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The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is a quasi-governmental organization formed in 1964 that controls the subway, bus, commuter rail, and ferry systems in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Originally it was called the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or the MTA, as immortalized in the popular folk-protest lament " The MTA Song". It is known by the locals as just The T because of the logo it adopted back in the 1960s.
The four-line subway system consists of the Red, Orange, Green, and Blue Lines. The term "four-line" is a bit misleading. The Green line has four branches, B, C, D, and E; the Red Line has two branches and also incorporates a separate trolley line, the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line.
In 1985, the MBTA undertook an expansion of rail service on the Red Line beyond Harvard Square, into the west Cambridge and SomervilleSomerville is a city located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478. With only slightly over 4 square miles (10 kmē) of land, this makes it the most densely populated comm areas (see: Davis SquareDavis Square is a neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, located around the intersection of Holland Street, Dover Street, Elm Street, Highland Avenue, and College Avenue. It is located within walking distance to Tufts University. The Davis Square stat). The project resulted in the construction of a large parking structure and office park at AlewifeAlewife Station located at the intersection of Fresh Pond Parkway and Rindge Avenue, in Cambridge, Massachusetts is a local transportation hub. It opened on March 30, 1985. Its facilities include: the northern terminus of the Boston subway's Red Line a bu, the junction with Route 2, where drivers from the western suburbs can park their cars and ride quickly and efficiently into downtown. This move has widely been seen a revitalizing areas further out from the city center and relieving traffic in Cambridge streets.
At the same time, the Orange Line (the elevated railway that was at the core of a transit-dependant corridor along Washington Street) was torn down and replaced by an underground subway a quarter mile away (see Southwest corridor projectThe Southwest corridor or Southwest Expressway was a project designed to bring a four-land highway into the City of Boston from a direction southwesterly of downtown. It was supposed to connect with the I-95 highway at the Yankee Division highway (MA 128)). The removal of the Orange Line "el" substantially extended the commute time from parts of the minority-heavy RoxburyRoxbury is a neighborhood within Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 and became a city in 1848. The City of Roxbury was annexed to Boston in 1868. The original town of Roxbury included the c area even though the residents had been promised "better or equal" levels of service.
In recent years, a BRT ( Bus Rapid Transit) line known as the SilverThe Silver Line is the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's sole Bus Rapid Transit Line, running from Dudley Square in Roxbury, Massachusetts to downtown Boston, Massachusetts, with planned extensions to South Boston and Logan Airport in East Bost Line began operating in the city in the hopes of replacing the service provided by the original Orange Line "el". In theory, these buses run in dedicated rights of way such as tunnels or bus lanes, thereby avoiding traffic of any sort. Due to constraints in existing construction, it was not possible to isolate the Silver Line BRTs from normal street traffic for portions of their operations, making them vulnerable to traffic in the downtown Chinatown and Financial District areas. Many riders still feel that the replacement Silver Line service both isolates the community and fails to live up to the promise of replacement service. Travellers must now exit in busy downtown streets and gain access to the Orange, Green, and Red heavy rail lines if they wish access to any place other than the downtown area.
The Silver Line will eventually offer a "one seat ride" from Roxbury to Logan International Airport, but the middle portion of the line has yet to be constructed; even the selection of the route remains a topic of heated debate. The portion of the line from South Station to Logan Airport is scheduled to open December, 2004.
The remainder of the bus system is identified by the color yellow, and the commuter rail purple; however, these lines are rarely actually referred to as the "Yellow" or "Purple" Lines.
The commuter rail service extends to outlying suburbs that would not otherwise be feasibly served by rapid transit without increasing wait times exponentially. Towns and cities at greater distances from Boston are also served, with existing interstate service to Providence, Rhode Island and the possibility of a service extension into Nashua and Manchester New Hampshire.
In 2005, revenue service will commence on the Greenbush Line, an expansion of the commuter rail system, to serve Boston's South Shore. While it will follow the old right of way of the Old Colony Line, which ceased operations in the 1960s, much money has been spent in the purchase of abutting properties to establish right-of-way for the new branch of the rail system.
In 2006, the T expects to switch from tokens to a farecard system that will be called "The Charlie Card" in honor of the unfortunate hero of " The MTA Song". One of the rejected names for the farecard system was "The Fare Cod", a pun on both the way locals might pronounce "Card" and the fish that was once integral to the Massachusetts economy.