Arlington Bus Priority Pilot: Timeline, What To Expect

ARLINGTON, MA – Officials this week introduced the bus priority pilot in Arlington, which is expected to go into effect this fall. The pilot will impact MBTA buses on the eastbound side of Massachusetts Avenue from Lake Street to Alewife Brook Parkway during the morning commute.

There will be no new construction, just cones, signal changes, signs and enforcement sectioning off a lane for buses only. The incorporation of Bus Rapid Transit features is expected to save regular commuters about two weeks of travel time annually. It will also make rush hour travel times more predictable and encourage the use of public transit, which will cut down on overall traffic, according to a town press release.

Below are the expected features of BRT, as well as the timeline leading up to the pilot:

Proposed features

• Mass Ave Eastbound - evaluating from Lake Street to Alewife Brook Parkway (ABP)
• Mass Ave - evaluating signal priority from Mystic Street to ABP
• Bus queue jump lanes - evaluating at 15 intersections along Mass Ave
• Bus stop relocations - evaluating from Lake Street to ABP

Outreach / Implementation / Evaluation Timeline

• April-June: Field Work and Data Collection, including stakeholder meeting
• May 16: BRT Educational Forum
• June-August: Corridor Scenario Development (Conceptual Design of Dedicated Bus Lane, Queue Jumps, Bus Stop Relocation and Related Improvements)
• August-September: Implementation (finalize design and prepare for implementation, engage street teams)
• August 15: Alternative Scenarios Forum
• October: Bus Optimization Pilot
• November-December: Pilot Evaluation
• November 12: Tentative date for Final Forum
• May-October: Stakeholder Meetings in East Arlington

See the May 16 presentation below:

Brt May 2018 Forum Presentation by Alex Newman on Scribd

Image via Town of Arlington