This chapter reviews regional bus stop activity and conditions within and near Boston, including the operations at the South Station bus terminal, local curbside stops within Boston, and service to Logan Airport.
The South Station bus terminal is the largest regional bus facility in New England. Of the 18 carriers serving Massachusetts, 12 utilize the South Station bus terminal as their primary stop in Boston.
The South Station facility opened in 1995 with 29 gates, replacing three separate interim station facilities. Formerly, Bonanza Bus Lines (now part of Peter Pan) stopped near Back Bay Station, Greyhound stopped on Atlantic Avenue next to South Station Track 1, and Trailways and other carriers used a facility in the median of the old surface artery near Dewey Square. Trailways had moved from its Park Square terminal in 1980, and Greyhound had left its St. James Street terminal in 1992. The Park Square and St. James Street facilities were sold and redeveloped, the former becoming the site of the State Transportation Building.
The MBTA owns the South Station Bus Terminal. The MBTA has contracted for Newmark & Company Real Estate, Inc., to serve as the managing agent for the terminal. Bus carriers negotiate a license with Newmark for the right to utilize specific gates at the terminal. The MBTA and Newmark may terminate one of these use licenses with 60 days’ notice.
In addition to lease fees for gates and ticket counters, bus companies are required to pay a departure fee for each scheduled trip from the terminal, the fee being $8.00 per bus in 2011. Bus operators must supply the terminal management with a copy of their timetable so that the terminal information displays can be updated. Carriers are allowed to install a ticket scanning machine next to each dock assigned them for boarding.
Bus operators must comply with an extensive list of operating rules, many of which are safety related. Discharging passengers in an unauthorized area, unauthorized docking at the dock of another carrier, and parking buses on ramps trigger fines. Buses are not allowed to pick up passengers on streets adjacent to the terminal.
The South Station Bus Terminal is one of the busiest in the country. Greyhound’s website claims that in 2010 Boston was its 6th-busiest terminal in the United States, after New York City, Atlantic City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
Bus schedules for all carriers serving South Station were reviewed for October 2011. Total scheduled arrivals and departures vary by day of week, as shown in Table 27.
Table 27
Arrivals and Departures by Day of Week
at South Station Bus Terminal
Day |
Combined Trip Arrivals and Departures |
Sunday |
553 |
Monday |
599 |
Tuesday |
568 |
Wednesday |
568 |
Thursday |
571 |
Friday |
644 |
Saturday |
521 |
Source: Public timetables
Friday is the busiest day for combined arrivals and departures, as all commuter services from multiple carriers are operating and extra, Friday-only trips provided by multiple carriers to New York City are also scheduled. The typical regional bus has at least 54 seats, implying that with one bus per operation, a total of 17,400 passengers could arrive at South Station on a Friday, and the same number could depart. Not all buses operate full, even on strong travel days. However, bus companies sometimes assign a second or even a third bus to serve heavily patronized scheduled trips.
Table 28 shows the allocation of Friday’s 322 arrivals and 322 departures among the 29 available gates. Few bus operations turn immediately to start a new trip. Most buses deadhead between the terminal and a layover location or make a second Boston stop, most often at Logan Airport.
Table 28
Friday Activity by Gate
at South Station Bus Terminal
Gate |
Number of Arrivals/ |
1 |
22 |
2 |
16 |
3 |
16 |
4 |
23 |
5 |
12 |
6 |
13 |
7 |
18 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
25 |
10 |
25 |
11 |
49 |
12 |
28 |
13 |
24 |
14 |
22 |
15 |
24 |
16 |
31 |
17 |
14 |
18 |
23 |
19 |
36 |
20 |
8 |
21 |
34 |
22 |
10 |
23 |
18 |
24 |
16 |
25 |
27 |
A1/A2 |
49 |
B1/B2 |
52 |
Sources: Public timetables and CTPS observation of gate assignments
Carriers attempt to use regularly assigned gates for departures for the convenience of passengers gathering in the waiting area. For arrivals, however, flexibility of arrival gate can be realized where affiliated carriers control multiple gates. Gate groups controlled by affiliated or pooled carriers and the group average arrival/departure activity by gate are summarized in Table 29.
Table 29
Activity by Gates Grouped by Affiliated Carriers
at South Station Bus Terminal
Carrier or Groups of Affiliated and Pooled Carriers |
Gates Controlled |
Friday Combined Scheduled Arrivals and Departures |
Average Friday Arrivals and Departures per Gate |
C&J |
B1 and B2 |
52 |
26.0 |
Concord, Boston Express, Dartmouth Coach |
A1, A2, 14, 15, 16, 17 |
140 |
23.3 |
DATTCO, Megabus |
11 and 12 |
77 |
38.5 |
Fung Wah |
13 and 25 |
51 |
25.5 |
Peter Pan, Greyhound, Bolt |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 21, 22 |
231 |
17.8 |
Lucky Star |
23 and 24 |
34 |
17.0 |
P&B |
18 and 19 |
59 |
29.5 |
Sources: Public timetables and CTPS observation of gate assignments
DATTCO and Megabus have the greatest number of scheduled arrivals and departures per gate of any carrier group, with 38.5 operations per gate. It would be impossible to schedule any additional peak-period operations and extremely difficult to add any off-peak service at their two gates.
P&B, C&J, and Fung Wah, each carrier individually controlling two gates, have 29.5, 26, and 25.5 operations per gate respectively. The Concord Coach, Boston Express, and Dartmouth Coach group serves New Hampshire locations through a combined six gates with 23.3 operations per gate.
Peter Pan, Greyhound, and Bolt together control 13 gates, but they have only 231 bus operations on Fridays. With only 17.8 operations per gate, these carriers have the greatest flexibility in bringing arriving buses to an available gate to allow prompt unloading.
Scheduled bus operations by hour at the South Station terminal are summarized in Table 30. The morning peak is between 7:00 and 8:00 AM and has a total of 45 scheduled arrivals and departures. The afternoon experiences a stronger, more extended peak with 55 scheduled operations between 4:00 and 5:00 PM and 54 operations between 5:00 and 6:00 PM. During the afternoon, daily commuter bus departures must operate together with numerous late-afternoon arrivals from New York City and other distant origins by multiple carriers as well as multiple departures from competing carriers to New York City. P&B’s two gates have the most operations per gate for these three peak hours.
Six of the 12 carriers serving South Station provide express bus service to New York City. Of the 322 scheduled departures on Friday, the heaviest travel day of the week, 32% are nonstop trips to New York City. The competing carriers offer riders convenient “clock face” departure times; this results in simultaneous departures by multiple carriers and to a lesser degree closely spaced arrivals, both exacerbating terminal congestion. It is unlikely that competing carriers would voluntarily coordinate schedules to reduce terminal congestion.
It should be noted that around holidays and three-day weekends, a large number of extra sections (two or more buses departing at the same time) are added to the regularly scheduled trips. Maintaining such a level of service as a normally scheduled routine would be difficult. During holiday peak travel times, conditions for passengers inside the terminal can be uncomfortable, extra personnel are required to load luggage and assist buses in docking, and activity is spread out during a greater part of the day, including off-peak times when scheduled activity is below the maximum capacity.
The Peter Pan–Greyhound–Bolt group controls enough gates that these carriers could increase operations, even in peak periods. The other carrier groups, with the exception of DATTCO-Megabus, also have the capacity to increase operations, though they would need to avoid scheduling any activity during the half hour between 5:00 PM and 5:30 PM.
It would be difficult for any new or existing carrier to introduce a new high-frequency commuter service to the terminal, as Boston Express did in 2007. The addition of more peak-period trips to existing services would need to be carefully scheduled to avoid conflicts with existing operations.
Table 30
Activity by Hour (All Gates)
at South Station Bus Terminal
Begin |
End |
Total Arrivals |
Total Departures |
Total Arrivals/ |
1:00 |
1:59 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
2:00 |
2:59 |
4 |
2 |
6 |
3:00 |
3:59 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
4:00 |
4:59 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
5:00 |
5:59 |
5 |
2 |
7 |
6:00 |
6:59 |
14 |
7 |
21 |
7:00 |
7:59 |
27 |
18 |
45 |
8:00 |
8:59 |
22 |
14 |
36 |
9:00 |
9:59 |
13 |
12 |
25 |
10:00 |
10:59 |
11 |
17 |
28 |
11:00 |
11:59 |
14 |
17 |
31 |
12:00 |
12:59 |
15 |
20 |
35 |
13:00 |
13:59 |
16 |
20 |
36 |
14:00 |
14:59 |
20 |
18 |
38 |
15:00 |
15:59 |
16 |
22 |
38 |
16:00 |
16:59 |
21 |
34 |
55 |
17:00 |
17:59 |
18 |
36 |
54 |
18:00 |
18:59 |
22 |
24 |
46 |
19:00 |
19:59 |
16 |
18 |
34 |
20:00 |
20:59 |
15 |
12 |
27 |
21:00 |
21:59 |
13 |
10 |
23 |
22:00 |
22:59 |
13 |
8 |
21 |
23:00 |
23:59 |
10 |
9 |
19 |
00:00 |
00:59 |
7 |
1 |
8 |
Sources: Public timetables and CTPS observation of gate assignments
Given that the capacity of the South Station terminal is fixed until proposed new development expands the present facility, the problem of increasing capacity can be reframed as a question of how to move more bus passengers out of Boston during the PM peak period. During off-peak periods, many routes have buses stop to pick up passengers at both Logan Airport and South Station, with a single vehicle proving adequate to serve both markets. Some carriers have managed to effectively increase capacity out of Boston by using two vehicles to provide separate services, one from Logan Airport and one from South Station, during the PM peak period. P&B, for example, operates a separate bus from Logan Airport directly to the South Shore and Cape Cod during peak periods, preserving the capacity of its bus serving South Station for evening commuters from that location.
This direct-routing model could be taken one step further. The P&B bus serving South Station also boards passengers at Park Square. If the Park Square commuters could board a separate bus to go directly to the South Shore commuter lots, the vehicle that P&B sends to South Station would be able to commit its entire capacity to passengers boarding at that location.
This approach would require P&B to operate a greater number of buses during the PM peak than it does now. However, P&B anticipates replacing some of its older 40-foot buses with longer buses with more seating. At the very least, the larger buses will increase capacity if they continue to serve both Park Square and South Station. It might be practical, however, for P&B to commit the old 40-foot buses to a new “Park Square Direct” service.
C&J also operates separate trips to serve Logan Airport and South Station in the peak period, allowing the buses that serve South Station during peak periods to devote their entire capacity to commuters from that location.
Boston Express presently operates two routes between Boston and New Hampshire, one to Nashua and Manchester and a second to Salem and Londonderry. Some trips originate at Logan Airport, all of which stop at South Station. Some peak-period trips serve only South Station. If ridership growth results in capacity problems on peak trips, Boston Express could consider operating its PM peak buses from Logan Airport directly to New Hampshire, allowing additional, separate South Station buses to be boarded entirely at South Station, as the C&J buses are during the PM peak.
DATTCO currently operates all Boston service exclusively out of South Station during both peak periods and makes no on-street stops in Boston. CTPS surveys of DATTCO passengers show that 28% are using the MBTA rapid transit system to access the South Station bus terminal (Table 25, Chapter 2). At least 25 of these DATTCO riders reported using the subway to reach “Boston” or “Back Bay,” the lowest level of geographical data obtained from these surveys. While the surveys are unable to indicate whether there is a dense cluster of easily served final destinations for DATTCO’s downtown passengers, DATTCO could consider extending some morning trips to drop off at one or more on-street locations such as Park Square and/or Copley Square (currently used by P&B and Peter Pan). Then, if sufficient riders are availing themselves of the on-street drop-off location, this could indicate sufficient ridership to support an additional afternoon trip originating at the on-street location and bypassing South Station. This would, in effect, increase the capacity of the bus serving South Station.
There are five private carriers and one RTA regional route serving Boston that do not stop at the South Station Bus Terminal:
Four of the carriers that do not utilize South Station, Bloom, Coach Company, MVRTA, and Yankee Line, are primarily commuter operations. Limoliner has, since its inception, operated in Boston only from the Back Bay Hilton hotel. The Hampton Jitney schedules only a few trips a year between Boston and Long Island, coinciding with college and university holiday breaks. Figure 7 shows the downtown Boston boarding locations for these carriers, as well as on-street stops used by carriers that also serve South Station.
Bloom operated into the South Station terminal until 2003, when it moved its operations to a pair of downtown on-street locations. Coach Company, MVRTA, and Yankee Line have always depended exclusively on one or more on-street locations to serve their riders. These three carriers serve North Side commuters and compete to some degree with commuter rail service out of North Station. However, by bringing peak-period commuters beyond North Station to other downtown points including the Back Bay, these companies differentiate their service from commuter rail. There appears to be little likelihood that any of these four commuter carriers or either of the two long-distance carriers not using South Station would be interested in moving operations to the bus terminal even if space were available.
Several peak-period P&B and Peter Pan buses that serve South Station also drop off and pick up passengers at on-street locations. P&B has a peak-period curbside stop at Park Square, which is shared with Bloom Bus. Peter Pan operates one peak-period trip to Worcester, which originates at the Massachusetts State House and also stops at Copley Square. In addition, a Springfield-bound peak-period trip originates at South Station but also stops at Copley Square.
Some carriers make one or more on-street drop-off-only stops during the morning inbound peak but board all outbound passengers during the PM peak period at the South Station terminal. This is the practice of Boston Express, Concord Coach, and C&J, and these drop-off-only locations are not shown in Figure 7. Boston Express and Concord Coach stop at State Street, Park Street, and Tufts Medical Center, and C&J stops at Haymarket Square and the Bank of America building. Concord Coach offers downtown drop-offs on its Concord, New Hampshire, route, while Boston Express only offers the downtown drop-offs on those trips from Manchester, Londonderry, and Salem, New Hampshire, that terminate at South Station and do not continue on to Logan.
Two of the long-distance carriers serving South Station, Fung Wah and Lucky Star, began as curbside operators with stops in Boston’s Chinatown. The City of Boston ultimately objected to this practice, citing safety concerns. The City began fining individual buses for illegal parking, and both carriers moved operations to the South Station bus terminal in 2004. The capacity in South Station to accommodate these carriers became available in part because Bloom Bus had discontinued service to the terminal in 2003 and P&B had reduced service to the South Shore following the opening of the Old Colony commuter rail lines in 1997.
Megabus and Bolt Bus operate primarily as curbside carriers through most of their networks but have used South Station since their initial Boston service. Megabus temporarily relocated to Back Bay Station while South Station was modified to accommodate its new double-decked buses. Given the past history, it is unlikely that the City of Boston would sanction any new curbside operation that would result in buses being parked for longer than a quick pick-up or in passenger boarding activity that, exacerbated by the quantities of luggage associated with long-distance travel, can restrict the use of sidewalks.
4.2.2 Curbside Stop Conditions in Boston
A CTPS review of existing curbside boarding locations for commuter buses in Boston found that none had any signage identifying the stop as a regional commuter bus stop, and some had no bus stop signage at all. Some stops are shared with existing MBTA local bus routes, and several of these have a shelter, presumably for the benefit of the more numerous local bus passengers. The stop locations reviewed included:
The stop is shared with MBTA buses, and there is a shelter at this location. There is no signage indicating Coach Company service.
The stop is shared with MBTA buses, and there is no shelter. There is no signage indicating Coach Company service.
This stop is located just beyond an MBTA bus stop. While the MBTA stop has a shelter, it is some distance from the location used by the private carriers. The private carrier stop location is completely unsigned.
This stop is shared with MBTA buses. There is no shelter and there is no signage indicating Peter Pan service.
There is no indication of MVRTA service at any of the three stops, including the 10 Park Plaza stop, which is shared with MBTA local buses. There are no shelters at any of the three stops, although the Park Plaza and Cambridge Street stops are in front of buildings with sheltered sidewalks.
This stop is served by the greatest number of buses, with all Bloom trips and a large percentage of P&B evening peak trips stopping here. There is no shelter and no indication of Bloom or P&B service.
This stop is on the opposite side of an intersection from an MBTA stop, but there is no indication of Bloom service. There is no shelter.
Limoliner has picked up at the Hilton Hotel on Dalton Street since its inception. There is no signage, but staff at the Hilton and nearby Sheraton are familiar with the Limoliner service.
This service only operates for several weekends during the year. The MBTA bus stop on Boylston Street at Copley Square is used as the occasional Boston pick-up location.
Figure 7 Bus Carrier Stop Locations in Downtown Boston
Analysis of MBTA automated fare-collection (AFC) data from September 2010 suggests that many of the commuters who take commuter rail to one of the downtown stations transfer to an MBTA subway line to complete their trips. Assuming similar patterns for commuter services in general (bus or rail), these data could be used to identify locations where passengers might be interested in using direct commuter bus service. MBTA rapid transit fare data were reviewed to identify stations on the network other than North Station, South Station, or Back Bay where a high percentage of passengers utilize commuter rail passes to board the rapid transit network and also use their passes at each of the three downtown commuter rail stations.
For commuters into North Station that transferred to the rapid transit system, the greatest number of pass holders completed their commutes at Back Bay Station on the Orange Line (380), Arlington Street on the Green Line (238), Downtown Crossing on the Orange Line (202), State Street on the Orange Line (174) and Ruggles on the Orange Line (111). Only 36 pass holders used the subway to reach the major employment center at Kendall Square, a consequence of a more direct, frequent bus service provided by the Charles River Transportation Management Association.
A similar analysis was performed for commuter rail passengers arriving at South Station. The greatest number of commuter rail pass holders entering the subway system at South Station completed their commutes at Kendall/MIT on the Red Line (592), Charles/MGH on the Red Line (264), World Trade Center on the Silver Line (214), Harvard Square on the Red Line (174) and Central Square on the Red Line (147).
The patterns revealed in this analysis suggest that, for commuters using the subway to reach a work destination beyond the immediate environs of their downtown commuter rail station, Back Bay, Kendall Square in Cambridge, and the Longwood Medical Area (LMA) are the most important final destinations. While the LMA is only evident in the data above in the 111 pass holders destined for Ruggles Station, the LMA is served by several Green Line stops, Yawkey Station on the Worcester commuter rail line, and Ruggles Station on the Providence, Stoughton, Franklin, and Needham commuter rail lines. Shuttle buses run between Yawkey and Ruggles and between JFK/UMass Station on the Old Colony commuter rail lines and LMA employment locations. Other ridership studies have consistently shown the LMA to be an important final destination for commuter rail passengers.
Several regional bus carriers presently provide direct service to the Back Bay: Bloom, Coach Company, MVRTA, and P&B all have stops at or near Park Square. Estimates based on the CTPS passenger survey suggest that Park Square boardings make up 40% of Bloom ridership, 57% of Coach Company ridership, 17% of MVRTA ridership, and 15% of P&B Boston ridership. Yankee Line’s only Boston stop is at Copley Square, a stop shared with Peter Pan’s Worcester commuter trip. Of bus routes serving primarily South Station, DATTCO may have the best potential for extending some trips to a stop in or near the Back Bay.
Carriers that terminate all or most of their service at Logan Airport, with an intermediate South Station stop, would have difficulty adding a stop in the Back Bay without causing delay for passengers bound for Logan. The carriers anchoring most of their service at Logan Airport are Concord Coach, Boston Express, and Peter Pan’s Providence division.
Because Kendall Square is directly connected to South Station and the bus terminal via the Red Line, there would be less potential for existing regional bus carriers serving South Station to consider any direct extension of service to Kendall Square. The travel time for buses originating at Kendall Square to South Station would most likely be greater than the travel time on the Red Line. Reconstruction of the Longfellow Bridge over the next several years will make bus service between Kendall Square and points in Boston even less attractive.
In order to evaluate the potential for direct regional bus service to the LMA, CTPS reviewed 2008 LMA employment data compiled by the Medical Academic and Scientific Community Organization (MASCO). The MASCO data show that 3,691 people, 8.5% of the LMA workforce, commute from what MASCO defines as the Southeast Corridor. This is the largest percentage from an area outside of the central cities of Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, and Newton. MASCO presently operates its own shuttle bus between JFK/UMass Station and the LMA. The shuttle connects the LMA to MBTA Red Line rapid transit service from Quincy and Braintree, as well as to Old Colony commuter rail trains from Scituate, Kingston/Plymouth, and Middleborough that are scheduled to make stops at JFK/UMass.
Based on demand from the Southeast Corridor, there may be some potential for P&B to extend one Plymouth–Boston commuter round-trip direct to the LMA. The CTPS survey of P&B Plymouth riders shows less than 10 identifying the LMA as a trip end. Despite this relatively small number, extension of a round-trip to the LMA might attract new riders. Given the uncertainty of demand, any trip modified to also serve the LMA should be scheduled in such a way as to avoid a negative impact on existing riders using the Park Square or South Station stops.
There are four suburban Boston locations served by regional bus carriers providing longer-distance intercity services. Massport’s Logan Express terminal near Shoppers World off I-90 Exit 13 in Framingham is the best developed, with long-term paid parking, restrooms, and an indoor waiting area. Greyhound and Peter Pan regional buses will stop at the Massport Logan Express terminal, but both companies request that passengers make reservations ahead of time. If no passengers are ticketed to board or alight at the terminal, the carriers may express a bus past the Framingham stop.
A second location in Framingham, the MassDOT park-and-ride lot near I-90 Exit 12, also has long-distance bus service. Limoliner, carrying passengers between the Back Bay Hilton and New York City, stops at this location to receive New York–bound passengers only.
The other two locations outside of downtown Boston with long-distance bus service are the Alewife Red Line station in Cambridge and the Riverside Green Line station in Newton. World Wide Bus initiated a service between Alewife and New York City in 2010, with a stop at Riverside to serve passengers between Riverside and New York. World Wide currently provides the only regular regional bus service at either of these two locations, although Hampton Jitney’s infrequently scheduled service also stops at Riverside.
The Riverside Line was completed in 1959, and the transit authority constructed a small depot at Riverside for use by intercity buses. This location has been served continuously by various carriers since 1959. In 2010, just as World Wide Bus began stopping at Riverside, both Greyhound and Peter Pan discontinued service there. Greyhound and Peter Pan later resumed stopping at Riverside, but then discontinued service again.
The Alewife Red Line station opened in 1985 and was designed with enough busway capacity to accommodate regional buses in addition to the MBTA’s own local bus routes. World Wide’s service is the first regularly scheduled regional bus service to utilize the facility.
Prior to World Wide’s establishing service from Alewife, at least two operators were interested in operating curbside service from the Harvard Square area of Cambridge direct to New York City. Crystal Transport, under contract to Vamoose Bus, briefly operated this route, but service was suspended after the City of Cambridge required the carrier to obtain a jitney license.
CTPS has not surveyed riders of long-distance bus services that serve only one location in Massachusetts, with the next-closest stop being in a different state, such as the several nonstop Boston–New York City services. Consequently, a ready source of information about origin points of long- distance passengers is currently not available, and identifying potential intermediate stops for long-distance routes requires a different analytical approach.
Examination of the existing Riverside and Alewife bus stops is instructive. They have two physical characteristics in common: long-term parking is available at both locations, and the MBTA busways have enough available capacity to accommodate layovers of regional buses. Review of other MBTA suburban rapid transit facilities may confirm the presence of similar physical characteristics. Quincy Adams Station on the Red Line appears to be a potential candidate to host a regional bus stop; the busway at Quincy Adams is not at capacity, and the station includes a large garage facility that allows for long-term parking.
Several regional bus carriers provide service direct to Logan Airport; this includes one service that exclusively serves the airport and not South Station, and multiple carriers which serve both South Station and Logan Airport.
Logan Express service connects remote parking facilities in Peabody, Woburn, Framingham, and Braintree directly with Logan Airport and is operated by bus companies under contract with Massport. Service to both Woburn and Braintree is operated by Paul Revere Transportation, service to Framingham is operated by Fox Bus Lines, and the Peabody service is operated by McGinn, an affiliate of P&B. Massport pays the contractors a fixed price per hour of service and retains the fare revenue. This service does not stop anywhere in Boston except the airport.
Six of the 12 carriers serving South Station also operate extensive through-service to Logan Airport, while a seventh operates limited service to Logan. Massport presently charges a ground access fee of $8.00 per trip for fixed-route service operating to or from Logan.
The four primary carriers serving New Hampshire, C&J, Concord Coach, Dartmouth Coach, and Boston Express, operate all off-peak buses and a large percentage of peak-period buses through to Logan Airport on all their routes. Concord Coach and C&J also schedule some trips to operate direct to Logan Airport without a stop at South Station.
Some Greyhound trips originating in Montreal drop off at Logan, representing Greyhound’s only service at the airport.
P&B operates extensive service to Logan on its Hyannis–Boston route, with all off-peak service and a large percentage of peak service operating to Logan. These trips are supplemented during peak periods by buses direct to Logan Airport without a stop at South Station.
Peter Pan operates through service to Logan on the Woods Hole–Falmouth–Boston and the Providence–Boston routes, but does not offer through service to Logan on any other route. Peter Pan will sell through-tickets from other locations in its network, such as Fall River, Worcester, or Springfield, to Logan, but these passengers must transfer at South Station.
As mentioned above, Concord Coach, C&J, and P&B separate part or all of their service to Logan into separate trips which do not stop at South Station. C&J separates Logan service on weekdays between 7:30 AM and 10:15 AM inbound and between 3:10 PM and 7:10 PM outbound. P&B does this for all Hyannis-route weekday service between 7:00 AM and 9:30 AM inbound and between 3:45 PM and 5:45 PM outbound. Concord Coach operates separate trips direct to Logan Airport on its Portland route. Unlike on C&J and P&B, these separate trips direct to Logan Airport operate seven days a week and are scheduled for both off-peak and peak periods. Concord Coach does not normally schedule separate trips to Logan Airport for its New Hampshire routes.
Currently all service to Logan Airport operated by Boston Express, Dartmouth Coach, and Peter Pan operates via South Station with no trips on these routes going directly to Logan Airport. Should demand grow for commuter services on these routes, there is some potential to expand capacity at both the South Station and the Logan Airport stops by operating separate trips, especially during peak periods.
Six regional carriers operate routes to Boston from points in Massachusetts but do not provide service to Logan Airport:
Coach Company, MVRTA, and Yankee Line only operate fixed-route services during peak periods. Since airport access is an all-day travel market, these three carriers may not be well suited to operate routes to Logan Airport.
Peter Pan serves Logan directly on two routes, Woods Hole–Falmouth–Boston and Providence–Boston, and sells through tickets from other locations such as Hartford, Worcester, and Fall River. Passengers from these locations must transfer at South Station.
Bloom and DATTCO are the two carriers which neither serve Logan Airport nor offer any through-ticketing to Logan Airport via other carriers. They do, however, operate trips outside commuter hours, potentially matching Logan Airport’s all-day-access requirements. Taunton is served by both Bloom and DATTCO, while New Bedford is served by DATTCO. There is presently no direct service to Logan Airport from either community.
A CTPS survey of DATTCO riders showed that a small percentage of existing passengers were traveling from Logan Airport and had transferred either via taxicab or the MBTA’s Silver Line to reach the DATTCO service at South Station. This suggests there might be some demand for an additional stop at Logan Airport if DATTCO were to extend some of its existing service.
Regional carriers presently follow different practices for parking buses during the midday. Carriers offering primarily commuter service generally have a large number of buses arriving in Boston within a short time window in the AM peak, park the buses during the entirety of the midday, and then have the buses depart during the PM peak.
Longer-distance routes generally have arrivals and departures spread out throughout the day. Depending on bus rotation cycles, the arriving vehicle may only lay over for a short time before a departure or may go to another location for cleaning and fueling before returning for a departure. Massport provides facilities at Logan Airport for regional carriers to park buses during layovers.
The following sections provide more detail about the midday layover practices utilized by the various carriers providing regional bus service to Boston.
Routes that are primarily commuter services bring a large number of buses into Boston during the AM peak but do not require the equipment again until the start of the PM peak. This results in a need for buses to be either parked in Boston in the midday from approximately 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM or deadheaded back to the carriers’ garages, which are usually near the suburban origin points for the services. There are over 30 buses each day which need to either park in Boston or deadhead to carrier garages outside of Boston to park. The bus operators requiring a midday layover of commuter buses are:
Bloom does not park any buses in Boston, and any required layovers are at Bloom’s garage in Taunton (located next to the Taunton bus station).
There are eight Boston Express buses from Londonderry/Salem, New Hampshire, and one from Nashua that do not continue beyond South Station to Logan Airport. These nine buses must be parked during the midday period.
C&J operates nine peak-period buses, five of which layover in Boston and four of which lay over at Logan Airport.
Coach Company’s seven buses are garaged in Plaistow, New Hampshire, but begin their morning runs in Haverhill or Newburyport. All vehicles must either deadhead to Plaistow or find parking in Boston.
All Concord Coach buses from Concord and all Dartmouth Coach buses operate to Logan Airport, where they can lay over. The Concord Coach Maine route has four trips that terminate at South Station, and the buses that serve this route must layover near downtown.
DATTCO deadheads three buses each morning to its garage in Fairhaven. It had previously parked these buses on Traveler Street in the South End.
MVRTA utilizes four buses in regional service, all of which deadhead back to the garage after the AM peak period and return for the PM trips. The regional-service drivers also work on local MVRTA runs.
Peter Pan has a garage facility in nearby Chelsea where buses can lay over.
P&B parks 11 buses at space leased from Massport along Haul Road in South Boston and two buses on Traveler Street near the Turnpike in Boston’s South End. In addition, up to 11 buses lay over at different times during the day at Massport’s bus parking facility at Logan airport.
The Yankee Line garage is located in Boston and is the parking location for the bus used in commuter service.
Long-distance intercity carriers are more likely than commuter carriers to turn around equipment expeditiously for use on some midday departure. Also, coaches can be driven to maintenance facilities for washing, fueling, restroom cleaning, and other servicing between runs; the vehicles can then return to the South Station terminal ready for their next trip.
Several carriers have support facilities in or near Boston. Greyhound and Bolt have a garage facility in South Boston, and Peter Pan has a garage in Chelsea. DATTCO has a maintenance facility in Randolph which is also utilized by the Megabus service. Limoliner is based in Stoughton. World Wide Bus does not operate to downtown Boston, and its vehicles lay over at the MBTA’s Riverside commuter parking lot as required.