EverettBRT

Located five miles from downtown Boston, Everett is home to multiple bus routes that carry 10,000 people each day down Broadway, the city’s main thoroughfare. With more growth and jobs predicted in Everett due to rapid development including the Encore Boston Harbor resort, Everett leaders are seeking new solutions that allow people to move in, out, and around the city more efficiently

Everett and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) partnered on a 2018 pilot project that enhanced the city’s existing dedicated bus lane along the southbound side of Broadway with additional BRT features.

Most notably, Everett became the first community in Massachusetts to test subway-like level boarding for buses, a BRT feature that allows people in wheelchairs or with strollers or carts to get on and off the bus more easily, safely, and quickly.

Everett, Massachusetts: A City Committed to Innovative Improvements to Mobility 

Even during the pandemic, the buses on Broadway remained among the busiest in the MBTA, carrying essential workers to their jobs and making essential trips possible for transit-dependent residents.  The commute trip times on these bus routes were notoriously long and slow due to congestion. 

To reduce commute times and improve the quality of life for its residents, the City of Everett initiated one of the first dedicated bus lanes in Massachusetts in 2016. Two years later, Everett partnered with the MBTA to enhance the dedicated bus lane on Broadway and add BRT features including testing the first level-boarding platforms for buses in Massachusetts. Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria announced his commitment to having Gold Standard BRT by 2023 during his 2020 Mid-Term Address.

EverettBRT at the Center of the Initiative to Reimagine Broadway

With Everett’s bus lanes improving thousands of people’s commutes, the city made it the centerpiece of the Reimagine Broadway initiative launched in October of 2020 in partnership with MassDOT, the MBTA, and ITDP with support from the Massachusetts Shared Streets & Spaces Emergency Funding Program. 

Through a set of infrastructure enhancements, Reimagine Broadway is reducing commute times and improving congestion on Everett’s main thoroughfare, keeping the city’s retail district busy, and keeping residents connected to jobs and services in Boston and local neighborhoods.  

Elements of the BRT- Centered Reimagine Broadway Initiative 

• Dedicated bus lanes that are expanding Everett’s bus-only lane system that separates buses from cars resulting in reduced commute times, increased service, and less crowded buses.  

  • Inbound and outbound bus-only lanes during peak hours on Broadway and Main Street

  • 24-hour bus-only lane on busy Sweetser Circle rotary that connects Everett to Boston

• Mobility hubs featuring additional bike parking, bikeshare stations, street amenities, multilingual pedestrian wayfinding, maps, business signage, and real-time transit information that provide riders with choices to access jobs, childcare, grocery stores, and other key services.

• Shared Streets that limit and slow car traffic and allow kids and families to play and move outside. The shared streets create safe walking and biking connections to Broadway and allow for “streateries” for outdoor restaurant dining.

• Parklets are transforming underutilized parking and asphalt space into mini urban oases with benches and shade for anyone to sit, socialize safely, and enjoy fresh air.

Everett Residents Are Benefitting From the “Reimagine Broadway” Improvements

Results from a survey of Everett residents on the Reimagine Broadway Improvements implemented in late 2020

Part 1

Both bus riders and drivers support the bus lanes and want to see them extended in both directions:

Over half (60%) of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the new bus lanes and over 2⁄3 (70%) would like to see it extended to Glendale Square and even more (77%) to Sullivan Station.

Should the bus continue on from Sullivan Station directly to downtown Boston in it’s own lane?

Should the City of Everett extend the bus lane up Broadway to Glendale Square?

Part 2

Buses felt less crowded after implementation of the bus lanes:

Many people (42%) reported having refused to board a bus during the pandemic because it was too crowded, but felt that buses had become less crowded after implementation of the bus lanes.

Part 3

People felt safer as a result of physical distancing measures at bus stops:

Large rulers with 6ft markings, called Distance of Care, were placed at bus stops to guide people and help them stay 6ft apart while waiting for the bus or while walking past the bus stop. When asked, “have the new markings at the bus stops on Broadway (‘Distance of Care’) made you feel safer while waiting for the bus or walking past the bus stop?”

Nearly 56% of respondents said yes.

Part 4

Slowing vehicles and Shared Streets are priorities

Several streets connecting to Broadway were designated as ‘Shared Streets’ where vehicles were welcome but made to drive more slowly, thus creating safer walking and biking conditions and providing more space for pedestrians to maintain healthy physical distancing.

Well over half of respondents (56%) would like to see more Shared Streets in Everett.

Would you like to see more neighborhood streets in Everett designated as “Shared Streets”?

Part 5

Carving out more street space for parklets is a priority for people in Everett

While the response rate was lower for the questions regarding the parklet, 74% of the people who did respond, agreed that the parklet should be made permanent with more permanent materials. 80% of the people who reported using the parklet felt it improved the public space in Glendale Square.

The Making of the Dedicated Bus Lane

The City of Everett Rolls out the Red Carpet video showcases the dedicated lane with appreciation for the crews working through the night to paint 1.5 miles of Everett streets red in preparation for the morning commute:

NEXT > CAMBRIDGE & WATERTOWN BRT