TransitMatters Announces Installation of Advocacy Posters in 18 Bus Stops Across Boston

The TransitMatters NextGen Bus team’s new bus advocacy poster!

BOSTON, MA, August 8, 2023 – While all aspects of the MBTA are in disrepair, the bus network is often ignored. With continually cut service in tandem with poor operational standards and underinvestment into the infrastructure that supports the functionality of buses, riders have not been prioritized. TransitMatters aims to change this. 

Through JCDecaux’s Non-Profit Program, TransitMatters is proud to announce the installation of our poster series “Modernize our Bus System; Let’s Prioritize Bus Riders” at 18 bus stops across Boston. 

“The poster is interactive, you can scan [the QR code], and it will bring up the poster in different languages,” said TransitMatters Executive Director Jarred Johnson at the poster launch event in Copley Square. “It will also connect you to the MBTA’s website so that you can give a public comment and not only show your support for bus priority but show your support for improving operational practices so that we don’t have things like bus bunching and so that we have just better operations overall.”

The QR code at the bottom left of the poster brings riders this landing page featuring two auto-email forms: one to tell the T to include better bus operational practices in their plans to improve the bus network and the other to tell the T to continue investing in bus-priority infrastructure. The TransitMatters NextGen Bus team hopes the linked resources will encourage bus riders to take action to ensure that the T prioritizes them in current and future bus planning projects.

The landing page also highlights the roadblocks for better bus trips, explains how to fix them, and creates a stream of action. There is information on bus priority infrastructure and operational practices, such as headway management and pulse points, and how riders can advocate for it. Together, this information can give riders a platform to advocate for themselves, their communities, and their commute.

The TransitMatters NextGen Bus team’s new bus advocacy poster at the Boylston St @ Clarendon St bus stop in Copley Square.

The poster depicts a road suffering from bus bunching and traffic in the background, transitioning to a bus speeding in its own lane in the foreground. Our poster series shows bus riders what their trips could look like if they were the center of bus advocacy. 

TransitMatters encourages our friends and followers to take a photo, tag us on social media, and use the hashtag #prioritizebuses if they encounter a poster at a bus stop. We also ask you to please share both Action Alerts with your friends and family!

Media Statement: Orange Line Shutdown/Building A Better T 2022

BOSTON, August 3, 2022 — The Orange Line is an essential part of the MBTA system; it carries over 100,000 riders a day. Today’s announcement of a 30-day shutdown is a dramatic example of the urgency of improving service on the subway system. Going forward, the MBTA must commit to giving riders more notice. The short notice of this announcement shows a lack of respect for riders. The quality of the T’s communications to riders throughout this effort, as well as the quality of its mitigation efforts, will be major tests for the agency. As the MBTA plans to shut down this critical piece of transportation infrastructure on short notice for a month, we need the Authority, municipalities, and other partners to take an all-hands-on-deck approach and coordinate efforts to deliver effective and usable transportation alternatives for 100,000 T riders who will be disrupted by this initiative.

We are concerned that replacement shuttle buses have not functioned well during past diversions. Too often they were stuck in traffic, hopelessly delayed, and woefully insufficient to replace rail transit service. The MBTA and affected municipalities must act quickly to establish and enforce busways and protected bikeways along the routes used by shuttle buses and nearby existing surface transit routes that will receive diverted passengers, such as the 39 bus and the E Branch of the Green Line. This is an opportunity to show that quick-build bus lanes are feasible and can make a meaningful impact on travel times. To reduce costs from installation and removal, these lanes should be operational and enforced 24/7 for the duration of the shutdown. We urge careful coordination with municipal partners like BTD and BPD, as well as the MBTA Transit Police to ensure reliable service.

We’re pleased to hear that the MBTA will have commuter rail trains stop at Orange Line stations along the corridor including additional trains at Oak Grove and Forest Hills.  Fares from these stations should be waived for the duration of the diversion to ensure riders without a CharlieCard can access the service. Service should also be increased to stations along the route of the 34 Bus, such as Readville and Hyde Park. Many riders of the 34 transfer to Orange Line service at Forest Hills, and improved CR service to Southwest Boston is crucial to reducing pressure on the shuttle service. The T should also reduce fares on all Commuter Rail lines during the diversion to mitigate the increase in traffic caused by Orange Line riders switching to vehicles. Additionally, the MBTA should reassign Orange Line dispatchers to boost service on the Red and Blue lines, as well as boost service levels and capacity on the Green Line.

Finally, the MBTA needs to restore rider confidence by clearly communicating the benefits of this shutdown. Riders deserve a firm commitment from the MBTA that Orange Line service will significantly improve after this unprecedented diversion. The T must demonstrate that it can accomplish this shutdown within the strict 30-day period, and that it has in place strong oversight controls that were lacking during the recent Blue Line shutdown experience. Riders have put up with years-long slow zones, teething problems with new vehicles, and diversions with no appreciable impact on service. The MBTA must clearly communicate the benefits of this shutdown to riders and unveil a line with better travel times, more reliable service, and improved rider experience.

For media inquiries, please e-mail media@transitmatters.org. 

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Action Alert: Support Regional Rail in the CIP!

Regional Rail needs your support!

The MBTA’s lack of a clear commitment to Commuter Rail electrification in the CIP is troubling. Although there are line items related to Regional Rail studies, new vehicles, and even the new maintenance facility, no explicit commitments to Phase 1 of Regional Rail or electric multiple units leave us disappointed. We need you to show your support through making a public comment on the CIP.

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How to Help:

Copy the text below in your email and send your message to
cipengagement@mbta.com and CC: cip@transitmatters.info. 

This helps us track how many riders are sending in supportive comments for Regional Rail. Feel free to add your own language to it (e.g., tell the T what fast Regional Rail would mean for you) or just use our copy. Thanks for your help! Email Link

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Dear MBTA Capital Investment Plan Team, 

I am writing to express my support for, and urge you to include, meaningful investments towards building a fast, frequent, clean Regional Rail system in this year’s MBTA Capital Investment Plan. The draft of the 2023-2027 Capital Investment Plan (CIP) includes only vague mentions of Rail Transformation with no real mention of electrification. The inadequate allocation of planning funding that is present will not enable us to reach climate goals, lower congestion, or increase ridership. I urge the T to complete electrification on the Providence/Stoughton Line, as well as begin design and pre-construction work on the Fairmount, and Newburyport/Rockport lines. I also urge the T to complete “no regrets investments” on the Worcester Line, the Old Colony network, and the Haverhill Line. Thank you for your hard work and the many positive investments in the CIP; we hope we will be able to celebrate further investments in Rail Electrification and Transformation in the final draft. 

Sincerely, 

[Your Name]

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mailto:cipengagement@mbta.com?cc=cip@transitmatters.info

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