Welcome to the MBTA Data Blog. The MBTA strives to use the best available data to make decisions and improve its service. This blog discusses the details behind our charts, graphs, and maps and seeks to answer these and other questions:
- Where does the data come from?
- What does it show us? What can we learn from it?
- What are the limitations of our data sources?
- How are we working to improve our use of data?
- What cool or unexpected things do we learn from data at the MBTA?
The blog is edited and produced by the MassDOT / MBTA Office of Performance Management and Innovation (OPMI), and all posts are written by OPMI staff unless otherwise noted.
What the blog is:
- A companion to the MBTA Performance Dashboard. The blog will explain the metrics and analyses used in the MBTA Dashboard and in other public presentations.
- A general explanation of MBTA-related data. The MBTA has recently developed, collected and maintained large amounts of data, including multiple new sources and metrics. The Data Blog will explain these data sources and show some of their uses for the MBTA and the broader public.
What the blog is not:
- A resource for schedules, fares, maps, and other general information. Please see the main MBTA website here: MBTA Front Page
- A comment forum. Due to limited staff resources, we do not allow comments directly on the blog. If you have specific questions about the data discussed here, please email opmi@mbta.com
- If you have general comments, commendations or complaints about the MBTA, please see: MBTA Customer Support Page
- A source for general MBTA or MassDOT news, public meetings, and related items. The blog’s focus is data and data analysis.
- For MBTA news, please see this page: MBTA News and Events
- MBTA Public Meetings are listed here: MBTA Public Meetings
- The Fiscal and Management Control Board main page is here: FMCB Page
- For MassDOT news, see the MassDOT blog here: MassDOT News