The MBTA is beginning to use a new metric, Excess Trip Time (ETT), to measure subway performance. ETT is a passenger-weighted metric that measures the amount of time that a passenger spends waiting for and riding public transit in excess of a baseline. In other words, ETT tries to answer the question - what is the passenger experience on transit?

A brief analysis was conducted to explore how biking behavior changed during an MBTA Red Line Diversion (Alewife-Kendall/MIT) from July 12-24, 2024. Data from permanent and temporary bike counters, the local bikeshare system-Bluebikes, and passenger counts on MBTA shuttles were used to explore rider behavior change.

Analysts at OPMI often have to perform similar data cleaning and analytic steps across various data pipelines in order to prepare the data for different projects. Instead of manually repeating these processes for every data pipeline and project, we have standardized the process using Python.

As part of the MBTA Rail Vision 2020 efforts to improve Commuter Rail service, schedules were adjusted to provide service on more regular, predictable schedules. OPMI took an in-depth look at how these schedule changes have impacted ridership on Commuter Rail services.

OPMI is happy to share the latest results of the MBTA System-Wide Passenger Survey. This is the most recent edition of data available from the rolling Rider Census model, containing pooled data from 2022 and 2023 survey efforts.

Our new Rider Demographics Interactive Tool aids in policy planning, helping to tailor services to better serve low-income and minority riders.