I get that when taking a route in the non-peak direction on the day before July 4th, you wouldn’t see much ridership. But I was expecting at least, you know, other people to ride with me on the 84. But nope, there was no such thing. Maybe there were riders on the way back.

The bus at Alewife.

Since I was the only one on the bus, I got into a conversation with the driver. As we were navigating the Alewife busway, we went past an MBTA official van. “Hold this,” the driver said, passing me his coffee. He then started talking to someone in the van, while I spilled coffee all over myself. Finally, we left the busway and headed toward Route 2.

Yeah, that’s about the extent of the ridership on this bus.

Of course, we went past the Route 2 stop at the pedestrian overpass, which is a stop I’m starting to wonder if anyone has ever used. We took the first exit, crossed over Lake Street, and returned to the highway. This was repeated at the second exit, then we went onto the huge hill that leads to Park Ave. From there, we came back down, and actually picked someone up at the Arlmont Village shelter. I was gonna continue around the 84’s Arlmont loop, but then I saw the 78 I wanted. The driver let me off, and I ran back to the Arlmont shelter to pick up the 78. The loop will be covered in my 78 review…coming soon.

“Disappearing inc.” That’s hilarious!

Route: 84 (Arlmont Village – Alewife Station)

Ridership: Pretty much nonexistent, since it was just me and then one guy going back. That said, it was the last morning trip of the route, and more people might’ve gotten on heading to Alewife. The 84 only gets an average of 356 riders per weekday, but that’s not too bad considering the small amount of trips it makes.

Pros: As a commuter route, it’s pretty good. It runs directly from Alewife to Arlmont, and is the quickest way from the latter to the Red Line. It also runs pretty often during the evening rush hour: every 17 minutes.

Cons: But during the morning rush hour, it’s every half hour, which isn’t as good. And those are the only times this route runs. No midday service. No weekend service. Just rush hour.

Nearby and Noteworthy: I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this, but all the Route 2 buses go by the Lanes and Games bowling alley, which is a place I love. I suppose that’s one use for the stop at the pedestrian overpass…

Final Verdict: 5/10
I mean, it’s a fine route as a commuter bus, but…ehhh. I dunno, it has a very limited schedule, it’s not well-used, and it’s honestly quite short. I guess it’s a fine route, but there’s nothing spectacular or noteworthy about it. It’s just a slightly below-average Alewife commuter route.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The T is free after 9 PM tonight! Happy July 4th!