T map updated for medical center name change

As the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA) two-year map replacement project progresses, commuters have increasingly become aware of the renaming of the New England Medical Center T station, now called Tufts Medical Center.

The MBTA is currently in the process of updating system maps, which will reflect the renaming of the medical center station on the Orange Line. Tufts Medical last fall signed an agreement with the MBTA to pay $150,000 to fund this name change.

Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the MBTA, said that the station's name change was required for accuracy, as Tufts Medical officially changed its name from New England Medical Center as part of a March 2008 rebranding.

"In this instance, a name change was obviously warranted since the place known as New England Medical Center no longer exists," Pesaturo said in an e-mail to the Daily.

The process of changing the name on T signs and maps from "New England Medical Center" to "Tufts Medical Center" began in the early fall of 2009, according to Brooke Tyson Hynes, a Tufts Medical spokeswoman.

The main sign at the T stop itself has already been changed, and the name will gradually be modified on maps of the entire system as part of the MBTA's map replacement project, according to Pesaturo. The project is slated for completion later this year.

Pesaturo said that the $150,000 price was necessary to cover the costs of replacing the signs and maps at the station itself, as well as the 230 large maps located in the 18 other stations on the Orange Line.

Tufts Medical is willing to pay the price, according to Hynes, because it places heavy importance on officially changing the name at the T stop.

"We are working with the MBTA so we can financially support them to change the name," Hynes said.

Hynes added that changing the T stop's name is necessary to provide clarity to MBTA riders and patrons about the medical center.

"It made sense if the name of the medical center changed that the T stop name also be changed so as not to confuse the riders of the T," Hynes said.

Hynes explained that the medical center decided to rebrand as a means of shortening its title and also to demonstrate its connection to Tufts.

"The change was really to articulate the close relationship the medical center has with the university, particularly the School of Medicine," Hynes said. "The name before was long and cumbersome, so we felt a change really was necessary."

Tufts Medical worked closely with the MBTA in order to identify an appropriate time to officially alter its name, according to Hynes. She added that the medical center coordinated its plans to coincide with the MBTA's two-year map replacement project.

"We timed the name change with the MBTA so that it could be coordinated at a time when the least amount of change was required for us specifically," Hynes said. "We wanted to find a time when it would be most efficient and convenient for the T to make the necessary changes."

Renaming of T stops is an unusual occurrence, according to Pesaturo.

"Changing the name of a station is very rare," Pesaturo said. "In fact, some stations have had the same name for more than a century."

The most recent station name change occurred a few years ago, when the Institute of Contemporary Art moved from the Back Bay to South Boston, according to Pesaturo. The Green Line station formerly called Hynes/ICA is now Hynes.

According to Pesaturo, changing the station name at the Hynes stop was significantly easier, because MBTA staff only had to obscure or delete the letters "ICA" to modify the name.

It was "a much simpler process because staff was not adding … they were subtracting," Pesaturo said.

He added that there were no foreseeable complications for the renaming process. Hynes agreed, adding that the process of changing the station name has proceeded smoothly thus far.

"It seems like the process is going well at the moment," Hynes said. "We are happy to see everything working efficiently."