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.
-END-