Adequate HVAC power. Auxiliary diesel- or electric-powered heaters can be added onto BEBs to adequately heat the bus interior during winter. Maintenance costs. While the cost of electricity will be consistent between BEBs and electric trolleybuses, the two technologies have different maintenance costs. Data from other cities have shown maintenance cost of trolleybuses can differ from that of BEBs, and MBTA’s ongoing two-year pilot of five BEBs on the Silver Line should offer insights into their maintenance costs.77 The MBTA, City of Everett, and City of Boston need to consider the short- and long-term trade-offs of battery-electric and electric trolleybuses for this corridor.
FLEET SIZE As explained, decisions about station alignment impact the bus door position (see Roadway and Station Configuration sections). If buses require left-hand doors on the corridor, a new fleet will be required, and the same is true if electric buses are preferred. Low-floor articulated buses with right-hand doors exist in the MBTA fleet and could be reassigned to the Everett‒Boston BRT corridor. For instance, as the Green Line Extension makes some existing bus routes redundant, it will free up some of the existing bus fleet for service in other parts of the network.
DETERMINE FLEET SIZE REQUIREMENTS
Fleet requirements need to be determined for the Everett‒Boston BRT routes. As the sketch service plan is refined, the number of buses and service frequencies needed to meet the expected passenger demand on each route will be calculated. The initial BRT service plan includes extending existing bus routes—such as the Silver Line extension to Everett, and continuing the 104/105/109 from Sullivan Square to downtown Boston. Longer and more frequent bus routes would require additional vehicles as well as a place to store, refuel/recharge, and service them.
FARE SYSTEM The MBTA is currently undertaking the initial steps for a new fare system known as “Fare Transformation” or “AFC 2.0.”78 This project will replace the existing, aging automated fare collection system with a newer system (some of its features, such as the ability to pay single fares with a contactless credit card, are already being put into place). In theory, all-door boarding is planned as part of AFC 2.0 for all bus routes, but the specifics of this implementation have not been decided, and the devil is in the details. For instance, the agency is proposing a distributed network of fare vending 72
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Vaccaro 2020. The timeline and scope of MBTA’s fare transformation program is explained here: https://www.mbta.com/projects/faretransformation
