TL;DR

• EZRide Cambridge is now one of the most frequent bus routes in the region — and likely the most underrated by far.
• The fare-free, public-facing, non-MBTA bus route already ran every 8 minutes during rush hours before, but now also every 10-16 minutes during middays. Only four MBTA routes run more frequently: 32, 57, 111, 116.
• This is thanks to recent service improvements in May-June 2025, which massively boosted midday service in both frequency and routing, and added weekend service every 20 minutes (between Kendall and Cambridge Crossing only).
• Despite its lack of fame, EZRide actually connects many key nodes: North Station, Lechmere, Kendall, MIT and Cambridgeport. For many neighborhoods, it’s the only bus service.
• Suggestion: Can we make EZRide more visible on MBTA maps — to match its Frequent Bus Route-like service levels?

What’s EZRide?

EZRide is a “private” bus route in Cambridge operated by the Charles River Transportation Management Association (TMA), a non-profit organization that cooperates with businesses in Cambridge. Everyone can board the bus, free of charge.

(Note: As of writing, the route may be experiencing temporary detours around MIT due to construction.)

On weekdays, the route connects several key nodes: North Station – Lechmere – Kendall – MIT – Cambridgeport. It fulfills multiple important niches, many of which the T does not serve:

• Crosstown connection between the Red, Green and Orange lines, as well as northside Commuter Rail lines
• Serves Kendall Square, one of the biggest employment centers outside of Downtown Boston, particularly for riders from the northside Green, Orange and Commuter Rail lines
• Serves MIT, another major employer in the region, especially for parts of the campus that are further away from the Red Line station
• Local service in East Cambridge and (southeast) Cambridgeport, with many dense apartments populated by students and employees in Kendall/MIT, who do not see MBTA bus services otherwise
• Local service in Cambridge Crossing, an emerging mixed-use development near Lechmere station
• Service to CambridgeSide shopping mall

On weekends, EZRide operates a truncated route, only running between Cambridge Crossing, Lechmere, CambridgeSide mall and Kendall/MIT. It does not serve North Station, MIT or Cambridgeport on those days.

The 2025 Service Expansion

The current operating patterns (as of June 2025) that I had described earlier are after a major service expansion, with a public launch held by the City of Cambridge on June 3, 2025. (As far as I can tell, increased service had started before then, on or before May 23, 2025.)

Before the expansion, EZRide was once a very rush-hour-heavy, commute-oriented route. Its peak headways were great — in fact, with no difference from post-expansion. But during midday hours, it ran a heavily truncated and confusing service pattern between Kendall, MIT and a small section of Cambridgeport. The route did not run at all on weekdays.

After the recent changes, EZRide now runs the full route from/to North Station throughout each weekday, including off-peak hours, with slight extensions in both the first and last bus timings. Weekend service has also been added, albeit with the truncated route (described in the previous section).

One factor for the expansion was also to consolidate the CambridgeSide shuttle bus, which has now ceased operation and been merged with EZRide, This explains why weekend EZRide service is only limited to between Lechmere and Cambridge — exactly what the former CambridgeSide shuttle did.

The New Frequencies

So how much service is actually there following the expansion?

Weekdays (Mon-Fri)

The following headways are sourced from both the official schedule and the actual GTFS schedules viewed from TransSee. All timines are based on outbound departures from North Station.

Period	Headways	Times
Sunrise	15 min	5:50 – 6:20 am
Early AM	10 min	6:20 – 7:10 am
AM Peak	8 min	7:10 – 9:34 am
Midday AM	15-16 min	9:45 – 11:18 am
Midday PM	10 min	11:30 am – 3:00 pm
PM Peak	8 min	3:00 – 6:44 pm
Evening	12 min	6:44 – 7:32 pm

Every 16 minutes guaranteed all day, every 10 minutes for most of the day, and every 8 minutes during peak hours…

On weekdays, outside of late evening hours — EZRide is a Frequent Bus Route in all but its name.

MBTA uses “Frequent Bus Route” to describe its own buses that run every 15 minutes or less all day, 7 days a week (in theory; a few routes violate this standard during late nights or on weekends). Other than the unusually early end time (and three 16-min headways midday), EZRide easily meets this threshold — and goes above and beyond.

In fact, based on MBTA’s Spring 2025 schedule, EZRide’s 8-min peak headways and (mostly) 10-min midday headways are even better than most of the T’s Frequent Bus Routes. The ​only T buses that run at least as frequently during peak hours are: 32, 57, 111, 116. That’s it.

• Even many of the most popular bus routes, such as the 1, 23, 28, 39 and 66, have worse service than EZRide.

The only critique is that service ends too early, with no outbound service after 7:32 pm and no inbound service after 7:58 pm.

Note: The official schedules list a different set of last bus timings, with the last outbound bus listed as 8:26 pm and inbound 7:56 pm. My timings above are based on the GTFS schedules. I’m not sure why there is the discrepancy, and I have not yet verified how buses operate in practice.

Weekends

On weekends, the truncated service — between Cambridge Crossing and Kendall, via Lechmere and CambridgeSide — runs every 20 minutes.

• First buses: 9:00 am from Cambridge Crossing (Leighton on Morgan), 9:10 am from Kendall
• Last buses: 8:40 pm from Cambridge Crossing, 8:50 am from Kendall

While this would technically make EZRide lose the Frequent Bus Route status if it were an MBTA route, that’s still way better than the vast majority of MBTA buses. In fact, even routes 71 and 73, which are officially branded as Frequent Bus Routes, run at these exact same frequencies on weekends.

My Comments

EZRide’s previous service pattern was already surprisingly great during peak hours, with 8-min frequencies for commuters to Kendall/MIT (and Lechmere), but the schedule was way too peak-oriented.

This service change addresses the off-peak problem really well, specifically during middays. With consistent 16-min guarantees and long periods of 10-min headways, it joins a growing trend of off-peak service improvements at many other cities, and locally with the MBTA.

Not only does the improved EZRide help tech workers at Kendall who may no longer follow traditional commute hours, but it also has great potential in boosting intra-Cambridge connectivity, beyond just a work destination. Kendall has historically seen very skewed transit demand towards peak hours, compared to other Red Line stations in Cambridge. But the area actually has a good number of restaurants and shops, centered along Third St, Binney St, CambridgeSide mall and Cambridge Crossing — all of which are served by EZRide.

The City of Cambridge has assessments and plans for both the Kendall Square and East Cambridge Commercial Districts. Interestingly, “improved mobility” is the most popular suggestion that both customers and business owners in Kendall would like to see. The EZRide improvement we are witnessing is one of the most cost-effective ways to get started on that goal.

A few additional improvements that I would like to see:

• Extended service hours in the evenings. Stopping at 7-8pm is way too early.
• Extended service segments on weekends: possibly to North Station, but especially to Cambridgeport.
• Greater recognition in the transit system, including, but not limited to, on the MBTA map. Its current portrayal on the T’s full system maps — with a less visible gray color, no headways, and sometimes no routing on some maps — gives no hints that it’s almost a Frequent Bus Route.

Regardless, all these improvements can be made over time, especially given the EZRide’s abrupt transition from a peak-oriented service for years. For now, let’s sit back, watch riders adapt to the new service, and hope that they will pave way for further improvements to Kendall and East Cambridge (such as under the T’s Bus Network Redesign, which brings two more Frequent Bus Routes to Kendall).