The numbers are there in black and white: The MBTA’s Blue Line, running from Boston to Revere, has increased ridership when overall there’s been a 2 percent drop in the transit system’s ridership.
MBTA officials this week said Blue Line ridership increased rush-hour ridership by 18 percent since 2014, and 10 percent off-peak ridership growth in the same time period.
“Clearly, something is going on with the Blue Line,” MBTA Analytics Director Laurel Paget-Seekins told The Boston Globe.
The Lynn Business Partnership (LBP) has touted the Blue Line’s potential as an engine for economic growth for 25 years. Extend the Blue Line through Lynn has been the simple, direct message hammered home by the LBP since 1993. The Item immediately embraced this message and proclaimed the economic benefits of an extension.
The logic is simple: Extend the Blue Line through Lynn to link the North Shore to the heart of Boston. It’s called transit-oriented development.
An extension gives developers a compelling reason to build housing in Lynn for workers who then can easily commute to Boston. Estimates had the ride at 23 minutes.
Blue Line ridership growth has to be put in perspective compared to ridership on other MBTA lines. The Red Line logs 244,000 riders annually compared to 63,000 Blue Line riders. It emphasizes the line’s ability to grow as demand increases among residents hungry for an easier trip into the cultural, medical, and economic heart of Boston.
Paget-Seekins noted that ridership increases are particularly noticeable at Wonderland station with North Shore commuters driving to the parking garage at Wonderland and hopping on the Blue Line.
Guess where these drivers are not parking?
In the white elephant of a garage at Market and Broad streets in Lynn. Extending the Blue Line will make the underused garage a commuter destination.
The Blue Line extension is not a pie-in-the-sky idea. It is a vital economic necessity, and the solid ridership growth numbers proves the point.
