The legendary Urban Ring project proposed an Airport <> Sullivan link running via Chelsea. This route sought to achieve several goals, including bringing better rapid transit to Chelsea. But I am struck by how roundabout that route is: even if we exclude the diversion to Wellington, it’s still a circuitous route that takes nearly 5 miles to link stations that are half that distance apart.
Are there faster ways to link the transfer hub at Sullivan with Logan Airport?
A Sullivan <> Logan Airport ferry (running to the Ferry Terminal, rather than Airport station) would be about 3.7 miles:
At the 6 mph speeds of the Charlestown Ferry, this would be way too slow to be useful. But, for example, the Winthrop Ferry pilot does Squantum Point -> Logan Airport at ~15 mph. At that speed, the 3.7 mile journey by ferry from Logan Airport to Sullivan Square would take just under 15 minutes, which is faster than either the Orange + Blue or via-Chelsea options discussed above.
Unfortunately, you’re then penalized by an 11-min walk from the shore to Sullivan station proper. And this route only serves folks coming from Logan Airport proper — Eastie residents and folks transferring from the Blue Line are out of luck. (Although Blue transfers could be handled by a transfer at Maverick / Lewis Wharf…)
And while we’re on the topic, the elusive North Station <> Logan Airport public transit connection could be accomplished by a 2 mile ferry route:
As ever, it’s the speed that’s the question: at 6 mph, that’s 20 minutes, plus a 7-min shuttle ride to Terminal A (plus the wait for the shuttle), putting you at about 30 minutes. At 15 mph, the ferry ride shortens to 8 minutes, putting the North Station -> Terminal A journey into the 15-20 minute range, which isn’t terrible.
That all being said, holy crap it’s a rough journey to get from North Station to Terminal A by public transit today:
(I know the double back through Allston is just because of where there are on-ramps to the Mass Pike are, but jeez.)
So maybe a 20 min ferry ride + 5 min wait + 7 min shuttle ride actually wouldn’t be that bad…