here . for the u.s. federal law see migratory bird treaty act of 1918 . this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably . please consider splitting content into sub articles condensing it or adding or removing subheadings . august 2014 this article relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . august 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message parts of this article those related to hours of operation management and fares need to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . june 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message massachusetts bay transportation authority the mbta provides services in five different modes boat not pictured around greater boston . overview locale greater boston transit type commuter rail rapid transit light rail bus brt trolleybus ferryboat number of lines 12 commuter rail 4 heavy rail 5 light rail 4 trolleybus 4 ferryboat 183 bus 1 number of stations 123 commuter rail 51 heavy rail 2 74 light rail 3 4 22 brt 5 daily ridership 1 277 200 weekday all modes q4 2015 6 chief executive brian shortsleeve interim 7 headquarters massachusetts state transportation building 10 park plaza boston ma 02116 website mbta.com operation began operation 1897 light rail 1901 rapid transit 1964 mbta operator s mbta most bus subway brt trolleybus light rail keolis commuter services commuter rail harbor express boston harbor cruises ferryboat various contractors 700 series bus routes technical system length 1 193 miles 1 920 km total 38 miles 61 km rapid transit 26 miles 42 km light rail 8 miles 13 km brt 751 miles 1 209 km bus and trackless trolley 368 miles 592 km commuter rail 8 track gauge 4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm the massachusetts bay transportation authority often referred to as the mbta or the t 9 is the public operator of most bus subway commuter rail and ferry routes in the greater boston massachusetts area . officially a body politic and corporate and a political subdivision of the commonwealth of massachusetts 10 it was formed in 1964 . its immediate predecessor the metropolitan transit authority mta was immortalized by the kingston trio in the popular folk protest lament m.t.a. locals call it the t after its logo the letter t in a circle adopted in the 1960s and inspired by the stockholm metro . 11 in 2008 the system averaged 1.3 million passenger trips each weekday of which the subway averaged 598 200 making it the fourth busiest subway system in the united states . 12 13 the green line and ashmont mattapan high speed line comprise the busiest light rail system in the u.s. with a weekday ridership of 255 100 . the mbta operates an independent law enforcement agency the massachusetts bay transportation authority police . in 2010 33 % of workers in the city proper clarification needed commuted by public transport . 14 the mbta is one of only two u.s. transit agencies that operates all of the five major types of terrestrial mass transit vehicles regional commuter rail trains heavy rapid transit subway elevated trains light rail vehicles trolleys electric trolleybuses and motor buses . the other is philadelphia s southeastern pennsylvania transportation authority septa . 15 the mbta is the largest consumer of electricity in massachusetts and the second largest land owner after the department of conservation and recreation . 16 17 in 2007 its cng bus fleet was the largest consumer of alternative fuels in the state . 18 contents 1 history 1.1 railways 1.2 streetcars 1.3 subways and elevated railways 1.4 buses 1.5 public enterprise 1.5.1 kickback schemes 1.6 21st century 2 mbta operations and services 2.1 buses 2.2 subway 2.3 commuter rail 2.4 ferries 2.5 paratransit 2.6 bicycles 2.7 parking 2.7.1 zipcar 2.8 hours of operation 3 passenger ridership 4 public funding 4.1 fares and fare collection 4.1.1 subway and bus 4.1.2 commuter rail 4.1.3 mbta boat 4.1.4 the ride 4.1.5 discounted fares 4.2 budget 4.3 capital improvements and planning process 4.4 projects underway and future plans 4.4.1 blue line 4.4.2 green line 4.4.3 silver line 4.4.4 urban ring 4.4.5 commuter rail 5 management and administration 5.1 key people 5.1.1 massdot board of directors 5.1.2 mbta fiscal and management control board 5.1.3 other key people 5.2 major facilities and offices 5.3 employees and unions 5.4 law enforcement and security 6 criticism 6.1 fares and financial issues 6.2 rail vs. bus service 6.3 radial vs. circumferential routes 7 in popular culture 8 see also 9 references 10 further reading 11 external links history edit main article history of the mbta steam railroads in boston in 1880 . from the us census bureau . planned west end street railway system 1885 ; consolidation of these lines was complete by 1887 . see also 1880 horse railway map mass transportation in boston was provided by private companies often granted charters by the state legislature for limited monopolies with powers of eminent domain to establish a right of way until the creation of the mta in 1947 . development of mass transportation followed both existing economic and population patterns and helped shape those patterns . citation needed railways edit shortly after the steam locomotive became practical for mass transportation the private boston and lowell railroad was chartered in 1830 connecting boston to lowell a major northerly mill town in northeast massachusetts merrimack valley via one of the oldest railroads in north america . this marked the beginning of the development of american intercity railroads which in massachusetts would later become the mbta commuter rail system and the green line d branch . citation needed streetcars edit starting with the opening of the cambridge railroad on march 26 1856 a profusion of streetcar lines appeared in boston under chartered companies . 19 despite the change of companies boston is the city with the oldest continuously working streetcar system in the world . many of these companies consolidated and animal drawn vehicles were converted to electric propulsion . 19 subways and elevated railways edit park street station in boston on the green line soon after opening circa 1898 streetcar congestion in downtown boston led to the establishment of subways and elevated rail the former in 1897 and the latter in 1901 . the tremont street subway was the first rapid transit tunnel in the united states . the grade separated railways added transportation capacity while avoiding delays caused by intersections with cross streets . 20 the first elevated railway and the first rapid transit line in boston were built three years before the first underground line of the new york city subway but 34 years after the first london underground lines and long after the first elevated railway in new york . citation needed various extensions and branches were added to the boston subway at both ends bypassing more surface tracks . as grade separated lines were extended street running lines were cut back for faster downtown service . the last elevated heavy rail or el segments in boston were at the extremities of the orange line its northern end was relocated in 1975 from everett to malden ma and its southern end was relocated into the southwest corridor in 1987 . however the green line s causeway street elevated remained in service until 2004 when it was relocated into a tunnel with an incline to reconnect to the lechmere viaduct . the lechmere viaduct and a short section of steel framed elevated at its northern end remain in service though the elevated section will be cut back slightly and connected to a northwards viaduct extension in 2017 as part of the green line extension . buses edit the boston elevated railway started replacing trains with buses in 1922 . in 1936 it started replacing rail with trackless trolleys . the last middlesex & boston street railway streetcar ran in 1930 . citation needed by the beginning of 1953 the only remaining streetcar lines fed two tunnels the main tremont street subway network downtown and the short tunnel now the harvard bus tunnel in harvard square . citation needed public enterprise edit the old elevated railways proved to be an eyesore and required several sharp curves in boston s twisty streets . the atlantic avenue elevated was closed in 1938 amidst declining ridership and was demolished in 1942 . as rail passenger service became increasingly unprofitable largely due to rising automobile ownership government takeover prevented abandonment and dismantlement . the mta purchased and took over subway elevated streetcar and bus operations from the boston elevated railway in 1947 . 21 in the 1950s the mta ran new subway extensions while the last two streetcar lines running into the pleasant street portal of the tremont street subway were substituted with buses in 1953 and 1962 . citation needed while the operations of the mta were relatively stable by the early 1960s the privately operated commuter rail lines were in freefall . the new haven railroad new york central railroad and boston and maine railroad were all financially struggling ; deferred maintenance was hurting the mainlines while most branch lines had been discontinued . the 1945 coolidge commission plan assumed that most of the commuter rail lines would be replaced by shorter rapid transit extensions or simply feed into them at reduced service levels . passenger service on the entire old colony railroad system serving the southeastern part of the state was abandoned by the new haven railroad in 1959 triggering calls for state intervention . between january 1963 and march 1964 the mass transportation commission tested different fare and service levels on the b & m and new haven systems . determining that commuter rail operations were important but could not be financially self sustaining the mtc recommended an expansion of the mta to commuter rail territory . 22 on august 3 1964 the mbta succeeded the mta with an enlarged service area intended to subsidize continued commuter rail operations . the original 14 municipality mta district was expanded to 78 cities and towns . 23 several lines were briefly cut back while contracts with out of district towns were reached but except for the outer portions of the central mass branch cut back from hudson to south sudbury west medway branch cut back from west medway to millis blackstone line cut back from blackstone to franklin and b & m new hampshire services cut back from portsmouth to newburyport these cuts were temporary ; however service on three branch lines all of them with only one round trip daily one morning rush hour trip in to boston and one evening rush hour trip back out to the suburbs was dropped permanently between 1965 and 1976 the millis the new name of the truncated west medway branch and dedham branches were discontinued in 1967 while the central mass branch was abandoned in 1971 . the mbta bought the penn central new york central and new haven commuter rail lines in january 1973 penn central equipment in april 1976 and all b & m commuter assets in december 1976 ; these purchases served to make the system state owned with the private railroads retained solely as operators . 23 only two branch lines were abandoned after 1976 service on the lexington branch also with only one round trip daily was discontinued in january 1977 after a snowstorm blocked the line while the lowell line s full service woburn branch was eliminated in