{"id":3583,"date":"2026-06-25T21:04:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T21:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3583"},"modified":"2026-06-25T21:04:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T21:04:59","slug":"two-boston-city-councilors-pitched-a-plan-to-extend-the-orange-line-the-map-they-used-was-full-of-ai-generated-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3583","title":{"rendered":"Two Boston city councilors pitched a plan to extend the Orange Line. The map they used was full of AI-generated mistakes."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Maybe someone should have hit the brakes on this one.<\/span><\/p>\n

WhenBostonCity Councilors Brian Worrell and Miniard Culpepper pitched their proposed MBTA extension on Tuesday, they framed it as a way to bring rapid transit to one of the city\u2019s busiest roads. <\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Representative Tom Kean, missing for months, is back home in New Jersey<\/a><\/p>\n

For decades, Blue Hill Avenue has relied only on bus service \u2014 a divisive subject given the recent controversy around a planned center-running bus lane. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The two said they had met with MBTA General Manager Phil Eng, also the state\u2019s interim transportation secretary, who had been receptive to the idea. At a news conference, they shared a mock-up of one possible route: an Orange Line extension from Ruggles to Mattapan Square. <\/span><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long, though, for observers to notice a few problems with the map the councilors presented. <\/span><\/p>\n

For one thing, it\u2019s missing the Charles River, and locates Aquarium station on a brand-new island in Boston Harbor. (Maybe the Zakim Bridge was dammed to flood the Financial District?)<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s to say nothing of the lines themselves; the Green Line\u2019s B branch has somehow added two Kent Street stops (the third, and the original, still marked correctly on the C branch), while the E branch seemingly runs express from Hynes Convention Center all the way to Heath Street. The Mattapan Line runs in reverse, and the Red Line\u2019s Braintree branch has disappeared altogether. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even the Orange Line seems somewhat bare bones, skipping three stops between Chinatown and Ruggles, and then running straight on (or rather, dipping slightly) to Forest Hills.<\/span><\/p>\n

The slapdash mistakes pointed clearly to one culprit:artificial intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n

And as with anything that seems AI-generated,social media commenters were quick to poke fun. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGreen line stop consolidation has gone too far,\u201d one commenter wrote on X.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey evaporated Boston University,\u201d another mused. <\/span><\/p>\n

(Northeastern University, for the record, was also \u201cevaporated.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The slapdash map has also raised more serious questions about the proposal. Caitlin Allen-Connelly, executive director of advocacy group TransitMatters, told WBUR that commuters on Blue Hill Avenue \u201cdeserve better than a concept that appears to have been assembled over a weekend.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Culpepper\u2019s office acknowledged the map was produced by a large-language model, based on various hand-drawn proposals drawn up overthe pastseveral months.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both councilors said the mistakes on the map didnot detract from the merits of the proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a joint statement Wednesday afternoon, the two councilors characterized the map as a \u201cconversation starter\u201d with the MBTA \u201cto make a case for why this should and could be studied.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe map we shared is just an initial vision of what\u2019s possible, not a final plan,\u201d the councilors wrote. \u201cWe leveraged AI to combine a number of iterative, hand-drawn maps to bring a vision to life during our meeting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Democratic leaders want the party to moderate. Its base has other ideas.<\/a><\/p>\n

Culpepper\u2019s office said the proposed Orange Line stations in the mock-up were not randomly generated by AI, but deliberately selected over the course of several months of discussions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The map, the councilors suggested, was just a visual aid. Only a formal prospectus from the MBTA, they said, would be able to \u201cproperly show constituents what rapid rail transit could look like in a corridor that has only ever been given bus options for half a century.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe left that meeting with an alignment from the MBTA that this was indeed possible,\u201d they said. <\/span><\/p>\n

In a social media post earlier Wednesday, Worrell acknowledged the map had been \u201cupgraded\u201d by AI, while sharing an earlier \u201chandmade\u201d proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter the map, the point remains the same: There is a gaping hole for rail in this section of Boston that aligns with economic, environmental and educational inequalities,\u201d Worrell wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The map shared by Worrell also gives a clearer idea where the proposed Orange Line stations would go: following Warren Street to MLK Boulevard and Grove Hall, before cutting down Blue Hill Avenue to Mattapan Square. (The Talbot Avenue and Morton Street stops, at least on Worrell\u2019s map, would be west of the commuter rail stations of the same name.) <\/span><\/p>\n

An extension of the Orange Line along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor would connect parts of Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan, predominantly Black neighborhoods, with the rest of the city. The MBTA said this week it\u2019s committed to exploring the idea further.<\/span><\/p>\n

Culpepper and Worrell said that a timeline or a cost estimate for the proposal would be available only after consultation with state experts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Orange Line pitch comes after fierce debate over plans toadd a dedicated bus lane up the center of the frequently congested Blue Hill Avenue,. That plan has sparked deep opposition in certain quarters, with critics arguing it will worsen traffic and threaten small businesses along the corridor. <\/span><\/p>\n

Culpepper and Worrell have emerged as vocal opponents of the proposed bus lane, although they said they did not explicitly address the issue with Eng on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Decades ago, a street car ran down Blue Hill Avenue all the way to Mattapan Square, but it was ripped out in the mid-20th century. In 2009, the state proposed, and residents rejected, an earlier plan for \u201cbus rapid transit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis ask for rapid rail options has been a core feature of our proposal since day one,\u201d the councilors said in Wednesday\u2019s statement. \u201cThe bus should always have been the floor, not the ceiling, for a community that has experienced over 40 years of transportation inequity and broken promises.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Ken Burns and Jeanne Shaheen will each receive the same Legacy Award this fall<\/a><\/p>\n

Material from previous Globe coverage was used in this report. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a statement, the councilors characterized the map as a “conversation starter” that did not detract from the merits of the plan. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTwo Boston city councilors pitched a plan to extend the Orange Line. 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