THE MBTA’S SLOWEST BUS routes are getting slower on average, but the transit agency is doing a better job of not leaving long gaps in service by “bunching” buses so that they arrive together, according to a new report.
TransitMatters, a Boston-based organization that advocates for fast, frequent, and reliable transit, said in its third annual Pokey/Schleppie report that average bus speeds across the 10 slowest MBTA bus routes fell to 6.42 mph from 6.52 mph last year. It called its just-released findings “awards for bus inefficiency.”
Bunching, or buses arriving together rather than spaced apart, improved to 13.9 percent from 15.8 percent across the 10 most-bunched routes, the 52-page report said.
“For people who depend on these buses, that means time lost getting to work, school, and health care. There are plans and commitments in place to make these trips better,” Cole Lewis, bus and mobility hubs program manager at TransitMatters, said. “We want this year’s report to help move that work forward and make sure riders see the benefits.”
The SL4 runs from Nubian Square through Chinatown to South Station and ranked as the slowest route at 6.09 mph, followed by the #1 bus at 6.2 mph. The #1 bus was ranked the slowest in each of the previous two years, and serves Roxbury, Back Bay, Fenway-Kenmore, the South End, and Cambridge.
“Over the past three years we have consistently found that many of the system’s slowest and most unreliable buses are the routes predominantly serving Black and Brown communities and low-income neighborhoods – neighborhoods which often depend on transit,” the report said. “Poor bus service is not just an issue of inefficiency; it is an issue of opportunity, mobility, and quality of life for these communities.”
The report recommends advancing planned projects, restoring, and expanding bus lanes, headway management to keep buses evenly spaces, and rolling out automated enforcement to address vehicles blocking bus lanes and bus stops.
The Pokey (“slowest”) and Schleppie (“most bunched”) rankings are modeled after a long-running advocacy campaign in New York City. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s streets chief welcomed the report.
“The Pokey/Schleppie Report helps keep attention focused on the everyday experience of bus riders and underscores the value of sustained, data-driven work to improve service,” Christopher Osgood, Boston’s Interim Chief of Streets, said in a statement. “We appreciate TransitMatters’s advocacy and partnership and look forward to continuing our work together to deliver faster, more dependable bus service across Boston.”
