The most passionate speakers at the DEP’s public hearing came from Jamaica Plain, where a vocal coalition sees its hope for restoring the streetcar line fading fast.
In 1985, the MBTA suspended service (supposedly temporarily) in the Arborway Corridor, hoping that riders would switch to the recently revamped Orange Line. “There has not been any significant increase” in Orange Line traffic, said Michael Reiskind, who lives on South Huntington Street. That assertion is supported by MBTA numbers, which show Orange Line ridership hovering around 22,500 per day, and #39 bus ridership steadily declining from more than 27,500 daily in the 1980s (when the bus first replaced the streetcar), to a little more than 14,000 today.
For many, the #39 bus has become an unwelcome stand-in, and the debate over the entire project has become a he-said-she-said argument, with both sides citing surveys and studies that back up their positions.
“The 39 bus is problematic in a number of ways,” says Franklyn Salimbene, a JP resident who chairs the Arborway Committee that seeks the trolley’s return. “The only way you can attract people to public transportation is if the service is reliable and if it is run so that it doesn’t require people to make transfers.”
The #39 accomplishes neither goal; its schedule is often criticized as erratic, and to take it downtown requires a switch from bus to train. Ridership has dropped significantly on the bus line since it was established, and Salimbene thinks poor service has sent more JP residents to their cars. In the opposite direction, he fears the inconvenience discourages people from visiting JP’s many shops and restaurants.
But arguments against bringing the train back to JP are just as numerous. Business owners have signed petitions fretting about lost parking spaces (parking would be lost completely on one side of the street), residents gripe about increased congestion (which would, incidentally, have negative effects on air quality), and police and fire officials say that cramped traffic flow could impede emergency vehicles.
“Some JP residents think it is a loss, and I understand that,” says Jon Truslow, who co-chairs an anti-trolley-restoration group known as Better Transit Without Trolleys. “But we’ve analyzed the situation, and we believe that bringing the trolley back under today’s situation would not improve Jamaica Plain.”
In place of a T extension on Centre and South streets, Mayor Thomas Menino’s administration, along with the EOT and many JP residents, advocate an upgrade of the #39 bus service — including traffic signals that give preference to buses, better-paved roads, cleaner buses that use the latest anti-pollution technology, and GPS systems to streamline the route’s scheduling.
At this point, these might be the most realistic hopes for Jamaica Plain transportation advocates.
But will it work?
Of course, all of these deliberations take for granted the fact that the best way to decrease pollution is through public-transit projects. But in fact, some suggest that such an assumption may be foolhardy.
