I got this great email from Eliot Gardner on how to improve the Green Line:

I submit that the single most urgent improvement to the MBTA rail mass transit system would be to convert the Green Line from light rail to ordinary heavy metro rolling stock. The reasons are obvious.

First, the current Green Line is the most overcrowded rail mass transit line in the country (rivaled – to my personal knowledge – only by the NYC Lexington Avenue subway line, the overcrowding of which is being mitigated by the construction of the Second Avenue subway line).

Second, conversion to a regular metro line would allow 4-car, 6-car, and even 8-car trains to service the vast crowds that everyday battle for mere inches of space aboard the present Green Line light rail rolling stock.

Third, personnel costs would decrease – since a 6-car regular metro train can be manned by only 1 or 2 persons (depending on whether the train driver also opens and closes the doors or a second person is employed as a dedicated doorman), instead of the ludicrous present system of having an operator in every car.

Fourth, service speed along the Green Line would be dramatically improved by decreasing in-station dwell time on the above-ground portions of the line by:
(a) having raised passenger platforms and level on-loading and off-loading of passengers onto and off of trains,
(b) having all doors open at every station, instead of the current stupidity of having only one door per car open at above-ground stations, and
(c) having all above-ground stations be pre-pay stations, eliminating the antiquated and slow on-car payment system currently in use.

It should be noted that there is ample precedent – even within the MBTA system – for converting a light rail line to a regular heavy metro line. The MBTA Blue Line was formerly a trolley line, until it was converted to heavy metro rolling stock in 1925. Finally, the conversion costs would be reasonably minimal. The principal costs would be:
(a) raising station platform heights to allow platform-level on-loading and off-loading of passengers,
(b) purchase of regular metro rolling stock (properly sized to fit the tunnels within the Kenmore-North Station portion of the line), and
(c) lengthening of station platforms to accommodate longer trains.

Again, there is ample precedent within the MBTA system for such a move – station platforms at some Red Line stations were lengthened when Red Line train size was increased from 4 cars to 6 cars less than 20 years ago. Converting the Green Line to a regular metro line would also dramatically improve safety, as it would allow for installation and use of an Automatic Train Control (ATC) system, instead of the current and bizarrely antiquated “see and be seen” safety system that has contributed to so many crashes (and fatalities) on the Green Line. There is no reason whatever that heavy metro rolling stock could not be used on the current in-median tracks on Commonwealth Avenue, Beacon Street, and Huntington Avenue – precedents for that type of usage can be found all over the world.

But if the “trolley mentality” of the MBTA management cannot be altered to accommodate 21st century needs, light rail trains could continue to run on Commonwealth Avenue, Beacon Street, and Huntington Avenue. Inbound light rail trains on Commonwealth Avenue and Beacon Street could terminate at Kenmore Square Station, use the Kenmore Station loop track to turn around and head outbound, and passengers could transfer from light rail to regular metro trains at Kenmore. Similarly, inbound light rail trains on Huntington Avenue could simply run through Copley, Arlington, and Boylston Stations without stopping (the track gauge is the same for both light rail and heavy metro on the MBTA system), use the south inner track at Park Street Station for off-loading passengers, loop around to an outbound direction by using the Park Street inner loop, and use the north inner track at Park Street Station for on-loading passengers.

Alternatively, for Huntington Avenue service, the station platforms at Copley Station could be lengthened to accommodate both light rail and regular heavy metro trains – one length of platform retaining its current height to service light rail trains coming in from Huntington Avenue, and the next length of platform being raised to service regular metro trains coming in from Riverside with level passenger loading and unloading. With a few stairs to allow people to move from one platform to another.

This is such an obvious and straightforward solution to the disaster that the Green Line currently constitutes that I am forced to ask why it has not already been adopted.

Eliot Gardner

Thanks Eloit!

A map from Samuel Wyner

Samuel Wyner's FutureMBTA Map

More ideas from Erik

View MBTA Urban Ring Concept #2 in a larger map

MBTA Urban Ring Concept #2

A different Urban Ring concept. 17 stops (8 new locations) serving Cambridge, Somerville, West End, Back Bay, South End, Roxbury, Brookline, and Allston. Connects with the Red Line at Charles/MGH and Harvard, the Orange Line at Ruggles, the Green Line at Arlington and Lechmere, the B branch at Harvard Street, the C branch at Coolidge Corner, the D branch at Longwood, and the E branch at Longwood Medical Area.

View Blue Line Musings in a larger map

Blue Line Musings

On eastern part of the line, extend a new branch from Maverick Square to Chelsea and Everett. Connect to the Red Line at Charles/MGH, and then extend the line westbound to the Esplanade (at Berkeley St), Mass Ave, Boston University, Allston, Market St Brighton, Arsenal Mall, and Watertown Square.

View Red Line Musings in a larger map

Red Line Musings

Southeastern extension from Broadway Station through South Boston, ending at City Point. Western extension from Central Square to North Allston, Union Square, Brighton Center and Oak Square. Another northwestern extension from Harvard to Fresh Pond Parkway, Mt Auburn/Belmont St, Arsenal St, and Watertown Square. Extend existing terminus from Alewife to Arlington Center, tunneling under the Bikeway.

This Amazing Map from Alex Forrest

Alex Forrest's futureMBTA Map

This network is an ambitious 50-year plan which would bring electrified heavy rail transit service to the entire Boston metro area. The future network would not depend solely on the lines in the map, but also on separate networks of streetcars and regional railways (which I’m still finalizing). Furthermore, this network is not so complete as to be free of any future expansions–there are several possibilities for expansion which I did not include in the final draft of my project, since I’m still working them out in my head. However, these subway lines represent the core of the network, and would be the closest relative to today’s MBTA subways. In total, there are 10 “lines,” or rather, 10 color groups into which lines are categorized: the Green Line, the Red Line, the Orange Line, the Blue Line, the Indigo Line, the Urban Ring (Yellow), the Saugus Line (Black), the Aqua Line, the Southern Lines (Pink), and the Northern Lines (Brown). All featured lines are intended as heavy rail lines, including the Green Line, which would be completely rebuilt–the streetcar portions (not shown on this map) would be integrated into a vast new streetcar network serving the city area.

You can download the Google Earth file here to check out the full glory of this map.

Ideas from Nick Downing

Green Line:

• Include central subway improvements B, C, & D; include current Green Line extension plan
• Phase 1 – Lechmere to Kenmore via MIT (#2)
• Phase 2 – Lechmere to Logan Airport via Chelsea (#1)

Red Line:

• Northwest – Alewife to Hanscom Airport via Arlington and Lexington Center (#2)
• Northwest – Harvard to Waltham via Watertown (#5)
• Southeast – Crosstown, Central Sq. to Andrew Sq. via Mass. Ave. (#1)
• Southeast – Andrew Sq. to Route 128 via Fairmont (#2a)

Blue Line:

• Northeast – Wonderland to Lynn (#1)
• Northeast – Govt. Center to Logan Airport Terminals (#4)
• Northeast – Govt. Center to Malden via Chelsea (#5)
• Southwest – Govt. Center to Charles/MGH (#1)
• Southwest – Govt. Center to Allston via Harvard (#2)

Orange Line:

• Southwest – Forest Hills to Needham via West Roxbury (#2)
• Southwest – Forest Hills to Dedham via West Roxbury (#3)
• North – Oak Grove to Reading (#3)
• North – Sullivan Sq. to Revere via Everett (#5)