Early history Most portions of what became route 1 originated as
horsecar lines opened by three companies in the 19th century: • The
Cambridge Railroad was the first horsecar system to open in the Boston area. It opened its first line between Central Square and
Beacon Hill via Main Street (part of which is now Massachusetts Avenue), the
West Boston Bridge, and Charles Street on March 26, 1856. The next month, extensions opened west to
Brattle Square via Harvard Square, and east to downtown Boston. • The
Metropolitan Railroad opened a horsecar line between Dudley Square (now
Nubian Square) and downtown Boston via
Washington Street on September 17, 1856. • The
Highland Street Railway opened a line on
Columbus Avenue between Northampton Street in the South End and downtown Boston on June 30, 1877. Both the Highland and the Metropolitan began regular service on the line on July 2. An extension on Northampton Street to the Highland's existing line on Shawmut Avenue opened later that year, allowing through service to Dudley Square. The
West End Street Railway purchased and merged all the horse railroads in the Boston area in 1887. The Brattle Square–Boston line was electrified on February 16, 1889. The West End quickly electrified its system and built new lines. The Washington Street line was electrified on November 28, 1891. Northampton Street between Shawmut Avenue and Tremont Street was electrified by December 1891. Northampton Street west of Tremont Street, Columbus Avenue, and West Chester Park between Columbus Avenue and Huntington Avenue were electrified by October 1892. By late 1895, the entire system was electric except the Marlborough Street line. On August 15, 1892, the West End opened an electric streetcar line over the new Harvard Bridge, including new trackage on Front Street in Cambridge between Lafayette Square and the bridge. Service ran between Harvard Square and downtown Boston. West Chester Park was renamed Massachusetts Avenue on March 1, 1894; Front Street and Main Street (between Lafayette Square and Harvard Square) in Cambridge were similarly renamed later that year. On May 16, 1896, the West End began operating a crosstown through route between Harvard Square and Dudley Square via Massachusetts Avenue, Columbus Avenue, Northampton Street, and Washington Street. Service initially operated every 10 minutes.
Streetcar changes The first phase of the
Tremont Street subway, a streetcar subway in downtown Boston, opened on September 1, 1897. Routes on Boylston Street could enter the subway through the
Boylston Street portal to reach
Park Street station. Several of the Harvard Bridge routes were rerouted into the subway when it opened; others were rerouted over the following year. The first part of the
Main Line Elevated opened on June 19, 1901, with
Dudley Street Terminal as its southern end. Overnight
"Owl" service on the line was added on August 8, 1906. By 1907, the Harvard–Dudley line had been extended north along Massachusetts Avenue from Harvard Square to the
North Cambridge carhouse. It shared track with numerous other routes, including 10 routes that used the Harvard Bridge to reach the subway from Cambridge and further points. Construction of the
Cambridge Subway under Massachusetts Avenue caused streetcar detours in 1910. Temporary tracks were used on Austin Street (now Bishop Allen Boulevard) between Central Square and Lafayette Square, and on Mount Auburn Street between Harvard Square and Putnam Square. Work between Central Square and Putnam Square was done by
shield tunneling, which allowed the surface streetcar tracks on that segment to stay in use. The Cambridge Subway opened between
Harvard station and downtown Boston on March 23, 1912. The through routes from northern and western suburbs were cut back from downtown Boston to Harvard station. The North Cambridge–Dudley line was shortened to a Harvard–Dudley line. It still shared the Harvard Bridge with several other routes, including a Harvard Square–Park Street line and a North Cambridge– line. On September 3, 1912, the BERy added a North Cambridge–Dudley streetcar line that supplemented the Harvard–Dudley line. It ran less frequently than the Harvard–Dudley line, with service every 15 minutes at peak hours and every 30 minutes at other times. That month, the BERy also began testing a
double-articulated streetcar on the Harvard–Dudley line. It was constructed from two older streetcars and was intended to provide additional capacity on busy lines. The
Boylston Street subway opened on October 3, 1914, as a westward extension of the Tremont Street subway. It prompted a number of changes to streetcar lines; a line running between Central Square and Park Street via the Harvard Bridge was discontinued. Transfer was available between the other Harvard Bridge lines and the subway at
Massachusetts station. Other lines supplemented the Harvard–Dudley line on portions of its route. By November 1914, afternoon peak service between Central Square and Dudley Square operated every 90 seconds (40 streetcars per hour). By 1917, the Harvard–Dudley line operated every five minutes (12 streetcars per hour) outside of peak hours. The only other all-day line to use the Harvard Bridge operated between River Street (in Cambridge) and Park Street station. That year, the
Massachusetts General Court passed legislation allowing the BERy to construct
prepayment streetcar transfer areas (where passengers paid upon entering the transfer area, rather than on board the streetcar) at existing subway and elevated stations. On November 29, 1919, the BERy opened a prepayment transfer station at Massachusetts station. It was located slightly east of Massachusetts Avenue; streetcars on the Harvard–Dudley line detoured into the transfer station via Newbury Street and Boylston Street. On August 23, 1924, the deteriorated
Harvard Bridge – which the Harvard–Dudley line used to cross the
Charles River – was closed to all traffic. The Harvard–Dudley line was temporarily separated into two sections. One operated in Cambridge between Harvard Square and
Memorial Drive; the other operated between Massachusetts station and Dudley Square. Harvard–Dudley streetcar service resumed on November 4, 1924, after repairs to the bridge. By that time, service on the line typically operated with center-entrance streetcars, which were sometimes operated as two-car trains. By 1930, Type Five streetcars were used instead. On July 26, 1930, the corridor was instead split into two routes. One route operated between Harvard Square and Lenox Street Carhouse (on Tremont Street just south of Massachusetts Avenue); the other operated between Massachusetts station and Dudley Square. Additional rush hour
short turn service operated between Central Square and Lenox Street Carhouse. Owl service continued to operate over the full Harvard–Dudley route. Massachusetts–Dudley– service, originally introduced in October 1920, was cut back to Dudley–Fields Corner service on June 27, 1931. Massachusetts–Dudley service was increased at that time. By August 1931, service again operated the full route between Harvard and Dudley. Owl service on the line was
converted to buses on June 23, 1934; by 1937, the Owl service operated hourly. The Harvard–Massachusetts route was numbered 76; the Massachusetts–Dudley route was numbered 47.
Rationing of rubber tires and gasoline began after the United States entered World War II. As a result, Owl service on the Harvard–Dudley route and several other routes was converted back to streetcars on June 20, 1942. The routes were converted back to buses in 1945 as rationing was loosened. The BERy was replaced by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947. The MTA began removal of the Harvard Bridge tracks on September 16, 1949. On September 19, the
Watertown–Central Square streetcar service was extended to Memorial Drive, and the Harvard Square–Memorial Drive service ended. In October, the MTA removed the switches at Harvard Square and Central Square that allowed streetcars to access the tracks between those points. The tracks were removed by the city soon after. The bridge reopened on November 11, 1949; shortly thereafter, the Harvard–Massachusetts route resumed as an all-bus route, with a supplementary Quincy Square–Vassar Street route at peak hours. Harvard–Dudley Owl service also resumed. The trolleybuses were based out of Bennett Street Carhouse. The conversion to trolleybuses required reconstruction of one end of the Massachusetts surface station, which took place in late 1949.
Massachusetts–Dudley route In the 1940s, streetcars on route 47 were based out of City Point Carhouse in
South Boston. Streetcars looped clockwise on Massachusetts Avenue and Newbury Street through the Massachusetts surface station, boarding on the western track. They turned onto Boylston Street then Massachusetts Avenue, which they followed as far as Columbus Avenue. After running southwest for a block on Columbus, they followed Northampton Street and Washington Street to Dudley Square station. They pulled into the south surface boarding area at the station to discharge passengers, then looped on Warren Street to pick up passengers in the north boarding area. Round-trip running time was scheduled for 28 minutes. By September 1950, streetcars operated every 3 minutes during the morning peak and 4 minutes in the afternoon peak. The other streetcar lines based at City Point – routes , , and – were all converted to bus in 1953. A large dedicated
bus shelter was built on the west side of Massachusetts Avenue for southbound riders in 1963. A pedestrian tunnel between the subway station and the shelter opened on November 16, 1964. The
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) took over service from the MTA in August 1964. From June to December 1972, midday Dudley-bound buses looped via Massachusetts Avenue, Harrison Avenue, and Northampton Street to serve
Boston City Hospital. Route 1 was cut back from Brattle Square to Harvard Square. It initially looped via Dunster Street; this was soon changed to a loop around
Harvard Yard via Quincy Street and Bow Street. In July 1983, the Harvard Bridge was closed to buses and trucks due to structural deterioration. Route 1 was detoured via
Commonwealth Avenue, the
Boston University Bridge, and Vassar Street. The detour was initially operated without stops; local stops on Commonwealth Avenue were added in December 1983. On May 2, 1987, a number of MBTA bus routes were modified as the
Orange Line was relocated from the Washington Street Elevated to the
Southwest Corridor. Route 1 was rerouted via Albany Street and Melnea Cass Boulevard to serve Boston City Hospital. By 1988, route 1 was the busiest
MBTA bus route, averaging 15,861 weekday riders. On September 26, 1994, the MBTA began three
crosstown bus routes intended as a precursor to the
Urban Ring. Route CT1 operated between Boston City Hospital and Central Square via Massachusetts Avenue. Except for a loop around the hospital, it used the same routing as part of route 1, albeit with limited stops. The late-night service was discontinued on June 25, 2005, due to budget cuts. In 2004–2005, the MBTA designated a set of 15 high-ridership routes, including route 1, as "
key bus routes" to be prioritized for service improvements. The first round of adjustments, made in 2006–07, did not include significant changes to route 1. By 2007, route 1 was the third-busiest MBTA bus route, averaging 12,758 daily boardings. It was a frequent source of passenger complaints due to
bunching. A second round of changes to the key routes were funded by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Preliminary recommendations for route 1 released in 2011 included wider stop spacing, lengthening of stops to allow buses to pull fully to the curb, and additional amenities at stops. The 69 existing stops (36 southbound / 33 northbound) were to be reduced to 54 (28 southbound / 26 northbound). Construction of the changes took place in 2013. Beginning March 28, 2014, the MBTA again added late-night service on Friday and Saturday nights. This consisted of service until 2:30 am on the subway system and the key bus routes. The late-night service was cut back to 2:00 am in June 2015 and eliminated on March 18, 2016. In May and June 2017, the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Brookline Avenue in Cambridge was one of six intersections systemwide where the MBTA tested
transit signal priority (TSP). The pilot was deemed successful; TSP was installed on other portions of route 1 in Cambridge in 2018. Several segments of
bus lanes for the route have also been installed. A southbound lane from Sidney Street to Albany Street and Vassar Street to Memorial Drive was installed in November 2018. The gap between Albany Street and Vassar Street was filled in November 2021, along with a slight extension northwest to Douglass Street. Two blocks of eastbound bus/bike lane were added to Mount Auburn Street in 2020. In November 2022,
MassDOT added sections of bus lanes to the ends of the Harvard Bridge as part of a
road diet. A 2018–19 MBTA review of its bus system found that route 1 had issues with service quality. Overall reliability was 71% on weekdays and lower on weekends. More than 20% of passenger time on weekends was in crowded conditions – the highest rate on the bus system. It found that route CT1 had poor reliability; it had limited frequency and was not coordinated with route 1, leading to the routes being duplicative rather than complementary. The MBTA board approved the changes in May 2019. The two routes were merged on September 1, 2019, resulting in increased frequency on route 1. The Harvard Square loop was changed on March 15, 2020. Most MBTA bus routes, including route 1, were placed on a Saturday schedule effective March 17, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Regular service levels on a number of routes, including route 1, resumed on June 21, 2020. In May 2022, the MBTA released a draft plan for a systemwide network redesign. The draft called for the 1 to keep its existing route. Frequency would be increased at night to be every 15 minutes or less at all service hours. A revised proposal in November 2022 called for the same change. Service changes effective August 24, 2025, implemented the increased frequency. Service also began operating about one hour longer on Friday and Saturday evenings. A 2024 report by advocacy group TransitMatters rated the 1 bus the slowest and most-bunched MBTA bus route in 2023, with an average speed of and 17.7% of buses bunched. Average speed for the route fell to in 2024, with bunching remaining at 17.6%. ==References==