By Amber Morris
The 76 bus turned into Alewife Station just after 9:30 a.m.
The route – from Alewife in Cambridge, through southern Arlington, to Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington – had been shut down for more than five years. It’s been a quiet comeback. Only five riders boarded on this particular morning.
The MBTA canceled the route during the pandemic, when ridership plummeted, then combined it with route 62. In late August, the 62 and 76 routes became separate buses again. The MBTA Route 76 bus runs on weekdays with service frequency varying throughout the day. During peak hours (7 a.m. to 9 a.m.), the 76 runs every 30 minutes, and during off-peak hours, it runs every 90 minutes, according to the MBTA. The 76 does not run on weekends, but the 62 now does.
Some riders said the change gives them more flexibility.
“I like that I have a lot of options here,” said Andi Vasquez, who lives in Arlington. “I don’t feel confined or stuck.”
Vasquez had waited for either the 76 or 62 to arrive because both routes stop on Massachusetts Avenue in Lexington.
“I’m lucky enough to have a backup route and two buses that go to the destination I need,” Vasquez said.
The 62 bus, which goes to Bedford VA Hospital, overlaps with the 76 bus route through Arlington and Lexington, giving Vasquez two bus options.
Routes 62 and 76 had a combined total of about 1,150 daily customers in the first week of September, said Maya Bingaman, the MBTA communications manager. This was a 12 percent increase over the same period in 2024, she said.
During the 9 a.m. commute, the 76 bus left Alewife with five riders scattered across the rows. The 5 p.m. commute was busier, with double that number heading toward Lexington and Arlington.
“Some passengers liked the combo, and some didn’t, because when it was a combo it missed some people’s stops,” said bus driver Kevin Brandenburg. When the routes were combined, some riders lost direct service or had longer walks and transfers to reach their usual stops.
“The commute feels shorter with the demerge,” Vasquez said. Riders on the 62 bus who want to go to the hospital now have a more direct route without having to stop at Hanscom Field or MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
“I can’t say I was hugely impacted,” said Marc Hofner, an Arlington resident who takes the 62 or 76 regularly as a software engineer for Google in Cambridge. It wasn’t a busy route during the 62/76 merge, Hofner said.
At 5:25 p.m., four Lincoln Lab employees boarded the 76 bus to head inbound toward Alewife.
“During the merge the bus didn’t go into the Lincoln Lab parking lot, and now it does with the demerge, so I’d say that’s a positive,” said Alex Leven, who boarded the bus after his workday at the lab.
When the 76 bus stops at Hanscom Field it’s an inconvenience, Leven said. Within two years Leven has seen about two people get on or off at Hanscom Field, he said.
The separation of routes 62 and 76 is part of the MBTA’s broader Better Bus Project, a long-term plan aimed at simplifying routes, increasing frequency and expanding weekend service.
“Ahead of every bus change, the team does ample outreach to ensure the public is knowledgeable about the changes and has the opportunity to give feedback,” Bingaman said.
This story, originally published on Oct. 15, 2025, is part of a partnership between Your Arlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.