page_title: Silver Line (MBTA)
section_title: Indirect routing
hierarchical_section_title: Silver Line (MBTA) / Service / Criticism / Indirect routing
caption_attribution_description: English: A non-public on-ramp to I-90 eastbound, just before the entrance to the Ted Williams Tunnel, photographed in June 2017. The ramp is used only by the State Police, though it has been proposed as a way to speed the Silver Line journey to Logan Airport.
context_page_description: The Silver Line is a system of bus routes in Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It is operated as part of the MBTA bus system, but branded as bus rapid transit as part of the MBTA subway system. Six routes are operated as part of two disconnected corridors. As of 2019, weekday ridership on the Silver Line was 39,000.
  The four Waterfront routes operate out of an underground terminal at South Station and run through the South Boston Piers Transitway – a dedicated bus tunnel through the Seaport District with stations at Courthouse and World Trade Center. At Silver Line Way, they fan out on the surface: the SL1 to Logan International Airport, the SL2 to Design Center, and the SL3 to Chelsea via East Boston. An additional short turn route, SLW, runs only at peak hours between South Station and Silver Line Way. The Waterfront routes use articulated dual-mode buses that operate as electric trolleybuses in the Transitway and conventional diesel buses on the surface. Two routes operate on Washington Street between Nubian station and Downtown Boston.
context_section_description: Because the Transitway was not originally designed for service to Logan Airport or Chelsea, it does not have a direct connection to the Ted Williams Tunnel. Outbound SL1 and SL3 buses must travel 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west on Haul Road from Silver Line to access an eastbound ramp west of B Street, then travel east on a frequently-congested section of I-90. Inbound buses must exit I-90 at B Street and travel 0.3 miles (0.48 km) east on Congress Street to reach Silver Line Way. An eastbound entrance ramp near Silver Line Way, normally restricted for use by Massachusetts State Police vehicles and MassDOT maintenance vehicles from an adjacent operations center, can shorten the outbound routing by about 0.7 miles (1.1 km). MassDOT claims the ramp was not designed for buses, though Big Dig planner Fred Salvucci has claimed it was. Outbound buses were temporarily allowed to use the ramp in 2006 after the Big Dig ceiling collapse, when there was no regular eastbound traffic through the tunnel. The Urban Ring was also proposed to use the ramp. A 2010 study indicated that the ramp was safe for use by the Silver Line.
  Transit advocates have since pushed to allow use of the ramp by Silver Line buses ("Free the ramp"), though MassDOT claims the ramp is not safe to use when highway traffic is freely flowing. The MBTA hired a consultant in 2018 to study potential use of the ramp. In May 2019, MassDOT agreed to a limited test of ramp use, though advocates criticized MassDOT for limiting the test to only the evening peak hour, and only when highway speeds did not exceed 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). The three-day test in August 2019 resulting in average time savings of 3–8 minutes per bus, with significantly larger time savings at the most congested times. After these results, MassDOT agreed to make modifications to the ramp entrance to eventually allow use of the ramp whenever traffic speeds are below 30 mph.
caption: The disputed ramp in 2017
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