The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority operates two specially designated crosstown bus routes in the Boston, Massachusetts, United States area, called CT2 and CT3, and intended as limited-stop buses connecting major points. These crosstown buses are designated differently from older de facto crosstown routes, such as route . The bus services are very similar in equipment and fare structure, except that the CT routes have more-limited stops. Both types of routes suffer from frequent delays, unreliable service, and bus bunching caused by congestion in heavy mixed traffic. The CT crosstown buses were envisioned as a first phase in a gradual improvement of circumferential service connecting the radial "spokes" of the Metro Boston rapid transit system, planned to culminate in the Urban Ring. The CT routes run weekdays only; all buses in this service have bicycle racks and are based out of the Albany Street garage. The routes were first introduced in September 1994 and have been modified since. A third route, the CT1, was merged with route in 2019. With the suspension of the Urban Ring Project, the crosstown bus routes remain as an interim service to meet demand for circumferential routes that bypass the crowded subway stations in the hub of downtown Boston.
CT1
The CT1 Central Square, Cambridge–B.U. Medical Center/Boston Medical Center via M.I.T. ran between Central Square in Cambridge and the B.U. Medical Center/Boston Medical Center, mostly along Massachusetts Avenue. The majority of its route was a limited-stop version of route. Transfers to the 1 were possible at most of the stops. CT1 service was not substantially modified since its 1994 inception. Route CT1 was merged into route 1 in September 2019 to provide more frequent service and more consistent headways.
Station listing
CT2
The CT2 Sullivan Square station–Ruggles station connects Sullivan Square in Charlestown with Ruggles in Roxbury via Kendall Square in Cambridge. The southern part of the route roughly parallels the. The route was created as a Ruggles–Kendall route in September 1994. In September 2000, the route was extended to Sullivan via Union Square.
