The Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Company offers scheduled service to Logan Airport, downtown Boston, Hyannis, and Provincetown. Buses can be boarded at the commuter parking lot at exit 5 off Route 3, behind the McDonald's rest stop. The Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) operates public transportation buses known as the Plymouth Area Link (PAL) throughout much of Plymouth and Kingston.
Bus
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Bus
Several transportation facilities available such as buses, railways, airports, ferry, etc The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's commuter rail, is one of the modes of transport. buses, rail, ferry, etc. Railways, ferries, buses, etc.
what year did the mayflower land on plymouth bay
user
December 16, 1620
assistant
where was this colony located?
user
Plymouth, Massachusetts
assistant
which is the ship they traveled to this place in?
user
"Mayflower"
assistant
is there a society bearing the same name as the ship?
user
Yes, The General Society of Mayflower Descendants, or The Mayflower Society
assistant
what was the language spoken by the people who came on the ship?
user
Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
assistant
was the place mentioned earlier associated with any war?
user
Yes, Revolutionary War
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what sort of public transportation is found here?
user
Additional access is possible via an extension to U.S. Route 44 in Massachusetts.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Modern history
The Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Co., commonly referred to as the Plymouth & Brockton or simply the P&B, is a private regional bus transportation company operating in Eastern Massachusetts. The company primarily operates a few routes connecting Boston with suburban communities of Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod, as well as charters and tour services.
Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway | Introduction
The Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Company offers scheduled service to Logan Airport, downtown Boston, Hyannis, and Provincetown. Buses can be boarded at the commuter parking lot at exit 5 off Route 3, behind the McDonald's rest stop. The Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) operates public transportation buses known as the Plymouth Area Link (PAL) throughout much of Plymouth and Kingston.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Bus
All bus have bike racks.
Public transport in New Plymouth | Buses
At the edge of the town on Route 80 is Parting Ways, a site that is notable for containing the remains of four former slaves who fought in the American Revolutionary War and their families. Other historic houses include the Mayflower House Museum. There are 21 locations in Plymouth that appear on the National Register of Historic Places, including Plymouth Rock, Cole's Hill, and Pilgrim Hall.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Historic interest
The one remaining route, from Theatre to Peverell, kept running but following city centre bomb damage in April 1941 (when car 133 was destroyed) the service was only operated between Drake's Circus to Peverell until the final tram ran in September 1945. A large part of the population of Plymouth moved out to the relative safety of the countryside during the war which meant that the Corporation's buses and trams were carrying fewer passengers, but rival Western National was under increasing pressure. Both operators had suffered damage to their depots and fleet – Milehouse was bombed in April 1941 – and so the two companies decided to pool resources under a Plymouth Joint Services agreement.
Plymouth Citybus | Plymouth City Transport
Parting Ways Cemetery, a site containing the burial grounds of four former slaves who fought in the American Revolutionary War and their families, is on this highway in Plymouth, near the Kingston town line. Sacred Heart High School and Camp Mishannock, a summer camp for girls along Lake Providence, are on the Kingston portion of this highway.
Massachusetts Route 80 | Points of interest
The routes in the Joint Services area, including those of Western National, were renumbered in a single sequence from 1 to 57 in 1957.
Plymouth Citybus | Plymouth City Transport
The P&B primarily operates three different lines. The first is the main line, connecting Hyannis, Massachusetts and Boston Logan International Airport, which operates up to 29 times daily. This route is primarily used by commuters and travelers to the airport in a park and ride manner. The second line, operating much less frequently, connects Boston Logan Airport with Provincetown on Cape Cod. Finally, the P&B operates a seasonal trolley sightseeing tour of Downtown Plymouth in the summer.
Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway | Operations
Plymouth is one of two termini of the Kingston/Plymouth Old Colony Line of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's commuter rail, providing non-peak service to Braintree and as far north as Boston's South Station. The Plymouth MBTA station is near Cordage Park in North Plymouth, along Route 3A. (The other terminus is in Kingston and has more frequent train arrivals and departures. Its station is behind the Kingston Collection.) No other railroad lines pass through the town.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Rail
The 60-feet buses were acquired in 2013 to accommodate student crowds on the North Pleasant Street through routes Gold 30 and Pink 31.
University of Massachusetts Transportation Services | Fixed-route services
The P&B was established in 1888 as a trolley company in Plymouth and Kingston, Massachusetts. At its height, trolleys operated as far as Pembroke and Sagamore Beach. The company operated trolleys up until 1928, when they switched to solely operating buses in and around the South Shore.
Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway | History
The routes taken over were renumbered by adding a 5 to the beginning and were renumbered in September 1982 and some in 1996. There is one streetcar and one bus preserved from this railway, trolley # 41, a former Lexington car, and bus # 192, a 1948 ACF Brill bus. They are both located at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Middlesex and Boston Street Railway | History
Buses replaced streetcars on route 76 at off-peak hours from February 10, 1940, to May 2, 1942, and again after March 30, 1946. The route was converted to bus at all times on September 12, 1949 and to trolleybus on April 22, 1950. Route 47 was replaced with buses off-peak on April 17, 1948, and fully on September 12, 1953. Route 76 was converted back to diesel bus on April 1, 1961. Route 54 was cut back to Copley Square in December 1960; route 55 was extended east to Copley in December 1976. In the early 1960s, the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension was built along the Boston and Albany Railroad corridor, necessitating a major widening of that right-of-way.
Hynes Convention Center station | Bus replacement
In Rehoboth, US 44 passes near Anawan Rock, site of the capture of Anawan, the War Chief of the Pocasset People, in 1676. His capture marked the end of King Philip's War. In Middleborough, it passes by Oliver Mill Park, site of Judge Peter Oliver's 18th-century industrial complex. Ancient stone-walled waterways still remain here on the banks of the Nemasket River. In Taunton, US 44 takes on a more urban character as it cuts through the heart of the city. The route runs along the south side of Taunton Green, flanked by shops, businesses, and government buildings.
U.S. Route 44 | Massachusetts
The Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad was a railroad line between the towns of Middleborough and Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was in service from 1982 to 1939.
Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad | Introduction
The tramway system was closed in 1954. It was replaced by trolley buses which operated until 1967.
New Plymouth | Transport
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority operates several local passenger buses that originate in Northampton, with service to local towns such as Amherst, Williamsburg, Hadley, South Hadley, and Holyoke as well as the nearby universities and colleges: Mount Holyoke College, Amherst College, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Hampshire College. The Franklin Regional Transit Authority operates a bus to Greenfield, Massachusetts. There is a Peter Pan Bus terminal with services to Springfield, Boston, and other locations in New England.
Northampton, Massachusetts | Bus
Nowadays, buses transport people along the line, but stagecoaches and trolleys were mass transit methods once used along the route that followed Main Street. That section of the old route now is labeled Route 124 because of the opening of a new Route 24, a modern highway. The destruction of the historic downtown by a proposed widening of the historic route was opposed and after much debate, an alternate route was chosen to preserve the historic downtowns of Chatham and Madison. The last rails for the trolley system were removed from the area roads in the 1950s.
Chatham Borough, New Jersey | Public transportation
This took effect from 1 October 1942 and resulted in 80% of mileage in and around the city were to be operated by the Corporation and 20% by Western National; the receipts were also divided in the same proportion, irrespective of which company operated which routes. This allowed Plymouth buses to operate beyond the city boundary to places such as Yelverton, Plympton and Wembury, while Western National were now allowed to pick up local passengers within the city where they had previously been restricted to only those travelling beyond the boundary. The Plymouth Joint Services agreement remained in place after the war, enabling both the Corporation and Western National to serve new housing estates that sprang up around the edge of the city.
Plymouth Citybus | Plymouth City Transport
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), also known as "The T", operates public transportation in the form of subway, bus, and ferry systems in the Metro Boston area. Fifteen other regional transit authorities provide public transportation in the form of bus services in the rest of the state. Four heritage railways are also in operation:
Massachusetts | Regional public transportation
When the Orange Line was rebuilt in the 1980s, it was rerouted from deteriorating elevated railway structures to instead follow existing rail right-of-way, to greatly reduce land acquisition and construction costs. This had the side effect of changing its course away from the lower income areas of Everett, Chelsea, and Roxbury (where residents are less likely to own cars, and depend more on public transit), toward the more affluent towns of Malden and Medford, as well as sections of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood (where car ownership is higher, and thus, reliance on public transit is far lower). To mitigate this, the MBTA set up a new bus line served by articulated buses equipped with specialized dispatching equipment, and a few of the features of a bus rapid transit (BRT) route.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Rail vs. bus service
From 1988 to 1990, service continued past Quincy Adams to Plymouth. In November 1990, the terminal was moved from Quincy Adams to a parking lot near Braintree to free garage spots for MBTA commuters. In February 1990, two special routes, 201 –Museum of Fine Arts and 202 Quincy Adams–Museum of Fine Arts, were run during a Monet exhibition at the museum. Beginning in August 1999, Interstate Coach operated reverse commute bus service from Boston to a business park in Canton, with intermediate stops at and Quincy Adams. The service was operated by Bloom Bus Lines after it acquired Interstate in August 2003, but discontinued in July 2004.
Quincy Adams station | Bus service
Plymouth has experienced rapid growth and development in recent years. It became more accessible to Boston in the early 1970s with improved railroads, highways, and bus routes, and the town's inexpensive land costs and low tax rates were factors in the town's significant population rise, which grew from 18,606 residents in 1970 to 45,608 residents in 1990, a 145% increase in 20 years. Plymouth has surpassed several Massachusetts cities in population, but it is still officially regarded as a town and continues to be governed by a board of selectmen rather than a mayor. Plymouth spans several exits on the town's primary highway Massachusetts Route 3.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Modern history
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.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Public enterprise
Plymouth lies along the "Pilgrims Highway" portion of Route 3, which is the major route between Cape Cod and Boston. The town can be accessed from six exits on the highway, which is more than any other municipality along the Pilgrims Highway. Plymouth is also the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 44. The route has changed recently, as a new divided highway section has linked it to Route 3, before heading south and exiting at its old location before terminating at Route 3A, which more closely follows the shoreline and passes through Plymouth Center. Route 80's western terminus is at its intersection with old Route 44.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Highways
Further new buses were brought for these routes, and a few second hand tramcars from the now closed Exeter Tramway Company and Torquay Tramways allowed the oldest of the Plymouth cars to be withdrawn. In 1935 the Milehouse to Devonport line closed following the delivery of the city's first diesel-engined buses. More were needed in 1936 to allow the closure of the line to Prince Rock and in 1937 to allow the withdrawal of the two long circular routes. It was at this time that the bus routes were first numbered. The plan to close the remaining tram lines was put on hold because of the outbreak of World War II in 1939; they were powered by electricity generated by British coal, whereas the buses relied on imported fuel.
Plymouth Citybus | Plymouth City Transport
Bus services connect the town to Dartmouth, Plymouth, Torbay and Newton Abbot. Most services are operated by Stagecoach.
Totnes | Transport
Passengers changed stages in Spencer, as one coach would come from Boston and connect with one coming north from Hartford. Each stagecoach would turn around and return whence it came. Travelers often stopped for the night at Jenk's Tavern in Spencer, as did General Henry Knox, pushing his cannons through the streets of the town on his way to Boston from Ticonderoga, and George Washington in 1789. Spencer still has colonial-era milestone markers showing the route of the old post road.
Spencer, Massachusetts | History
The BERy was replaced by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947; it was in turn replaced by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in 1964. Massachusetts station originally served streetcars on the Watertown (after 1967, Green Line A Branch), Boston College (B Branch), and Cleveland Circle (C Branch) lines. The Riverside Line (D Branch) opened on July 4, 1959; the A Branch was replaced with the route 57 bus (which terminates at ) on June 21, 1969. The station was renamed to Auditorium on February 18, 1965, upon the completion of the War Memorial Auditorium (later renamed John B.
Hynes Convention Center station | MBTA era
UMass Transit operates as a contractor for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA), which is headquartered in Springfield, the largest municipality of the region. This setup exists because PVTA, as a regional transit authority established under Chapter 161B of the Massachusetts General Statutes, is forbidden under Section 25 of the same statute from operating routes directly. PVTA thus contracts with the school to operate certain routes (other routes in the system are operated by First Transit employees). UMass Transit buses in fixed route service are owned by the PVTA and are painted in their standard livery. These buses are numbered in the 3000 series, and are between 35 and 60 feet in length.
University of Massachusetts Transportation Services | Fixed-route services
The various depots of the old companies were slowly closed and the equipment and rolling stock concentrated at the old Devonport and District depot at Milehouse. Some new tramcars were constructed at the depot, and many more were completely stripped down and rebuilt. In 1923 new administrative offices were built there; that year saw the tram network at its greatest extent. From 1920 the Corporation also operated motor buses on routes beyond the tram tracks. The first four bus routes were operated by a fleet of twenty single-deck 31-seat vehicles with solid tyres. By 1927 this had expanded to ten routes and 57 buses, some of which were one-man operated.
Plymouth Citybus | Plymouth City Transport
As a horse-drawn wagon, the school car was fitted with a rear entrance door (intended to avoid startling the horses while loading or unloading passengers); over a century later, the design remains in use (as an emergency exit). In 1869, Massachusetts became the first state to add transportation to public education; by 1900, 16 other states would transport students to school.
School bus | 19th century
Route 25 goes through a remote section of the town north of Buzzards Bay, but does not have an exit. Finally, the short Plimoth Plantation Highway allows easy access between Routes 3 and 3A, with an exit that allows direct entry to Plimoth Plantation's parking area. The highway is north of Manomet and south of Plymouth Center.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Highways
In Newton, it is officially the "United Spanish War Veterans Highway". From 1903 to 1932, the Boston and Worcester Street Railway ran mostly via Route 9. Today the E branch of the MBTA's Green Line follows Route 9 along Huntington Avenue.
Massachusetts Route 9 | History
New infrastructure such as bridges, wharves and ferries were established, often by early public-private corporations chartered by the Commonwealth. The rudimentary system of roads that existed in the region at the time was woefully insufficient for the needs of the merchants, being in need of major overhauls and upgrades that were beyond the financial means of the Commonwealth and municipal governments of the time. The poor quality of the early roadways in the state, as well as others in the young nation, would often make the transportation of goods inland from the ports via road economically impractical. While the military necessity of transporting men and supplies during the revolution helped improve some of the early highways in the states, many of these were not maintained or upgraded after the war's end.
Massachusetts Turnpike | Background and construction
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. 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.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Public enterprise
Two Washington Street routes start at Dudley Station in Roxbury and one terminates at Downtown Crossing on Temple Place (SL5-the 2002 route) and one to South Station on Essex Street (SL4)
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Buses
There is a bus service that operates 4 times a day, in each direction, along the A388 between Holsworthy and Bideford and then on to Barnstaple. On Saturday mornings a bus used to go to Launceston, Tavistock and Plymouth with a return service later in the day. This service however no longer is in operation, much to the dismay of local residents who relied on the service to go to Plymouth mainly for a Saturday shopping trip or to see friends.
Milton Damerel | Public transport
The following year, the corporation petitioned the legislature for permission to abandon the bridge and move south about to the present Still River and Still River Depot roads. In its petition the proprietors said "that they have expended a large sum of money" building the turnpike, "and have found it impracticable to maintain and keep in repair that part of said Turnpike Road and Bridges where it crosses the Nashua River…and that said Turnpike Road may be so altered as will be for publick utility." On January 31, 1820, the legislature approved this alteration and relieved the corporation the necessity of maintaining the abandoned section of the road.
Union Turnpike (Massachusetts) | Turnpike route and change to a public road
After that, it becomes a newly built, freeway section to Route 3 which bypasses the congested business district in Plymouth. US 44 has no access from Route 80 on the new bypass highway. (The old section of US 44 appeared on some maps starting in 2005 as Route 44A; however, Route 44A signs were not put up after the bypass was built, and the route has not appeared in the official route log of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.) Near its eastern terminus, US 44 overlaps Route 3 for about , then exits and continues as a surface road for approximately another half mile, ending at Route 3A.
U.S. Route 44 | Massachusetts
Originally built in 1834 as the Boston and Worcester Railroad, the line was later part of the Boston and Albany Railroad and New York Central Railroad systems. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority acquired the tracks from Newton to Back Bay station in order to construct the Boston Extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike from the Route 128 circumferential highway to the then-elevated Central Artery in downtown Boston. Construction ran from 1962 to 1964, and reduced the railway to two tracks. The New York Central was merged into Penn Central Transportation in 1968, which went bankrupt in 1970. Amtrak was created in 1971 to take over intercity rail service from the private railroads.
Framingham/Worcester Line | History
Plymouth was granted city status in 1928 and the buses started to carry the city's coat of arms and the 'Plymouth City Transport' name. By 1930 it was becoming necessary to renew much of the tramway rolling stock. Consideration was given to converting to trolleybuses, but instead it was decided to implement a ten-year programme of bus replacement. The first line to be converted was the Devonport to St Budeaux line which was closed in October 1930 when six new double-deck buses replaced the trams. The line to West Hoe closed in 1931, the line to Compton closed in 1932, and regular services to the Royal Naval Barracks withdrawn in 1934.
Plymouth Citybus | Plymouth City Transport
The Norfolk Southern Street Railway left Norfolk on the road to Walpole center, but used Washington Street from Common Street in Walpole to South Walpole. Except for the older section through North Attleborough center, used by the Interstate Consolidated Street Railway, none of the rest had streetcar tracks, due to its avoidance of populated areas. In still shows streetcar tracks on Washington Street within Boston, ending downtown at Essex Street. By 1953 they were only in use from Forest Hills to Egleston (by the 40 route, bus substituted December 18, 1955) and from Dudley to Northampton Street (by the 47 route, bustituted September 13, 1953, and the 10 route, bus substituted December 5, 1953).
Washington Street (Boston) | Public transportation
Incorporated in 1890, the line opened on November 30, 1892. The next day, it was leased to the Old Colony Railroad for 99 years. In 1893, it became part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad as part of the lease of the entire Old Colony Railroad network. Passenger service, never more than a few trips per day, was often operated as –Plymouth or –Plymouth trains After a competing bus line opened in 1925, passenger service ended in 1927. Beginning in early 1928, freight service was suspended for the winter after the end of the October–December cranberry season.
Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad | History
This segment parallels Route 3 from Cedarville in southern Plymouth to Neponset in the Dorchester area of Boston. Towns and cities that Route 3A traverse along its path include Plymouth, Kingston, Duxbury, Marshfield, Scituate, Cohasset, Hingham, Weymouth and Quincy. The Claire Saltonstall Bikeway between Boston and Cape Cod intersects at Route 3A. Once in the Cedarville portion of Plymouth where Route 3A begins, and intersects again about 14 miles later in historic downtown Plymouth between South and Market Streets along Sandwich Street.
Massachusetts Route 3A | Plymouth to Boston
Baxter Hall was a Minuteman drummer. Seth Read fought at Bunker Hill. Washington stopped at Reed's tavern, en route to command the Continental Army. Samuel Spring was one of the first chaplains of the American Revolution. Deborah Sampson enlisted as "Robert Shurtlieff of Uxbridge". Shays' Rebellion also began here, and Governor John Hancock quelled Uxbridge riots. Simeon Wheelock died protecting the Springfield Armory. Seth Reed was instrumental in adding "E pluribus unum" to U.S. coins. Washington slept here on his Inaugural tour while traveling the Middle Post Road. Quakers including Richard Mowry migrated here from Smithfield, Rhode Island, and built mills, railroads, houses, tools and Conestoga wagon wheels.
Uxbridge, Massachusetts | Colonial era, Revolution, Quakers, and abolition
In March 1964, the Interstate Commerce Commission authorized the NYNH&H to cut all Berkshire Division services except the weekend trips. B&A service was also cut due to financial problems in the late 1930s and again after World War II; by 1950, Pittsfield was served by eight Boston-Albany round trips per day. The two daily trips to North Adams (which ran as shuttles from the Harlem Line at Chatham or the Water Level Route at Albany in their final years) ended in 1953. The opening of the Massachusetts Turnpike in 1957 and the Berkshire Thruway two years later provided for the first time an auto route to western Massachusetts superior to the narrow and winding Route 20; this effectively decimated long-distance service on the B&A.
Joseph Scelsi Intermodal Transportation Center | Decline
The first railway line in the United States was in Quincy. See Neponset River. The following Regional Transit Authorities have bus service that connects with MBTA commuter rail stations:
Greater Boston | Rail and bus
Regardless, the route was more or less in the corridor of today's Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90).
Noble train of artillery | Sources
Discontinuances in the 1920s and 1930s primarily affected minor branches and rural intercity routes, but the 1950s saw the loss of more significant intercity routes. September 1952 saw the first cut to the four main intercity mainlines, as Eastern Route service was cut from Portland, Maine to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (Portland continued to see service to Boston on the Western Route through Dover, New Hampshire.) The New York–Montreal "Green Mountain Flyer"/"Mount Royal", which had Boston sections running on the B&M via Bellows Falls, ended when the Rutland Railroad cut all passenger service in 1953. The northern section of the Boston–Wells River, Vermont route ended in 1954 (thus ending connections to Quebec City), as did Manchester–Portsmouth service.
Boston and Maine Corporation | Passenger service cuts
Both Tiverton, RI and Little Compton, RI are geographically part of Massachusetts, lacking direct interstate highway connections with the rest of Rhode Island. Instead, smaller routes connect to the area (RI 138, MA/RI 24, RI 177/MA 177, and MA 81, and MA 88). Route 24 lies an average of 15 to 20 miles away in Tiverton, RI and Little Compton, RI, Massachusetts Route 177 and Massachusetts Route 140 and Massachusetts Route 24 are based upon old Indian routes and trails. Public transportation in Dartmouth is primarily provided by the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority, which provides direct bus services between several points in Dartmouth and to the adjacent cities of New Bedford and Fall River.
Dartmouth, Massachusetts | Transportation
Johnson, or Thomson or some such name, would show them to me ... This seems to be a non sequitur, and it may be that the carriage was simply a stone wagon equipped with boards as seats for the Engineer to view the works on the line.
Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway | Passengers
It is named after Plymouth, England where the "Mayflower" set sail for America. Plymouth is located approximately south of Boston, Massachusetts in a region known as the South Shore. Throughout the 19th century, the town thrived as a center of rope making, fishing, and shipping, and was home to the Plymouth Cordage Company, formerly the world's largest rope making company. It continues to be an active port, but today its major industry is tourism. The town is served by Plymouth Municipal Airport and contains Pilgrim Hall Museum, the oldest continually operating museum in the United States. It is the largest municipality in Massachusetts by area.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Introduction
In addition to the Plymouth Rock Memorial, several other monuments were constructed in celebration of Plymouth's tricentennial. These include statues of Massasoit and William Bradford, and a sarcophagus containing the bones of the 51 Pilgrims who died in the winter of 1620, which rests atop Cole's Hill. Pilgrim Hall Museum, founded in 1824, is the oldest continually operating museum in the United States. It is located in Plymouth Center. Plymouth also features the National Monument to the Forefathers, which was dedicated in 1889. Standing at tall, it is the tallest free-standing solid granite monument in the United States. Other notable historical sites include the Plimoth Grist Mill, a working replica of an original mill built in 1636 (also officially a part of Plimoth Plantation), as well as the 1640 Richard Sparrow House, the oldest house still standing in Plymouth.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Historic interest
It has now been replaced by The Star service, running today as route 7. In 2004 the city became one of the first in the world to introduce real-time information to all of its bus stops and buses. The system was designed and developed by the city council and USA-based firm MeshNetworks.
Buses in Portsmouth | Infrastructure
In 1892 Plymouth Corporation purchased the horse-powered tramways of the Plymouth Tramway Company and placed them in the care of a new Tramways Department. The network was expanded and the horses were replaced by new electric tramcars between 1899 and 1906. Following the union of the 'Three Towns' of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse in October 1914 the Plymouth Tramways Department took control of the tramways in these places too. The Devonport and District Tramways was sold to the Corporation in 1914 (although the tracks of the two networks were not connected until October 1915) but the Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport Tramways, which dated back to 1872, remained an independent company until 1922 when it too was sold to the Corporation.
Plymouth Citybus | Plymouth City Transport
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. Earlier modes of public transportation in Boston were independently owned and operated; many were first folded into a single agency with the formation of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947. The MTA was replaced in 1964 with the present-day MBTA, which was established as an individual department within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts before becoming a division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) in 2009. The MBTA and Philadelphia's Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) are the only US transit agencies that operate all five major types of terrestrial mass transit vehicles: light rail vehicles (the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed and Green Lines); heavy rail trains (the Blue, Orange, and Red Lines); regional rail trains (the Commuter Rail); electric trolleybuses (the Silver Line and several routes in the northern suburbs of Boston); and motor buses (MBTA bus).
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | Introduction
Daily bus service to Taunton and Boston is also offered via DATTCO buses.
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth | Transportation
During the Revolutionary War, the Plymouth County militia was led by Colonel Theophilus Cotton of Plymouth. News reached Plymouth of the Battles of Concord and Lexington, and Cotton gathered his soldiers and marched on the town of Marshfield where a small British barracks had been established on the estate of Nathaniel Ray Thomas, known today as the Daniel Webster Estate. Cotton's forces surrounded the British troops, but Cotton determined not to fire, allowing the British to escape by water down the Green Harbor River and back to the security of the British forces occupying Boston.
Plymouth, Massachusetts | Revolutionary War
It intersects Route 123, the Plymouth/Kingston commuter rail line, and Route 139, all before ending just over the Weymouth town line at Route 18, just west of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station site.
Massachusetts Route 58 | Route description
The P&DR was not planned, or authorised, as a passenger railway. However Kendall reports an extract from a "chronicle in diary form compiled by one William Bray, sometime Rector of Tavistock"; approaching King's Tor he found that Some huts, one a blacksmith's shop now presented themselves, and before this stood a vehicle not much unlike a rude kind of vis-a-vis with an awning. This I had observed passing on with some degree of rapidity before us. I conclude that in these carriages with iron wheels, though as cumbrous and uneasy as the scythed cars of the Britons, many pleasure parties make excursions from Plymouth, for a man accosted me and said that if I wanted to see the works, Mr.
Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway | Passengers
The roadway is in part significant for its importance in the American Revolutionary War, when it was used by Patriot forces to move men and military supplies. Sites of importance along the road include Lamson Park, where Weston's militia mustered before marching to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, and the Golden Ball Tavern, whose Loyalist owner made it the target of protests. The route gradually declined in importance in the 19th century, as it was supplanted by more directly routed turnpikes. As a result, the roadway has retained much rural character, with only limited encroachment from suburban residential development and the growth of the center to accommodate a larger population.
Boston Post Road Historic District (Weston, Massachusetts) | Description and history
Peter Pan Bus Lines provides service between Amherst and Springfield, Boston, and other locations in New England. Megabus provides service between New York City, Amherst, and Burlington, Vermont. Amtrak rail service is available in nearby Northampton on the "Vermonter" service between Washington D.C. and St. Albans, Vermont. More frequent Amtrak service to New York City and Washington, D.C., is available from Union Station in Springfield.
Amherst, Massachusetts | Transportation
The 47 Massachusetts station–Dudley was a short route, beginning at Massachusetts Avenue station (now Hynes Convention Center) and running south along Massachusetts Avenue, southwest one block on Columbus Avenue, southeast on Northampton Street and southwest on Washington Street to . Streetcars last operated September 12, 1953, with buses running the next day. In September 1962, the route was merged with the 76 Harvard–Massachusetts station to form the 1 Harvard–Dudley via Massachusetts Avenue. The old 47 service has since been slightly rerouted.
Boston-area streetcar lines | 47
In 1803, what is now known as Washington Street was improved to become the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike, a road that connected Boston with Pawtucket, Rhode Island. As early as the 1820s, a horse-drawn bus line was established along Washington Street to carry commuters into Boston, and in 1835 the railroad from Boston to Providence was sited along the Stony Brook Valley on the North side of Fort Hill. These improved transportation options drew a population of wealthy estate builders and upper middle class businessmen to Fort Hill.
Fort Hill, Boston | Colonial era to the early 19th century
Advance Transit is the main public transportation provider for eastern Windsor County and southwestern Grafton County in southeastern Vermont and western New Hampshire, respectively. Local bus routes are provided between the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Dartmouth College, the city of Lebanon, New Hampshire, and the towns of Hanover, New Hampshire, and Hartford, Vermont, including the unincorporated village of White River Junction. The Green, Orange and Brown routes had a combined ridership of 66,400 in fiscal year 2010. There are seven wheelchair-accessible buses with bike racks in the company's fleet on the routes on the Vermont side. All routes are fare free and run on weekdays only.
Advance Transit | Introduction
This was designed by Brunel and opened in 1859. The parallel road bridge was completed in 1961.
Plymouth | Transport
By the early 1840s, the city of Boston had six major rail lines connecting it with other places including Lowell, Maine, Fitchburg, and Salem to the north, Worcester to the west and Providence, Rhode Island to the southwest. The southeastern part of Massachusetts had yet to be served by a rail link to Boston. On March 16, 1844 the Old Colony Railroad Corporation was formed to provide a rail connection between Boston and Plymouth. Construction of the line began in South Boston in June 1844 and the line opened to Plymouth on November 10, 1845. The extension from South Boston to the newly completed Kneeland Street Station in Boston opened on June 19, 1847.
Old Colony Railroad | Old Colony Railroad (1844–1854)
As a result, Plymouth Citybus Limited was formed on 26 October 1986. It was owned by Plymouth City Council. The Transport Act was designed to increase competition and reduce subsidies; in Plymouth it resulted in a 'bus war' between Plymouth Citybus and Western National, its former partner in the Joint Services. Strategies included minibuses operating higher frequencies, and fare reductions. On 21 January 1988, Citybus sacked 120 drivers who had stopped work to attend a mass meeting. Their colleagues walked out in solidarity and the Citybus service was crippled for two weeks. Western National used this opportunity to lay on extra buses, using the same numbers as Citybus services they were replacing, and Western National also covered Citybus school and Dockyard routes.
Plymouth Citybus | Plymouth Citybus
Regular passenger service to Boston ended in 1959, with limited summer service (including the last "Day Cape Codder") until 1964; the 1953-built station was reused for commercial purposes.
Hyannis Transportation Center | History
In 1950 the Westown route was replaced with a fleet of 4 Crossley trolleybuses and the route extended to Wallath road. There ran for 17 years until October 1967 when they were replaced with diesel buses. The Port-Fitzroy route was replaced directly by diesel buses in 1954.
Public transport in New Plymouth | Trolley Buses
In 1922, when the New England states first assigned route numbers to its main thoroughfares, the route from Putnam through Providence and Taunton to Plymouth was designated as Route 101. Route 101 extended across Rhode Island and Massachusetts along modern US 44, with an extension into Connecticut along an alignment different from US 44. In 1932, Connecticut relocated its Route 101 to the modern US 44 alignment, with the route now extending across the three states from North Canaan in Connecticut to Plymouth in Massachusetts. In 1935, the multi-state Route 101 was incorporated into newly designated US 44. Connecticut and Rhode Island reassigned the Route 101 designation to a much shorter but parallel alignment between the two states.
U.S. Route 44 | Rhode Island and Massachusetts
Most local bus routes in Massachusetts outside the immediate MBTA operating area are operated by the state's other regional transit authorities (RTAs). However, some routes that connect with MBTA bus or subway service are operated by outside private contractors with partial subsidy by the MBTA. Five routes – the , /, , and – are numbered like other MBTA buses. The five routes are primarily commuter routes which connect with other MBTA services at their inbound terminals. They were taken over from various private operators (Hudson Bus Lines for the 710 and 716, Rapid Transit Inc. for the 712/713, and Nantasket Transportation for the 714).
MBTA bus | Private buses
Each of the New England states has its own Department of Transportation which plans and develops systems for transport, though some transportation authorities operate across state and municipal lines. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) oversees public transportation in the Greater Boston area. It is the largest such agency and operates throughout eastern Massachusetts and into Rhode Island. The MBTA oversees the oldest subway system (the Tremont Street subway) and the second most-used line (the Green Line) in the United States, as well as one of five remaining trolleybus systems nationwide. Coastal Connecticut makes use of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York due to the connection of that region to New York's economy.
New England | Transportation
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 both followed and shaped economic and population patterns.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | History
The two routes diverged north of Laconia, and as Route 6 returned to the Pemigewasset River valley, it ran concurrently with Route 25 from Meredith to Plymouth. Route 6A provided a more direct alternate route from Franklin to Plymouth via Bristol. Route 6 continued through the White Mountains, which the route summitted at Franconia Notch. The highway intersected Route 18 at Twin Mountain and Route 15 at Lancaster, then reached its end at a joint terminus with Route 26 in Colebrook. Route 6 followed the general course of what is now U.S. Route 6 from Orleans to Sagamore and Massachusetts Route 3 from Sagamore to Boston.
New England road marking system | Route 6
A number of Plymouth City Transport and Plymouth Citybus vehicles have been preserved by members of the Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group.
Plymouth Citybus | Preservation
The history of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and its predecessors spans two centuries, starting with one of the oldest railroads in the United States. Development of mass transportation both followed existing economic and population patterns, and helped shape those patterns. Mass transit in Boston, Massachusetts began as a family-owned and operated ferry about the time of the founding of Boston, in around 1630. Ground transportation started in Boston with a private stagecoach operation in 1793. The first rail line, which was horse-powered, began on March 26, 1856. Soon there were more than twenty privately run rail lines. In order to regulate fares and reduce competition, the General Court of Massachusetts passed the West End Consolidation Act to consolidate the rail line operations.
History of the MBTA | Introduction
The MBTA is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. Earlier modes of public transportation in Boston were independently owned and operated; many were first folded into a single agency with the formation of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in 1947. The MTA was replaced in 1964 with the present-day MBTA, which was established as an individual department within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts before becoming a division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) in 2009. Not as yet connected directly by commuter rail, the pair of major intermodal passenger rail stations in Boston connected to the MBTA Commuter Rail network comprise North Station, a major transportation hub located at Causeway and Nashua Streets in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, as one of the pair of inbound terminals for Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rail trains; and South Station, the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan International Airport.
Bilevel rail car | Massachusetts
Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority operates a year-round public bus system comprising three long-distance routes and a local bus in Hyannis and Barnstable Village. From mid June until October, additional local routes are added in Falmouth and Provincetown. CCRTA also operates Barnstable County's ADA-required paratransit (dial-a-ride) service, under the name "B-Bus." Long-distance bus service is available through Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway, with regular service to downtown Boston and Logan Airport, as well as less frequent service to Provincetown. Peter Pan Bus Lines also runs long-distance service to T.F. Green Airport in Providence, Rhode Island; New York City; and service between Logan Airport, Boston South Station, and Woods Hole.
Cape Cod | Bus
Public transportation for northern Worcester county is largely supplied by the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority (MART) fixed-route bus system. Wachusett station, located in West Fitchburg, is the western terminus of the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line.
Westminster, Massachusetts | Transportation
The Dorchester Avenue Railroad, one of the first street railways in Boston, started operations in 1857, eventually running over the full length (from downtown to the Neponset River). When the road was realigned around 1899, the tracks were moved, ending at a line along Summer Street. As the Red Line opened in the 1910s and 1920s, parallel to Dorchester Avenue, most through passengers switched to that, and local routes were rerouted to feed into the new subway. Tracks were removed by the 1950s. Today the Red Line Ashmont branch is sometimes referred to as the Dorchester Avenue line. Nowadays the only bus routes to use the road are local routes to subway stations:
Dorchester Avenue (Boston) | Public transportation
The Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad opened between its namesake cities in 1892 and was immediately leased to the Old Colony. The next year, the Old Colony was acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Middleborough served as a rail hub for southeastern Massachusetts, with lines in five directions. Facilities at Middleborough included a freight house, a freight yard, and a roundhouse.
Middleborough station | Old Colony Railroad
In 1845, the Old Colony Railroad ran through the area and connected Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts. The station was originally called Crescent Avenue or Crescent Avenue Depot as an Old Colony Railroad station, then called Columbia until December 1, 1982, and then again changed to JFK/UMASS. It is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority rail line station for both the Red Line subway and the Plymouth/Kingston, Middleborough/Lakeville and Greenbush commuter rail lines.
Dorchester, Boston | Victorian era
Milehouse depot was also bombed in April 1941. The final tram operated in September 1945 once the war in Europe was finished. In 2016, a section of the old Tramway trail was unearthed. Plym Valley Railway (PVR) recovered the 116-year-old artifact from a joinery workshop, situated between Bath Street and Martin Street, where it had been built-in prior to 1945.
Tramways in Plymouth | Closure
As with many large cities, a large number of Boston-area streetcar lines once existed. However, only a few remain, namely the four branches of the Green Line and the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, with only one (the Green Line E branch) running regular service on an undivided street. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was formed on August 3, 1964, taking over operations from the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). The MTA itself was formed in 1947 to take over operations of the private Boston Elevated Railway (BERy), which ran rapid transit, streetcars, and buses in the Boston area. In 1936, the BERy assigned numbers to its routes for map use, but route numbers were not used on buses until the late 1960s (when the colors were assigned to the remaining rail lines).
Boston-area streetcar lines | Introduction
Some points of interests are Colony Place, Route 44 stores (McDonald's, Stop 'N' Shop, Walgreens, CVS, Family Pizza, Marshalls, CardSmart, Cumberland Farms, Burger King/ Mobile Gas, Citco, etc.) West Plymouth Square, Federal Furnace Elementary School, West Elementary, Rising Tide Charter School (Colony Place), and Ellis Haven Campground.
West Plymouth, Massachusetts | Introduction
Prior to the return of weekend service on the Kingston/Plymouth Line, the MBTA held special weekend service to Plymouth for 2 weekends leading up to the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday. The two trains per day were intended only for tourists going to Plymouth; they did not run on schedules allowing day trips to Boston.
Plymouth station (MBTA) | History
Transfers at either termini offer connections to T.F. Green Airport via Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway and various locales in Rhode Island via Peter Pan Bus; the latter company also offers connections from New Bedford to Cape Cod and Boston. Direct daily bus service from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to Taunton and Boston is also offered via DATTCO buses.
Dartmouth, Massachusetts | Transportation
Beginning in the 1850s, Boston sprouted a large network of horsecar lines, the first public transit in the city. The West End Street Railway was created by the state legislature in 1887 to build a single line, but soon consolidated many of the existing lines into a single privately owned system with consistent fares and route designations. The Allston – Park Square line (which served the general area of the A branch) was the first section to be converted to electric traction in 1889. It used modified existing horsecars outfitted with Frank J. Sprague's revolutionary electrical equipment, which had first been demonstrated the previous year in Richmond, Virginia.
Green Line (MBTA) | History
These routes were operated by the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway. They were only given numbers on March 30, 1968, when the MBTA took over, and long after buses replaced them. The numbers refer to the later bus routes. Only two lines were left in 1937.
Boston-area streetcar lines | Eastern Massachusetts routes
The Tafts built the Middle Post Road's Blackstone River bridge in 1709. "Teamsters" drove horse "team" freight wagons on the Worcester-Providence stage route. The Blackstone Canal brought horse-drawn barges to Providence through Uxbridge for overnight stops. The "crossroads village" was a junction on the Underground Railroad. The P&W Railroad ended canal traffic in 1848. A 1732 vote "set up a school for ye town of Uxbridge". A grammar school was followed by 13 one-room district school houses, built for $2000 in 1797. Uxbridge Academy (1818) became a prestigious New England prep school. Uxbridge voted against the smallpox vaccine. Samuel Willard treated smallpox victims, was a forerunner of modern psychiatry, and ran the first hospital for mental illness in America.
Uxbridge, Massachusetts | Early transportation, education, public health and safety
This system was an improved version of an old network of widespread notification and fast deployment of local militia forces in times of emergency. The colonists had periodically used this system all the way back to the early years of Indian wars in the colony, before it fell into disuse in the French and Indian War. In addition to other express riders delivering messages, bells, drums, alarm guns, bonfires, and a trumpet were used for rapid communication from town to town, notifying the rebels in dozens of eastern Massachusetts villages that they should muster their militias because the regulars in numbers greater than 500 were leaving Boston with possible hostile intentions.
Paul Revere's Midnight Ride | Ride
Route 80 starts at Carver Road (formerly U.S. Route 44) in the West Plymouth section of Plymouth. Due to the removal of Route 44, this is an unusual instance that a numbered route does not have its terminus with another numbered route. Though signed East, Route 80 heads "west" in the Plymouth section, and then generally north and northwest after crossing the town line into Kingston, all for the first , and is a state highway, before finally turning east at Elm Street and becoming a town-maintained road. The highway crosses over the new highway portion of U.S. Route 44 in Kingston, but there is no interchange; however, Commerce Way in Plymouth provides access between the two highways.
Massachusetts Route 80 | Route description
By 1845 the state of New Hampshire had three north-south routes, all starting in Massachusetts and leading, respectively, to the capital of Concord, through southeastern New Hampshire to Maine by way of Dover, and along the coast via Portsmouth to Maine. However, a large gap existed between the Boston-Concord line and the Boston & Maine line through Dover. In response, two railway companies were founded in July 1845: the Portsmouth, New Market and Concord Railroad, and the Portsmouth, New Market and Exeter Railroad. Both were given the concession to construct and operate a rail line from Portsmouth to a point on the Concord Railroad between Manchester and Concord called Bow Junction.
Portsmouth and Concord Railroad | History and construction
As per Section 25, Chapter 161B of the Massachusetts General Laws, regional transit authorities in Massachusetts are not permitted to directly operate their service, but must instead contract with other entities to operate the buses. As such, the PVTA contracts with two entities to provide fixed-route service in the service area: First Transit and UMass Transit Services. The contractors run semi-autonomous garages that act as vehicle depots for the surrounding areas.
Pioneer Valley Transit Authority | Organizational structure
Both U.S. Route 6 and Massachusetts Route 28 pass through the town from west to east, with Route 6 being a four-lane freeway through the town. Routes 6A, 132, 149 and a brief, 1/10 mile portion of 130 are also located in town. Route 6A follows an east–west route to the north of Route 6, on its route between the Sagamore Bridge and the Orleans Rotary. Routes 132 and 149 are both entirely located within the town, and both begin at 6A and end at Route 28. Since 2013, the CapeFlyer passenger rail service has run on weekends between Memorial Day and Columbus Day.
Barnstable, Massachusetts | Transportation
U.S. Route 6 passes from north to south through the town. The town's commercial center lies west of the route, along the shores of the harbor. The route was straightened in the mid-20th century, and some maps still consider the "old" Route 6 to be a portion of Route 6A. The town has no rail or air service. The last train left the area in the 1930s, the train station was razed and the tracks were torn up through Provincetown. The old rail line was turned into a bicycle trail, named the Cod Rail Trail, which ends in South Wellfleet.
Wellfleet, Massachusetts | Transportation
During the early part of the 1980s the National Bus Company (of which Western National was a subsidiary) undertook Market Analysis Projects in many areas to match services with demand. This resulted in most Plymouth Joint Services cross-city routes being split into two that terminated in the city centre from 24 October 1982, as the survey revealed that few passengers travelled across the city without changing buses. The revision saw annual mileage reduced from more than 5.4 million miles to around 4.5 million, and the fleet from 185 to 160 vehicles. Buses were repainted and given 'Plymouth Citybus' branding. For some time the Citybus services had been operated to break even so that no financial support was needed from the Plymouth City Council, but the Transport Act 1985 required all council-owned bus operations to be established as limited companies.
Plymouth Citybus | Plymouth Citybus