Bus Trivia
|
Former Bus Routes in the MTA/MBTA system Routes that no longer exist (but might be used for new routes or shuttles, e.g. Democratic National Committee, special events, long-term shuttles): 2, 3, 12, 13, 20, 25, 46, 49, 61, 63, 81, 82, 100A, 102, 103, 107, 113, 118, 122, 123, 129-130, 132-133, 138-139, 150-151, 157-169, 174, 181, 195, 228, 237, 241, 246, 248, 250-254, 270-273, 275, 278-279, 300-305, 310, 315, 370, 400, 410, 438, 440, 444-445, 447, 452-454, 461-463, 466-467, 470, 473-479, 520-537, 590, 594-598, 641-643, 690-692, 700. Current routes that began with a different destination: 4, 14, 37, 40, 48, 51, 52, 67-68, 75, 76, 79, 238 Route numbers never used (but might be used for new routes or shuttles, e.g. Democratic National Committee, special events, long-term shuttles): 124-128, 140-149, 152-156, 172-173, 175-180, 182-191, 197-200, 213, 218-219, 223-224, 226-229, 231-235, 239, 242, 244, 249, 255-269, 274, 280-299, 306-309, 311-314, 315-324, 327-349, 356-369, 371-399, 401-409, 412-420, 422-423, 443, 446, 457, 460, 464, 469, 471-472, 480-489, 496-499, 506-519, 538-589, 599-640, 644-689, 693-699, 702-707, 709-746, 748-999. For the entire history of how bus routes were determined, click either one of these links: Numbering history |
|
Suffix routes Suffix routes are routes that seperate from their parent route, either by contracting or extending the route. These resulted from the older trolley routes that had short turn arounds, or buses that went beyond the last stop. Normally, "A" routes were just shorter versions of their parent routes, but two of them (34E and 70A) are extended versions. With the advent of electronic destination signs, most of the "A" routes have the extended/contracted routes built in, eliminating the need for suffixes. Also, during the weekends, Lynn division bus routes operating out of Wonderland have a W suffix at the end (e.g. 441W, 442W) The routes are: 34E, 70A and 77A. |
The long and short of it For the longest time, we thought that the longest route in the MBTA is Route 34E. At 13 miles one way, the 34E extends from Forest Hills, down the entire length of Washington Street, to Walpole Center. South of the city, it's true, but there are two routes that are longer - Route 450 and Route 455, which extend 16 miles from Haymarket to Salem Depot. We also thought the shortest route is Route 5, which runs between the McCormack Housing to Andrew Station, a distance of only 1/2 mile. It's about 1-1/2 miles. |
Tangerine to Gray Ghost to Golden Sunshine (and everything in between) When the MBTA first had their fleet of New Looks in 1964, they still had the tangerine/orange color (mainly from the buses taken from the Eastern Massachusetts Railway and the MTA). The MBTA painted whatever they could get their hands on gray - trackless trolleys, buses, train cars - until the new color scheme of Green (for the trolleys), Orange (for the elevated line), Red (for the Cambridge-Dorchester subway) and Blue (for East Boston). In 1972, the new fleet of Flxible buses had received a new color - yellow. Officially, it was called Surface Yellow, but the people in MBTA marketing touted this yellow to the press as Golden Sunshine. (There were, however, some older 5000-5100 series MTA buses still had the tangerine paint scheme, and many of the former Eastern Mass 3500 series buses were left in their white scheme until all of them were scrapped in 1982!) Until the 1984-85 deliveries of the RTS buses, the entire shell of the bus was painted in this yellow color. Today's RTS buses have a single yellow stripe surrounding the bus, with the remainder of the bus white, but will be repainted to yellow-blue-grey once they undergo a mid-life overhaul. Crosstown Buses (0262-0283) have a turquoise stripe under the number and a huge arrow on either side of the bus. |
Faster than a speeding...express bus? The 1970s vintage Flxibles retired in the early 1990s could crawl around Boston at a top speed of 45 miles per hour on city streets. However, passengers on the then-300 series express buses knew the true meaning of express when they rode 7100 series buses. Since these buses had no device to prevent them from going any faster than a prescribed speed - a governor - the buses, once on the Mass Turnpike, could fly to Downtown Boston at a speed of at least 70 miles per hour, thanks to the powerful Detroit Diesel 8V71 engines. According to Scott Moore (New England Transit), top speeds of 90 miles per hour were common. (And it was rumored that the 9000 series AM Generals also could top 65 mph with the same engines, although most of the 9000s were used for city service.) |
No Smoking... On the older buses, the NO SMOKING above the vehicle number was a plain and clear message. If you saw NO SMOKING 7398 it didn't mean that 7398 could pull over for a quick smoke. It meant passengers couldn't smoke (and got a $50 fine for doing it, although I hadn't seen it enforced). Now, below the ADA requirement for drivers to announce stops and the faded "Exit Rear Doors" sign is a sticker that says, "No Smoking" with the international red slash through a cigarette. |
Bus fares through the years (1964-2001) Here's a short summary (taken every five years) of how bus fares have increased from the MBTA's inception. 1964 Local 10 cents, Express
$0.75-$1.50 |
The very first bus route Believe it or not, current MBTA bus route 1 was NOT the first bus route to operate in the MBTA system (it was the first trolley route in the system, though). In fact, Route 1 was a combination between old bus Route 47 and trackless trolley Route 76. Route 64, which operates between Central Sq and Oak Sq, first operated in 1922 from the old Allston Garage. It operated on Fanueil St to Oak Sq. |
How much does a transit bus cost? 1964 (5000s): $58,300 |
