Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T")[3][4] is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network includes the MBTA subway with three metro lines (the Blue, Orange, and Red lines), two light rail lines (the Green and Ashmont–Mattapan lines), and a five-line bus rapid transit system (the Silver Line); MBTA bus local and express service; the twelve-line MBTA Commuter Rail system, and several ferry routes. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 239,981,700, or about 731,200 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024, of which the rapid transit lines averaged 255,800 and the light rail lines 63,600, making it the fourth-busiest rapid transit system and the third-busiest light rail system in the United States. As of the first quarter of 2024, average weekday ridership of the commuter rail system was 100,400, making it the fifth-busiest commuter rail system in the U.S.
"MBTA" redirects here. For other uses, see MBTA (disambiguation).Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Greater Boston, Massachusetts, US
731,200 (weekdays, Q1 2024)[1]
239,981,700 (2023)[2]
10 Park Plaza
Boston, Massachusetts
02116
August 1964
(Predecessors date back to 1834)
- MBTA (rapid transit and most bus routes)
- Boston Harbor Cruises (ferries)
- Keolis (commuter rail)
- Various contractors (5 bus routes)
The MBTA is the successor of several previous public and private operators. Privately operated transit in Boston began with commuter rail in 1834 and horsecar lines in 1856. The various horsecar companies were consolidated under the West End Street Railway in the 1880s and electrified over the next decade. The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) succeeded the West End in 1897; over the next several decades, the BERy built a partially-publicly owned rapid transit system, beginning with the Tremont Street subway in 1897. The BERy came under the control of public trustees in 1919, and was subsumed into the fully-publicly owned Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947. The MTA was in turn succeeded in 1964 by the MBTA, with an expanded funding district to fund declining suburban commuter rail service. In its first two decades, the MBTA took over the commuter rail system from the private operators and continued expansion of the rapid transit system. Originally established as an individual department within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the MBTA became a division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) in 2009.
Management and administration[edit]
Structure[edit]
In 2015, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed new legislation creating a financial control board to oversee the MBTA,[166] replacing the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's Board of Directors in the role of overseeing the transit authority.[167] The Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) started meeting in July 2015 and was charged with bringing financial stability to the agency.[168] It reported to Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack. Three of the five members of the MBTA FMCB were also members of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The FMCB's term expired at the end of June 2021 and was not extended.[169] It was dissolved and replaced by a new governing body known simply as the MBTA Board of Directors and consisting of seven members.[169][170][171]
The Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation leads the executive management team of MassDOT in addition to serving in the Governor's Cabinet. The MBTA's executive management team is led by its General Manager, who is currently also serving as the MassDOT Rail and Transit Administrator, overseeing all public transit in the state.[172]
The MBTA Advisory Board represents the cities and towns in the MBTA service district. The municipalities are assessed a total of $143M annually (as of FY2008). In return, the advisory board has veto power over the MBTA operating and capital budgets, including the power to reduce the overall amount.[173]
The MBTA is headquartered in the State Transportation Building (10 Park Plaza) in Boston, with the operations control center at 45 High Street. The agency operates service from a number of bus garages, rail yards, and maintenance facilities. The MBTA maintains its own police force, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police, which has jurisdiction in MBTA facilities and vehicles.
In popular culture[edit]
In 1951, the growing subway network was the setting of "A Subway Named Mobius", a science fiction short story written by the American astronomer Armin Joseph Deutsch. The tale described a Boston subway train which accidentally became a "phantom" by becoming lost in the fourth dimension, analogous to a topological Mobius strip.[179]: 43 [180] In 2001, a half-century later, the narrative was nominated for a Retro Hugo Award for Best Short Story at the World Science Fiction Convention.[181]
In 1959, the satirical song "M.T.A." (informally known as "Charlie on the MTA") was a hit single, as performed by the folksingers the Kingston Trio. It tells the absurd story of a passenger named Charlie, who cannot pay a newly imposed 5-cent exit fare, and thus remains trapped in the subway system.