Route 22 (MBTA)

Route 22 is a local bus route in Boston, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of MBTA bus service. It operates between Ruggles station and Ashmont station via Columbus Avenue, Seaver Street, Blue Hill Avenue, and Talbot Avenue. It is among the highest-ridership routes in the system, with service every 15 minutes or less during all operating hours.

Route 22 originated from a streetcar line built by the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) in the early 20th century. The BERy opened a branch from an existing line on Blue Hill Avenue to Codman Square in 1900. It was extended east to Peabody Square in 1905. Several different service patterns were operated during the line's first two decades; after 1919, service operated between Dudley station and Peabody Square via Warren Street and Grove Hall. The service was extended slightly to Ashmont station upon its 1928 opening.

The number 22 was assigned to the service in the early 1940s. The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), successor to the BERy, converted route22 to trolleybuses in 1949 as part of a larger conversion of the Roxbury/Dorchester network. It was converted to diesel buses in 1962. In 1987, the MBTA rerouted the service to Ruggles station via Seaver Street as part of changes associated with the opening of the Southwest Corridor. Center-running bus lanes opened on a segment of Columbus Avenue in 2021; a second segment is planned. As part of systemwide network changes, the northern end of route22 is planned to be rerouted to the Longwood Medical Area in the late 2020s.