Logan Express
Airport shuttle service in Greater Boston
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Logan Express (LEX) is an airport bus shuttle network in Massachusetts, United States, that serves Logan International Airport from the Greater Boston area. The service is operated by private bus companies under contract to the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). It consists of four routes serving suburban park-and-ride terminals in Braintree, Danvers, Framingham, and Woburn, plus an urban route serving the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston.
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_Paul_Revere_Transportation_2030_MA-Bus-19ADK_Logan_Express_Woburn_2024-06-08.jpg){kind=spacer} A Logan Express bus at Terminal E in 2024 | |||
| Parent | Massport | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1986 | ||
| Headquarters | Boston | ||
| Locale | Greater Boston, Massachusetts | ||
| Service type | Airport shuttle | ||
| Routes | 5 | ||
| Destinations | Logan International Airport | ||
| Stations |
| ||
| Annual ridership | 2,817,190 (2024)[1] | ||
| Fuel type | Diesel, compressed natural gas | ||
| Operator | Multiple private operators | ||
| Website | https://www.massport.com/logan-airport/getting-to-logan/logan-express | ||
| |||
The service began in September 1986 with a route from Quincy Adams station and expanded over the following decades. Framingham service was added later in 1986. Quincy Adams was replaced with a Braintree terminal in 1990. Woburn service began in 1992; Peabody service in 2001, and Back Bay service in 2014. Service from South Station was trialed in 1992–93 and 2000–2001. Surface parking lots at the Framingham terminal were replaced in 2015 with a parking garage, which was expanded in 2025. The Peabody terminal was relocated to Danvers in 2024. Further terminal improvements are planned, including garages at Braintree and "remote terminals" with airport security.
Routes
The Logan Express system has five routes: four suburban routes plus a route to the Back Bay section of Boston. Each route stops at all terminals. The routes vary in operating hours; most operate from the early morning to late evening with half-hour headways. The Danvers route which has hourly headways, as does the Woburn route on weekend mornings.[2] Logan Express fares are priced below market rate to encourage use of the service rather than on-airport parking.[3] As of 2026[update], the suburban services are $9–12 one-way, while the Back Bay route is $3 to Logan and free to Back Bay.[2] The suburban routes use motorcoach-style buses with striping colored by route, while the Back Bay route uses Massport-owned transit buses.[4] The suburban routes carried 2.58 million passengers – 1.66 million air passengers and 0.92 million employees – in 2024, while the Back Bay route carried 233,750 total passengers.[1] Logan Express was used by 7.4% of Logan air passengers in a 2024 survey.[5]: 6–31
| Route | Terminal(s) | Operator | Color[2] | 2024 ridership[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back Bay | Prudential Center, Copley Place | Academy Bus | Orange | 233,750 |
| Braintree | Lot near Braintree Split | Paul Revere Bus | Blue | 561,947 |
| Danvers | Liberty Tree Mall | McGinn Bus Company | Purple | 148,051 |
| Framingham | Garage near Shopper's World | Fox Bus Lines | Red | 685,920 |
| Woburn | Anderson Regional Transportation Center | Paul Revere Bus | Green | 500,077 |
History
Initial services
From November 17 to 23, 1985, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) ran free service from Quincy Adams station and Riverside station to the airport.[6] Massport began full-time service on the Quincy Adams route (with a fare required) began on September 29, 1986.[7] Operations were contracted to Plymouth & Brockton.[8] From 1988 to 1990, the service was extended past Quincy Adams to Plymouth via MBTA subsidy.[9]: A.5.4 In 1990, the terminal was moved from Quincy Adams to a parking lot in Braintree near the South Shore Plaza and the Braintree Split.[8][10] Paul Revere Transportation took over operation of the service in 1998.[9]: A.6.6 Massport purchased the Braintree terminal site for $47.1 million in 2014.[11]: 35 The Braintree route was the second-most-used Logan Express route by 2018, with 580,000 annual riders.[12][13] Frequency was increased to every 20 minutes in May 2019.[14]
A route from Shopper's World in Framingham began on November 16, 1986.[15] It was run by Quickway Transport until December 19, 1986, when Peter Pan Bus Lines took over the contract.[16] Fox Bus Lines took over the service in 1993.[8][9]: A.6.2 The initial terminal in the mall's parking lot had limited parking spots and a ten-year lease. In 1990, Massport proposed to move the terminal to a former Trailways bus station off Speen Street in Natick to the east.[17] In 1994, with demolition and replacement of the mall about to begin, Massport proposed a site off Route 30 at Burr Street.[18] Objections from the town, which planned to develop the site as a park, led Massport to consider other locations.[19][20] The terminal temporarily moved to the south side of the mall on October 1, 1994, due to construction.[21] On July 1, 1995, it moved again to a different site on Burr Street.[22] That became the permanent site; a terminal building opened in February 1997.[23]
A route from Mishawum station in Woburn was added on November 16, 1992.[24] An expanded parking lot and terminal building were added in 1993.[25] Originally operated by Peter Pan, the route was taken over by Paul Revere Transportation in November 1995.[8][9]: A.6.6 The Woburn terminal was moved to the new Anderson Regional Transportation Center on April 8, 2001.[26] A route from Peabody, with a terminal on Route 1 near I-95, was added on September 7, 2001.[27][28] McGinn Bus Company was the operator for the service.[9]: A.6.5 It was slow to gain ridership due to the post-September 11 drop in air travel and frequency was halved on November 3, 2001.[28]
Expansions
Massport made several attempts to develop bus service between Logan Airport and Downtown Boston. Logan Link van service between South Station and the airport, operated by Paul Revere, began on May 4, 1992. It operated only during weekday peak hours, with schedules timed to connect to MBTA Commuter Rail service.[29][30] Logan Link was discontinued effective July 1, 1993, due to low ridership.[31] Logan Dart service between the South Station Bus Terminal and the airport began on November 14, 2000. It operated Sunday through Friday from 6 am to 8 pm.[32] Originally operated by A&B Coach, it was taken over by Paul Revere in June 2001 and discontinued that November.[8][33] The MBTA began daily Silver Line bus service between South Station and the airport in June 2005.[34]
By 2001, the 350-space lot at Framingham was insufficient; Massport leased additional overflow parking spots in nearby commercial lots to meet demand. In early 2001, Massport received approval to build a four-level, 1,081-space parking garage, but it was not built after the September 11 attacks.[35][36] The plans were revived in the early 2010s as ridership increased.[36] Service temporarily moved to a lot on the Mathworks campus in Natick on June 23, 2014, to allow construction.[37][38] The garage opened on April 16, 2015.[39] The Framingham route was the most-used Logan Express route by 2018, with 740,000 annual riders.[12][13]
On April 28, 2014, the Back Bay route began service as a two-year pilot program during the Government Center station closure. It operated on 20-minute headways, with stops on Boylston Street at Hynes Convention Center and Copley station.[4][40] By 2019, Massport planned to add a route to North Station and an additional suburban route.[41][42][12] On May 1, 2019, the Copley stop was replaced with a stop at Back Bay station on Dartmouth Street. The airport-bound fare was reduced from $7.50 to $3.00 and the Back Bay-bound fare made free; passengers were also given priority at security lines in the airport.[14] By October, these changes had doubled ridership on the Back Bay route.[41] Both Back Bay stops were relocated on February 1, 2020 – the Hynes Convention Center stop a block east to the Prudential Center entrance, and the Back Bay station stop across Dartmouth Street to the Copley Place entrance.[43]
COVID-19 changes and further expansion
Peabody service was suspended on March 18, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; Braintree and Back Bay service was reduced to 30-minute headways.[44] Back Bay service was suspended on March 27, with the remaining three routes reduced to hourly service.[45] Woburn service was suspended on January 1, 2021.[46] It resumed on June 1, 2021, along with additional early-morning service from Braintree and Framingham.[47] Woburn, Framingham, and Braintree service all resumed half-hour frequency by mid-2022.[11]: 36 Back Bay service was planned to resume in July 2021; due to a shortage of bus drivers, it did not resume until October 3, 2022, with Academy Bus as the new operator.[48][49][50] Peabody service resumed on February 13, 2022, with a new terminal at the Northshore Mall in Peabody.[51] The terminal moved from Peabody to Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers on August 6, 2024.[52] Suburban ridership reached a record 2.58 million passengers – 1.66 million air passengers and 0.92 million employees – in 2024. Back Bay ridership was 233,750, slightly lower than in 2019.[53][1]
Framingham service temporarily moved to the Natick Mall on January 6, 2025, for construction of three additional floors in the garage. The expanded garage was intended to allow frequency to be increased to every 20 minutes.[54] It opened in November 2025.[55] In September 2025, Massport announced plans to open a "remote terminal" at Framingham where passengers could go through airport security and check bags before boarding buses directly to the air side of the airport. It is planned to open on June 1, 2026; service would be hourly and operate mornings only. If the pilot program is successful, it may be extended to other Logan Express locations.[56]
Several further expansions of parking facilities are planned. As of 2025[update], parking lot reconfiguration and a permanent building in Danvers are expected to be completed later in the 2020s at a cost of $17 million.[5]: 4–7, 6–27 [57] The existing surface lots and passenger building at Braintree are to be replaced with two seven-story garages with a total of 5,025 spaces, plus a new passenger building with a remote terminal, at a cost of $400 million. As of 2025[update], the first garage and the passenger building are planned to be built from August 2026 to February 2028, with the second garage built from February 2028 to August 2030.[58] As an interim capacity measure, employee parking was moved from Braintree to a separate lot in Quincy in 2023.[5]: 6–27, B-32
