For Liz Gomes and many other residents of Georgetowne, a nearly 1,000-home development in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood, the MBTA bus can be essential — especially the Route 40 bus.
The route loops directly through their neighborhood in the southernmost section of Boston, between Stony Brook Reservation and the Dedham town line. It connects them to Washington Street, Roslindale and, at Forest Hills, the Orange Line and beyond.
Gomes’ 22-year-old son, who has autism, used to take the 40 to high school if he missed the school bus. Gomes, 59, drives but increasingly prefers not to at night. She takes the bus to appointments in Longwood or other trips Downtown, where driving and parking can be an expensive, stressful hassle…