City Hall – DR assigned this issue to Traffic - KC (Permits)

More than half the people using Mt. Auburn St. (easbound) are on buses. Those riders, plus people who choose to ride bikes, are why it is worth having a shared bus/bike only lane. Obviously emergency vehicles on their way to the hospital can also use the bus lane - thus making it even easier for them to reach the hospital than the previous configuration. The population is indeed growing - and single-occupancy vehicles are not the answer to moving them into/out of the city.

https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/CDD/Transportation/Projects/mtauburnstbusprioritypilot/octobertwopageflyer.pdf

The war on cars continues in Cambridge

I'm an infrequent driver and agree in general with concerns about excess traffic, but I also believe that in this particular instance the bus lane is a misguided idea. Yes many people ride buses, but physically buses comprise a small fraction of overall traffic. I've seen no evidence that buses are delayed in any meaningful way by car traffic on that stretch. If anything, buses mostly are obstructed by other buses which stop ahead of them. While it may make sense to provide dedicated bus lines on high-bus-traffic multi-lane roads (like the avenues in NYC), it makes no sense to block off an entire lane at an already snarled intersection to allow for the 5% of the time a bus is happening by. Worse, traffic must zig-zag because the left lane (the only remaining one for cars) immediately becomes left-turn-only. I think the city should rethink this.

I agree with KMH. And this is going to hurt businesses on that stretch, because Cambridge people are going to avoid Star Market and shops on Belmont St at all costs if they have to sit in this kind of traffic to return home. I don't think this is going to achieve the desired result and it's just going to cause a lot of stress and frustration in the meantime.

The single occupancy cars driving into and mostly through Cambridge (so much of the traffic is cars using Cambridge as a way to get from another town to either Boston or Brookline) are the problems, not the victims. They clog our streets, pollute our air, make travel around the city much worse. So when Cambridge pushes back, I cheer them on. If you're driving a car at a peak travel time on a congested road, you are traffic. Don't expect our entire city's public right-of-way to be dedicated to your preferred method of travel. Helping buses (full of people who would otherwise be in cars), and giving people safe options to ride bikes seems like the smart response to congestion. Sticking with prioritizing cars is just the same, tired approach which has literally never worked anywhere, ever to solve congestion.

Thank you for contacting the Cambridge Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department. Your views of this project were from the middle of the implementation phase before the project was fully installed. We are still adjusting signals and adding appropriate signage. More information on the project can be found here: https://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Transportation/mtauburnstreetbusprioritydemonstration