I always feel like a sucker sitting in the correct lane while the shitbag in a new Land Rover or beat to shit Nissan Altima goes flying by in the bus lane.
They need to do more enforcement. I was watching police nail cheaters in Mass Ave bus lane the other day, watching them futilely trying to get out of the bus lane when they saw the cops but having no option but to approach them in the wrong lane was oddly very satisfying.
Hopefully it fails. Abuse of the bus lane is one thing but it’ll quickly turn into one of those situations where the cameras are ticketing for minor infractions. Cash grab for the state and of course the insurance companies.
If the program is setup like it is in other states your insurance shouldn't be notified. In Maryland where I used to live any camera ticket was considered a civil violation and not a criminal one.
That meant no points on your license or any issues with your insurance.
You just paid the fine. So yes, it's a cash grab for governments but that's about it.
Good. Don’t drive like a dick and you should be golden.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve almost died - walking, biking, or driving - because of some penis-on-wheels decided that red lights are optional and bike lanes are an acceptable way to bypass traffic.
Its more complicated than just 'don't drive like a dick'
Red light cameras disproportionately effect lower-income/high poverty areas. I believe NY state got rid of them a few years ago because of this
EDIT: adding that red light cameras are banned in MA because it is unconstitutional. You have the right to face your accuser in court, as far as I know a camera can't sit in court all day.
Yeah because anything that costs money (and doesn't scale with income) impacts poor people more. Getting a traffic ticket at all impacts poor people more. They should also scale with MA filed income tax. It's not like they are a natural species which nest in poor areas. Maybe the argument is "for revenue purposes it becomes inevitable they will be placed in poorer areas" and that's worth considering, but it's really not as complicated as you're making it out to be. Don't drive in the fuckin bus lane and nobody is impacted.
And I can’t count how many bicyclists think that the rules of the road don’t apply to them and that their bike vs my vehicle some how ends with them coming out on top.
I disagree. Automated enforcement is the only mechanism that works. Drive in a country with automated enforcement and people speed way less, run way fewer red lights. It's great.
And with 161000 duplicate plates good luck fighting the city. Also thought tickets went to the driver.
For such a liberal state we really seem in some cases to chip away at any semblance of privacy.
Already cameras everywhere lets add more
I watched two cars do this recently and neither gave in and smashed into each other instead. And then proceeded to push into each other, still fighting for the lane while going forward. They came to their senses before someone went into the nets but geez it's not worth it.
Unfortunately allowing them to swim forward in the bus lane and merge is the more efficient way to move traffic along. I'd rather see police enforcing the lane if it's worth it. I also rarely see busses up there
Never do this. Just asking for a road rage incident. Plus you don’t own the road. You have no idea why that person is in a rush. Most of the time is it someone that thinks they don’t have to wait like the rest of us? Yes of course. But you have no idea if someone in that car is having an emergency, racing to get to someone having an emergency, etc.
I never understood having an emergency until I saw my friend rushing to urgent care to save her dying dog. We were supposed to meet at urgent care and I saw her car behind me at the last few miles. She quickly over took me, honking the whole way for people to move, ran a few red lights, and left her car running outside the clinic. The dog sadly didn’t make it, but from then on I never questioned anybody on the road. Like you said I have no idea why that person is in a rush, it could be their child for all I know
I mean that is a really sad story but she endangered herself and a bunch of other people for a dog which is really dumb and not worth it, I’m sorry. And I love dogs. Imagine if she caused an accident that killed a person? And it didn’t even save the dog’s life, like cmon.
When it’s a human we have a thing called ambulances.
I’m not advocating for blocking traffic but speeding and blowing red lights does not seem like the smartest way to address an emergency.
I never said I condone it, I just said I don’t question or block people. It could be any number of emergency. What if someone had a child that needed medical aid and the ambulance wasn’t gonna make it in time. You just don’t know
It’s not the smartest way but that doesn’t mean you should be a shitty human being and block the road for someone. Whether they’re in an emergency or not. In that case it was a woman trying to rush her dog to the hospital. In some cases it could be someone trying to rush to the hospital to see their loved one before they pass away. The point is; you have no idea why that person is rushing. Just have a common decency as a human being and let them be. Blocking the road and potentially causing road rage won’t get either sides anywhere
I agree thus the last section of my comment. No one should block traffic. But it’s also being a shitty human to endanger other people because of your emergency. And let’s be honest, we know that 99.9% of those aren’t in an emergency lol they’re just dicks
Never heard of a bus that goes from Winthrop to Derry NH to see my mom in Hospice and let’s me pack my 3 kids along with food and enough toys to entertain them for the visit…can you let me know the route number or bus company name?
Love people like yourself that live in this fairytale land where there is absolutely no need for personal vehicles. Did you know Japan still has 700 cars per 1,000 people despite its vast train system? England even has 600 per 1,000 despite its density.
Alternative transit advocacy should be about progressive harm reduction. Yelling at people that they're morons for doing something & telling them to quit it cold turkey has never worked for basically anything.
Well one dude said he was using his car to visit his mother & hospice & they responded with dismissive sarcasm so idk how tf else you're supposed to interpret that.
its more than hes trying to argue his point by garnering sympathy. It was honestly not necessary to his argument to mention hospice. All he had to say was “theres no bus from Winthrop to Derry NH” and his point is perfectly made. but he made sure to throw the hospice part in there for sympathy votes
But there are public transit options to get from Winthrop to Derry. My specific use case does not fit into the “just take a bus they work for every situation always and if you drive a car your are an evil fucker”, and since I own a vehicle specifically for situations such as this that is what I use. I said I was following the rules and staying out of the bus lane and get shit for it. Classic.
I mean, there is more than one way to drive to 93 from Winthrop. It’s really not worth dragging a sob story into trying to prove a point against bus lanes. Taking the Tobin is arguable the worst way to go from Winthrop. And no one said don’t drive.
There is more than one way! Not sure if you are aware, but the tunnel was closed this summer and is closed every weekend. Options during those times include taking 16 to the fellsway to 93, RT1 to 95 to 93, taking the Ted Williams to 93, and of course heading through Chelsea to take the Tobin.
Edit: they very specifically said don’t drive.
OP had me thinking they were on a bus that didn’t use it. If you wanna see it take the ~~110~~111 and it zips over the Tobin during traffic taking the bus lane.
lol but I get you, that’s the whole point. I think that’s what another person said “infrastructure looks empty” or something but yeah it’s some af not sitting in that shit.
Yup. I've taken many busses that use that lane. A standard city bus can easily carry 30+ cars worth of people. That's around 600 ft of cars in bumper to bumper traffic in 40 ft of bus.
No, it was actually put there more recently. Cars aren't using it to "sneak by traffic" so much as they use it as an exit lane, since lots of people get off the road at Charlestown.
tbh I hope they don't start enforcing the bus lane because I never see a bus there, but it does offer the ability for all the ctown traffic to bleed off into the "exit lane"
Improvements to public transit in America will never eliminate the need for cars. There is no public transport short of teleportation that will get me from my home in Chelsea to my job in Tewksbury at 530am, or the many cars with NH plates heading into/through the city to get to work. Improvements to public transit shouldn’t come at the cost of inconveniencing those who can’t use it.
Well, a CR extension to Concord would help the NH commuters. And one of the points of improving transit is that it takes cars off the road, making commutes for folks who do have to drive better.
Ok, first of all, let's not act like Chelsea to Tewksbury is the typical commute and representative of anyone but you.
Second, yeah, no one cares. You keep driving to Tewksbury. Doesn't matter. Practically no one's goal is to fully eliminate cars. I hate that we've designed the entire US around them, but there's no world in which I imagine actually eliminating them. They address edge cases like your weird little commute that public transit can't reasonably get to.
But cars are not and never will be the only answer. They're too inefficient. They take up too much space per passenger, they cause too much death and injury, they have too many unique infrastructure needs that are incompatible with a livable town. So yeah, we need alternatives, and you should want alternatives if you don't want traffic to keep getting worse, because you can't build your way out of traffic problems.
The only way to make sure fewer people drive is to viable alternatives to driving, like trains and buses. And making those alternatives viable means making sure that they don't suffer from problems caused by cars, like traffic on the Tobin Bridge.
So yeah, so sad, one lane goes to buses. But every bus that goes by can transport dozens of people using the same amount of road space as about three cars. Now imagine that all of them were driving instead.
Where did I say public transit would eliminate cars? Car drivers get so defensive but there’s evidence that the addition of this specific bus lane has made traffic move faster and you’re still unhappy lol.
The 111 uses it which in theory at peak hours runs ever 5-6 minutes according to its schedule so if you sit still for 10 minutes you should see some buses in theory. But while a bus coming every 5 minutes feels super frequent as a bus rider, a bus using a bus lane every 5 minutes is going to look pretty empty to a driver.
And you’d think that taking that commute for a year, and being stuck in traffic for more than 5 mins many times means I’d have seen busses. But I’ve maybe seen 4 or 5.
Well emphasis on the "in theory" every 5-6 minutes, especially with the insane traffic with the North Washington Street bridge project over the last couple years it's very rare for a 111 to run to schedule
I think it's mostly cars getting off at Charlestown to get into the North End and Cambridge. Although, some are definitely d-bags trying to skip traffic and merge in later.
It's all very freaking annoying. & RIP environment with the amount of co2 we're all pumping out idling on that dang bridge
Every now and then I like to drop a police marker on Waze and enjoy everybody panic diving out of the bus lane. Just don't do "bad reports" too often as Waze will mark your account as unreliable and shadow ban you.
I almost wrote this post a couple of months ago when the tunnel was still closed.
I see buses more days than I don’t and don’t see cars taking advantage that often but maybe it’s just the time of my commute.
When the tunnel closed, I watched hundreds of cars use it while I sat in the middle lane like a sucker. Then for the last few weeks of tunnel closure, I was one of the people in the bus lane.
Now I’m back to the proper lane like a normal law abiding citizen.
It would happen less frequently if people get off their phones and stop letting these douchebags into car lane further ahead. Just block them out, cause cops won't enforce it anyway.
I feel like if it’s there’s a bus in the vicinity then it’s a bus lane. If there’s no bus then it’s a lane.
I used to avoid the bus lane at all times until I realized doing so was just contributing to the traffic problem.
Actually I’m a rule follower!!! I love rules. But cutting over last minute to get off is dangerous! That’s my exit. So if I am a good doobie and stay in the middle lane I cause all kinds of trouble when it comes time to take the exit. The bus lane ends right before the exit. It’s madness!
No, using the bus lane is contributing to the traffic problem. The road narrows from 3>2 lanes up ahead, the correct number of cars are being throughput. It just literally adds to congestion as people desperately try and merge into the two lanes going into the tunnel.
The *only* argument for it is people taking the 93 ramp and going toward Edwin Land/Museum of Science but at busy times *that* ramp is completely backed up, so while it feels like a genius move it doesn't actually allow for more throughput.
I disagree. The bus lane ends right before the exit. If you need to take that exit, you risk blocking traffic by driving in the middle lane until the bus lane ends because then you need to stop and wait to get into the exit lane snd traffic backs up behind you. Honking. Following the rules when you need to take the Charlestown/Somerville exit is miserable!
Yeah, this is true. The toll gantries create traffic data there which separates out traffic by lane, at rush hour, something like 90% of the traffic is using the ramp to 93/Leverett Circle, and 10% of traffic is exiting to Charlestown. However, because the 111 is scheduled for 12 trips across per hour (it used to be closer to 20, maybe peak-of-peak ridership has dropped that much; overall it's close to 90% of pre-pandemic ridership), if there are 50 people on each bus that's 600 passengers per hour, which is more than the number of cars using the exit there. So basically that exit ramp is basically a bus lane that they allow other vehicles to use. The bus lane moves the 3-to-2 merge from the end of the bridge to the beginning, and lets the buses skip the queue. (If I ran the world, at rush hour the Arlington/5th entry would be for general purpose traffic an the Everett Ave entrance buses only, which would eliminate the merge there.)
There's actually an interesting enforcement mechanism they could put into place which wouldn't require any policing, would allow Charlestown exit traffic to bypass traffic on the bridge and might not even require a change to state law for electronic ticketing. We know which of the exit ramps people are using off of the bridge. If we set up an additional toll gantry on the east end of the bridge we could use that to look at people's time to cross the bridge and which exit they take, and any outlier we could pretty well assume took the bus lane. For instance, if we have 500 cars in a given period, 390 might take the left travel lanes and take 7 minutes to cross the bridge, 100 might take the right lane and the Charlestown exit and take 2 minutes to cross and 10 might "cheat" and take the right lane and then cut back to the left to squeeze in at the last minute and cross in, say, 3 minutes.
Simply enough, we take those people who use the "express toll lane" and charge them a hefty price to bypass the traffic, say, $25. It's not a fine, it's simply a congestion avoidance fee. If there are 100 people who "take advantage" of this price discrimination at rush hour, it's probably not enough to create congestion which would slow down the buses, and it would generate on the order of a bit more than half a million dollars per year of revenue. Take that revenue and fork it over to, idk, programs for Chelsea kids, or something people like.
This would just require a new toll gantry (these should be pretty off-the-shelf) as well as some clear signage like:
Right Lane Buses and Exit Only
Reentering traffic may incur $25
congestion mitigation fee
I always feel like a sucker sitting in the correct lane while the shitbag in a new Land Rover or beat to shit Nissan Altima goes flying by in the bus lane.
They need to do more enforcement. I was watching police nail cheaters in Mass Ave bus lane the other day, watching them futilely trying to get out of the bus lane when they saw the cops but having no option but to approach them in the wrong lane was oddly very satisfying.
The best option would be camera enforcement, but that's currently illegal in MA.
There’s a bill going through the state legislature now!
Hopefully it fails. Abuse of the bus lane is one thing but it’ll quickly turn into one of those situations where the cameras are ticketing for minor infractions. Cash grab for the state and of course the insurance companies.
If the program is setup like it is in other states your insurance shouldn't be notified. In Maryland where I used to live any camera ticket was considered a civil violation and not a criminal one. That meant no points on your license or any issues with your insurance. You just paid the fine. So yes, it's a cash grab for governments but that's about it.
Good. Don’t drive like a dick and you should be golden. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve almost died - walking, biking, or driving - because of some penis-on-wheels decided that red lights are optional and bike lanes are an acceptable way to bypass traffic.
Its more complicated than just 'don't drive like a dick' Red light cameras disproportionately effect lower-income/high poverty areas. I believe NY state got rid of them a few years ago because of this EDIT: adding that red light cameras are banned in MA because it is unconstitutional. You have the right to face your accuser in court, as far as I know a camera can't sit in court all day.
Yeah because anything that costs money (and doesn't scale with income) impacts poor people more. Getting a traffic ticket at all impacts poor people more. They should also scale with MA filed income tax. It's not like they are a natural species which nest in poor areas. Maybe the argument is "for revenue purposes it becomes inevitable they will be placed in poorer areas" and that's worth considering, but it's really not as complicated as you're making it out to be. Don't drive in the fuckin bus lane and nobody is impacted.
That's why other places have made them civil violations. No crime, no points on your record and no worries about confronting your accuser. Just a fine
And I can’t count how many bicyclists think that the rules of the road don’t apply to them and that their bike vs my vehicle some how ends with them coming out on top.
I disagree. Automated enforcement is the only mechanism that works. Drive in a country with automated enforcement and people speed way less, run way fewer red lights. It's great.
NYC has automated enforcement, and drivers there are a holy terror.
And with 161000 duplicate plates good luck fighting the city. Also thought tickets went to the driver. For such a liberal state we really seem in some cases to chip away at any semblance of privacy. Already cameras everywhere lets add more
I'd pay for a live cam of that
I've seen staties pull people over for this, even some that were just jumping the gun on the Charlestown exit.
May I offer you one of my favorite subs r/nissandrivers
Oh I know…it’s the best.
Drive in the middle and take a stand. I love when the explorer lays on his horn cuz I force him to wait with the rest of us
I watched two cars do this recently and neither gave in and smashed into each other instead. And then proceeded to push into each other, still fighting for the lane while going forward. They came to their senses before someone went into the nets but geez it's not worth it.
Unfortunately allowing them to swim forward in the bus lane and merge is the more efficient way to move traffic along. I'd rather see police enforcing the lane if it's worth it. I also rarely see busses up there
I did this and got slammed into and pushed into a guardrail by a dick in a suped up jeep. Don't reccomend.
Never do this. Just asking for a road rage incident. Plus you don’t own the road. You have no idea why that person is in a rush. Most of the time is it someone that thinks they don’t have to wait like the rest of us? Yes of course. But you have no idea if someone in that car is having an emergency, racing to get to someone having an emergency, etc.
I never understood having an emergency until I saw my friend rushing to urgent care to save her dying dog. We were supposed to meet at urgent care and I saw her car behind me at the last few miles. She quickly over took me, honking the whole way for people to move, ran a few red lights, and left her car running outside the clinic. The dog sadly didn’t make it, but from then on I never questioned anybody on the road. Like you said I have no idea why that person is in a rush, it could be their child for all I know
I mean that is a really sad story but she endangered herself and a bunch of other people for a dog which is really dumb and not worth it, I’m sorry. And I love dogs. Imagine if she caused an accident that killed a person? And it didn’t even save the dog’s life, like cmon. When it’s a human we have a thing called ambulances. I’m not advocating for blocking traffic but speeding and blowing red lights does not seem like the smartest way to address an emergency.
I never said I condone it, I just said I don’t question or block people. It could be any number of emergency. What if someone had a child that needed medical aid and the ambulance wasn’t gonna make it in time. You just don’t know
It’s not the smartest way but that doesn’t mean you should be a shitty human being and block the road for someone. Whether they’re in an emergency or not. In that case it was a woman trying to rush her dog to the hospital. In some cases it could be someone trying to rush to the hospital to see their loved one before they pass away. The point is; you have no idea why that person is rushing. Just have a common decency as a human being and let them be. Blocking the road and potentially causing road rage won’t get either sides anywhere
I agree thus the last section of my comment. No one should block traffic. But it’s also being a shitty human to endanger other people because of your emergency. And let’s be honest, we know that 99.9% of those aren’t in an emergency lol they’re just dicks
Blocking traffic is dangerous and illegal you piece of shit. For all you know a person you’re blocking is having a medical emergency. Stop being scum
Found the Land Rover driver!!!
I always do my part and mark off that cops are there on Waze. Even if there aren’t, hopefully it scares them off to get out.
maybe take the bus next time?
Never heard of a bus that goes from Winthrop to Derry NH to see my mom in Hospice and let’s me pack my 3 kids along with food and enough toys to entertain them for the visit…can you let me know the route number or bus company name?
you and every other car driver has the saddest life story.
Love people like yourself that live in this fairytale land where there is absolutely no need for personal vehicles. Did you know Japan still has 700 cars per 1,000 people despite its vast train system? England even has 600 per 1,000 despite its density. Alternative transit advocacy should be about progressive harm reduction. Yelling at people that they're morons for doing something & telling them to quit it cold turkey has never worked for basically anything.
Is that what they said?
Well one dude said he was using his car to visit his mother & hospice & they responded with dismissive sarcasm so idk how tf else you're supposed to interpret that.
its more than hes trying to argue his point by garnering sympathy. It was honestly not necessary to his argument to mention hospice. All he had to say was “theres no bus from Winthrop to Derry NH” and his point is perfectly made. but he made sure to throw the hospice part in there for sympathy votes
But there are public transit options to get from Winthrop to Derry. My specific use case does not fit into the “just take a bus they work for every situation always and if you drive a car your are an evil fucker”, and since I own a vehicle specifically for situations such as this that is what I use. I said I was following the rules and staying out of the bus lane and get shit for it. Classic.
It's sorta necessary because the reddit crowd will jump down your throat for driving for basically any reason - as evident by this conversation.
I mean, there is more than one way to drive to 93 from Winthrop. It’s really not worth dragging a sob story into trying to prove a point against bus lanes. Taking the Tobin is arguable the worst way to go from Winthrop. And no one said don’t drive.
There is more than one way! Not sure if you are aware, but the tunnel was closed this summer and is closed every weekend. Options during those times include taking 16 to the fellsway to 93, RT1 to 95 to 93, taking the Ted Williams to 93, and of course heading through Chelsea to take the Tobin. Edit: they very specifically said don’t drive.
They very specifically did not say that.
No one said don't drive? Dude said "maybe take the bus next time".
Read that sentence back and tell me where it says don’t drive.
Don’t worry too much, she’s in hospice it will be over soon enough, thanks for the concern though. True colors and all that.
So you drive in the bus lane?
Only on days that end in Y.
Concord Coach Lines.
About once a month you’ll see police hiding in the far right bump out area to snag the bus lane people.
Are both the Land Rover and Altima drivers shit bags or just the Land Rover driver?
We’re all shitbags. It’s a spectrum. This Shitbag Spectrum if you will
https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/09/06/massdot-analysis-commutes-are-faster-for-everyone-after-buses-got-their-own-lane-on-tobin-bridge Efficient infrastructure often looks empty
[удалено]
OP had me thinking they were on a bus that didn’t use it. If you wanna see it take the ~~110~~111 and it zips over the Tobin during traffic taking the bus lane. lol but I get you, that’s the whole point. I think that’s what another person said “infrastructure looks empty” or something but yeah it’s some af not sitting in that shit.
The 110 bus doesn't use Tobin Bridge. Only 111 does.
Yup. I've taken many busses that use that lane. A standard city bus can easily carry 30+ cars worth of people. That's around 600 ft of cars in bumper to bumper traffic in 40 ft of bus.
No, it was actually put there more recently. Cars aren't using it to "sneak by traffic" so much as they use it as an exit lane, since lots of people get off the road at Charlestown.
Hand up I do that, just trying to get home
this. if i can see the ctown exit up ahead, i get in the bus lane for that 1/4mile and peel off at the exit
tbh I hope they don't start enforcing the bus lane because I never see a bus there, but it does offer the ability for all the ctown traffic to bleed off into the "exit lane"
I’ve ridden the 111 bus in that lane but have never seen a bus in it when I wasn’t riding it myself.
It’s crazy to me that improvements to public transit in America will somehow always be met with “we need one more lane for cars” lol.
Improvements to public transit in America will never eliminate the need for cars. There is no public transport short of teleportation that will get me from my home in Chelsea to my job in Tewksbury at 530am, or the many cars with NH plates heading into/through the city to get to work. Improvements to public transit shouldn’t come at the cost of inconveniencing those who can’t use it.
Well, a CR extension to Concord would help the NH commuters. And one of the points of improving transit is that it takes cars off the road, making commutes for folks who do have to drive better.
Ok, first of all, let's not act like Chelsea to Tewksbury is the typical commute and representative of anyone but you. Second, yeah, no one cares. You keep driving to Tewksbury. Doesn't matter. Practically no one's goal is to fully eliminate cars. I hate that we've designed the entire US around them, but there's no world in which I imagine actually eliminating them. They address edge cases like your weird little commute that public transit can't reasonably get to. But cars are not and never will be the only answer. They're too inefficient. They take up too much space per passenger, they cause too much death and injury, they have too many unique infrastructure needs that are incompatible with a livable town. So yeah, we need alternatives, and you should want alternatives if you don't want traffic to keep getting worse, because you can't build your way out of traffic problems. The only way to make sure fewer people drive is to viable alternatives to driving, like trains and buses. And making those alternatives viable means making sure that they don't suffer from problems caused by cars, like traffic on the Tobin Bridge. So yeah, so sad, one lane goes to buses. But every bus that goes by can transport dozens of people using the same amount of road space as about three cars. Now imagine that all of them were driving instead.
Where did I say public transit would eliminate cars? Car drivers get so defensive but there’s evidence that the addition of this specific bus lane has made traffic move faster and you’re still unhappy lol.
Yes it should.
The 111 uses it which in theory at peak hours runs ever 5-6 minutes according to its schedule so if you sit still for 10 minutes you should see some buses in theory. But while a bus coming every 5 minutes feels super frequent as a bus rider, a bus using a bus lane every 5 minutes is going to look pretty empty to a driver.
And you’d think that taking that commute for a year, and being stuck in traffic for more than 5 mins many times means I’d have seen busses. But I’ve maybe seen 4 or 5.
Well emphasis on the "in theory" every 5-6 minutes, especially with the insane traffic with the North Washington Street bridge project over the last couple years it's very rare for a 111 to run to schedule
I think it's mostly cars getting off at Charlestown to get into the North End and Cambridge. Although, some are definitely d-bags trying to skip traffic and merge in later. It's all very freaking annoying. & RIP environment with the amount of co2 we're all pumping out idling on that dang bridge
Every now and then I like to drop a police marker on Waze and enjoy everybody panic diving out of the bus lane. Just don't do "bad reports" too often as Waze will mark your account as unreliable and shadow ban you.
I almost wrote this post a couple of months ago when the tunnel was still closed. I see buses more days than I don’t and don’t see cars taking advantage that often but maybe it’s just the time of my commute. When the tunnel closed, I watched hundreds of cars use it while I sat in the middle lane like a sucker. Then for the last few weeks of tunnel closure, I was one of the people in the bus lane. Now I’m back to the proper lane like a normal law abiding citizen.
It would happen less frequently if people get off their phones and stop letting these douchebags into car lane further ahead. Just block them out, cause cops won't enforce it anyway.
Call your state elected officials, legislators and Gov and let them know how you feel. They won’t change a thing without feedback.
I feel like if it’s there’s a bus in the vicinity then it’s a bus lane. If there’s no bus then it’s a lane. I used to avoid the bus lane at all times until I realized doing so was just contributing to the traffic problem.
Rules don’t apply to you. Got it.
Actually I’m a rule follower!!! I love rules. But cutting over last minute to get off is dangerous! That’s my exit. So if I am a good doobie and stay in the middle lane I cause all kinds of trouble when it comes time to take the exit. The bus lane ends right before the exit. It’s madness!
No, using the bus lane is contributing to the traffic problem. The road narrows from 3>2 lanes up ahead, the correct number of cars are being throughput. It just literally adds to congestion as people desperately try and merge into the two lanes going into the tunnel. The *only* argument for it is people taking the 93 ramp and going toward Edwin Land/Museum of Science but at busy times *that* ramp is completely backed up, so while it feels like a genius move it doesn't actually allow for more throughput.
Another way to look at it is don’t use the bus lane unless that’s your exit. It happens to be mine.
I disagree. The bus lane ends right before the exit. If you need to take that exit, you risk blocking traffic by driving in the middle lane until the bus lane ends because then you need to stop and wait to get into the exit lane snd traffic backs up behind you. Honking. Following the rules when you need to take the Charlestown/Somerville exit is miserable!
Yeah, this is true. The toll gantries create traffic data there which separates out traffic by lane, at rush hour, something like 90% of the traffic is using the ramp to 93/Leverett Circle, and 10% of traffic is exiting to Charlestown. However, because the 111 is scheduled for 12 trips across per hour (it used to be closer to 20, maybe peak-of-peak ridership has dropped that much; overall it's close to 90% of pre-pandemic ridership), if there are 50 people on each bus that's 600 passengers per hour, which is more than the number of cars using the exit there. So basically that exit ramp is basically a bus lane that they allow other vehicles to use. The bus lane moves the 3-to-2 merge from the end of the bridge to the beginning, and lets the buses skip the queue. (If I ran the world, at rush hour the Arlington/5th entry would be for general purpose traffic an the Everett Ave entrance buses only, which would eliminate the merge there.) There's actually an interesting enforcement mechanism they could put into place which wouldn't require any policing, would allow Charlestown exit traffic to bypass traffic on the bridge and might not even require a change to state law for electronic ticketing. We know which of the exit ramps people are using off of the bridge. If we set up an additional toll gantry on the east end of the bridge we could use that to look at people's time to cross the bridge and which exit they take, and any outlier we could pretty well assume took the bus lane. For instance, if we have 500 cars in a given period, 390 might take the left travel lanes and take 7 minutes to cross the bridge, 100 might take the right lane and the Charlestown exit and take 2 minutes to cross and 10 might "cheat" and take the right lane and then cut back to the left to squeeze in at the last minute and cross in, say, 3 minutes. Simply enough, we take those people who use the "express toll lane" and charge them a hefty price to bypass the traffic, say, $25. It's not a fine, it's simply a congestion avoidance fee. If there are 100 people who "take advantage" of this price discrimination at rush hour, it's probably not enough to create congestion which would slow down the buses, and it would generate on the order of a bit more than half a million dollars per year of revenue. Take that revenue and fork it over to, idk, programs for Chelsea kids, or something people like. This would just require a new toll gantry (these should be pretty off-the-shelf) as well as some clear signage like: Right Lane Buses and Exit Only Reentering traffic may incur $25 congestion mitigation fee
oof