bus schedule/route changes

[georgy.livejournal.com]

Since we here in Somerville love our bus routes, I thought I'd post this list from the MBTA website of route changes effective Jan. 1 that may affect local folks (the 89 change in particular affects me, for instance):

· Route 77 - All trips will run local and pick up passengers at every stop. On Sunday, service will run every 15 minutes between 9am and 2pm, and every 13 minutes between 2pm and 5:30pm.

· Route 84 - The 4:50pm trip will no longer operate.

· Route 85 - Two new Route 85 trips will leave Kendall at 7:05pm and 7:35pm.

· Route 86 - Some route 86 trips will hold briefly at Harvard for schedule adjustment. Sunday service is extended to 8:55pm.

· Route 87 - Will serve Arlington Center from 6am to 8pm, Monday through Saturday.

· Route 89 - Half of trips will operate from Powder House Sq. to Davis Sq. rather than from Powder House Sq. to Teele Sq. and Clarendon Hill on weekdays and Saturdays. All Sunday service will continue to travel to Clarendon Hill.

Full list here.

Comments

[ert.livejournal.com]

Wow. I've wanted those 85 and 87 extensions for over a decade! And here I was just getting used to a bus that made sure I didn't stay too late at work.

Anyone else think the 85 would be better only once an hour but going all the way from Kendall to Davis?

Thanks for the update! Would've taken me months to notice.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I too am totally psyched about the 87 extension (guess who lives in East Arlington). Bummer about the 89 for you, but thanks for the news!

[georgy.livejournal.com]

Actually, I like it! I never go further than Powderhouse (I live in Winter Hill and work at Tufts), so it works out great. I'm just curious as to how they will clearly mark the Davis buses from the Clarendon/Teele ones.

[alphacygni]

Wow! I knew they were pondering that 89 change. I actually ran into a friend of mine, who works for the T, walking up and down College, timing the traffic between Powderhouse and Davis to see if the change would be feasible. Interesting way of doing it, that they've picked.

85 continuing on to Davis? Hmm. My first thought is that the streets into Davis are crowded enough to really mess up the schedule, possibly even more than you suggest. And I'd hate to make such a trade-off. As someone who used to have to try to time doctor's appointments around the 85... blech. And that little pocket of Somerville seems to be a big haven for MIT grad students seeking decent rents.

Better evening rush headway on the 1! Woo hoo! This is all pretty impressive. After the budget woes of late, I didn't expect any schedule additions. In fact, there was talk of cutting the 85's headway.

[76trombones.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that 89 to Davis woulda been handy the year I lived near Magoun Square and wanted to commute by Red Line! (Sometimes I did use the Red Line and walk, but that wasn't so great in bad weather.) I am curious too; sometimes they stick A on the end of one of them (as in 70 vs 70A), but I'd expect them to have specified it if that were the plan here.