The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My Public Portal About05-27-2014 MBTA informational presentation_201405221036231122Deval L. Patrick, Governor Richard A. Davey, MassDOT Secretary & CEO Beverly A. Scott, PhD., General Manager and Rail & Transit Administrator Mark S. Sideris, Council President Watertown Town Council Administration Building 149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472 Dear Council President Sideris: gyrnassDOT » assachusetts Department of Transportation April 30t1i, 2014 il & Transit Division Thank you for your letter of March 20 regarding transit service in Watertown. I appreciate hearing from the communities that we serve, and I share your interest in improving public transit in Watertown. In response to the specific issues cited in your letter: 1. "Service on the 70, 71, and 73 bus lines has deteriorated significantly in the past five years. These bus lines experience overcrowding and delays that are not fair to fire paying transit riders of Watertown." In the case of Route 73, trackless trolley service has temporarily been replaced by diesel bus service due to roadway construction in Belmont. The perception of degraded service is correct. Weekday on -time performance for Route 73 declined from 79% in May and June 2013 to 69% in Sept -Nov 2013. As a result, Service Planning and Bus Operations staff have investigated modifications and have put forward the following measures designed to improve service quality: • A supervisor has been assigned to the Waverly end of the Route 73 service to manage bus arrivals and departures to minimize crowding and improve on time performance. • In the coming weeks, the Route 73 diesel buses on weekdays and Saturdays will begin using the same route as the trackless trolleys, which drop off passengers at Harvard Station in the upper busway and board passengers in the lower busway. This will improve operations from the current condition, since it will allow for the same turnaround route and opportunity for schedule recovery that is provided on the trackless routing. In contrast, the diesel buses have been using the Sunday Route 73 routing, which involved either a longer turnaround route or which eliminated the recovery time, both of which led to declines in service performance. Leading the Nation in Transportation Excellence Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Ten Park Plaza, Suite 3910, Boston, MA 021 16 www.mbta.corn In general, Route 70 and 71 performance has been largely unchanged. A number of improvements were implemented in Fall 2013 to Route 71 as part of the Key Bus Route Improvements, and we are reviewing the impact that these improvements have had on the service. 2. "The Town of Watertown requests the MBTA to investigate the feasibility of immediately implementing four solutions to improve bus service in the short term: • Priority signals for MBTA buses at traffic signals (especially Fresh Pond/Mt Auburn) • Off -bus fare collection to speed loading (especially Harvard Station) • Running express buses on existing routes during peak hours. • Charlie Card ticket kiosks at key locations in Watertown." The Transportation Bond Bill passed recently by the Legislature and signed by Governor Patrick includes $500,000 authorization for MassDOT to investigate transit priority at the traffic signals near Mount Auburn Street and Fresh Pond Parkway. At this point, it is unclear what sort of solutions can be implemented to improve signalization or roadway geometry, but we are committed to working jointly with the municipalities and with DCR and MassDOT Highway Division to represent the interests of transit users. We absolutely agree that eliminating on -board bus fare collection will reduce queuing and speed service at busy stations such as Harvard Station. As an initial set of bus service enhancements for implementation review, we will be looking at options and incentives to reduce use of cash in on -board fare payment as part of our comprehensive system fare review during Fiscal Year 2015. MBTA Service Planning will review the provision of local and express service along existing routes during peak hours. Given fleet availability constraints, recent efforts — such as through the Key Bus Route Improvement Program —have focused on making local services operate faster for all riders rather than on segmenting the market into local/express. There are a number of Retail Sales Terminals (RSTs) located near Watertown bus routes where customers can purchase MBTA passes and tickets or add value to their Charlie Cards or Charlie Tickets. Current RST locations include the Store 24 in Watertown Square and Star Market by Mount Auburn Cemetery. If you know of potential vendors who would like to participate in the RST program, please have them contact Lynne O'Neill at loneill@mbta.com or call 617-222-6514. 3. "The Town of Watertown also requests the assistance of the MBTA to develop Transit Management Associations as public/private partnerships using shuttle buses for both employees and residents of specific developments as well as the general public. " Joe Cosgrove of my staff is available to assist you with introductions to the local organizations that work with TMAs. Among the most helpful local contacts is David Kucharsky, Executive Director at MassCommute, a trade association composed of eleven Massachusetts Transportation Management Associations (TMAs). David can be reached via email at cxecutivedirector@tnasscommute.com or via phone at 917-921- 5470. He may be able to provide guidance about establishing a new TMA or even partnering with existing TMAs that operate nearby —including A Better City (abettercity.org), Charles River TMA (charlesrivertma.org), or 495 Business Council (495bc.org) to name a few. In particular, A Better City is working on forming a TMA right next door in Allston/Brighton, so this may be an opportune moment. Allison Simmons is working on this project, and can be reached at 781-775-0157/ 617-502- 6248 and asinimons@abettercity.org. Once again, Mr. Cosgrove (by e-mail at jcosgrove@inbta.com mbta.com or telephone at 617-222-4400) of my staff will be happy to assist in facilitating follow-up conversations between the Town and any of these TMA contacts. 4. The Town of Watertown further requests the MBTA consider adding additional buses to the 70, 71 and 73 routes at both peak and off peak hours, and also engage with the town of Watertown and neighboring municipalities to identify other measures that would increase the quality of bus service on these lines, and to consider other public transit improvements. Unfortunately, we do have overcrowding conditions on many of our most popular route services during peak periods. Resolution of that will require additional funding, maintenance & storage facilities, and equipment. That said, we have a proposal under review to increase the amount of off-peak service on Route 70, 71 and 73 in the next 6- 9 months, pending identification of additional financial resources. Please recognize, however, adding peak service will be a challenge in the near term, as all peak buses are in service, and adding peak service will mean reallocating service from other peak routes, which are also usually crowded. In the medium -to -long term, we are also reviewing options for increasing bus facility capacity and fleet size. We are also looking to build on the success of the Key Bus Routes Improvement program, which included changes to stop spacing, accessibility, passenger amenities, and other changes on Routes 71 and 73. S. Finally, the Town Council requests the MBTA send a representative to one of its regularly scheduled meetings to discuss these problems and potential solutions. I will attend the May 27 Town Council meeting and I look forward to discussing these and other topics with you. We tremendously value your support of the MBTA and public transit's important role in the region. Thank you for helping to bring bus performance issues to our attention, and we will work to provide improved service in the future. I am always available to discuss further. Sincerely, Beverly A. Scott, Ph.D. MBTA General Manager and MassDOT Rail & Transit Administrator cc: Honorable Town Council Town Manager Michael Driscoll State Representative Jonathan Hecht State Representative John Lawn State Senator William Brownsberger Charles Planck, MBTA AGM, Acting Chief of Staff Clinton Bench, Deputy Executive Director, Office of Transportation Planning Eric Bourassa, MAPC Beth Isler, CTPS/MPO