FTA 10-05
Contact: Paul Griffo
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Tel.: (202) 366-4043
paulgriffo@fta.dot.gov

Third Phase of Boston’s Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit Project Gets Nearly $2 Million Federal Grant for Engineering Work

A $2 million grant will allow the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to continue planning the third phase of the Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in downtown Boston, Federal Transit Administrator Jennifer L. Dorn announced today.

The grant will be used for preliminary engineering to advance and refine the project’s design, scope and cost before construction begins. The Silver Line project recently received a recommended rating in the Annual New Starts Report for Fiscal Year 2006.

“Transit is about more than moving people. It’s about moving new investment and energy into our communities,” said Administrator Dorn.

The third phase of the BRT project involves building a one-mile tunnel under Tremont and Essex streets to link the Silver Line Washington Street to the Silver Line Waterfront. Service from South Station to Logan Airport is expected to begin later this spring.

Proposed features of the Phase III BRT project will include passenger-boarding platforms at three stations in downtown Boston, a turnaround loop for inbound and outbound buses and additional accordion-style low-floor buses that will operate along the length of the fully constructed Silver Line. The buses will be “dual mode,” which means they are powered by electricity delivered through a overhead catenary system while inside the tunnel, and run on diesel fuel once outside the tunnel.

The total estimated cost of the project is $780 million. The proposed “New Starts” federal share is $468 million, or 60 percent of the total cost. The Silver Line is expected to serve an estimated 100,000 daily riders by 2025.


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