Urban Ring

ABC Urban Ring informational brochure
EOT Urban Ring Project Site
Position Statement by the ABC Urban Ring Institutional & Business Committee, December 2006
Boston Redevelopment Authority Urban Ring Project Site
Connecting with our Economic Future: A Transportation Investment Strategy for the Life Sciences Cluster, ABC, Fall 2007.
The LMA and the Urban Ring: Securing the Future. MASCO, January 2008.

Project Background

The Urban Ring would run through the spokes of transit system, creating connections along its route and relieving congestion in the downtown core of the system. The Urban Ring is a circumferential transit investment that will connect the "spokes" of our regional transit system. As currently defined, the ring includes phased improvements along a 15-mile corridor connecting the South Boston Waterfront, portions of the South End and Roxbury, Columbia Point in Dorchester, the Fenway and Longwood Medical Area, Brookline, Allston, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Everett, Chelsea, East Boston and Logan Airport.

The Urban Ring is currently envisioned as a Bus Rapid Transit system, providing express service to about 40 stations. Over half of the route's right of way would run in dedicated busways or bus lanes; intersection improvements and other features would aim to improve travel time over the rest of the route. The current preferred option also includes a bus tunnel through the Longwood and Fenway areas of Boston.

Why It's Important

By traversing the MBTA's existing radial transit, commuter rail, and bus lines, the Urban Ring aims to reduce travel time and congestion along its route corridor. It would also help relieve congestion in the central subway system by redirecting riders who currently must travel into the central hub – the oldest and most congested stations in the system – to get from one spoke to another. The project also aims to increase transit use, reduce vehicle miles traveled and improve air quality.

The Urban Ring will enable growth and development in areas of Boston and the region that would otherwise be inhibited by congestion and a lack of mobility. The project will better connect major centers of the life sciences industry and the academic community, leading sectors of the regional economy.

Transportation projections for the year 2030 anticipate that over 180,000 riders per day will use some portion of the Urban Ring, diverting over 41,000 automobile trips daily and cutting that greenhouse gases by approximately 225,000 pounds per day. It is projected that, by 2030, 322,000 residents and 379,000 jobs will be within a 10-minute walk of Urban Ring stations, an increase of 26% and 24%, respectively, compared to the year 2000.

ABC's Role

The Urban Ring would connect a diverse array of neighborhoods, from area currently underserved by transit to the vital academic and medical institutions. Credit: MassDOT A Better City has played a major role in advocating for this project since 1993, chairing the implementation committee of the Boston Society of Architects and co-chairing the MBTA Urban Ring Working Committee. Since 2006, ABC has chaired the Urban Ring Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC). In 2005, ABC established an Urban Ring Institutional and Business Committee to advocate for the implementation of the project.

In these various leadership positions, ABC has been able to influence the shape of the Urban Ring project and ensure that the currently defined Locally Preferred Alignment serves critical activity centers for our members in the higher education, medical, and life sciences industries.

ABC has prepared reports PDF on the critical importance of the Urban Ring as a transportation improvement as well as its role in support of the life sciences industry PDF in Massachusetts. ABC has prepared detailed comments on the environmental reports surrounding the project, as well as recommendations for early actions as next steps following completion of those reports in 2009.

That year, the Commonwealth decided to suspend the Special Review Procedure under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), delaying a key step in moving the project forward. ABC was instrumental in obtaining a commitment from MassDOT to continue planning work on the project despite the suspension.

The Urban Ring was not funded under the September 2009 amendment to the Long-Range Transportation Plan, Journey to 2030, put forth by the Boston Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). However, at the urging of A Better City and other organizations, the MPO did include the Urban Ring as an "illustrative project" – an example of a valuable piece of transportation infrastructure that should be pursued if additional funding becomes available. ABC is committed to advocating on behalf of the project and its full inclusion in the next Regional Transportation Plan.

Currently, the CAC, the Urban Ring Compact comprising the municipalities in the ring corridor, and MassDOT have developed a work plan to advance elements of the Urban Ring incrementally. That work plan includes securing the state's acquisition of the CSX rail right-of-way, studying extending Silver Line service from Logan Airport to Chelsea and East Boston, planning for use of the East Boston Haul Road as part of the Urban Ring route, improving Yawkey Station near Fenway Park to accommodate Urban Ring buses, and redesigning Melnea Cass Boulevard to accommodate separate bus lanes. Despite a challenging budgetary environment, ABC views the Urban Ring as a priority for Greater Boston and is committed to moving the project forward.