How many of those nearby employers pay enough to live in one of these shiny new apartment complexes?

I suppose if they are former Boston residents that still work in Boston, it would be a convenient spot for using the commuter rail. So in that sense at least, they wouldn't be adding to commute traffic.

The structure of our current bus system isn't terrible, it primarily suffers from not hiring enough drivers. This is most noticeable with service being reduced on some Fridays, etc. Beyond just hiring enough to guarantee basic functionality, a hiring increase could extend hours of service and increase bus frequency (possibly alongside a one-time purchase of more buses). All of this could happen without reinventing our roads, and could be funded for years on what citywide BRT implementation would cost. There are a couple key spots where I agree BRT could be especially useful (Main St, Shrewsbury St) and maybe these could be implemented earlier, but for the most part I'd like to see these more basic improvements to our bus system first. If the city lacks the political will to do even that, then big projects like BRT are a pipedream.