Better Bus Project | Projects

Better Bus Project: Making transit better together

The experience of taking an MBTA bus fails to live up to our own standards in too many ways. Through the Better Bus Project, we are changing that.

The Better Bus Project is a major step in our efforts to improve bus service and the system as a whole. It is a key part of our systemwide $8 billion, 5-year capital investment program that began July 1, 2018.

Riders can see some of these efforts in action—like priority bus lanes and new early morning and late night service. Some of our work—like new garages and better software for supervisors—is behind the scenes, and it helps keep 1,000 buses operating to carry about 400,000 riders each day. All of this together is the Better Bus Project.

The Better Bus Project is the MBTA’s partnership with more than 50 municipalities and MassDOT, which operate the roads that our buses use.

Building a Better T

As part of our $8 billion, 5-year capital investment plan, we're renovating stations, modernizing fare collection systems, upgrading services for our buses, subways, and ferries, and improving the accessibility of the entire system.

Learn more

Learn more about how we got started

As a first step, we met with the communities most impacted by gaps in service and schedules. In 2018, the project team held 7 regional public meetings, 15 briefings, monthly listening sessions with bus operators, and collected feedback from over 3,000 bus riders through conversations at bus stops and stations and through an online feedback form.

What we learned has shaped a series of initiatives that will transform the system. We are:

Redesigning routes so that they go where people want to go
Buying more buses to increase frequency
Building bus lanes to make buses faster and more reliable
Improving stops to be safer, more accessible, and more comfortable
Providing riders with real-time service information

Learn more about our research and analysis

More than 3,000 riders told us they want more frequent, more reliable service throughout the day, not just during peak service hours. Conversations with planners, operators, and drivers, and our technical analysis have confirmed that there are too many routes, too many complex routes, and too few routes with frequent, all-day service.

Learn more about our findings

Review 2018 State of the Bus System

Review 2018 Market Analysis

Review 2018 Bus Route Profiles

Check out each initiative related to our bus routes and network, as well as improving bus service across the system, for more information.

Bus Network: Bus Network Redesign
2019 Route Changes: Rounds in Fall and Winter
Early Morning and Late Night Bus Service
Bus Priority: Bus Transit Priority
Bus Stops: Bus Stop Accessibility Improvements
Bus Operations: Skate: Mobile Dispatching for Bus Officials
Bus Modernization: Bus Electrification
Bus Facility Modernization
Passenger Information: Bus Stop E Ink Signs

Bus Network Redesign

Timeline: 2018 – 2022
Status: Planning

Greater Boston has experienced significant changes in recent years, while the bus network has stayed largely the same. New employment districts have emerged, demographics have shifted, travel patterns have changed, and traffic congestion has increased.

In order to respond to these changes, the Bus Network Redesign is taking a look at the bus system as a whole. We will recommend a new network that better serves the needs of the region.

Learn more about the Bus Network Redesign

2019 Route Changes: Rounds in Fall and Winter

Riders exit a Route 66 bus in Harvard Square

Timeline: January 2019 – December 22, 2019
Status: Complete

In 2019, we implemented 2 rounds of route changes to make our bus system more reliable, improve frequency, and make routes easier for riders to understand. The first round of service changes went into effect September 1, 2019, and the second round went into effect December 22, 2019.

Learn more about the 2019 route changes

In early 2019, we shared 47 proposals for near-term changes that would allow us to better invest in long-term changes that will improve frequency and reliability, and make our service easier for our customers to use.

These proposals included plans for:

Consolidating duplicate routes
Improving the space available at bus stops
Eliminating obsolete variants of some routes

Review the original 47 proposals

In May 2019, the Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) approved 36 bus route service changes: 27 of the 47 near-term change proposals without adjustments, and 9 with adjustments based on public feedback.

Over 6 weeks of public engagement, the project team had over 2,500 in-person interactions across about 75 meetings, briefings, open houses at stations, and conversations with riders at bus stops.

Review the Near-Term Changes Report

Early Morning and Late Night Bus Service

A bus pulled up to a bus shelter late at night, with a rider walking away, and an ad for late night bus service on the shelter wall, which reads, "Late-night buses. If you

Timeline: 2018 – 2019
Status: Complete

As a result of our early morning and late night bus service pilots, we made about 140 more weekly late night trips permanent in 2019, in addition to previous existing late night service.

Learn more about our early morning and late night bus routes

Bus Transit Priority

Aerial view of red bus lanes running down the center of Columbus Avenue in Boston. Clear sky and normal traffic conditions.

Timeline: Ongoing
Status: In progress

We’re partnering with communities to develop more bus lanes to give riders faster, more reliable trips, and implement other transit priority features like queue jumps and signal priority.

In 2018, we developed two miles of bus lanes and priority treatments. In 2019, we added 2.9 additional miles. We also have more than 14 additional lane miles planned for fall 2020 and spring 2021 as part of the Rapid Response Bus Lanes Program.

Learn more about Bus Transit Priority

Skate: Mobile Dispatching for Bus Officials

Route ladders in Skate. The buses are depicted as colored triangles—green is on time, blue is early, and red is late. The attached lines show where that bus should be in its schedule. — Route ladders in Skate. The buses are depicted as colored triangles—green is on time, red is early, and blue is late. The attached lines show where that bus should be in its schedule.

Timeline: April 2019 – August 2019
Status: Complete

In 2019, we developed Skate, a convenient, web-based dispatch tool. With Skate, bus inspectors are able to see when buses are running behind or ahead of schedule, and they can make adjustments on the fly (like dispatching the next bus earlier or later) to compensate for gaps in service, improving service for riders.

Learn more about Skate

Bus Stop Accessibility Improvements

At a bus stop, a rider in a wheeleed mobility device boards the bus via a ramp, as two other riders wait in line behind.

Timeline: 2019 – 2021
Status: In progress

While 100% of MBTA buses are accessible, not all our bus stops are. We're working to change that. Our Plan for Accessible Transit Infrastructure (PATI) is a roadmap to achieving full accessibility across the entire MBTA system. The database tracks and prioritizes MBTA locations that have significant accessibility barriers, including bus stops.

Learn more about Bus Stop Accessibility Improvements

Bus Facility Modernization

Buses parked in a garage, sunlight streaming in

Timeline: Ongoing
Status: 15% design for work on a new Quincy bus maintenance facility

Bus maintenance facilities are an important part of our bus system—and our vision for the Better Bus Project. And while the work that’s done at these facilities may happen primarily behind the scenes, it’s critical for supporting an equitable, competitive, and environmentally-friendly transit system. Through the Bus Facility Modernization program, we will:

Create state-of-the-art, efficient work environments for our employees who keep the fleet clean and reliable
Expand the capacity of the system so we can add more buses and extra service, especially during peak periods
Design the facilities to accommodate a zero-emissions fleet of battery-electric buses

Learn more about Bus Facility Modernization

Bus Electrification

A Silver Line Battery Electric Bus (BEB) with an example of en-route charging equipment.

Timeline: Ongoing
Status: In progress

As part of the MBTA’s plan to achieve a zero-emissions future, we’re converting our bus fleet to electric vehicles. Bus Electrification is a long-term effort that includes multiple initiatives:

Purchasing new Battery Electric Buses (BEBs)
Modernizing and replacing our bus facilities
Upgrading our infrastructure to accommodate electric vehicles
Replacing aging diesel buses with hybrid vehicles to reach a State of Good Repair while we build facility capacity for BEBs

Learn more about Bus Electrification

Bus Stop E Ink Signs

An E Ink sign at the Broadway @ Norwood stop in Everett

Timeline: 2019 – 2020
Status: In progress

Real-time information dramatically improves the experience of taking public transit, but access to power at freestanding bus stops can be a challenge.

Through a pilot program, in February 2020 we activated solar-powered E Ink signs at 18 bus stops to display real-time information about bus arrivals and service alerts.

We’ll get feedback from riders about whether and how these new types of signs improve their trips.

Learn more about solar-powered E Ink signs