MBTA works to improve bus reliability in the city of Boston
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and the city of Boston are teaming up to improve transit reliability and travel times by upgrading to Boston’s Traffic Management Center. The update will work to integrate MBTA bus locations into real-time traffic signal adjustments. The MBTA says that up to 50 percent of transit delay consists of waiting at red lights in signalized intersections and these upgrades have the potential to significantly reduce that time.
“The Healey Driscoll Administration is transforming the state’s transportation system to make travel safer, more reliable and more efficient and great strides are being made, especially when it comes to trips being taken on public transit,” said Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Monica Tibbits-Nutt. “The MBTA Transit Priority Group, Barr Foundation and municipalities have strategically implemented initiatives to improve bus travel times with transit signal priority and dedicated bus lanes. Their collaboration and innovative ideas are a catalyst for getting people out of cars and onto public transportation.”
MBTA notes that before scaling the upgrades citywide, a three-intersection one-year proof-of-concept test was initiated to make sure the system would function properly. The three-intersection transit signal priority (TSP) test is along Brighton Avenue at the intersections of Allston Street, Harvard Avenue and Linden Street, improving reliability on two key bus routes, the 57 and 66. Combined, Routes 57 and 66 have about 15,000 daily riders and both routes are in the top 10 for highest ridership, with Route 66 being the third highest.
“The MBTA has great municipal partners who continue to collaborate with us on improving bus services and we’re grateful to the city of Boston for building on the success of the 2019 Brighton Avenue bus lane project to add Transit Signal Priority to the bus lane corridor,” said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng. “This will add to the reliability benefits already felt by riders on Routes 57 and 66 every day, improve bus service for the community and bring riders to their destinations more quickly. We thank Boston for their partnership.”
The traffic signal software was deployed and running as of July 2024. Since installation, MBTA notes buses traveling through the corridor spent 21 percent less time waiting at red lights on average and arrived at a green light five percent more often. According to MBTA, the travel signal software resulted in eight percent faster travel times, with each bus saving an average of 16 seconds for a combined total of 110 minutes saved each weekday. The authority says travel time savings were even greater during peak hours, as each inbound Route 57 trip through the corridor was over 60 seconds faster.
The MBTA and the city of Boston have been working with Boston’s traffic signal vendor, Control Technologies, Inc (CTI), to manage the project and update Boston’s traffic management center software to be more flexible in signal timing. Helping CTI will be LYT, who will use their machine-learning TSP technology to track and predict the bus location, enabling Boston’s traffic management center to be able to prioritize a green light for the bus as the bus approaches each intersection.
