Editing Transportation in Boston (section)

=== Subway network ===
{{main|MBTA subway}}
[[Image:RedLineCharlesMGH.jpg|thumb|right|Red Line subway train crossing the [[Longfellow Bridge]]]]
[[File:MBTA Green Line B.jpg|thumb|right|Green Line subway/surface train on street track]]
[[File:Train Arriving at Airport Station (MBTA).jpg|thumb|right|Blue Line subway train at the airport]]
[[File:Test train at Massachusetts Avenue station, June 2019.jpg|thumb|right|Orange Line subway train at [[Massachusetts Avenue station]]]]
Boston has the oldest subway system in North America, with the first underground streetcar traffic dating back to 1897. Today the whole subway network is owned and operated by the [[Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority]] (MBTA).

In the early 1960s, the then-newly-formed MBTA hired [[Cambridge Seven Associates]] to help develop a new [[brand identity]].  Cambridge Seven came up with a circled T to represent such concepts as "transit", "transportation" and "tunnel." Today, Bostonians call their rapid transit network "the T", and it is the [[List of United States rapid transit systems by ridership|fourth busiest in the country]], with daily ridership of 273,000 trips on its heavy rail and 90,700 on its light rail.<ref name="apta2022q4">{{cite web|author=American Public Transportation Association|url=https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/2022-Q4-Ridership-APTA.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314071914/https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/2022-Q4-Ridership-APTA.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 14, 2023|title=Heavy Rail Transit Ridership Report 4th Quarter 2022}}</ref> This compares with the [[Washington Metro]]'s heavy rail daily ridership of 326,300, the [[Chicago 'L']]'s 334,200, and Los Angeles's 76,800, but is overshadowed by [[NYCTA|New York City]]'s 6.335 million average daily weekday trips.<ref name="apta2022q4"/>

The one-way fare is $2.40. Monthly commuter passes, and day and week visitor's passes are also available for purchase.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mbta.com/fares#bus_subway_overview |website=Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority |title=Fares Overview |access-date=January 4, 2019}}</ref> There are four [[rapid transit|subway]] lines in the metropolitan Boston area: the [[Red Line (MBTA)|Red Line]], [[Green Line (MBTA)|Green&nbsp;Line]], [[Orange Line (MBTA)|Orange Line]], and [[Blue Line (MBTA)|Blue Line]]. The colors of each line have a symbolic meaning: the Blue Line runs under Boston Harbor; the Red Line used to terminate at [[Harvard University]] (whose school color is [[crimson]]); the Orange Line used to run along Washington Street, which was once called Orange Street; and the Green Line runs along parts of the [[Emerald Necklace]] into the leafy suburbs of [[Brookline, Massachusetts|Brookline]] and [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Throwback Thursday: When the T Was Color-Coded |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2016/08/25/mbta-color-history/ |website=Boston Magazine |access-date=January 4, 2019|date=August 25, 2016 }}</ref>

The Green Line is actually four different lines; it starts as one trunk line but then splits into four different branches, the [[Green Line B branch|B]] (Boston College), [[Green Line C branch|C]] (Cleveland Circle), [[Green Line D branch|D]] (Riverside) and [[Green Line E branch|E]] (Heath Street) trains. Because the split is only relevant on the outbound direction of travel, one may take any train inbound, but when going outbound one must be careful to board the correct train. The Red Line splits as well, with southbound trains going either to Braintree or Ashmont.

Though most of Boston's [[rapid transit]] network is powered via [[third rail]], the outermost portions of the Blue Line, as well as all of the Green Line and [[Mattapan Line]], are powered via [[overhead lines]]. The name "subway" is something of a misnomer; as with other systems, large segments run above ground when far from the city's downtown.  Additionally, the Green and Mattapan Lines are technically [[light-rail]] services, using [[Light rail vehicle|LRV]]s and [[streetcars]] rather than typical [[multiple unit]] heavy railcar equipment. The Ashmont–Mattapan line uses refurbished classic pre-war "[[PCC streetcar|PCC]]" trolleys on an exclusive right of way; the Green Line relies on modern high-capacity [[Light rail|LRV]] cars from Japan and Italy.

Like the [[New York City Subway]], Boston's subway system in theory does keep to an exact fixed schedule. Starting around 2011, the MBTA introduced overhead displays at the train platform level which indicate estimated arrival times for the next two trains in each direction.  In addition, real-time information about train location (and bus location) is available via an [[Open Data]] protocol on the Internet, enabling a large number of third-party smartphone apps and web sites to display expected arrival times throughout the MBTA system.  The Green Line relies more on operators than its signal system compared to other lines, especially where trams are driven across or even in automobile lanes on surface rails.  Due to a sparsity of data collected by the existing system, real-time Green Line arrival predictions are not expected until tracking infrastructure upgrades are completed in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/allston_brighton/2013/01/mbta_mobile_apps_will_be_able.html|title=MBTA: Mobile apps will be able to track Green Line trains by 2015|work=Boston.com|date=January 11, 2016}}</ref>{{update inline|date=December 2021}}

====Elevated sections====
Despite the first rapid transit segment being built underground, many later parts were built as [[elevated railway]]s.{{dubious|this implies a major separation in time; the first elevated was only 4 years later|date=January 2016}} A century later, most of these elevated railway sections have been replaced by [[Cut (earthmoving)|cut]] or tunnel routing.  The only remaining classic elevated structures are the [[Green Line (MBTA)|Green Line]]'s [[Lechmere Viaduct]], including the [[Science Park (MBTA station)|Science Park]] and [[Lechmere station|Lechmere]] stations, and a short segment of the [[Red Line (MBTA)|Red Line]] at [[Charles-MGH (MBTA station)|Charles-MGH]], connecting the tunnel under [[Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts|Beacon Hill]] to the [[Longfellow Bridge]].

The [[Boston Elevated Railway]] was the company that owned all the elevateds and subways. The following Els once existed:
*[[Causeway Street Elevated]] (closed 2004), from the [[Haymarket Incline]] to the [[Lechmere Viaduct]]
*[[Washington Street Elevated]] (closed 1987), from [[Forest Hills (MBTA station)|Forest Hills]] to an incline north of the [[Masspike]]
*[[Charlestown Elevated]] (closed April 4, 1975), from the [[Haymarket Incline]] to [[Everett, Massachusetts|Everett]]
*[[Atlantic Avenue Elevated]] (closed 1938), from the Washington Street El at the [[Castle Street Wye]] at Herald Street (Tower 'D') to the Charlestown El and Causeway Street El at [[North Station]] (Tower 'C')