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). The Logan Express network 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. Total ridership was 2,583,440 in 2024, including trips by both air passengers and airport employees. The service began in September 1986 in response to insufficient parking capacity and traffic congestion at the airport, offering parking rates and fares priced to encourage using the shuttle instead of driving to the airport. The network began 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. Massport opened a "remote terminal" – where passengers can clear airport security then take buses directly to the air side of the airport – at Framingham in 2026. Further terminal improvements are planned, including garages at Braintree and additional remote terminals.
Routes The Logan Express system has five routes: four suburban routes and 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 has hourly headways, as does the Woburn route on weekend mornings. The Framingham site has a "remote terminal" where passengers can clear airport security then take buses directly to the air side of the airport. Logan Express fares are priced below market rate to encourage use of the service rather than on-airport parking. As of 2026, the suburban services are $9–12 one-way, while the Back Bay route is $3 to Logan and free to Back Bay. Each route is assigned a color for branding purposes. All buses are accessible and have a wheelchair lift. The system carried 2.58 million passengers – 1.66 million air passengers and 0.92 million employees – in 2024. Logan Express was used by 7.4% of Logan air passengers in a 2024 survey.
History
Initial services
By the early 1980s, Logan Airport had insufficient parking capacity and suffered traffic jams at the terminals. Beginning November 17, 1985, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) ran temporary free service from Quincy Adams station and Alewife station to the airport during the busy travel period leading up to Thanksgiving. Originally planned to end on November 23, it was extended to December 1. In June 1986, Massport announced plans to increase parking rates and expand public transit to reduce congestion at the airport. It was to include express bus service from Quincy and Framingham. Parking rates at the suburban lots would be set lower than on-airport parking to encourage use of the new services. Half of the cost of the lots was paid by airlines. Massport began full-time service on the Quincy Adams route, with fare required, on September 29, 1986. Operations were contracted to Plymouth & Brockton. From 1988 to 1990, the service was extended past Quincy Adams to Plymouth via MBTA subsidy. The route from the Shopper's World mall in Framingham began on November 16, 1986. It was run by Quickway Transport until December 19, 1986, when Peter Pan Bus Lines took over the contract. By 1990, the Quincy Adams route only had half the ridership of the Framingham route despite similar market sizes. A Massport study found that the Quincy Adams parking garage filled with MBTA commuters too early in the morning to serve later air passengers, that it lacked a climate-controlled waiting area, and that it did not have Logan Express branding. In July 1990, Massport relocated the terminal to a former drive-in theater site in Braintree near the South Shore Plaza and the Braintree Split (where I-93 meets Route 3). The former concession building was renovated to serve as a terminal with a waiting area and airline ticket counters. Within a year, ridership on the Braintree route had increased by 40%. Paul Revere Transportation took over operation of the Braintree service in 1998.
Fox Bus Lines took over the Framingham service in 1993. 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. In 1994, with demolition and replacement of the mall about to begin, Massport proposed a site off Route 30 at Burr Street. Objections from the town, which planned to develop the site as a park, led Massport to consider other locations. The terminal temporarily moved to the south side of the mall on October 1, 1994, due to construction. On July 1, 1995, it moved again to a different site on Burr Street. That became the permanent site; a terminal building opened in February 1997. A route from Mishawum station in Woburn was added on November 16, 1992. An expanded parking lot and terminal building were added in 1993. Originally operated by Peter Pan, the route was taken over by Paul Revere Transportation in November 1995. The Woburn terminal was moved to the new Anderson Regional Transportation Center on April 8, 2001. A route from Peabody, with a terminal on Route 1 near I-95, was added on September 7, 2001. McGinn Bus Company was the operator for the service. It was slow to gain ridership due to the post-September 11 drop in air travel and frequency was halved on November 3, 2001.
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