BOSTON REGION METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION HOME CONTACT US SEARCH SITE MAP
Mobility Monitoring – Transit – Overview
OVERVIEW • REGIONAL TRENDS • ROADWAYS • INTERSECTIONS • TRANSIT
BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN • HOV LANES • TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT • PARK-AND-RIDE
Overview • On-Time Performance • Passenger Crowding
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit system carries approximately 1.2 million trips on average each weekday. The MBTA rapid transit, light rail, and bus rapid transit systems serve 134 stations on six lines: the Green Line, Blue Line, Orange Line, Red Line, Mattapan High Speed Line, and Silver Line. The bus and trackless trolley system serves 44 communities with 173 routes. The commuter rail network comprises 12 radial lines with a total of 133 stations. Commuter boat service connects Hingham, Hull, Quincy, Logan Airport and Charlestown to downtown Boston.

According to 2005-09 U.S. Census Bureau estimates for commuting trips, approximately 16 percent of residents of the MPO area commute to work via some form of public transit; this is slightly higher than the transit mode share for 2000 given in the census for that year. Furthermore, 55 percent of all work trips into downtown Boston and 42 percent of all trips destined for downtown are made by transit. In the entire MPO region, however, 6.8 percent of all trips are made by transit.

Based on the 2000 census figures, approximately 54 percent of the population within the MPO region lives within walking distance (three-fourths of a mile or less from a rail station and one-half mile or less from a bus stop) of MBTA transit service. This statistic reinforces the importance of promoting public transit use.

Congestion Management Process (CMP) staff used data collected by CTPS´s Transit Service Planning Group and the MBTA to evaluate MBTA transit services against two performance measures: on-time performance (schedule adherence) and passenger crowding. The results may be seen via the two links above.