MBTA Reworks Bus Network Redesign Plan: What It Means For Reading

READING, MA — The MBTA released a new version of its proposed bus network overhaul on Thursday, adjusting planned changes following months of feedback and some criticism of a previous plan from the agency in May.

This week’s changes were far reaching, touching 85 of 133 total proposed bus routes, including Reading’s lone MBTA route through town.

The MBTA is restructuring its bus network with stated goals of increasing system-wide service by 25% while doubling the number of high frequency corridors, where buses arrive within 15 minutes of each other throughout service hours in daily seven-day schedules.

The agency’s initial redesign proposal drew frustration in places, though, trimming service on some bus routes while cutting other routes entirely.

The T said it fielded more than 20,000 comments on its May proposal. Officials said those comments shaped their new plan this week, which aims to improve access to hospitals, senior centers and other destinations. The plan looks to cut walking distances for seniors and other riders particularly in challenging topography areas.

The new plan, officials said, aims to preserve “one-seat” rides to high traffic destinations while operating within the confines of available bus resources.

Here’s what it means for Reading:

137 Bus

The 137 bus, which previously combined with the 136 bus to loop through downtown Reading, has been rerouted to run counterclockwise through its loose circle of Reading stops. The bus will now enter Reading from Wakefield at Salem Street before exiting back into Wakefield on Walkers Brook Drive.

While the route itself is not changing relative to the MBTA’s May proposal, this change has reversed the direction of the 137 bus’ loop in Reading, which had been set to run clockwise in town. The bus will still make its regular stop at the T’s Reading Commuter Rail station.

May changes still in effect for the T's new proposal include a route extension to Quannapowitt Parkway, with two-way service on Pleasant Street and Lowell Street in Wakefield. The route will not serve Cordis Street or Vernon Street in Wakefield or the Wakefield MBTA Commuter Rail stop.

The 137 bus will continue to run out of Reading, south through Wakefield and into Melrose before ending service at the Malden Center station in Malden.

See the MBTA’s full summary of recent bus network redesign changes here.

With a new proposal in hand, MBTA personnel are set to move forward with bus network redesign plans next week with a virtual public meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m.

The T will complete an equity analysis of the revised bus network in December, before holding another public meeting to discuss the equity analysis at some point this winter.

As the T pushes forward with bus network redesign goals, it is still grappling with a bus driver shortage that prompted it to cut service on some bus routes earlier this year.

The existing Reading 137 route was impacted by that action, with service trimmed between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays through the MBTA’s current fall season schedule.