Transportation

Survey Finds Bus Priority Lanes Improve Speed, Reliability During Commute

By |

Buses like this one on the 71 bus will get priority heading toward Harvard Square on Mt. Auburn Street in the new Cambridge-Watertown Bus Priority Pilot program. The following information was provided by the Town of Watertown:

Evaluation of the Cambridge-Watertown Mt. Auburn Street Bus Priority Pilot shows improved travel time and service reliability for 12,000+ daily MBTA bus and shuttle riders along Mt. Auburn Street, west of Fresh Pond Parkway.

Transportation

Find Out About the Bus Priority Lanes on Mt. Auburn St. at Meeting

By |

Buses like this one on the 71 bus have been given priority heading toward Harvard Square on Mt. Auburn Street in the new Cambridge-Watertown Bus Priority Pilot program. The following information was provided by the Town of Watertown:

Did you know that more than half of all commuters using Mt. Auburn Street during rush hour are riding the bus? 

Watertown and Cambridge, working with the MBTA and DCR, created a bus priority lane on Mt. Auburn Street for the 71 and 73 buses, between Cottage Street in Watertown and Fresh Pond Parkway in Cambridge, to help move buses faster. Extensive data collection of the before and after conditions will be presented at a meeting on:

Wednesday, June 12, 2019, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.46 Belmont St.

Government

Survey Collecting Input About New Bus Priority Lanes on Mt. Auburn St.

By |

The new red bus priority lane on Mt. Auburn Street near the Cambridge Line. Photo provided by the Watertown Department of Public Works. The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Department of Public Works:

As of Nov. 15, after several weeks of calibration, City of Cambridge staff and the Mount Auburn Street Bus Priority project partners consider the implementation of the Mt Auburn Street Bus Priority Pilot to be complete.

Bus Priority Pilot

Officials Hopeful Bus Priority Program Will Improve Commute on Mt. Auburn Street

By |

It takes something special to get state and local officials to gather next to a bus stop at 8 a.m. a chilly morning, but celebrating the start of a program to speed up buses along Mt. Auburn Street rose to that occasion Friday morning. The group in front of Star Market showed up for the launch of the Cambridge-Watertown Mt. Auburn Street Bus Priority Pilot, also referred to as bus rapid transit or BRT. Users of the roadway may have noticed the red lanes, and new traffic patterns, which are designed to move buses, and — they hope — other vehicles, toward Harvard Square at a brisker pace.

Bus Priority Pilot

Bus Priority Lanes Going Into Effect Soon, See What to Expect, Take Survey

By |

Changes to sections of Mt. Auburn Street will go into effect early next week which will change the traffic patters for drivers, bus riders and bicyclists. The Town of Watertown and City of Cambridge have teamed up to create a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) pilot with the goal to create faster and more reliable bus service for more than 12,000 daily MBTA bus riders and shuttle passengers and improve traffic flow for all users of Mt. Auburn Street. The pilot is being funded with a grant from the Barr Foundation and is being done in conjunction with the MBTA and the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Bus Lanes

Traffic Patterns Changing to Speed Up Buses on Mt. Auburn St. During Pilot Program

By |

Some changes to traffic patterns on Mt. Auburn Street will be tested during a Bus Priority Pilot in effort to speed up buses on the roadway through Watertown and Cambridge. A community meeting will be May 1, 2018, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Tufts Health Plan (705 Mount Auburn St., Watertown) to discuss the Bus Priority Pilot, but Watertown Department of Public Works officials gave some details prior to the meeting. The pilot will test ways to get buses down Mt. Auburn Street faster, Shuman said, because so many people use public transit to commute.

Around Town

Find Out More About Dedicated Bus Lane Pilot on Mt. Auburn Street

By |

A meeting will be held to discuss the next steps for the Mt. Auburn Street Bus Priority Pilot that will include bus-only lanes for the 71 and 73 buses on a stretch of the road that can also be used by emergency vehicles and shuttles. 

Learn more about the project and the efforts to test Bus Rapid Transit on Mt. Auburn Street and Belmont Street at a meeting on Tuesday, March 27, 6-7:30 p.m at the Russell Youth Center, 680 Huron Avenue, Cambridge. Find out more about the meeting here. The meeting will focus more on issues in Cambridge.