Mass Transit in Boston: a Brief History of the Fixed Guideway Systems
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History Mass Transit in Boston: A Brief History of the Fixed Guideway Systems traced to 1630 when the Massachusetts Court of Assistants issued what was probably the Ever since the settlement of first "request for proposals" for public trans portation services in North America. Thomas Boston, mass transit has played Williams was granted a charter and began op a significant role in the eration of a ferry from Chelsea to Charlestown development of the area and in (service was extended to Boston a year later). This 3-mile ferry service operated for almost its viability as an economic and 200 years and tackled many of the same issues cultural center. the MBTA faces today: government subsidies, changing ridership and, later, competition with highways across the harbor. This old ferry serv CLAY SCHOFIELD ice returns periodically and today includes service from Charlestown to Boston. ver one million passengers are carried When the ferry service was introduced in every weekday on Boston's mass 1631, Boston was quite different physically 0 transit system. Governed by the Mas than it is today. The city was a small peninsula sachusetts Bay Transportation Authority connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of (MBTA), the nation's sixth-largest and oldest land located in what is now the South End. transit system includes bus, trackless trolley, Since there were no bridges and only limited ferry, light rail and heavy rail transit, as well as access to the mainland, transporting freight by commuter rail. In addition to its historical sig ox cart from Winnismet (now Chelsea) to Bos nificance as a provider of transportation, the ton was a two-day journey through Malden, MBTA has had a major influence on the devel Cambridge, Brighton and Roxbury. Beginning opment of both transportation and the devel shortly after gaining independence from Eng opment of communities around Boston and land, Boston's demand for transportation mir Eastern Massachusetts. rored the city's growth, both in population and in geography as many of new areas around the Mass Transit for the Colony original landscape were created by filling in Mass transit history in the Boston area can be Boston Harbor and the Charles River. CIVIL ENGINEERING PRACTICE FALL/WINTER 1998 31 As Boston grew, the city's street pattern also Boston Bridge. The street railway service was developed in what appears to be a disorderly extremely successful and the population in the fashion. The most common explanation for this "streetcar suburbs" around Boston grew from "disorder" is that the roads were based on cow fewer than 75,000 in 1850 to more than 440,000 paths and Indian trails. However, that asser in 1900. However, service providers jumped tion does not have much veracity; the roadway into the market in a very unorganized way, system developed to fit, or accommodate, the which led to the duplication of service as well geography of the area. Charles Street, for exam as fierce competition for customers. This chaos ple, exists where the south bank of the river resulted in the West End Consolidation Act of once was. (In fact, the portion of Charles Street 1887 that combined all of the competing serv along the Boston Common is where British ices into one operation with the creation of the troops embarked for Lexington and Concord to West End Street Railway. This consolidation of begin the War for Independence.) services under one operator was to play an im portant role in the development of Boston's The Transit Revolution transit system. The end of the War for Independence saw a Boston that had grown to a size where people Electrification of Boston's Railway could no longer easily walk from one area to The West End Street Railway was successful in another. Communities around Boston (sub solving some transportation problems, but it urbs) began developing. Thes~ new communi was burdened by attempting to maintain a bal ties created more transportation demands for ance between its motive power (horses) and the links to Boston, which was the hub of com associated emissions (while the emissions are merce for the area. In 1793, the first stagecoach different today, it is still a dilemma that mod began operating between Boston and Cam ern transportation engineering faces). The bridge over the West Boston Bridge (renamed problem was the care and feeding of the thou the Longfellow Bridge in 1906-it now carries sands of horses required for service. Other cit the Red Line subway across the Charles ies were encountering similar problems and River). Stagecoach service quickly expanded were turningto innovative technologies. One to link New England communities to Boston. · popular source of motive power was the pul In 1835, there were over 80 scheduled stage ley system that drives San Francisco's cable coach routes to Boston, with most trips taking cars. Although this system was adopted by usually a day or less. Many of these original several large cities in the late 1800s, it did not routes exist today, now served by the exten appear to be the answer in Boston. High costs sive intercity bus services that operate out of to build and maintain the cable systems and South Station. questions about reliability during the harsh In the 1820s a more urban forin of transpor New England winters did not foster their use tation evolved in Boston called the omnibus. A in Boston. horse-drawn version of the street car, the omni Meanwhile, Richmond, Virginia, had bus was longer than a stagecoach. Seating was. adopted another form of motive power: elec arranged along the sides in a fashion similar to tricity. Representatives of the West End Street what is used in transit vehicles today. Around Railway Company were so impressed with the the same time, New York City was experiment Richmond system that the decision to electrify ing with a similar type of transit vehicle that all of the Boston routes was made during their ran on wooden rails. Running on rails made for visit to Richmond. Conversion began in earnest a smoother ride and allowed horses to pull upon their return and the first electric service heavier loads. Due to reluctance by the general started on January 1, 1889, with the existing public, Boston did not invest in that technology Green Line transit service on Beacon Street in until just before the Civil War. Boston's first Brookline being the first application. Other ma "street railway" began service on March 26, jor cities soon followed suit and converted to 1856, between Central Square in Cambridge electrification, based on the success seen in and Bowdoin Square in Boston over the West Boston. 32 CIVIL ENGINEERING PRACTICE FALL/WINTER 1998 Boston's electric streetcar system was off in 1885 with the beginning of the consolidation and running. Bankers and developers saw an of the eight different railroads. Competition in opportunity to develop suburbs and provide the saturated market around Boston made the new housing a short trolley ride from Boston. consolidation necessary. The current north and This growing interurban system was consoli south terminal stations in Boston are a result of dated into the Bay State Railway Company, this consolidation effort. which at its peak (around 1911) provided serv Commuter rail ridership reached a tempo ice as far north as Nashua, New Hampshire, rary peak in 1893 with 174,000 trips a day (com and as far south as Newport, Rhode Island. pared to the current MBTA commuter rail rid ership of 100,000 trips a day). Ridership began Passenger Rail Service to fall for the next eight years due to competi . Boston is a city of transportation firsts - one of tion with the electric trolley system and a reces the claims is that Boston was the site of North sion. However, as the suburbs continued to America's first railroad. As described earlier, grow and spread, ridership began to grow much of the geography that is now Boston was again and average trip lengths increased to created by filling in Boston Harbor and the reach the emerging suburbs. In 1920, 240,000 Charles River. The Back Bay area of Boston was trips a day were made to and from Boston. That filled in by lowering Beacon Hill. Excavated ridership number has never been exceeded. materials were transported by a wooden tram Auto ownership in the 1920s was on the rise way down what is now Pickney Street around and became the biggest competition for rider 1799. ship on public transportation (as it is today). The first scheduled commuter rail service Massachusetts auto ownership went from for Boston was developed 35 years later be 233,000 cars in 1920 to 549,000 in 1925. Rider tween Boston and Newton by the Boston and ship on commuter rail dropped by 30 percent Worcester Railroad. Planning for intercity rail during the period. roads by the Massachusetts Legislature began The Great Depression had a severe effect on in 1827 when a proposal for a canal between the railroads, which caused many of them to Boston and Albany was considered to be too declare bankruptcy. In July 1938, 88 stations expensive. However, the legislature was still and 65 trains were discontinued in Southeast unwilling to fund railroad construction and ern Massachusetts. However, World War II, therefore granted the first railroad charters to and the associated gas rationing, dramatically private companies for service to Providence, increased ridership and wartime profits on Albany, Brattleboro and Lowell in 1830. freight brought some railroads out of bank In that era, prior to the development of the ruptcy. After the war, ridership fell again and, electric street car, the commuter rail system as the highway system developed, the com was primarily responsible for the development muter rail market virtually disappeared.