Major elements of the SMART that were proposed by previous studies

## By route

**739 Stoughton/Holbrook** *Cobbs Corner to Sycamore St, Holbrook via Randolph*

The 739 Stoughton/Holbrook via Randolph begins at Cobbs Corner and runs on an easterly route to the former site of Egleston station. From there it continues north on Columbus Avenue and Tremont Street along the course of the Orange Line before ending at Ruggles.
Buses replaced trackless trolleys on the 22 on April 6, 1962, running as the 22 Ashmont–Dudley via Talbot and Warren. This route, rather than turning off Blue Hill Avenue onto Seaver Street, continued north a bit further and then went north on Warren Street to end at Dudley Square. It was extended to Ruggles in May 1987 along with the relocation of the Orange Line to the Southwest Corridor. The May and November 2022 network plans proposed that the inner terminal be changed to the Longwood Medical Area.

• **1881** The original Brockton Street Railway started as a horsecar line entirely within the city of Brockton, running between Main Street at Clifton Avenue and North Main Street near Frankton Avenue. This route opened on July 6, 1881. In 1884, the original route was extended at both ends. The south end was extended on Main Street to what was then the border of Brockton and West Bridgewater, near Brookside Avenue. This increased the total length to 6.05 miles. In 1891, this line was extended from the Avon line via South Main and North Main Streets to West Corners (North Main Street near Chestnut Street) in Randolph.

• The Brockton Street Railway began electrifying its lines in 1891, and was fully electrified by **1893.** There was no further expansion under that company name within what became the original MBTA District before the 1901 change of name to Old Colony Street Railway.

• On **August 24, 1894,** the Brockton Street Railway absorbed the newly opened Brockton and Holbrook Street Railway. This line ran from a connection with the Brockton Street Railway’s original route on North Main Street in Brockton via Howard Street to the border of Holbrook, and on South and north Franklin Streets to the border of Braintree. Until the consolidations of 1900, the Randolph and Holbrook lines were the only Brockton Street Railway routes that
entered what became the original MBTA District.

• In **1896,** the Braintree Street Railway opened a route from South Braintree Square to the border of Randolph via Pond Street. The Randolph Street Railway, which began operating on June 21, 1896, continued this route southwest via North and Liberty Streets to North Main Street in Randolph. The Braintree Street Railway absorbed the Randolph Street Railway On September 1, 1897, and was in turn merged into the Q&B on February 28, 1899.

• The Boston, Milton and Brockton Street Railway opened on **July 11, 1899.** Initially, its main route ran from Adams Street at Milton Lower Mills via Elliot Street, Central Avenue, Brook, Reedsdale, and Randolph Roads through the west side of Quincy to the border of Randolph and on North Main Street to the end of the Brockton Street Railway’s Randolph route at West Corners. A branch opened at the same time ran from Randolph Avenue via Reedsdale Road, Pleasant Street, and Edge Hill Road to East Milton Square, and also had through service from Lower Mills. On **February 10, 1900,** the Boston, Milton and Brockton Street Railway was merged into the Brockton Street Railway. The Boston, Milton and Brockton had planned to build a line to Mattapan Square from Reedsdale Road in Milton via Brook Road. The start of construction of this line was delayed because of jurisdictional issues over a location on the new Blue Hills Parkway between Brook Road and Mattapan. The location was approved in **1902,** but the Metropolitan Parks Commission did not complete construction of a new bridge across the Neponset River at Mattapan until the spring of 1903. After this line opened, the Old Colony Street Railway ran through service from Mattapan to Brockton via Randolph. East Milton cars continued running to Lower Mills. This line had been extended across the Neponset River to Pierce Square (Adams and River Streets) in Dorchester Lower Mills, connecting there with a Boston Elevated Railway trolley line.

• In **February 1920,** the Blue Hill Street Railway, which had operated at a loss for most of its existence, shut down permanently after a major snowstorm. The company’s main line ran from a connection with BERy local trolley lines at Mattapan Square through Milton and Canton to Stoughton. It ran on Blue Hill Avenue and Canton Avenue in Milton, on Washington Street in Canton, and on Central and Canton Streets in Stoughton. This line had opened in several stages between 1899 and 1903. When the Blue Hill Street Railway shut down, no jitney or bus operators were immediately willing to provide replacement service over the entire route. However, on March 18, 1920, the Brush Hill Transportation Company was incorporated for the purpose of providing a partial replacement service in Milton. The original Brush Hill officials were Malcolm Donald, president; Philip M. Reynolds, treasurer; and Duncan Will, manager. Service began on April 3, 1920. The Boston Globe described the service that day as running between Mattapan Square and Great Blue Hill and covering Brush Hill Road, Canton Avenue, and unspecified other connecting streets. Service began at 7:00 AM and ran every 30 minutes. The less direct route taken by the Brush Hill buses compared with the Blue Hill trolleys was intended to bring service closer to where residential development was at the time. There was likely some subsequent experimentation with routing. On August 7, 1925, the DPU granted a temporary certificate to Brush Hill Transportation for service in Milton. The routes covered in this certificate were not reported, but were probably the same as or close to the two routes in the permanent certificate granted to Brush Hill on July 1, 1926. One route followed the original trolley alignment from the border of Boston just south of Mattapan to Washington Street at what is now (2020) Blue Hill River Road in Canton, continuing east on that road and Hillside Street to Houghton’s Pond in Milton. Part of this route was run only from June to Labor Day. The other route ran from the Boston border via Blue Hill Avenue, Robbins Street, Brush Hill Road, Bradlee Road, Atherton Street, and Canton Avenue to the border of Canton at Blue Hill.

• The South Braintree–Randolph trolley route was discontinued in **November 1919.** Service resumed in 1920 with some funding from the towns, but ended permanently about 1921. Over the years, several private carriers made short-lived attempts to run bus service along this route. This included attempts by the Eastern Mass. itself in the 1950s and 1960s. In 2020, MBTA bus Route 238, as extended in 1971, included the former trolley alignment from Pond Street at Granite Street in Braintree to North Street at Liberty Street in Randolph.

• In August **1925,** the DPU issued a temporary certificate to the Foxboro-Mansfield Bus Company for the routes in Mansfield, Foxborough, South Walpole and Wrentham, and for a route from Foxborough to Canton Junction via Sharon. Between Depot Street in Sharon and Canton Junction, this route followed the former alignments of trolley lines abandoned by the Blue Hill Street Railway Company and the affiliated Norwood, Canton and Sharon Street Railway Company in 1919 and 1920. This was on North Main Street in Sharon and on Washington and Sherman Streets in Canton. South of Depot Street in Sharon, the bus route ran on South Main Street to the border of Foxborough, but previous trolley service had followed this route only as far as East Foxborough Street in Sharon Heights. The DPU granted permanent certificates to Foxboro-Mansfield for the same routes in 1926.

• Because of the dissolution of the Canton & Blue Hill Bus Line in **1925,** the company was not among those granted temporary DPU certificates that year, and it is not clear if any bus service was operated in Canton. However, in September 1926, the DPU granted a certificate to Homer Perigny for three routes. Route 1 ran from the border of Milton and Canton via Washington Street in Canton to the border of Sharon, continuing a short distance on Bay Road in Sharon to Central Street. This was the former route of the main line of the Blue Hill Street Railway. A variation of the bus route ran from Washington Street on Sherman Street to Canton Junction. This was part of the route of a former branch of the Blue Hill Street Railway. Route 2 ran from Canton Center via Washington, Bolivar, and Pleasant Streets to the border of Stoughton, and in Stoughton on Pearl Street to Stoughton Center. This was not a former trolley line. Route 3 ran from Canton Center via Washington Street to the border of Stoughton, and in Stoughton on Central, Canton, and Porter Streets to Stoughton Center. This was the former route of the Blue Hill Street Railway. However, the bus line was allowed to use it only for two round trips on Sundays. The service authorized in the 1926 certificate made it necessary for passengers going to or from Boston to transfer to Brush Hill buses near the border of Canton and Milton. In 1927, Perigny was authorized to extend service through to the border of Milton and Boston via Blue Hill Avenue. To protect Milton ridership on Brush Hill buses, Perigny was only allowed to pick up or drop off passengers at the Boston border, except that passengers could be dropped off northbound or picked up southbound at a private school on Blue Hill Avenue near Canton Avenue. In 1929, Perigny was granted rights for a route from Washington Street in Canton via Neponset Street to the border of Norwood, continuing on Neponset, East, Pleasant, and Cross Streets to the Center of Norwood with a few alternative loops downtown. Because of low patronage, Perigny discontinued this route after less than a year, but revived it during World War II. It remained in operation for some years after the end of the war. In 1939, Perigny was authorized to extend service from the border of Milton and Boston to the Boston Elevated Railway Company’s Mattapan terminal. In 1941, Perigny and the management of Brush Hill Transportation worked out an agreement about scheduling buses on overlapping segments of their routes to minimize competition. In February 1944, Homer Perigny formally incorporated Canton and Blue Hill Bus Line. At the time, state law did not provide for direct transfers of DPU certificates and the associated municipal licenses between companies. Therefore in April 1944, the DPU revoked all certificates held by Homer Perigny d/b/a Canton & Blue Hill Bus Line and granted new certificates for the same routes to Canton & Blue Hill Bus Line, Inc. (C&BH). There was little change in the route structure of C&BH after 1944. In March 1952, the company was granted a 60-day DPU temporary license for a route between Canton Junction and MBTA District Local Bus Route Origin and Development 130 Thomas J. Humphrey August 2020 Foxborough that was being discontinued by the Foxboro-Mansfield Bus Company, but C&BH did not seek permanent operating authority for the route. In September 1954, C&BH was granted rights for a new route from Canton to the New Haven Railroad’s Route 128 Station, using Route 128 from Washington Street in Canton. In November 1954, C&BH was authorized to operate over Pleasant Street in Canton between Sherman and Bolivar Streets. This was the last new route coverage authorized for C&BH by the time this study was originally completed in 1973. In July 1974, C&BH was authorized to operate a side branch in Canton from Washington Street over Royall Street to the Boston Mutual Life Insurance Company offices. In the late 1950s, Kenneth Hudson bought Canton and Blue Hill Bus Line, but continued operating it as a separate company. [On June 1, 1983, an explosion and fire leveled the C&BH garage at 541 Washington Street in Canton. The MBTA began subsidizing service of C&BH in 1984. C&BH was formally dissolved on December 31, 1990, with Hudson Bus Lines taking over the service directly. In February 1994, Hudson Bus Lines shut down permanently. Operation of the route between Mattapan and the borders of Canton, Sharon, and Stoughton has continued under MBTA contacts with other carriers since then. In 2020 it was being run by A&A Metro, as MBTA Route 716.]

• In **July 1936,** Brush Hill was authorized to extend service from the border of Milton via Washington Street to Sassamon Street in the Ponkapoag section of Canton, looping back to Washington Street on Sassamon and Turnpike Streets. This partly overlapped service of the Canton and Blue Hill Bus Line.

• A certificate issued **September 22, 1936,** authorized Brush Hill to run buses directly to the Boston Elevated Railway’s Mattapan terminal instead of turning back in Milton at the Boston border.

• In **February 1938,** in response to service cutbacks on the New Haven Railroad’s Stoughton Branch, the DPU authorized Brush Hill to extend the Mattapan–Ponkapoag route via Turnpike Street in Canton and Washington Street in Stoughton to Stoughton Square. This was a shorter route than the one taken by the trolley line abandoned in 1920. In August 1938, Brush Hill was authorized to extend service from Stoughton Square to the border of Randolph via Pleasant, Turnpike and Willow Streets, and through Randolph to South Braintree via West, Warren, North Main, Liberty, and North Streets in Randolph and Pond, Washington, and Pearl Streets and Holbrook Avenue in Braintree. Brush Hill discontinued the segments in Braintree and in Randolph except on West and Warren Streets by March 1939, but ran the segment in Stoughton until 1952. Several other carriers ran Randolph–South Braintree routes unsuccessfully before 1938 and after 1939.

• In **August 1938,** Brush Hill was authorized to extend service from Stoughton Square to the border of Randolph via Pleasant, Turnpike and Willow Streets, and through Randolph to South Braintree via West, Warren, North Main, Liberty, and North Streets in Randolph and Pond, Washington, and Pearl Streets and Holbrook Avenue in Braintree. Brush Hill discontinued the segments in Braintree and in Randolph except on West and Warren Streets by March 1939, but ran the segment in Stoughton until 1952. Several other carriers ran Randolph–South Braintree routes unsuccessfully before 1938 and after 1939.

• In **September 1942,** Brush Hill was authorized to extend service from Stoughton Square via Washington Street to the border of Easton.

• In **September 1942,** the DPU granted a war emergency certificate to Michael J. Connolly of Walpole for a bus route from Walpole Center to Canton Junction Station via East and Coney Streets in Walpole, Norwood, Depot, Billings, and East Streets and Bay Road in Sharon, and Washington and Revere Streets in Canton. As a through route, this was new, but it overlapped older routes on both ends.

• In **1946,** Joseph F. Unda, doing business as Unda’s Bus Service, began operating charter bus service. In June 1953, Unda acquired two DPU fixed-route certificates from John Perry d/b/a Perry’s Bus Service. One of these was for a route entirely outside what became the original MBTA District. The other was for a route from Canton to Sharon (in the District) and to Stoughton (outside the District). Perry had been operating the latter route since September 1952, following its discontinuance by Foxboro-Mansfield Bus Company several months earlier. This route was started before 1925, replacing a trolley route that followed a different alignment except in Canton. MBTA District Local Bus Route Origin and Development 153 Thomas J. Humphrey August 2020 The bus route, as acquired by Unda, started at the New Haven Railroad Canton Junction Station and ran on Sherman and Washington Streets in Canton, on Bay Road in Sharon, and on Bay Road and Plain and Morton Streets in Stoughton. The certificate did not allow transportation of passengers traveling entirely within Canton.

• In **October 1947,** Connolly was granted a certificate for a route between Norwood and Cobb’s Corner on the border of Sharon and Canton via Guild, Willow, Lenox, and Pleasant Streets in Norwood; Pleasant Street, Moose Hill Road, the Providence Turnpike, and Coney Street in Walpole; and on Norwood, Depot, Billings, and East Streets and Bay Road in Sharon. There was also a side branch in Sharon on Upland Road and Everett Street to a hospital. In Walpole and Sharon this route partly overlapped Connolly’s war emergency route between Walpole and Canton J

• In **January 1950,** South Shore Coach was denied authority for a route from Braintree to Randolph that another company had discontinued several months earlier, because the DPU concluded that there was no public necessity for the route.

• In **January 1957,** the DPU granted a fixed-route certificate to Carey’s Motor Transportation for a bus route between Braintree and Randolph and a network of routes around the center of Randolph. The certificate restricted the company to transporting passengers to or from a small area around Randolph High School. There was no requirement that passengers must be students, but the routes were probably intended only for school service. The company stationery was illustrated with a picture of two school buses. MBTA District Local Bus Route Origin and Development 150 Thomas J. Humphrey August 2020 [Fred J. Carey, Jr. died in July 1978. In October 1984, Paul M. Carey incorporated a separate company, Carey’s Bus Lines, to take over operation of several fixed routes between Boston and Rockland, Weymouth and Whitman from Hudson Bus Lines. Service on these routes was reduced in 1985 and most of rest was discontinued by 1989. Records of the Secretary of the Commonwealth show that Carey’s Bus Lines, Inc. was dissolved on December 31, 1990. The remaining fixed-route service was apparently continued by Carey’s Motor Transportation doing business as Carey’s Bus Lines until December 1997, when a new company, Carey’s Bus Lines, LLC was incorporated. However, in March 1998, Carey’s left the fixed-route bus business. Carey’s Bus Lines, LLC was dissolved on April 30, 2009, but Carey’s Motor Transportation was still active as of June 2019.]

• In **October 1957,** the DPU approved addition of a short loop at Stoughton Square, on School, Rose, Porter, and Washington Streets. From **April 22 to November 2, 1963,** Brush Hill Transportation Company took part in a Mass Transportation Commission (MTC) demonstration project. Brush Hill’s experimental route ran from Stoughton to the Route 128 commuter rail station, following the Stoughton–Mattapan route from Stoughton to Washington Street at state Route 128 in Canton, and Route 128 to the station. This route was not successful, and Brush Hill did not attempt to continue it after the MTC contract expired. There were no significant changes in Brush Hill service within the original MBTA District up to the time that this study was completed in 1973. [Brush Hill discontinued service on the Mattapan–Parkway lines in June 1980. Service on the Mattapan–Stoughton route was reduced to one round-trip per day by 1981, after the MBTA had greatly increased service frequency on the Stoughton commuter rail line. The Brush Hill Stoughton route was finally discontinued in May 1986. The last fixed-route service run by Brush Hill was a route between Milford and Boston run under contract for the MBTA and discontinued in July 2003. Since then, Brush Hill has continued as a sightseeing and tour bus operator, having been affiliated with the Gray Line national tour bus network since 1993.

• In **January 1961,** Eastern Mass. established a new bus route between Melrose and the Sears Shopping Center (Square One Mall) in Saugus via Upham Street in Melrose and Essex Street in Saugus. This was among the routes discontinued by the MBTA in 1971. [In 2020 there was no bus service on any part of this route that did not have bus service before 1961.] In April 1962, Eastern Mass. started a new express bus route between Fall River and Boston via State Route 24, as an alternative to the older routing mostly via state Route 138 that Eastern Mass. had been using since 1939. In October 1962, Eastern Mass. started service between Brockton and Boston as a branch of the Fall River route. Eastern Mass. had intended to run these routes into Boston on the Southeast Expressway, but was unable to obtain a license to use the segment in Boston, partly because of MTA opposition. Therefore, north of Route 128, the buses MBTA District Local Bus Route Origin and Development 83 Thomas J. Humphrey August 2020 continued using the old routing via Route 138, Blue Hill Avenue, Seaver Street, and Columbus Avenue. In December 1964, Eastern Mass. sold the certificates for service between Fall River and Boston both on the 1939 route and on the 1962 route to the Short Line, Inc., which became part of Bonanza Bus Lines in 1971. At the same time, Eastern Mass. was granted a new certificate for Brockton–Boston service. The MBTA discontinued this route in 1968. The Short Line obtained rights to use the Southeast Expressway between Braintree and Boston in 1967. [In 2020, Peter Pan Bus Lines, as successor to Bonanza still ran express bus service between Fall River and Boston via state Route 24, using the Southeast Expressway north of Route 128. There was no through bus service between Brockton and Boston.]

• In January 1965, Eastern Mass. was granted a certificate for service in Randolph on Union Street from Crawford Square to the border of Holbrook. This route does not appear to have been run for long then. [In 2020, MBTA bus Routes 238 and 240 used this segment of Union Street.]

• In May 1966, Eastern Mass. was granted a certificate for service from North Main Street in Randolph via Warren Street and Mazzeo Drive to the border of Stoughton. There was little development along Mazzeo Drive then, and it is not clear how long this route lasted. [In 2020, there was no bus service on Warren Street or Mazzeo Drive.]

• In **June 1973,** the MBTA started running rush-hour express bus routes from Playstead Road in West Medford and Elm Street in Medford to Haymarket Square via Interstate 93. The collection and distribution segments in Medford overlapped long-established MBTA local bus routes. I-93 had been open between Medford and Charlestown only since February 1973. [In 2020, the express bus route from Playstead Road to Haymarket was MBTA Route 326. The express bus route from Elm Street to Haymarket was MBTA Route 325.] In addition to the express routes discussed above, which were designed to bring suburban residents into downtown Boston, mostly for work, the MBTA also started two routes designed to carry low-income residents of Roxbury to employment locations along state Route 128. Both routes, which were inaugurated in June 1968, began at Dudley Square, ran north to Copley Square, and took the Mass. Turnpike Extension to Route 128. One line then ran north on Route 128 to Burlington, with intermediate stops at industrial and office parks in Waltham. The other route ran south along Route 128 as far as Canton, with intermediate stops at industrial parks in Needham and Dedham. The terminal of the Canton route was cut back to the Needham Industrial Center after a few months because of low ridership. In January 1971, the MBTA announced plans to eliminate the routes from Dudley to Needham and Burlington entirely as past of a systemwide service reduction. However, both routes were retained until December 1972, when the Needham route was discontinued. Service was restored in July 1973 at the former level of one outbound AM peak trip and one inbound PM peak trip, but finally ended in April 1981.