We are staying in touch the MBTA about 71/73 bus reliability issues — too many dropped trips. Dropped trips are a special hardship for riders in the evening when trips are spaced far apart anyway.
The MBTA is aware of the problem of dropped trips and offered the response below to a recent inquiry from my team.
We track reliability through dropped trips (service that doesn’t operate as scheduled). Our goal is to keep dropped trips below 0.5%. In Spring 2025, Route 73 experienced 3.6% dropped trips. While this is a significant improvement from the 6.2% we saw in Spring 2023, it remains higher than our target, and our team continues to work on addressing this as we increase bus operator hiring.
Route 73’s 3.6% dropped trip rate is above our system-wide goal of 0.5%, indicating ongoing reliability challenges that we’re actively working to resolve.
The reliability issues we’re seeing are not primarily related to bus bunching, but rather to our staffing system and how we plan for bus operator absences. In plain words, This is something we are actively working on and hoping to improve with the next rating.
Regarding out of service buses, due to the temporary replacement of left-side door buses while North Cambridge Garage is being reconstructed for new battery buses, Route 73 is currently operating with a special service pattern. During rush hours, inbound trips drop off in the upper busway and immediately pick up outbound passengers. During off-peak times (midday, evenings, weekends), buses go “OUT OF SERVICE” to allow operators a brief opportunity to park and access restrooms. Buses also go out of service at the end of operators’ shifts when returning to the garage.
We continue to monitor bus operator hiring, which is growing, and we hope to make an announcement later this year regarding Route 73 scheduled frequency improvements.
This response is only for rte 73. Nothing is said about 71, which also has dropped buses too often. Can they please comment on this?
Why is this article only about #73 busses? I call the MBTA regularly about dropped trips from the #71 for my AM work trips. In fact, Senator Brownsberger, I’ve noticed you often speak about the #73 (Belmont) busses over the #71 (Watertown) busses and confuse them as well. I live in Waterown, not Belmont, and want to hear about my route, which I bet is more underserve than Belmont’s, according to my observance over the years of how many more busses Belmont seems to have over Watertown. Looks like 3x as many. So give me my data, please!
Agreed…. I am so frustrated with the #71 missing buses and have missed appointments because of them There are MANY more #73 trips than #71!
Thank you for looking into this, Will. Although the dropped trips may be new, their failure to adhere to to their published schedule has been an issue for decades. The 78 also has developed lateness problems, (often 25 minutes late) at least on Saturdays when I often take it. The problems seem unrelated to traffic or road work. Even when, on a Sunday, it is more or less on-time, it is often somewhat late. Since this bus runs only every 60-65 minutes on the weekend, it would be helpful to be able to count on it being on time.
It is not just dropped trips. When waiting for the 71 bus to Harvard Sq in the morning, each driver will speed past pointing to the bus behind him. Sometime 4 in a row go by without stopping. So frustrating!
Yes, dropped trips are a problem. When I must be somewhere at a specific time — a medical appointment, a BSO concert, etc. — I leave early enough that I can afford one dropped trip by the 73 or some delay on the red or green line. This almost always works and avoids the anxiety about getting there on time that would otherwise be stressful and annoying. While the MBTA Trip Planner is a useful resource, I know better than to rely on its idealistic times and will often add an extra half hour or more if two buses are involved. On the other hand, its walk times are usually pretty reliable and walking about an hour from near the Belmont Senior Center to various appointments or stores in Arlington or Watertown is often quicker than even the MBTA advertised vehicle times. This is a practicable approach for a retired person in good health, but not for many working people. Traveling on the MBTA is more pleasant when you don’t have to be somewhere at a specific time; it will get you there eventually. It would really be nice to have the proposed bus from Waverley to Arlington Center, but I probably won’t live that long.
Susan Staves
The 71 bus schedule is atrocious. Before COVID it was 10-12 minute headways, now it’s 20. This service is not up to the task of meeting the growing population of Watertown.
Also the combination of Mt. Auburn St. construction in Watertown and the Brattle St. bus detour in Cambridge exacerbates the problem. Buses are often stuck on Brattle St for 10-15 minutes in the rush hours.
In the evening, if you arrive after 5:40 PM at the Harvard busway, there is about a 30 minute wait for a 71 I’ve gotten trapped by this a couple of times, and my usual 40 minute commute has stretched to 1.5 hours. It makes me just want to work remotely all the time.
I take the bus from Watertown Sq. and could also rely on the Connector when the bus was late. However, the Connector now skips the square completely and goes to 66 Galen which is too far of a walk out of my way. It would be good if the Connector could service the Square again. Maybe there was low ridership, or it took too much time being caught in traffic, I don’t know.
I agree with the numerous previous comments regarding the 71 – both in wanting to see that data as well as my impression that easily 2-3 73s come for each 71. Further – the drop off in frequency after about 5:45 is really frustrating.
Great response from the MBTA and thanks for advocating for us. Its very nice to see an explanation for the upper and lower busway usage which has always been confusing to me.
I too am interested in the 71 statistics.
Maybe I missed it elsewher but it would also be good to hear an update on the progress being made on that condemned building so that we can re-open the main route on Mt. Auburn Street again.