Redesign comes to popular route

An MBTA official herded riders on board, announcing as he stood guard at a side door: “Passes. Transfers. Char-lee Card.’’

By 8:05, they were on their way, standing room only. Another bus was waiting, ready to rumble.

The Number 39, the T’s second-busiest bus line, is the most convenient ride to downtown from Jamaica Plain. Though the Orange Line gets passengers to Back Bay Station faster, Number 39 buses get riders along the route much closer to their destination and more directly serves areas such as the Longwood medical community and the colleges along Huntington Avenue.

Many of its passengers, however, have a complicated relationship with the bus line. While they like the short wait for buses and the relatively smooth ride, many also complain that it can be too erratic, with clusters of buses arriving at the same time and then no buses arriving at all. In too many instances, they said, the bus stops are too close together.

“Every time I am on this bus, I think of how ridiculous it is,’’ said Lindsey Bender, as she rode the bus to Massachusetts College of Art recently. “It takes so much more time to get to where you are going.’’

To address concerns, state and city transportation officials are gearing up consolidation and redesign plans for the 5-mile corridor that aim to trim travel time from Forest Hills to Back Bay by 10 to 15 percent; merge and relocate certain stops; revamp parking to boost accessibility; and phase in traffic signals at designated intersections.

Other planned improvements, funded by $500,000 in federal stimulus money, include curb expansions as well as shelters and other amenities along the route.

Initial work begins today, with the main changes coming in the spring.

“You can’t have a relatively reliable speedy system that acts like an elevator that stops at every floor,’’ said James A. Aloisi Jr. the recently departed transportation secretary who helped launch the route’s improvement effort. “We’ve got to get out of that. We’ve got to get to a modern system that has fewer stops but more amenities for people.’’

Last week, Aloisi said that improvements are also slated for other bus routes.

“We have to give people who are using the bus the respect and dignity they deserve in terms of a quality ride, and part of that quality ride is reliability,’’ said Aloisi, who said transportation officials are working with city officials and a citizens advisory committee along the corridor on the overhaul. The 39 Route is the second-busiest in the city after the Silver Line.

The redesign plan pleases Bender and other frequent Number 39 riders.

“If it were up to me, there would be much fewer stops,’’ said Derrick Jones, a real estate agent who takes the bus three to four times daily. “People are looking for a fast commute.’’

The Number 39 bus line has its work cut out for it. There are 98 stops on the route: 46 from Forest Hills to Back Bay and 52 on the way back. Even with fewer stops and better traffic signals, as proposed, the bus line still has to lumber down three congested major throughways in three city neighborhoods: Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, South Huntington Avenue along Mission Hill, and Boylston Street in the Back Bay.

“There are a lot of stops,’’ said Stacia Alexis, echoing a common riders’ refrain. “But I think the T is trying to make sure it is convenient for everyone, even if it is a five-minute walk to the next stop. It makes a difference.’’

Ruth Wilson, a 72-year-old retiree from Jamaica Plain, likes the consolidation plan but has lingering concerns.

“One of them could be my stop,’’ she said. “The bus stops right in front of my building. I’m not so much worried about me, because I can walk. But there are other seniors in the building who are not able to, and that’s what I’m worried about.’’

Still, even with all the problems on the route, some riders hail Number 39 as the best option on the T.

“If I’m late I’ll take the train to Ruggles or Roxbury Crossing [on the Orange Line] and walk to school,’’ said Julie Roman,, a student at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science who was brushing up before a nursing exam on the bus late one morning. “Here I can study on the bus. But I can’t study while I am walking.’’

Meghan E. Irons can be reached at [email protected].