Future of the MBTA

[nowyano]

I have been bored over my break from School, I am a teacher not a student but at the end of the day I guess I am still a loser , anyway I started to look at the MBTA and different sites that talk about how to improve it (http://www.transportboston.com among others) and I came up with this new map taking several ideas from several sites. This is my ideal new map for the MBTA, and some of the changes:

Station Name Changes

1. Braintree Station is now Braintree Center

2. Aquarium Station is now Central Station

New Branches, Extensions and Connections

1. There are 3 additional Green Line Branches;

-Silver Line From Dudley Changed to Green Line Light Rail Starting at Hyde Square (Boston Proper) and Going to Copley Square (Boston Proper) where it would connect with the rest of the Green Line Transit system.

-Then 2 additional Green Line Branches past Lechmere to Tufts (Medford) the other to (3) Prospect Street (Somerville) both using old railroad or commuter rail right of way lanes. These are all suppose to be done to complete requirements for the Big Dig. Plus the Dane Street stop is an easy walk to Inman Sq in Cambridge the Prospect Street stop is an easy walk to Prospect Park in Somerville.

2. Red Line spur serving 2 stops in Watertown (Watertown Square and Arlington Street) and 2 stops in Cambridge (Mt. Auburn Hospital and Mt. Auburn Cemetary). This would stop a lot of the congestion on the 77 and 73 bus route along Mt. Auburn Street to Harvard Square. The buses cause a lot of pollution and are always, even during non rush hour times, filled to the max.

3. There is a Blue Line spur serving two stops in Chealsea (Chealsea Station and Chealsea Center). Chealsea like Somerville is completly underserved by the T.

4. There would be a Monorail or People mover from Blue Line Airport stop to Logan terminals The reason being that it would be easier having a direct rail connection on Logan property than to have to switch onto the mini shuttle.

5. Another Monorail or Underground people mover connecting North and South Station with a stop at Central Station (Formerly Aquarium). This is something people have been talking about for a long time being able to connect two of the busiest stations (the two commuter rail stations) together with one line. The people traveling by commuter rail from the North Shore end up going to South Station to work in the financial district this would also take away much of the issues of switching from the Orange to the Red Line at Downtown Crossing during the heat of morning and evening rush hour.

6. There is a Red Line/Blue Line connection at Charles/MGH (Boston Proper). Again this was a requirement for the Big Dig.

7. The Yellow Line, or Urban Ring, allows people to move around the outer parts of the transit system without having to change Downtown there are stops at JFK/UMass (Boston Proper, Dorchester), Roslindale Village (Boston Proper, Roslindale), Uphams Corner (Boston Proper, Dorchester), Everett Sq. (Boston Proper, Dorchester), Hyde Sq. (Boston Proper, Hyde Park), Heath St. (Boston Proper), Brookline Hills (Brookline), Coolidge Corner (Brookline), BU Central (Boston Proper, Brighton), Waverly Sq. (Waverly), Harvard (Cambridge), Lechmere (Cambridge/Somerville), Sullivan (Boston Proper, Charlestown), Chealsea Station (Chealsea), Airport (Boston Proper, East Boston), L Street (Boston Proper, South Boston) and South Boston/Broadway (Boston Proper, South Boston).

8. A Blue Line extension all the way up to Salem (Salem).

New Stops

1. 2 Additional Orange Line Stop at Roslindale Village (Boston Proper) and Assembly Square (Somerville)

2. 8 Additional Blue Line Stops 2 in Lynn (Lynn and Lynn Center), 1 in Swampscott (Swampscott) and 1 in Salem (Salem Station) 2 of which are already commuter rail stops, 2 in Chealsea (Chealsea Station and Chealsea Center) 1 of which is already a commuter rail stop, a Red Line/Blue Line Connection at Charles/MGH (Boston Proper) and a stop on Memorial Drive (Boston Proper).

3. 6 additional Red Line Stops one in Arlington (Arlington Center) and another in Braintree (South Braintree Square) plus 2 in Cambridge (Mt. Auburn Hospital and Mt. Auburn Cemetary) plus 2 in Watertown (Arligton Street and Watertown Square)

4. Along with the other stops on the Yellow Line there are also brand new stops at Uphams Corner (Boston Proper), Everet Square (Boston Proper), L Street (Boston Proper), South Boston (Boston Proper) and Waverly Square (Waverly)

5. 16 additional Green Line stops at Gillman Sq (Somerville), Somerville Ctr (Somerville), Ball Square (Medford), Tufts (Medford), Twin City Plaza (Cambridge/Somerville), Union Sq. (Somerville), Dane Street (Somerville) and Prospect Street (Somerville) plus the stops that were formerly Silver line add another 8 stops, Huntington Ave, Comm Ave, Herald St, Newton St, Worcester Sq, Massachusetts Ave, Dudley Sq, Hyde Sq. (all in Boston Proper)

Yeah I know this is probably prohibitively expensive considering that the MBTA is close to broke but a lot of this (Blue Line to Salem) is in the MBTA plan or (Green Line to Somerville/Medford, Silver Line to Light Rail) were supposed requirements by the big dig, I guess all I can do now is hope...

[Cotuit]

Cool, I'll have to give this a closer look/read later.

[vanshnookenraggen]

I really dig the design. Looks like the old Moscow Metro maps.

A couple things I should point out:

1)The Green Line line to Dudley Sq should be on the other side of the Orange Line.

2)The Urban Ring is nice but there is no way it could go from Heath St to Roslindale to Uphams Corner (which is actually before Everett Sq). The only place it could go (acording to your map) would be Roxbury Crossing.

Also, give my site a try http://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/FutureT

[blink55184]

Also, give my site a try http://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/FutureT

Ive looked at your entire page numerous times- ALot is great-

And that guy D.zinoview(spelling?) you link to- He is a professor at my school.- I never knew he was a train buff

[nowyano]

I really dig the design. Looks like the old Moscow Metro maps.

A couple things I should point out:

1)The Green Line line to Dudley Sq should be on the other side of the Orange Line.

2)The Urban Ring is nice but there is no way it could go from Heath St to Roslindale to Uphams Corner (which is actually before Everett Sq). The only place it could go (acording to your map) would be Roxbury Crossing.

Also, give my site a try http://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/FutureT

I knew about the Dudley stop but I couldn't think of a way to do that the Urban Ring was just absolute guess work for me and btw your website is awesome if I had seen that before I did this I probably wouldn't have taken the time to do this...

[atlrvr]

I just had an idea that seems really obvious, and wonder if there was ever any discussion back of "my plan" when the big dig was proposed.

I imagining a streetcar running in mixed traffic running along Summer Street from the beach in Southie across the Ft. Point Channel and then along Surface St/Atlantic going north up to Commerical St through the North End. I'm not sure if there is a good way to cross the Charles, but possibly serving either Charlestown or Chelsea would be a future extension.

I'm thinking this plan accomplishes several key factors. It connects the more heavily residential section of Southie to downtown. It also serves the emerging Seaport District. It provides key links to South Station, Blue Line (at aquarium), and possibly North Station. This line would give service to the North End and the waterfront which lack good transit.

I think this line works well as a streetcar, so it should be relatively affordable. Any thoughts?

[UrbanLifter]

I like the idea. Southie is a definite "hole" in the realm of MBTA service. Streetcar would be the way to go. No more digging in Boston for a while, please.

Given the stretched resources of the State and the MBTA debt plus the prior unfulfilled committments required as a result of the Big Dig, this and more needed MBTA improvements are many years away.

[atlrvr]

The Assmebly Square station addition to the Orange Line got a huge boost, in that the developers of the adjacent mixed-use project, have promised $15M to build the station that closes the funding needed (the Fed had previously promised $25M toward the $40M station). In exchange for the contribution, the local NIMBYs will drop all lawsuits.

[Cotuit]

In exchange for the contribution, the local NIMBYs will drop all lawsuits.

[atlrvr]

Yep....the developers are now free to build Ikea a store as part of the agreement.