A brand new report reveals the slowest MBTA bus route in Boston — and it averages 6 mph

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A brand new report from Transit Issues reveals the highest 10 slowest and prime 10 most bunched routes.

The SL4, a Silver Line that travels between South and Nubian Stations, received the not-so-esteemed honor of slowest MBTA bus route, in line with a brand new report.

Transit Issues, a Mass. transportation advocacy nonprofit, discovered the route traveled at a median pace of 6.09 mph in October 2025 — a pattern of Boston’s slowest routes getting even slower.

The third annual report analyzed publicly obtainable bus information to disclose the highest 10 slowest and prime 10 most bunched bus routes. Every report has used the earlier October as a pattern for a “devoted” year-over-year comparability, in line with the report.

The highest 10 slowest bus routes in Boston recorded a median pace of 6.42 mph, which is a drop from 6.83 mph two years in the past, in line with the report. 

Nevertheless, it’s not all bleak. 

The report discovered that the MBTA’s prime 10 most bunched routes — routes with the best proportion of buses arriving collectively versus evenly spaced aside — are bettering. The typical bunch fee for the highest 10 routes is 13.9 p.c, which is down almost two factors from final 12 months, the report discovered.

“Site visitors-slowed and blocked buses affect the day by day lives of riders by introducing uncertainty into their schedules and costing them time with family members,” the report says.

Seven of the slowest routes from final 12 months’s record discovered their approach again onto this 12 months’s record, whereas eight of probably the most bunched routes repeated, in line with the report. Many of those routes journey by way of Black and brown communities and low-income neighborhoods, the report says.

“Poor bus service is not only a problem of inefficiency; it is a matter of alternative, mobility, and high quality of life for these communities,” in line with the report. “Inefficient service is felt day-after-day by riders who might have to attend fifteen minutes longer within the excessive warmth or chilly.”

The report comes at a time when the town plans to develop bus lanes and transit sign precedence, together with the addition of bus-mounted enforcement cameras to effective automobiles stopped in bus lanes. Nevertheless, the report says a number of bus infrastructure tasks have slowed.

A few of the potential options prompt by the report are persevering with the town’s progress on tasks, reminiscent of ones alongside Hyde Park Avenue and Blue Hill Avenue, in addition to reinstating bus lanes on N. Washington Avenue and Boylston Sreet after they have been eliminated.

Slowest bus routes

The SL4, which takes the crown for slowest route of the 12 months, noticed a decline in pace of almost 0.8 mph over the past three years, in line with the report.

The 1 bus, which travels between Roxbury and Harvard, earned runner-up with a median pace of 6.2 mph. The 93 bus, 47 bus, and CT3 bus all spherical up the highest 5 slowest routes within the metropolis. 

Different buses included within the report’s record are the 92, 66, SL5, 19, and 10.

Seven of the highest 10 slowest buses service Roxbury — a neighborhood with a median family earnings of about $46,000 and almost 39% with out entry to a automobile, the report says.

High 10 slowest MBTA bus routes, in line with Transit Issues:

1. SL4
2. 1
3. 93
4. 47
5. CT3
6. 92
7. 66
8. SL5
9. 19
10. 10

Most bunched bus routes

The 32 bus owns the highest spot in probably the most bunched bus routes, with a 17.1 p.c bunching fee. The bus, which travels between Hyde Park and Jamaica Plain moved up from the fifth spot final 12 months and elevated its bunching by 2 p.c, the report discovered

The 116 bus, which travels from Revere to East Boston, shot up from an unranked place final 12 months to the No. 2 spot. The report says the rise in bunching may be as a result of 117 bus dissolving into the 116, which led to a rise in frequency. 

The 1 bus and the 66 bus, which travels from Roxbury to Harvard, earned locations in each lists, in line with the report. The 39, 22, 31, 57, 23, and 111 full the record for many bunched bus routes.

Three of probably the most bunched routes as soon as once more service Roxbury, whereas one other three undergo Dorchester, in line with the report.

High 10 most bunched MBTA bus routes:

1. 32
2. 116
3. 1
4. 39
5. 66
6. 22
7. 31
8. 57
9. 23
10. 111