The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is partnering with the City of Boston to reduce bus travel times and enhance service reliability on city streets. Following a successful pilot of a dedicated bus lane set up by the Boston Transportation Department with temporary traffic control devices, McMahon was tasked with providing a quick turnaround design to make the Roslindale Bus Lane permanent.

Serving nine of the MBTA’s busiest bus routes, the 1.5 mile peak period only bus lane is located along Washington Street, running from Roslindale Square to just south of Forest Hills MBTA Station. This shared bus-bike lane is in effect from 5-9am on weekdays, and reverts to a parking lane and on-street bicycle lane outside of these hours. During the pilot phase, the MBTA reported the bus lane shaved 20-25% off travel times for about 1,100 riders traveling during the peak hour.

McMahon prepared signage and pavement marking construction documents for the permanent bus lane, developed custom signage for the bus lane as well as for the side street, for drivers approaching the bus lane, and provided temporary traffic control plans.

 

Phase II of planned improvements for bus routes along the corridor include bus stop consolidation, improved accessibility at and to bus stops, bus queue jump lanes, and signal optimization or possibly transit signal priority, and potentially an outbound bus lane to complement the existing inbound lane.