Harvard
Harvard is essentially the transit hub of Cambridge. You’ve got the Red Line, 13 MBTA bus routes, Harvard University Shuttle buses, and Longwood Medical Area shuttles. It’s also the third busiest MBTA station (next to Downtown Crossing and South Station). Best of all, it has trackless trolleys, which are always a treat to ride.
Now to the station itself: the main entrance is a bit of a hassle to get to, since it’s an island in the middle of the street. There’s a food stand inside, as well as bus schedules for every bus route in the system. There’s a huge row of CharlieCard machines lining a wall, and even countdown clocks (still a relative rarity on the MBTA). Harvard is also one of the few MBTA stations with stacked platforms, with the outbound platform on top of the inbound. Another interesting thing about Harvard is the turn in the tracks just before the station. On the inbound side, trains make an extremely sharp turn, so don’t be alarmed if your train is travelling extremely slowly and making screeching noises.
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| A Red Line train at Harvard From: http://erausa.org/conventions/2012/ |
The Harvard busway is simply sent from heaven. It’s in a tunnel, so you’re totally protected from the elements! Also, it has trackless trolleys, making the busway even more awesome. Awesomeness aside, though, Harvard is home to 5 (!) Key Bus Routes, making it a very important bus hub. However, two of these Key Bus Routes don’t serve the busway. See, the routes that don’t serve the busway use CNG buses. Turns out the CNG buses are too tall to fit into the tunnel without brushing the trackless trolley wires above! The MBTA had to reroute those buses. Overall, though, Harvard is an excellent station, especially with those trackless trolleys.
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| Though it’s a bit dingy in the busway, it’s still better than waiting out in the cold. From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamlester/4753860942/ |
Station: Harvard
Rating (1-10): 8
Ridership: Students. Lots and lots of students. Based on the crowds I’ve seen at this station, it’s no wonder it’s the third busiest.
Pros: The busway is, as I said before, amazing, and the station is well laid out. Harvard Square is a great place in general, and there are trackless trolleys. You gotta love the trackless trolleys.
Cons: The process of getting off a bus in the lower busway is annoying. You have to get out of the right side of the bus, then walk around to the left where the platform is. I’m always afraid I’ll get run over when I’m walking in front of the bus, going to the platform.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Too many to list. The Harvard Coop is an huge bookstore with a wide selection of books (among other things). There’s also Harvard University, of course. And being theater fanatics, my parents often take me to shows at the A.R.T.
Latest MBTA News: Orange Line shuttle buses – yay! There will be shuttle buses running from Sullivan Square to Oak Grove tomorrow until 3:00 PM. Normal service will resume after that.
At Least the Blizzard’s Good For Something!
I understand that this blizzard’s really bad for some people. 650,000 homes in the Northeast have lost power, people aren’t allowed to drive, and the MBTA isn’t running until Monday (hopefully). However, last night, my friend Max and I made good use of the blizzard. We shoveled piles of snow onto sleds and brought them over to the end of the street. We piled the snow into a huge block, and then carved a big “T” symbol into it! Let this be a lesson to you, kids: hard work pays off (a few hours later, the sculpture got covered up by snow…oh, well).
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| Max is on the left; my weird hat is on the right. |
350 (North Burlington – Alewife Station via Burlington Mall)
Let me start out by saying that my mother hates buses with a passion. So when she suggested taking a bus, of course I said yes! The bus in question was the 350, which I had actually been wanting to take for a while. The route travels to Mass Ave, then goes onto Mystic Road/Route 3 at Arlington Center. It makes its way up to the Burlington Mall and its terminus up in North Burlington.
Arriving at Alewife, my mother and I looked around the maze known as the Alewife busway for the bus. When we found it, some MBTA workers were having a conversation. They told us to wait a couple berths away while they talked. We waited for 10 minutes for the workers to stop talking. Finally, the bus started up and we got on. Leaving Alewife, the bus had about 15 people on it, which is a lot if you think about the fact that we hadn’t even made any stops yet. Travelling along Mass Ave, there are a lot of businesses along the route. Eight people got on at Arlington Center, which I actually found kind of surprising (we also noticed a snail on the window of the bus, but snails don’t pay fares). Once it turned off of Mass Ave, it became very residential. The bus pretty much ran express during this portion, though there were a whole bunch of stops being announced. I’m assuming on weekdays, people use these stops, but it was quiet on a Saturday. There was also some stuff to see, primarily the Mystic Lakes.
There are some businesses at Woburn Four Corners, and then it’s back to residences. Near Route 128, the bus turns off of Cambridge Street (which Mystic Street turns into) and goes by some office buildings. Again, on weekdays, people probably use the stops on this portion of the route. The bus goes onto Burlington Mall Road and drops people off at Macy’s. On our trip, almost everyone (including us; I’ll have to go up to the terminus some time) got off at the mall, except for two people.
Soon, it was time to take the return trip. After waiting for a while, the bus came. 14 people got on, including us, and one person had come from Burlington. The bus went very fast through the residential area, and it was actually very relaxing. For the sake of this review. I stopped myself from falling asleep, but I probably would’ve.
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| At least there’s some light getting into that busway… |
Route: 350 (North Burlington – Alewife via Burlington Mall
Rating (1-10): 7
Ridership: On weekdays, probably people going to those office buildings I mentioned. On weekends, people use it to get to the Burlington Mall. There are also a few small malls along the way, but they don’t generate as much ridership. There was a max of 27 people on the bus, which is a lot, especially for a weekend.
Pros: It’s the only Alewife bus that goes on Sundays! Also, it’s great having a bus connection to the Burlington Mall. The 350 also has its own spin-off of sorts, the 351 express bus to the EMD Serono Research Center in Billerica. However, it only runs on weekdays, four times a day.
Cons: Considering how many people used it to get to the mall, the headways seem criminal. It runs every hour on weekends. Every 45 minutes or even every half hour would be much preferred, and it might boost ridership. Also, the waiting area at the Burlington Mall is just the area that you walk into to get into the mall. You’re forced to just lean on the wall, which isn’t very comfortable. You’d think the MBTA could spring for a bench or two.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The Burlington Mall – duh! Also, though I’m not a gardener, I still enjoy the occasional visit to Mahoney’s in Winchester. And Punjab in Arlington Center is absolutely the best restaurant ever (if you like Indian food).
Latest MBTA News: Due to the incoming blizzard, the MBTA is shutting down all service at 3:30 PM today. Don’t plan on taking any long train or bus rides, or else you might get stuck.
Service Change: Amtrak Northeast Regional and the 6 – Lexington Avenue Local
This weekend, I went to New York to see Cinderella on Broadway, and I took some fun train rides while I was away. To get to New York, we took Amtrak down. It’s nice being able to enter the station and be able to immediately board the train. At an airport, you have to get your baggage checked, go through security, etc. Anyway, the train starts going extremely slow to Back Bay (which is laughably close to South Station). Don’t be fooled, though. The train passes Forest Hills in under 10 minutes. The train is also pretty quiet and very relaxing. The food on the train is all right, definitely better than the food you get on a plane. Walking through the cars is also really fun.
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| It gets cold in this area between cars. See the button to open it? |
But the most interesting part about the ride is the things to see. You can see cornfields, rock piles, sand piles, big cities, small towns, a little bird in the water surrounded by ice, two little boats next to the track, a huge boatyard, blue water with a thin ice sheet, some playgrounds, a huge highway bridge, a tipped walkway, a statue of a whale, an old shack, a quarry, a bunch of foot-high trees, an auto junkyard, a trailer park, abandoned buildings, a baseball stadium, a bunch of birds swarming a building, a trampoline, barbed wire, and a LOT of graffiti. There’s just so much to see, I never touched my reading material during the ride. Plus, you have no idea how satisfying it is to pass huge traffic jams on I-95. I don’t see much point in taking the Acela express, since it makes most of the stops anyway. Nonetheless, it’s a great way of getting to New York, or any of the other stations on the route.
After dealing with the crowds on the New York subway, Boston seems extremely tame. My father and I rode the subway at 10:45 at night, and we still couldn’t get a seat. Also, on the New York subway, you’ll see things like people lying down, sleeping in the subway car. And while we were riding, someone shouted “F*** that s***!” I’ve never seen that in Boston. Anyway, I forced myself to wake up early, so my father and I could take a subway ride. We were originally going to take the J (Nassau Street Express to Jamaica Center), which runs almost all above ground. However, there were some service complications, so we ended up on the 6 (Lexington Avenue Local to Pelham Bay Park).
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| Wrong train! Argh! By the way, no one make any comments on my weird hat. |
After a relatively short wait (despite being a Sunday morning), we got on. Again, it was a Sunday morning, so there weren’t too many people on the train. As we rode, I observed the train. The seats are much less comfortable than the cushion-y seats on the Red Line, but the New York ones are more durable. The trains are subject to graffiti, unfortunately, and there’s always some form of litter on them. The stations, though simple, aren’t very aesthetically pleasing. There’s always a bunch of paint chipping, and there’s always a bunch of litter on the tracks. The thing I love about the trains, though, is the destination displays. In Boston, they just say the next stop and the destination, depending on how close you are to the station. In New York, though, they say the time, the next stop, and the destination in a cycle. It’s much better, I think.
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| Seriously, these are so cool! |
The trains also have really cool maps inside them. In Boston, the in-car maps just show the route. In New York, they tell you the boroughs on the line, the direction you’re going, and the station you’re at. On the map, the lit up stations are the ones you have left, and the station you’re at blinks. It’s so cool!
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| I can’t get enough of this map! |
Anyway, due to construction, the 6 was running express northbound. It goes above ground after Hunts Point Ave. There were a lot of interesting businesses to see, and the snow made everything more beautiful. It also made it easier for my father to observe heat loss in each apartment building. There was a particularly fun part where the train went on a bridge over a huge train yard. Finally, we reached the terminal at Pelham Bay Park. You could see huge trees in the park from the station. I was a bit surprised, though, that at the terminus the track just stopped. In Boston, there’s usually a yard or a turnaround loop or something. Oh, well. Overall, both rides were extremely fun. Also, you can’t help loving New York.
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| Me and my weird hat again. |
Alewife
Alewife is, simply put, huge. You can spot this structure from extremely far away. However, I’d never really explored the main station until I started this review. I usually go into the station via the much smaller Russell Field entrance. That entrance consists of two fare gates, a small customer service booth, and some system maps. Meanwhile, the main station is gigantic. It has elevators, escalators, a transit police office, 10 fare gates, a Dunkin’ Donuts, a newsstand, a Redbox, you name it.
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| Not my picture, but a good one of this huge station. From: http://sah-archipedia.org/detail%2Fcontent%2Fentries%2FMA-01-NC5.xml?q=type%3Acorridors |
The station at platform level is much less impressive. It’s simply a center platform and some ads. Despite its simplicity, it’s a nice, easy setup for quickly grabbing a train. An interesting thing about Alewife is the fact that down the tunnel, there’s the underground train yard in Arlington. I would absolutely love to stay on a train and go to the yard, but, you know, that’s illegal. The location is also extremely convenient. There are a lot of office buildings near Alewife, and it’s the closest station to towns like Arlington and Lexington. People actually drive to the station, park in the parking lot, and get on the train.
Moving out of the station, there’s the Alewife Busway. It actually serves quite a few buses, serving Arlington, Lexington, Bedford, and Burlington. Unfortunately, only two of those buses run on weekends, and only one on Sundays. The busway also serves buses to New York, which are pretty cheap and only make one stop (Riverside station).
Of course, no discussion about Alewife is complete without mentioning the elevators. It’s worth parking on the roof of the garage just because of the elevator ride. The elevators are glass, so you get a view of the highway. Then you descend into the station, getting a bird’s eye view of the main concourse. It’s just so much fun!
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| It’s me! |
Station: Alewife
Rating (1-10): 9 for the location, but 6 for the station itself
Ridership: Locals and people from Arlington, Lexington, and beyond. The station can get extremely crowded, or it can be deserted, depending on the time of day.
Pros: Again, the location is great. The station has a huge parking lot, with 2,733 parking spaces. It also has two large Pedal and Park bike cages with 174 or 500 bike spaces, depending on the source (which is right? I have no idea). Also, you can’t help loving that elevator ride!
Cons: First of all, the only bus running on Sundays from Alewife is the 350 to Burlington, added with the 62/76 to Bedford on Saturdays. All other buses run weekdays only. Also, the busway itself is a complete mess. I never have any idea where anything is in there. Plus, you’re really just waiting for the bus in a cold, dark parking lot.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Besides the places in the station itself, Bertucci’s is located right outside the station (it’s actually in the building, but they the station and the restaurant aren’t connected.). It’s a real treat for people who like pizza. Also, the Fresh Pond Mall is about a 5 to 10 minute walk down the road. It has, among others, a Whole Foods, a TJ Maxx, and an Entertainment Cinemas.
Latest MBTA News: More Orange Line shuttle buses between Sullivan Square and Oak Grove this weekend. Again.
30 (Mattapan Station – Forest Hills Station via Cummins Hwy. and Roslindale Square) – Technically!
My father and I had some things to do in Ashmont, and we thought we would take a bus while we were at it. We planned to take the 31 (Mattapan – Forest Hills via Morton St), so we took the Mattapan High Speed Line to Mattapan. It took us a while for to find the 31 berth, and the bus wasn’t coming. After about 10 minutes, we saw the 30 pull up at a parallel berth. We figured it would take us to Forest Hills anyway, so we hopped on. The 30 takes a very residential route on Cummins Highway. You even get to cut through a graveyard, just like the Mattapan High Speed Line.
After riding for a bit (we didn’t make many stops), a strange sound came out of the CNG bus we were riding. We stopped for a minute, and then continued. We made it a few more blocks, and then it happened again. We found out that the bus was losing its transmission. It didn’t help that Cummins Highway happens to have a bunch of steep hills. We stopped completely at Hyde Park Avenue. “Does anyone have to go to Roslindale?” Asked the bus driver. One person did. “As for the rest of you,” the bus driver continued, “I recommend you get on the 32 on Hyde Park Ave.” We all got out and waited at the bus stop (no bench or anything). A few minutes later, we saw the person who wanted to get to Roslindale get kicked out of the bus. After waiting for a really long time for the 32 (isn’t it supposed to be a Key Bus Route?) my father and I decided we could walk the rest of the way. He wanted to walk on Hyde Park Ave to Forest Hills, but I wanted to walk to Roslindale and take a bus from there. We ended up doing my idea, so we started walking on Cummins Highway. “Is Roslindale close to here?” my father asked a passerby. “Ya, ya!” he replied. Good. This would be a piece of cake.
20 minutes later, we came to the Roslindale bus shelter, extremely tired out from those hills (but it was a shorter walk than what my father suggested). At the shelter, we waited for about a half hour for a bus to Forest Hills. Finally, a 36 came along, and we were soon on the Orange Line.
So, I guess that was more of a story than a bus review. And I guess I only took about half of the 30, but that’s enough to constitute a review, right? I hope so…
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| As you can probably infer, I did not take this picture during my ride. Actually, I happened to be in Forest Hills and I saw the 30, so I took a picture. This happened over three months after originally posting this. |
Route: 30 (Mattapan – Forest Hills via Cummins Hwy. and Roslindale Square)
Rating (1-10): 5
Ridership: Locals, locals, locals. And very few locals at that. There were only about 10 on the bus, including my father and me. Granted, it was a Sunday, but the 30 still isn’t exactly a Key Bus Route.
Pros: You get to see a quiet part of Boston unknown to tourists. It’s an interesting ride overall, especially the graveyard-cutting. Plus, you can’t help liking the hills.
Cons: Who uses it? 10 people on a bus, even for a Sunday, isn’t very good ridership. I mean, about a fifth of the Cummins Highway portion of the route is graveyard-cutting. Not much ridership comes from that section, I’ll bet. Also, though not affecting the score, I can’t help thinking differently about the CNG buses in Boston now.
Nearby and Noteworthy: I have no idea what sort of interesting things are in Roslindale, since we didn’t really explore it. However, I desperately want to visit the Bay State Model Railroad Museum. It’s only open Wednesday nights, but it looks really awesome for train-obsessed people like me.
Latest MBTA news: More Orange Line shuttle buses this weekend (sigh). Like before, the buses are running between Sullivan Square and Oak Grove.
459 (Salem Depot – Downtown Crossing via Logan Airport and Central Square, Lynn)
After spending most of the summer in camp, I had one free week in July to do something fun. My father and I wanted to take a bus that only runs on weekdays, and the 459 stood out. Leaving from Downtown Crossing, the bus makes its way down to the World Trade Center, and then the airport. It stops at Terminal C and Airport Station, and then heads up to Salem via Lynn.
One train ride later, after running around Downtown Crossing looking for Otis Street, we were on the bus. We were the only ones until South Station, where a few other people boarded the bus. One person got on at the airport (why anyone would use the 459 for airport connections is beyond me), then the bus had an express run on McClellan Highway. There isn’t much of note on this stretch, but the bus travels FAST! The Saugus portion of the route travels through swampland, which makes for interesting views.
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| The 459 in Salem on a gloomy day. |
In Lynn, there were a couple of guys shouting inappropriate things across the bus. We also happened to notice that one seemed to have an ankle bracelet…hmm. At this point, there were a lot of people using the bus for local service around Lynn. We traveled through Swampscott, where not many people got on or off. Finally, everyone got off at the stop in downtown Salem, while my father and I continued to the terminus at the Salem Commuter Rail station.
A number of exciting things happened afterward:
- We waited over an hour for a bus that never came
- We ended up grabbing a Commuter Rail train bound for North Station, and
- They forgot to charge us for the ride (Ha-ha!)
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| A different bus on a different day. |
Route: 459 (Salem Depot – Downtown via Logan Airport)
Rating (1-10): 8
Ridership: There weren’t many people until we got into Lynn, where people use the bus for local service. My father and I were among the few people (if any) who took the bus from Boston to Salem. Of course, you have to take into account that it was in the middle of the summer during the day.
Pros: It’s just a great ride in general. There’s a lot of things to see, and it provides a nice link from Boston to Salem (though I wouldn’t want to ride the bus on Halloween). Plus, an inner express fare of $3.50 is much better than $6.75 for the Commuter Rail (when you’re actually charged).
Cons: The overall headways could use some work. The bus runs about every hour, weekdays only (on weekends, the 455 will take you from Salem to Wonderland). Yes, I know it runs often for a North Shore express bus, but that nonexistent bus in Salem cost it those 2 points in the rating. More of a pet peeve is the fact that the route only stops at Terminal C. Sure, barely anyone uses the bus to get to the airport, but stopping at all terminals might increase ridership.
Nearby and Noteworthy: In Salem, just about everything has the word “witch” in it. Because of this, I’m recommending the Peabody Essex Museum. Also, the Derby Square Bookstore sells almost everything at 50% off.
UPDATE 9/1/19: And so, my first-ever review drops off the face of the earth: this route has been rightfully eliminated. I mean, 8/10? Geez!
Latest MBTA News: The Green Line “E” branch is closed between Northeastern and Heath Street due to a power issue. Also, this weekend the Orange Line is being replaced by shuttle buses between Sullivan Square and Oak Grove as part of the Assembly Square Project.
First Post!
My name is Miles, and I’m obsessed with the MBTA. I just want to put that out there, because it’s kind of the whole reason I started this blog. This blog is based on (T)he Adventure, which is based on Metro-Venture (both excellent blogs). Both of them review transit systems. ((T)he Adventure does the MBTA, while Metro-Venture covers the Washington Metro.) As you can probably guess from the title, I am also doing reviews on the MBTA.