTA services to give access to other areas throughout the region.
Southern New England at one time had a large network of street railway lines, including several true interurban streetcars. It was possible to go from New York City to Boston completely on streetcars on at least three routes: via Hartford, Connecticut, Springfield, Massachusetts, and Worcester, Massachusetts; via New London, Connecticut and Worcester, or via New London and Providence, Rhode Island.
Nubian station is a ground-level bus station located in Nubian Square in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is a transfer point between 18 Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) bus routes, including two Silver Line bus rapid transit lines and 16 local MBTA bus routes. Like all MBTA bus stops, Nubian is fully accessible.
The A branch or Watertown Line was a streetcar line in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, operating as a branch of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line. The line ran from Watertown through Newton Corner, Brighton, and Allston to Kenmore Square, then used the Boylston Street subway and Tremont Street subway to reach Park Street station.
As with many large cities, a large number of Boston-area streetcar lines once existed. However, only a few remain, namely the four branches of the Green Line and the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, with only one running regular service on an undivided street.
Ashmont is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) intermodal transit station located at Peabody Square in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the southern terminus of the Ashmont branch of the rapid transit Red Line, the northern terminus of the connecting light rail Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, and a major terminal for MBTA bus service. Ashmont has two side platforms serving the below-grade Red Line and a single side platform on an elevated balloon loop for the Mattapan Line. The station is fully accessible for all modes.
Mattapan is an MBTA transit station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the southern terminus of the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line, part of the Red Line, and is also an important MBTA bus transfer station, with ten routes terminating there. It is located at Mattapan Square in the Mattapan neighborhood. At the station, trolleys use a balloon loop to reverse direction back to Ashmont station. Mattapan station is fully accessible, with mini-high platforms for boarding trolleys.
The Washington Street Elevated was an elevated segment of Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway system, comprising the southern stretch of the Orange Line. It ran from Chinatown through the South End and Roxbury, ending in Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston.
Andrew is an intermodal transit station in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at Andrew Square in South Boston, it serves the MBTA Red Line and the MBTA bus system. Named for John Albion Andrew, the square is at the intersection of several major thoroughfares: Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester Street, Southampton Street, and Boston Street. Andrew is the primary transfer point between the Red Line subway and the MBTA surface bus routes into South Boston. Opened in 1918 and renovated in 1994, it is fully accessible.
Savin Hill is a rapid transit station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the Ashmont branch of the MBTA's Red Line. It is located at 121 Savin Hill Avenue adjacent to Sydney Street in the Savin Hill area of the Dorchester neighborhood. Opened in 1845 as a commuter rail station, Savin Hill was converted to rapid transit in 1927 and rebuilt in 2004–05 for accessibility. Averaging 2,199 daily boardings by a FY 2019 count, Savin Hill is the least-used station on the Red Line.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates heavy-rail, light-rail, and bus transit services in the Boston metropolitan area, collectively referred to as the rapid transit, subway, or the T system.
Watertown Carhouse is a bus maintenance facility and former streetcar carhouse located in the southern section of Watertown, Massachusetts, across the Charles River from Watertown Square. As Watertown Yard, the site also serves as a bus depot serving local and express routes, with additional connections available at Watertown Square on the opposite end of the Watertown Bridge.
The Ipswich Street line was a streetcar line in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. The line ran on Boylston Street and Ipswich Street in the Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood, and on Brookline Avenue through what is now the Longwood Medical Area to Brookline Village.
