LRTA: 18 (Downtown Shuttle)

Feb 14, 2018 | | 3 Comments

“I have a transfer,” I told the driver as I boarded the bus. The woman gave a cursory glance at my slip. “You shoulda gotten a shuttle transfah,” she said in a grumpy voice. Okay, sorry I didn’t realize that the LRTA has three types of transfers! Transferring to the Downtown Shuttle is the only free one on the LRTA, though, so maybe I should’ve known that instead of wasting 25 cents on a useless slip.

My shadow’s in there! How unprofessional!
We made our way onto Thorndike Street, passing some pretty decrepit areas until we went over the Pawtucket Canal. The road became Dutton Street on the other side, and we were running alongside another canal, the Lowell Streetcar track, and some office buildings in old factories. As we go closer to downtown, more attractions showed up, including some businesses, the National Streetcar Museum, and, as we merged onto Arcand Drive, Lowell City Hall.
Going over the Pawtucket Canal.
We turned onto Father Morissette Boulevard, going by a parking garage and Lowell High School, whose multiple buildings cross a canal! The street quickly changed names to French Street, and there were more historical attractions everywhere (and another parking garage). We made our way around to Merrimack Street, the main business drag of Lowell, and here we made a layover.
It’s busy!
After sitting around for six minutes (considering it took us a mere nine minutes to get there, that’s a lot of layover time!), we continued down Merrimack Street and turned onto the bumpy cobblestone Shattuck Street. We then made our way onto Market Street, which was kinda like Merrimack Street if none of the businesses were open…ever. We went over another canal on Central Street, and the retail fared much better along this thoroughfare.
Lowell’s canals are so awesome!
Things got worse when we headed down Middlesex Street – this was a road that had seen better days. It had the same old brick factories and buildings we had been seeing before, but the ones along here have yet to see redevelopment, so they look dilapidated instead of charming. There was some construction of a new building where we turned onto Thorndike Street, and this led us back to the Kennedy Center.
Oh yes, a truly riveting photo of the new construction.
LRTA Route: 18 (Downtown Shuttle)
Ridership: Based on what I saw, I thought this route gets pretty low ridership: my outbound trip had one person and there were four on the inbound. Indeed, I rode on a Saturday, and the Saturday numbers are slightly below average, with the route getting about 130 riders on those days. Weekdays, on the other hand? 608 per day! That’s a huge jump if I ever saw one!
Pros: To my understanding, the main purpose of the 18 is to serve as a connection between downtown Lowell and the LRTA routes that don’t serve downtown. On that front, it works great, with free transfers to and from all local routes. The schedule is awesome, with service every 15 minutes on weekdays and every half hour on Saturdays. Plus, they interline the shuttle with other routes, so you never have one bus dedicated to just the shuttle. I think this is a good arrangement, since it allows for a more efficient distribution of buses around the system.
Cons: Although the Kennedy Center is a little out of the way from downtown, I can’t see someone dropping a whole dollar to ride this thing on its own. A 50 cent fare combined with the 15 minute headways would make this a great connection for tourists coming from the Commuter Rail. Sure, tourism to Lowell is probably not huge, but an advertising push for the shuttle could change that.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Lowell has a huge underside, for sure, but there’s no denying that this city has a ton of history. Its downtown is packed with museums and attractions, plus a ton of restaurants and businesses on Merrimack Street!

Final Verdict: 8/10
For its given purpose of connecting certain routes to downtown, the 18 does a great job. If the LRTA wanted to flesh it out a bit more and boost its ridership, they could try advertising it on Commuter Rail trains and trying to get more people to use it on its own, maybe with a lower fare. My dream downtown shuttle, of course, would be an extension of the Lowell Streetcar to the Kennedy Center. That would be the day…

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

LRTA: 16 (Chelmsford via Chelmsford Street)

Feb 13, 2018 | | 1 Comment

Another long deviation-filled route going from Drum Hill Plaza to Lowell? The 16 isn’t quite as crazy as the 17, but honestly, I think it might even be worse. Let’s find out why!

The bus coming into Drum Hill Plaza.

We left Drum Hill Plaza and made our way around onto Parkhurst Road. This led us around the back of the mall past some offices and an apartment development. We went under Route 3, then we made a sharp turn onto the windy residential Smith Street.

Yeah, I meant a sharp turn.

The road twisted past mostly houses, aside from a brief marshland break. The dwellings continued as we turned onto Stedman Street, as well as when we headed down Dalton Road. We eventually turned onto North Street, which took us over I-495.

This is pleasant!

It was much different on the other side, with some offices and a church along the road. Once we turned onto Fletcher Street, it got really ugly, with some really huge parking lots around more random office buildings. We made some quick turns on Chelmsford Street, Wilson Street, Billerica Road, Summer Street, and Chelmsford Street again, passing through really brief neighborhood changes.

Coming onto Chelmsford Street (for the first time).

Our second stint on Chelmsford Street led us past the Chelmsford Town Center shopping plaza and then the town center itself, which was very underwhelming. We left the center, and Chelmsford Street became a mess of suburban businesses with parking lots, but they went away soon after we went under I-495. In their place were houses on one side and offices on the other.

I was on the “houses” side.

Although we only deviated into the Chelmsford Mall (or Kohl’s Plaza, as LRTA calls it), there were plenty more shopping plazas to see, both before and after we went under Route 3. We went by a huge office tower called Crosspoint, and then we entered a dense residential area. Next, we turned onto Plain Street, taking us under the Lowell Connector highway on a deviation to the Meadow Brook Shopping Center. Fun.

A different mall, but they’re all the same anyway.

When we came back to Chelmsford Street, it was suburban businesses for a little while. Occasionally a few houses would try to sneak their way in, but to no avail – it was not a pretty road. And then, all of a sudden, we turned onto Thorndike Street and there we were at the Kennedy Center. That was unexpected!

Okay, this is a cool view, admittedly.

LRTA Route: 16 (Chelmsford via Chelmsford Street)

Ridership: The 16’s ridership is definitely below average, with just 245 riders per weekday and 118 per Saturday. My ride had about five people.

Pros: The section along Chelmsford Street is generally direct, so it serves the stuff along there well. Anything else? Uhh…the hourly schedule on Saturdays is nice…

Cons: I’ll talk about the weird weekday schedule first. The morning peak consists of a bus every 25 minutes, running only along the Chelmsford Street section, but that kind of service isn’t replicated in the evening peak, where service is every 40-50 minutes. Does this route even get peak hour ridership? Also, this thing is every 90 minutes middays, which is really infrequent, especially for LRTA standards. Oh, did I mention the route is a mess?

It’s no 17, but you’ve got a long way to go if you’re going from, say, Smith Street to Lowell.

Nearby and Noteworthy: A ton of suburban shopping plazas, and that’s about it. Have fun!

Final Verdict: 3/10
I would say that the 16’s route is a tiny bit better than the 17’s, if only because a larger section of it is direct. However, the 16 has a way more unnecessarily crazy schedule than the 17, so that’s its downfall back to the domain of a 3/10. They’re both twisty, awful routes, and it’s hard to say which is better or worse! The LRTA proposed replacing their weirdest sections (in the 16’s case, the bit from Chelmsford Town Center to Drum Hill Plaza) with a new suburban crosstown route. I’m not sure how much ridership that would get…

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

LRTA: 17 (North Chelmsford via Middlesex Street)

Feb 12, 2018 | | 0 Comments

Oh geez, this one is a mess. Here, take a look at the 17‘s map:

Alright, let’s take votes for what this thing looks like! Is it a dragon? Maybe a baby stroller? I feel like I’m looking at a constellation or something. Look, the point is that this thing is insane, and I wanted to ride every inch of it. The driver wasn’t exactly happy with my desires, but we’ll get to that…

An awkward shot of the back of the bus in Lowell.
Like all LRTA buses, we started the trip by going up Thorndike Street. We quickly turned off of it onto Middlesex Street, though, leading us into a semi-industrial area with businesses thrown in for good measure. There was a brief section on Branch Street, a parallel road to Middlesex Street – this was lined with dense houses and apartments.
Those bins are like soldiers defending the driveway!
By the time we returned to Middlesex Street, it too was residential, at least until…more industry and weird businesses. This section was a lot longer, culminating in some suburban businesses and shopping plazas near the intersection with Wood Street. Middlesex Street had lots of houses and apartment developments along it after that.
Blurrily going by one of the shopping plazas.

Suddenly we turned onto Brouilette Street, a narrow residential road that only lasted for a block. Once it ended, we turned onto Princeton Boulevard, which was also residential, but at least it felt like an actual street that could support a bus route. There were a few apartment developments, and then…hey, wait a minute…

This is the other side of that shopping plaza from the last picture!
A block away from where we had originally crossed it, we turned onto Wood Street, which twisted past some more residential developments. Once it became Westford Street, it became lined with a ton of suburban businesses with parking lots, and we entered Chelmsford soon after. We then deviated into Drum Hill Plaza, a mall that also plays host to the 5 and the 16.
Walmaht!
We went back up Westford Street a bit before turning onto Technology Drive. As the corporate name suggests, this took us past a bunch of office parks. There were some apartments as we turned onto North Road, which eventually became Princeton Street. This was a hodgepodge of houses, businesses, industrial buildings, and weird old factories!
Oh, and some telephone wires, too.
We came into Vinal Square eventually, which was less of a “square” and more of an insane five-way intersection with a few random businesses to the side. We merged onto Groton Road from here, which was mostly residential. After going by Freeman Lake, the driver randomly pulled into an American Legion building (completely skipping a loop we were supposed to do) and shut off the bus.
The lake!
“Alright, where are you going?” the driver yelled to the other passenger still on the bus. “The senior center,” he replied. “I knew it!” the driver shouted. “You could’ve just let me know and I would’ve gone there!” Okay, how was he supposed to know that? But then the driver turned to me and asked where I was going. “Is it okay if I go back to Drum Hill Plaza?” I asked. Boy, that was a mistake. “WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST GET OFF THERE WHEN WE GOT THERE? YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO WAIT NOW!” And then I heard her mutter “Idiots…” under her breath. I’m sorry!!!
The view from our “layover point.”
So we left and headed up to the Chelmsford Senior Center to drop our other passenger off. I guess we were still early, though, because we returned to the American Legion building to lay over some more! Heading out for the second time, now we did that loop we were supposed to do before. It just involved going down Groton Road and turning around to the other direction via Lynn and Main Streets, both residential.
This is where the bus is supposed to lay over, according to the schedule.
We went by that pond for the third time and did the senior center deviation again. We finally stopped retracing our steps after that, as we headed onto the residential Dunstable Road. It was lined with suburban houses, and they continued as we merged onto Mission Road, a much narrower and more local-feeling street.
This is pleasant!
We soon turned onto another local street, Wood Street, and then a very much not local street, Tyngsborough Road. This paralleled the Merrimack River (and a single train track), which occupied one side of it, while the other side had apartment developments, houses, and suburban businesses. Truly, it was a big change in scenery.
There are even gaudy billboards! Nice!
As we came away from the river, the apartment developments, houses, and suburban businesses moved to both sides of the road. We came back to Vinal Square and its weird retail blocks, then Middlesex Street got more residential – there were still some old factories and suburban businesses too, though. We eventually turned onto the tiny Brouilette Street again, but we did a right onto Princeton Street instead of a left like what we had done before.

Vinal Square. Is that a tiny bowling alley??

We passed a bunch of houses, but soon the road got really wide in preparation for the intersection with North Road. We turned onto it, finally giving the route bidirectional service somewhere! From here, it was old news: we went down Technology Drive again, then we turned onto Drum Hill Road and entered Drum Hill Plaza. This is where I finally left the bus, because luckily, it has no loopiness on its way back to Lowell.

A 17 going the other way came in just after my bus left!

LRTA Route: 17 (North Chelmsford via Middlesex Street)

Ridership: The 17 gets pretty meager ridership, with only 302 riders per weekday and 83 per Saturday. It’s just barely over the LRTA’s weekday average of 283 riders (and far below the Saturday one of 140), but I’ll bet if you factored the route’s school trips out of the equation, it would be below average. My Saturday trip, for the record, got five people.

Pros: If they’re willing to sit through 45 minutes of loopy deviations, then I guess residents of North Chelmsford would appreciate this route. I’m sure it gets much better ridership on the Lowell portion, where it’s actually straight and it takes the same route going outbound and inbound. The route’s schedule is typical LRTA, with hourly service on weekdays and Saturdays.

Cons: Look, this route flat-out sucks. I showed you the map. It’s a mess. Sure, it may be the only route to serve North Chelmsford (when the rare 19 isn’t running, anyway), but it does so in such a way that it’s almost completely useless for anyone who wants to actually get anywhere. I don’t think it can be improved without having to add another bus somewhere or eliminating important sections of the route. Oh, also, for all those crazy loops and deviations, you’re spending a 50 cent premium over the normal LRTA fare because this is a “suburban” route. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense!

Nearby and Noteworthy: Remember that bowling alley in Vinal Square I was talking about? Apparently it’s awesome.

Final Verdict: 3/10
The 17 is clearly useful for some people, but even a 3 seems to be pushing it. This thing makes no sense! Heck, there are huge swaths of the route that require passengers to wait through the Chelmsford layover to get to! The LRTA wants to split this into two routes, with one going straight down Middlesex Street from Lowell and another acting as a suburban crosstown shuttle from Triangle Store to the Chelmsford Town Center mall. Interesting proposal, but I can’t see the crosstown one getting a lot of people.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

LRTA: 10 (Dracut/Tyngsboro)

Feb 11, 2018 | | 4 Comments

I wasn’t about to hang out at the Pheasant Lane Mall waiting for the next 19! No, I decided to take a lovely walk into Massachusetts, across the Merrimack River, and back up to New Hampshire to Ayotte’s Stateline Market, the terminus of the 10. And since this is our last official NH bus review, we must say the classic line once more, with passion: “LIVE FREE OR DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Ahem. Sorry about that.

The bus just before the border.
Okay, it technically doesn’t go into New Hampshire, and I’m sure it was a very deliberate decision to put the stop on the barren south side of Ayotte’s parking lot, since it’s in Massachusetts. We soon left the lot and headed down Frost Road, which had the feel of a quant middle-of-nowhere residential neighborhood. That feeling continued as we turned onto Lakeview Ave.
Not a great picture, but this is the kind of atmosphere I’m talking about!
It stayed residential for quite a while, but more buildings of different uses started to crop up. We passed a church, a fire station, and an auto shop, all as the houses and street blocks were starting to get denser. The first major break from the dwellings was where Lakeview Ave merged with Parham Road; here, we got some suburban businesses.
Who cares about the ugly businesses? Here are some more houses!
Briefly running alongside a lake, we entered Dracut and the street became Tyngsboro Road. We went through an apartment development and passed some more suburban retail, then there was a normal residential section. I’m not quite sure why, but the inbound and outbound routes of the 10 split up here – the inbound stays on Tyngsboro Road, while the outbound runs via Nashua Road and Stewart Street.
Coming out of Tyngsboro Road.
There were some businesses as we turned onto Nashua Road, briefly rejoining the outbound route before another split: we stayed on Nashua and turned onto Lakeview Ave, while the outbound goes on Varnum Road. Lakeview Ave had a bit of everything along it, including houses, a park, a funeral home, an auto shop, and some businesses.
“Costello Square.”
We rejoined the outbound route at what Google Maps calls Costello Square, but there was no square – it was just a bunch of ugly suburban businesses. Further down the road, we went by some old factories that are slowly being redeveloped and the awesome waterfall right next to them. It went back to being residential after that, but the houses were much smaller and closer together now.
The waterfall!
The houses ended quickly, being replaced by suburban retail on one side and huge elementary, middle, and high school campuses on the other. Once the schools stopped, it was just a strange combination of houses and suburban businesses, with much of the latter located in industrial-looking buildings. There was a burst of retail where we turned onto Pleasant Street, though that turned back to mostly houses.
Making the turn onto Pleasant Street.
There was another quick section of suburban retail at the intersection with Hildreth Street, then we suddenly turned onto the narrow residential Greenmont Ave. The road made a 90 degree turn to the right, then we took Bridge Street back down to Pleasant, making me wonder why we didn’t just stay on Pleasant the whole time. On weekdays the route just stays on Bridge Street, but there’s an additional deviation on Saturdays…
Going from Greenmont Ave to…Greenmont Ave.
We thus turned onto Arlington Street, which had many different buildings along it, including Dracut Town Hall. Next, we headed up Broadway Road, leading us up to Village Square Plaza, into which we deviated. The reason the 10 does this is because the route that serves it on weekdays, the 1, gets combined with the 8 on Saturdays and doesn’t serve the plaza; the 10 covers for it.
Turning within the plaza.
We came back to where we had started the deviation, and now we turned onto Bridge Street. This took us into Lowell, where we passed another shopping center, some houses, and a field. Past that point, it started to feel a lot more urban, with dense apartments and businesses with (slightly smaller) parking lots lining the road.
A wide side street.
We went over Bridge Street’s namesake, which led us over the Merrimack River. There was some classic Lowell architecture on the other side, namely old factories and canals. Next, we turned onto Merrimack Street, the main drag of downtown Lowell.
Crossing the Merrimack River.
After the many businesses of Merrimack Street, we turned onto Dutton Street. This paralleled a canal and the Lowell Streetcar, as well as some shuttered brick buildings on the other side. It curved its way over the Pawtucket Canal to become Thorndike Street, and a few moments later, we pulled into the Kennedy Center.
Back up in New Hampshire. That was quite a journey!
LRTA Route: 10 (Dracut/Tyngsboro)
Ridership: Well, the darn LRTA doesn’t seem to have public ridership data for this one, so I’ll have to go with what I saw on my ride. Now, it was predictably low, with only 6 people riding on my inbound Saturday morning trip. Surprisingly, though, 3 got on in the almost rural-feeling area up in Tyngsboro, so it’s clear that the 10 still offers an important service to all of its destinations.
Pros: You would think Tyngsboro is too sparse to justify a bus route, but apparently the 10 is somewhat popular out there! As a whole, it may not serve the most urban areas in the world, but it offers a reliable connection to Lowell six days a week, every hour, and I think a decent amount of people use it.
Cons: Two really minor complaints: why does the route split into inbound and outbound sections in western Dracut, and why does the time of the hourly departure switch on occasion throughout the day on weekdays?
Nearby and Noteworthy: My favorite part about the 10 was probably my walk to it – Tyngsboro is a scenic town, even if there isn’t much to do.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Unless I find out that the 10’s ridership is really low, I think this is a great suburban route. Based on my ride, it seems to get a fine amount of people even near its rural terminus, and it connects them up to Lowell. There’s even a 6:10 AM trip so people can commute to the Commuter Rail to Boston. This is probably the most “out there” the LRTA gets, but as long as folks use it (and they seem to), it’s a great little route.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

LRTA: 19 (SEASONAL: Pheasant Lane Mall via Middlesex Street)

Feb 10, 2018 | | 1 Comment

A holiday season-only bus route in February? Well, it’s better than a summer-only route in January! Not only does the elusive 19 only run from Black Friday to the beginning of the new year, but it also travels to New Hampshire! I’m very excited to say their state motto later on!!!

This is a rare sight, guys!

We headed up Thorndike Street from the Kennedy Center before quickly turning onto Middlesex Street. This was a mix of industrial buildings and businesses (some closed permanently), but it soon got residential – the road became lined with dense houses and apartments. Once we arrived at the intersection of Middlesex and Pawtucket, there was a burst of industry before it turned over to suburban retail.

Yuck.

There was a long stretch where the road had a little bit of everything alongside it, continuing as we entered Chelmsford. Once we hit Vinal Square, though, it was definitively all businesses…not very interesting businesses, but businesses. We merged onto Tyngsborough Road after that, another mix of houses, retail, and industry, with the added bonus of random patches of forest.

A few train tracks!

The road eventually came up next to the Merrimack River, with a single train track being the only thing separating us from it. The scenery was still all over the place, even as we entered Tyngsborough and our street became Middlesex Road. We arrived at Tyngsborough Center soon, which consisted of a few businesses, a fire station, and the old town hall.

This is about it for Tyngsborough Center.

It was diverse scenery again after that. Keep in mind that I don’t mean nice diverse scenery – it was really ugly! The buildings were ebbing more and more towards suburban businesses, and eventually we reached a shopping plaza to deviate into. It was a very boring plaza…

Yawn!

We crossed Middlesex Road into the Pheasant Lane Mall. This was our last stop, but it was a much more substantial mall than the one we had deviated into before. Now, technically the bus never enters New Hampshire: a portion of the mall’s parking lot is in Massachusetts, and the bus only stays in that bit. But still, the mall itself is all in Nashua, NH, so…LIVE FREE OR DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, it’s a 20 now? Alright, then…

LRTA Route: 19 (SEASONAL: Pheasant Lane Mall via Middlesex Street)

Ridership: There are no online statistics for the 19’s ridership, but I think it’s pretty good. I mean, my ride got 12 people…on the day after Black Friday! Who the heck shops on that day? I’ll bet it was insane the day before.

Pros: The Pheasant Lane Mall is unquestionably the most popular mall in the area, so the connection provided by the 19 is crucial. The trip from the Kennedy Center to the mall is about 35 minutes, so it’s not competitive with driving from a timing perspective (driving takes about half the time), but having a transit connection is still important and the route is well-used. It even offers a connection with the Nashua Transit System!

Cons: Let’s face it, this thing needs to run all year. I’m sure it would get great ridership if it did! Also, even when it does run, the frequency is pretty bad – the bus runs every 80-90 minutes. It would be great if it could run every hour, and if it ran all year, it could interline with another route to achieve that frequency.

Nearby and Noteworthy: There really isn’t much along the way until you get to the Pheasant Lane Mall – that is the one and only draw to the 19, as far as I’m concerned.

Final Verdict: 6/10
This route is important, and I’m glad that it runs in the first place. That being said, it would be way better if it could operate during the rest of the year, too! Perhaps there’s a conflict with the State of New Hampshire regarding service areas that prevents the route from running outside the holiday season, although the thing never actually enters NH, so I don’t see the problem. Of course, I’m no expert in this topic, so take my complaints with a grain of salt. It would still be great if this was a full-year service, though.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

LRTA: 12 (Tewksbury via Route 38/Wilmington Train Station)

Feb 9, 2018 | | 2 Comments

Hey, the LRTA is a thing! Yeah, I’ve made the least progress with LRTA, so it’s time to change that. Here’s the suburban 12 route from Wilmington to Lowell!

Good to be on this system again!

We headed out from the Wilmington Commuter Rail station onto Main Street, going through what I presume to be is downtown Wilmington. If so, all it consisted of was suburban businesses with parking lots and strange industrial buildings with parking lots. The road eventually opened up for two shopping plazas, one on each side…with parking lots.

One of the plazas.

It got residential soon after that, though we still got some random retail buildings mixed in there. We also passed Silver Lake, offering a great view, but then it was more of the same until a brief section of woods. It went back to being ugly suburban businesses after the forest, where we entered the town of Tewksbury.

The lake.

Hey, here’s a nice part where we go over the Shawsheen River! Okay, back to gross businesses again. Oh, and the Tewksbury Country Club with its golf course that somehow managed to squeeze between them. We turned onto Livingston Street at the Country Club, running past some athletic facilities and apartment developments.

A patch of nothingness between the fields and the apartments.

We suddenly turned onto a rather shoddy road, taking us up to the Tewksbury State Hospital. After looping around the campus, we headed down to East Street, going by some houses and a cemetery. This led us to Tewksbury Center, or rather, a hodgepodge of municipal buildings loosely clustered around a common. It wasn’t much.

Well, the common is nice, I will say.

What came after we merged back with Main Street? More suburban businesses? Sigh…well, okay. There was at least a break for some pylons and a few houses mixed in, but eventually Main Street started to get quite wide. This led us into…a Walmart deviation. Boy oh boy, it doesn’t get better than this.

Not Walmart, but still ech.

We passed more suburban businesses back on Main Street before going under I-495. After that, it was time for another deviation, this one into Stadium Plaza. We entered Lowell from there, and the street became Rogers Street. It still had the same ol’ ugly scenery, though…

Hey, something different!

Okay, eventually things started to change. The businesses were getting less prominent, replaced by dense urban houses. After passing a park, the transformation was complete and we were now in a residential area. Rogers Street curved around past another park, then we turned onto High Street, which was lined with more dense homes.

The sun is in my eyes!

We soon turned onto Andover Street, which took us over the Concord River. We were in downtown Lowell on the other side, although at this point it was just a lot of boring buildings. Once we merged onto Green Street and it became Middlesex Street, we were now in the thick of things, with…boring buildings, but taller. Well, admittedly, the route doesn’t really go into true downtown Lowell. Finally, we turned onto Thorndike Street, taking us down to the Kennedy Center.

I don’t have anything at the Kennedy Center, so here’s another one at Wilmington. “Happy holidays”!

LRTA Route: 12 (Tewksbury via Route 38/Wilmington Train Station)

Ridership: The 12 got fairly average ridership in 2015, with 274 riders per weekday and 152 per Saturday. The weekday total was slightly below the LRTA average, the Saturday total was slightly above it. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised with how many people rode my bus on a Saturday morning: there were 10 going into Lowell. Sure, it’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s a good amount for one of the first trips of the day!

Pros: Offering a mostly direct route through Tewksbury with hourly headways six days per week, the 12 serves as an important suburban connector. It links up residences, malls, and the Tewksbury State Hospital to Lowell and Wilmington Stations, so there are a lot of places people can take this.

Cons: As much as I harped on the scenery, there isn’t much wrong with the 12. A slight nitpick is that the departure times shift forward by ten minutes in the late afternoon on weekdays, which is a little annoying.

Nearby and Noteworthy: You read the post. I didn’t like what I saw along this one…

Final Verdict: 8/10
This is a great route that serves all of the major ridership draws of Tewksbury. It’s used by shoppers, people going to the hospital, and maybe even commuters heading for Wilmington Station (although one earlier trip would be much more helpful for that). It’s just a shame the 134 can’t be extended just a little further from its terminus to create another MBTA-LRTA connection!

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

GATRA: Medway T Shuttle

Feb 8, 2018 | | 10 Comments

Oh man, I always get so excited when I do a GATRA review! How many deviations will we make? How few people will use the route? Well, the Medway T Shuttle makes no deviations…and gets lots of people. Huh.

The minibus: a bright haven in the middle of the darkness.

The bus was boarding on the far end of Norfolk Station, so Nathan and I had to run to get to it so it wouldn’t leave without us. I couldn’t see a farebox, so I just tried to give the money to the driver. He pointed down. Oh, okay, sorry I didn’t see your awful tin can farebox on the floor! “Good job,” the driver said sarcastically as I put the money in. Alright, screw you too…

Middle of nowhere + darkness = awful pictures.

We didn’t even touch downtown Norfolk, running straight up Rockwood Road through a residential area. It certainly wasn’t urban, but the houses were closer together here than they would eventually become. After going under some pylons, the road curved past a housing development, but it got no ridership – we were sailing past everything.

I have no idea what this is, but here it is!

Once we entered Millis, the road became Norfolk Road, and there started to be long sections of woods. We went over a tiny unimportant creek, and…wait, that’s the Charles River? Okay, we went over the “mighty” Charles River before turning onto the very narrow Baltimore Street, a residential road.

I think we’re making a turn here?

We headed onto Pleasant Street for a block before going down the tiny Dyer Street. This led us to Village Street, which was actually a normal road of normal width. There was a good amount of houses along here that continued as we entered Medway, and yet still nobody got off the bus.

Who knows what this is?

Finally, we arrived at Medway Village, the center of town. Truly, this was the heart of civilization…featuring a pizza shop, two churches, an auto shop, a post office, and a town hall. Well, regardless of its small size, a few people got off here.

There we go! It’s a legible image!

 After Medway Village, we merged onto Holliston Street, which quickly became just houses again. We took it up to the Medway Middle School, the route’s final stop. Well, that’s a strange place to end it, isn’t it? No, not really, as it turns out – GATRA has a nice park-and-ride here, and though it’s in bad shape, it works fine.

No, let us stay on please!

Okay, one small important detail I forgot to mention is that the Medway Shuttle is one-way. So…Nathan and I had to walk back to Norfolk Station. Psh, it would definitely be a piece of cake. After all, the walk back to Medway Village was lovely – the street had a sidewalk and it was very nice walking through the town center. Then we turned onto Himelfarb Street…

All of a sudden we lost the sidewalk. It was just us on the dark road. Every time a car came, we had to duck into a driveway. “Woof, woof!” barked a rabid dog across the street, trying to get free of its chain so it could murder us for a light snack. “Don’t worry,” his owner shouted from the house, “he doesn’t bite!” Okay, if you say so…

We merged onto Myrtle Street and came across a set of pylons going across the road. I was all set to go under them, but Nathan had second thoughts. “Let me just shine my flashlight to see where we’re going,” he said as he turned it on from his phone…and right in our path were downed power lines. Right there. We could’ve died!!!!

A small bridge over the Charles River actually had a sidewalk, then we arrived at a strange ice arena in the middle of nowhere. “Left here,” Nathan said. We turned onto Dean Street, but we ran into an obstacle in the form of a house with demonic Christmas lawn ornaments outside. After darting between the abominable snowman from Rudolph, a huge Minion from Despicable Me, and a strange cutout of Buddy the Elf, we had to cross the power lines again. Nathan immediately turned on the flashlight.

“Is this the right way?” I eventually asked. “I think so,” Nathan replied, “I’ll check the map to make sure.” Nope – we were going in the complete opposite direction. “I don’t think we’re going to make the train,” I said. “We might still have a chance!” Nathan replied. He checked his watch. “Maybe…”

As we were going through the maze of lawn ornaments again, I said a little too loudly that they were awful and creepy. “Don’t say that,” Nathan said, “We might get shot.” Right after, the door of the house opened up behind us and someone started to step out. We bolted into the night.

Medway Street was the longest section of our walk. It was also the worst street in the history of the universe. Again, there were no sidewalks, but this time the houses and driveways were further apart. Every time we reached one, we instinctively ducked into it in case any harsh headlights from cars came speeding down the road. The weirdest one by far was a big Hummer, decked out in a ton of different lights, speeding down the road far faster than it should’ve been going. Why did it have so many neon lights on it? Why was it going so fast?

Medway Street never ended. It just kept on going and going and going. “What if we die along here?” I asked Nathan. “What if I collapse to the floor and an angel comes to pick me up?” “What would the angel look like?” Nathan asked. “A GATRA minibus,” I replied, “and it would make a million deviations on the way to heaven.”

More Medway Street. Why was this road so long? Shoot, another car is coming, let’s duck into a driveway. Wait…those lights…that speed…the Hummer was back! I legitimately braced myself for a gunshot…but it never came. The ghost Hummer sped off for the second time, in the opposite direction.

Why did they call Medway Street a “street”? That suggests a relatively urban environment, or perhaps a sidewalk? Medway ROAD would be a much more fitting name. Wait…what’s that down there? Is that…the end? WE MADE IT! WE CONQUERED MEDWAY STREET!!!! I HAD NEVER FELT HAPPIER IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!

WE WERE SO HAPPY WE ACTUALLY TOOK A SELFIE!

What wonders awaited us along the uncharted territory of Main Street? A sidewalk? Streetlights? And…civilization! I’ve never been so excited to be in a place as boring as Norfolk Center! We had conquered this horrible walk. We deserved something to eat.

A pungent smell arose as we entered Norfolk Town Pizza. A TV was blaring some trashy game show above the dirty tables. We silently agreed that our orders would be to go. We got our slices in bags, which I thought was a little weird and unwieldy, and once we started eating on the Norfolk Station mini-high platform, it turned out it was plain ol’ bad pizza, too. Sigh…we survived Medway Street for this?

Oh yeah…I’m supposed to be writing about buses…

GATRA Route: Medway T Shuttle

Ridership: Well, at first glance, the ridership of 51 people per day doesn’t seem too high. But then you look at the productivity: 36 passengers per hour. Then you see the farebox recovery ratio: 41%, compared to the GATRA average of 8.2%. And finally, we see the subsidy per passenger: $1.30, versus the average of $11.83. Yeah, this is an amazing route for GATRA standards.

Pros: Like I said, the numbers for this route are great. This is the best-performing route on GATRA overall, which is quite an achievement. As a route, it gets plenty of ridership on its three trips in each direction, and for only a dollar, this is a great last-mile connection from the train. It’s awesome that it has a free park-and-ride at the middle school, too.

Cons: As far as the route goes, its biggest con is in the evening rush schedule. For some reason, the route is shown as departing three minutes before each Commuter Rail train arrives! It obviously doesn’t play out this way, but it could be very confusing for new riders. Also, of all routes for GATRA not to run all day, it’s seriously this one? There are a few shopping plazas out near I-495 that it could run to on a midday schedule, and it would be able to service them every hour.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Well, currently, there isn’t much. All you’ve really got is Medway Village, and that’s a very small town center.

Final Verdict: 8/10
Of course GATRA’s best-performing route has to get a high score! Now granted, it’s just a rush hour-only commuter shuttle with three trips in each direction, but it still performs that function well. It seems like the route would do well with midday service too, although it only satisfies the shopping mall part of the suburban bus route equation – there are no housing developments to serve, so there may not be a lot of people that would ride middays. Regardless, a bunch of people do during rush hour, and it works great. Also, for the record, Medway Street gets a 1/10, and I hope to never see it ever again.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

Plimptonville

Feb 7, 2018 | | 13 Comments

This is the mother of Commuter Rail microstations: one train in the morning and one train in the evening. Plimptonville is a tiny stop in the middle of nowhere within Walpole, and it gets the lowest ridership on the entire system. Could this be the worst station on the whole Commuter Rail?

Hmm…

The station comes out of nowhere as you go down Plimpton Street: the road weaves its way past houses and trees before all of a sudden, there it is. It’s very easy to miss if you’re not looking, since all there is on the roadside is a dirt patch. When Nathan and I came here, a car was parked in it, but it might have been waiting to pick someone up. If not, then we can officially report that Plimptonville has one whole parking space! Maybe two if someone gets creative!

This is it…

Walking through a huge puddle covered in leaves, we arrive at the platform. It’s…well, the picture shows it. It’s just this tiny stretch of asphalt. Okay, this isn’t the worst station on the Commuter Rail. It’s at least better than Hastings. Look, it’s paved! And there’s a yellow line! But best of all, there’s a station sign. Yes, an actual station sign. So, we can definitively say that Plimptonville is better than Hastings. We can also definitively say that it’s still awful.

One of two trains that stop here…not that it looks like it’s going to stop.

Station: Plimptonville

Ridership: As expected, this is the least-used station on the Commuter Rail. It can’t quite be counted on your fingers, but if you throw in a foot, you can get to it: 13 inbound riders per day. That could also be phrased as 13 riders per train, since there’s, you know, only one per day.

Pros: It has a sign!

Cons: This isn’t difficult to figure out: it gets one train per day and its platform is a tiny asphalt stub of nothingness. End of story.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Most of the area around Plimptonville is residential. However, if you really want to get to the Super Stop & Shop in Walpole, this is the best station for you! Sure, it’s a 10-minute walk and you would be much better off taking the frequent-by-comparison 34E, but…look, it’s the closest attraction, alright?

Final Verdict: 1/10
I do hope this isn’t a surprise! It sucks.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

Windsor Gardens

Feb 6, 2018 | | 3 Comments

The Franklin Line deviates to serve a housing development? WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO??? Okay, okay, it’s not a deviation, it’s right there on the line. And Windsor Gardens Station actually gets great ridership considering what it’s serving. So no, this won’t be quite as exciting as if the train deviated – that would be quite the review!

This is basically it…

We are dealing with a barebones platform here. It’s single-track, and most of it is entirely bare – and I do mean entirely. Near the main entrance we’ve got a station sign, a digital sign, and a wastebasket. Over at the end of the platform, there’s another wastebasket and a tiny wooden shelter with a few benches in it. The end!

Up at the shelter.

Okay, okay, there’s more to talk about. Although the station doesn’t have much, it’s got peacefulness on its side: you’re right in the middle of the woods here, and a tiny creek runs along the station, creating a tranquil sound and atmosphere. The station is directly connected with The Commons at Windsor Gardens, a big apartment development, and there are two ways to get to it. The first is an entrance near the shelter that serves the northern part of the complex, while the main one is a really nice wooden bridge over the creek into the development’s southern section.

I can’t say I’m not questioning the legality of this.

What about the sizeable residential neighborhoods to the east of the station, though? It’s entirely focused on getting people to Windsor Gardens, yet there are dense houses to the east, including another development. Well, when Nathan and I were here, we managed to catch someone walking down the tracks and disappearing to the left. Was there a secret exit? Time to investigate!

Wow, the legends are true!
Yes, there is a secret exit, and it’s surprisingly accessible as far as secret exits go. I mean, okay, the path is a rocky leafy mess, but someone conveniently slung a chain between some trees to improve the trip. It’s rusty, but it works, and by grabbing it on the way, a reasonably fit person can get to the eastern neighborhoods. So…why does eastern access have to be with this rugged path?
Hopefully no one was going to the path at this very moment…
Station: Windsor Gardens

Ridership: The station has low ridership for Franklin Line standards – it’s the third least-used one – but it’s still great. On the average weekday, Windsor Gardens gets 624 inbound riders every day. I mean, considering it almost exclusively serves a housing development, that’s high ridership!

Pros: The station’s tranquility is its biggest asset. The creek offers a lovely sound and ambience that you don’t find often on the Commuter Rail, while the station’s shelter is quite cozy. If one lives in The Commons at Windsor Garden, the station is perfect for them!

Cons: Not only is the platform not accessible, but it has barely anything on it. Considering how many people use it, the one shelter is not enough – benches could easily just be spread around the rest of the platform, and this problem could be solved. Something that requires more infrastructure is east side access, though. That path is dangerous, despite its convenient chain – it would be great if the T could step in and build a staircase in its place. Finally, the station has no inbound service after the 6:11 PM train on weekdays, but I don’t think it’s too big of a deal – who’s going to Boston from here after that?

Nearby and Noteworthy: The Commons is really all that’s close by. If you’re willing to walk for about 10-15 minutes, you’ll find a shopping plaza where you can pretend you’re on the PVTA as you visit its Big Y.

Final Verdict: 5/10
Unfortunately, there’s no way to improve this one without at least some spending on infrastructure. Throwing around some benches isn’t expensive, but it would be great if the T could obtain some information about how many people utilize the path to the east. If it’s a good amount, a staircase would be an excellent investment, because the current situation is awful. But hey, at least the station is peaceful!

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

Harvard Shuttle: 1636’er (Quad – Peabody Terrace – Mather House via Memorial Hall)

Feb 5, 2018 | | 2 Comments

It’s the Saturday before Halloween. We’re riding a bus route around a college campus in the late evening. Oh boy, this should be fun…

Thanks for being slow!

Hot of the heels of our Evening Van trip, Jaret, Nathan, and I needed to get back to civilization from our random location in Allston. “We could do the 1636’er!” Nathan proclaimed. “WOAH!” I shouted. He checked the tracker and saw that a bus was on its way to Mather House. With this information, the three of us started sprinting, getting over the North Harvard Street Bridge and along Memorial Drive – I was yelling “Shout,” by the Isley Brothers at the top of my lungs for some reason. We thought we were goners, but it turned out the driver of the bus was really slow. We were able to catch up with it at Mather House and board! And none of that was anywhere near the craziest part of the night…

The calm before the storm.

As the bus waited at Mather House, people steadily streamed in, some wearing Halloween costumes. They were fairly normal here, with a lot of one-piece furry suits. There were some standees as we left, turning onto Banks Street in order to serve Peabody Terrace (although the schedule claims the bus serves Peabody Terrace before Mather House – that’s wrong). No one got on here, and the bus had to shift in reverse to get out of the dead-end loop. All the lights went out when it did that, leading to a chorus of “Ooooh”‘s from the passengers.

Oh, of course there had to be some sort of image plastered on the outside of the bus. Great. Enjoy the dots in every picture!

The marvel of the lights being off ended when we shifted back into forward gear and went the other way down Banks Street. It was residential, but once we turned onto Mount Auburn Street, it was much denser and there were many more businesses. We looped around onto Mass Ave next, passing tons of retail and apartments as we came into Harvard Square.

I think this is at the Lamont Library?

As we went alongside Harvard Yard and arrived at the Holyoke Gate stop, I looked out and saw a huge crowd of people. What was going on? Oh no…they were all passengers for this bus! People crammed into the vehicle without any consideration for personal space, and it was a proper crush load – passengers were far ahead of the white line in the front that isn’t supposed to be crossed. Also, the costumes in this crowd were getting crazier: one guy was a shirtless fireman, while there were some scantily clad women who didn’t seem to be dressed as anything at all!

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!

We continued around Harvard Yard, going by Harvard Station and tons of Harvard Square businesses. As we were curving around onto Garden Street, the driver made a sudden stop for a red light and a collective scream arose from the passengers as the crowd surged forward. Some people fell over!

Well, let’s just keep going, then…
We made it onto Garden Street, going along the Cambridge Common, while apartments and historic churches lined the other side of the road. With so many people on board a single vehicle, there’s bound to be perspiration, and this was no exception – it was fogging up the windows. I needed a clear window for pictures, but considering where the condensation was coming from, I wiped it off with my sleeve. Some people, though, decided to create little designs in it. They ranged from names to hearts, and surprisingly, there were no phallic symbols of any kind! I suppose those smart Harvard students are above that kind of thing, and I approve!
Beautiful artwork.
There was a brief residential section, but then we arrived at the Quad. Looping around into it via Linnaean Street, a ton of people got out here, making the vehicle at least a little less stuffy. We had a layover here, which allowed us to witness the happenings outside. It looks like there’s a party here at the Quad, everything is normal…woah, okay, now people are fighting to keep each other from getting onto the bus? Is this a joke? Okay, wow, that beer bottle did in fact just break into a million pieces on the ground from the fight. Alright, then, no one step on that!
The Quad looks so calm in this picture…
After that mess, we came back down Garden Street to Mass Ave, heading north on it this time. We picked up a ton more people at the Garden Street stop, so the bus was almost as crowded as before, with just as much chatter. At one point we were all treated to a rousing chorus of Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” from some girls in the back, who sang the song’s most profane line with as much gusto as possible.
I have no idea where this is, but I feel like I should.
We turned onto Everett Street, then Oxford Street, leading us to the stop across from the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Nearly the entire bus, including the three of us, got off here, and it was clear why: there was a massive line for another party in some building. Also, can I just say that I have never appreciated fresh air as much as I did this evening? The bus continued along its route back to Mather House like a Mather Express would go, and I was so happy to see it leave.
We have been on this bus for too long!
Harvard Shuttle Route: 1636’er (Quad – Peabody Terrace – Mather House via Memorial Hall)
Ridership: Too many people to count. I mean, there were two separate parts on the route where the bus was crush loaded, so I feel like we carried at least a hundred people on the trip! It was like a tavern – everyone was talkative and every time someone got on, there were shouts from various groups who knew the person. I’m sure Halloween made this night a special case, but crowding on this route is still a norm on Saturday nights.
Pros: For what it’s worth, they run this route very well. It’s weekends only, and it runs every 20 minutes from 4:30 PM until around midnight – pretty frequent! It serves most of the Harvard campus and does all the typical deviations that the normal routes do.
Cons: There are caveats to both of those pros. First, the route is scheduled to have both of its buses go on break at the same time, leading to as much as an hour and fifteen minute gap in service from 7:30 to around 9! Why couldn’t the breaks be staggered so that less service is lost? I hate to think of how packed the bus must get just after the break! Speaking of crowding, that is definitely a problem for the 1636’er, and the route could absolutely stand to be more frequent. How could that be achieved? Well, for starters, let’s eliminate the Peabody Terrace deviation! It takes up a bunch of time, and not a soul used it on my trip! Seriously, that could save over five minutes of scheduled travel time, and if a layover were cut down somewhere (if possible), service could be reduced to every fifteen minutes.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Tons of parties, apparently. Parties with some very crazy people.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Okay, it probably sounded like I was gonna give this route a 4, didn’t it? Well…the thing is, despite its problems, the 1636’er is a good service. It’s frequent, it runs reliably from what I saw, and it connects the Harvard campus in a relatively efficient way. Yes, the driver breaks should be staggered and Peabody Terrace seems to be completely pointless, but they’re not route-destroying problems. Even the crowding isn’t that big of a deal when you think about it – most passengers on this route are travelling for very short distances, so they don’t have to deal with it for that long.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

Harvard Shuttle: Evening Van Service

Feb 3, 2018 | | 0 Comments

Nathan was working at Harvard for a while, and one of the perks of that position was access to their Evening Van Service, an Uber-like minibus that runs around the Harvard area from 7 PM to 3 AM. We were looking at its service area on the app to try to find the weirdest place to get on, and one location immediately caught our eye: a splotch separated from everything else on Walden Street. Well, of course we had to see what that was all about!

Okay then…

It was just a few apartment buildings that had seemingly no affiliation with Harvard. Now that we were here, we pulled up the app and told the bus to take us to some random location in Allston – we were trying to travel through as much of the service area as possible. We were told it would be about a nine minute wait, and soon after that, we got a text saying the bus was on its way. Using the app to track the bus, we were all ready to get on when it arrived in a timely manner.

Man, it’s weird seeing a minibus out here!

This was one of the very rare times where I actually took notes on board a bus. Why did I have to? Because we did the craziest route to get down to Allston and I had to write down each and every street we took! Okay, it started out logically enough: we went down Walden Street and turned onto the residential Raymond Street.

Not even the power of a rear window could save the quality of these pictures…

Once we turned onto Linnaean Street, we were within Harvard territory: the Quad was on the south side of the road. We turned onto Garden Street for a block, then Bond Street for a block, then Concord Ave for a block, then Craigie Street for…three blocks. Boy, talk about a substantial portion on one road there!

One of the few pictures whose location I could actually identify because of the trackless trolley – this is Mount Auburn Street.

We turned onto Sparks Street next, taking us down to Mount Auburn Street. We had been passing houses and apartments this entire time, but on Mount Auburn Street, there was a scenery change because we had the Charles River on one side. However, we got even closer to it when we made our way onto Memorial Drive, which was a strange place to be on a minibus.

Sailing down Memorial Drive!

We turned onto North Harvard Street next, taking us over the Charles River into Boston. There were more Harvard buildings on the other side, mostly dorms and athletic facilities, including the massive Harvard Stadium. There were some businesses where we took a right onto Western Ave, and finally, we headed onto Riverdale Street. This was just a random residential neighborhood we chose to go to, and now we had to find a way to get back, but hey – we got there in great time!

Off to return to the yard.

Harvard Shuttle Route: Evening Van Service

Ridership: Ridership on the Evening Van seems to fluctuate based on the day. Our ride was empty, but Nathan has used the van more than I have – he said he’s gotten other people before. I think the worst nights for it are Fridays and Saturdays, when partiers flock on board and the route page advises that “we may get behind at times due [to] request volume.”

Pros: This is basically a free Uber service for Harvard students, and that’s great! It has a large service area spanning from Porter Square to Central Square to Mount Auburn Hospital to Allston, and everywhere in between. On most nights the van is quick, and passengers shouldn’t have to wait more than 10-15 minutes for their pickup.

Cons: There are some weird places in the service area that are either disconnected from the rest of it or are grayed out so pickups can’t be made. Some make sense, like a disconnected splotch for Whole Foods, but others, like the Walden Street one, seem to be there by accident! The most egregious one is a blackout area slightly north of Harvard Square that includes both the Harvard Law School and Dawes Island. Now what’s wrong with picking people up in those important areas???

Nearby and Noteworthy: If you’re not affiliated with Harvard, tough luck – you can’t use this shuttle. If you are affiliated with Harvard (or know someone who is), then you have a busy area with great nightlife at your fingertips!

Final Verdict: 9/10
For Harvard students and faculty, this is a great resource for getting around at night. Its service is timely and quick for the most part, and you can take it to a good amount of locales. Just don’t try to go to the Law School, because apparently that’s off-limits…

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

WRTA: 33 (Union Station Hub – Spencer – Brookfield via Main Street and Route 9)

Feb 2, 2018 | | 3 Comments

Welcome to one of the longest and most rural routes in my jurisdiction. The 33 is a sprawling bus heading straight west from Worcester, terminating at various points, but Nathan and I took it at its very longest: for two trips in each peak period, the route is extended all the way out to Brookfield. Never heard of it? Neither had I, but it’s time to take this beast through five towns and a huge variety of sights and sounds to find out what it has to offer!

This is so exciting!

Nathan and I got on at City Hall, a few blocks away from the Commuter Rail station. Now on the bus, we turned onto Main Street, running through built-up downtown Worcester. As we got further, the buildings became less consistently tall, but there were still some apartments up to five stories high along here.

Oh no, it’s that time of day where my camera starts to act up…

The tallish apartments eventually got replaced by single-story businesses, but there were still dense homes on the side streets. The scenery along Main Street itself eventually got more diverse too, with apartments and churches coming in between the businesses. And then, all of a sudden, Clark University made its appearance with its beautiful campus and historical buildings.

It just doesn’t seem like a college kind of neighborhood!

It basically went back to the same kind of scenery once Clark was done, although residential buildings were more prominent than retail now. Eventually, though, we came into Webster Square, sure to be a huge hub of businesses! Or…it could just be two apartment buildings, some industrial stuff, and a suburban shopping plaza with nothing interesting in it. Oh well…

Letting some people off at the apartments in “Webster Square.”

Soon after that, the 27 split off onto Stafford Street and it was just us and the 19 on Main. There was a brief stretch where it was a mix of houses and churches, but then we passed Webster Square Plaza, a generic shopping mall. It was primarily residential after that, although there was still the occasional business.

Houses on a side street.

The 19 left us for its weird industrial section on Goddard Memorial Drive, so we were finally on our independent section – and it would stay that way all the way to Brookfield. Funnily enough, it instantly started to get less urban when the 19 left, with the road curving past houses and some redeveloped factories. Indeed, the neighborhood eventually took on a weird industrial-residential vibe, not unlike something you might see on the MART.

Crossing Goddard Memorial Drive.

We entered Leicester, our second of five towns, and the point where fixed stops go away – the route uses a flag system outside of Worcester. The industrial buildings carried on for a little while longer, but eventually we were sailing by houses and…woods. Yes, already there were brief sections of forest along the road, and we were only about a quarter of the way out!

Yup…

But it would only get sparser: the tracts of forest got longer, and though they would usually occupy only one side of the road at a time, they were still substantial. The actual buildings along Main Street were all over the place, funnily enough: there were houses, churches, suburban businesses, and the Leicester Police Department. For a brief time we merged onto South Main Street, which was basically the faster version of Main Street but a tiny bit south.

Making the stop in Leicester Center.

We soon arrived at some form of civilization again: Leicester Center. Now, there really wasn’t much here. Along Main Street (which we returned to after making the stop), it was just suburban businesses with parking lots mixed with maybe one or two historical “downtown” buildings. Even on the side streets, it was only slightly denser houses and an apartment development.

A bad picture, but it gives you an idea of Leicester Center’s character. Maybe.

A huge portion of the bus got off at Leicester Center, then we continued down Main Street, which for a little while was lined with dense houses and suburban retail, with a historical cemetery mixed in there. We came pretty close to a pond, and beyond there it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere again. There were sizeable sections of woods once more, interspersed with houses, a few industrial buildings, and the Leicester Country Club.

There was even a bit of farmland!

Okay, we had been running along this almost rural road for a little while, and I was starting to get used to sailing by trees and fields. All of a sudden, though, we made a right turn…into a Walmart! That’s right, amidst all this rural scenery, there was a Walmart deviation. I swear to you, I couldn’t stop laughing for a solid two minutes. No one got on or off, for the record.

Awful picture, but I was laughing so hard!

And once we left the Walmart and returned to Main Street, it was the middle of nowhere again! In fact, it got even more rural, with large amounts of farmland along the road. There were a few other buildings in the mix, particularly a burst of industry when we entered Spencer, but it really was predominantly farmland. Also, I just realized amidst all this pretty scenery that we had been travelling on Route 9 this whole time. Route 9!

This is awesome! I still can’t believe it’s Route freakin’ 9…

Eventually we did start to come back into a more developed area. We passed a few businesses, an apartment development, a small high school, and a park, then the street was mostly lined with houses. They were somewhat dense, too, which was a big change from before. This was also where we started to let more people off.

I’m pretty sure we made a stop here because the picture is so clear.

We started to descend a hill and Main Street got even denser than before. It culminated when we rounded a corner and entered Spencer Center, an actual downtown! There were historical buildings and businesses on either side, and sure, none of them looked particularly interesting (a large amount of them were permanently closed), but it was still nice to see. Too bad there was a big ugly shopping center in the middle of it all.

Not quite in the center, but you can see how dense it’s getting.

It was mostly residential once we left the center, but the dwellings were still fairly dense along the road. Once we went by an apartment development, the area got industrial, with random offices and companies along the road. We also arrived at the first turning point for buses: the Spencer DPW Garage, where 33s terminate twice a day as a short-turn.

The road buses use to get to the garage and turn around.

After that, we passed the most exciting shopping center ever. Why was it so exciting? Because it had a Big Y in it. That’s right, Big Y, the supermarket that western MA’s PVTA is obsessed with. Yes, we had gone so far west that apparently we were in Big Y territory, and that’s insane! Okay, apparently Big Y does have a few stores in the Greater Boston area, too, but still, it was crazy!

THERE IT IS!!!!!!!

After the most exciting shopping center ever, there was a brief section of forest before Main Street got lined with suburban businesses, a lot of which were farm-related. Right over the border of East Brookfield, we passed its courthouse, which is the second place where buses terminate. For most of the day, the 33 ends here…except on those four trips per day when it continues to Brookfield proper!

Uh…yup.

Funnily enough, it was after the courthouse that things started to get denser. There were houses again, and we passed a few other businesses along the way. Soon we got to East Brookfield Center – or more accurately, whizzed right through it – which seemed like an interesting place, with some restaurants in diverse house-like buildings. Its proximity to Lake Lashaway made it even more charming.

Looking across the lake!

There were a few final houses before it opened up into farmland again, although the other buildings never went away. Main Street still had plenty of homes along it, and there were even some industrial buildings and businesses. There was a section of pure forest as we entered Brookfield and the street name changed for the first time on the whole route: it was now called Maple Street.

These pictures are getting more and more abstract…

The open fields stuck around for a little longer, but Maple Street soon gained enough houses along it to not feel like the middle of nowhere…at least, not really. Outside of the Brookfield Elementary School, the street name changed again, this time to Post Road. This was Brookfield Center, but it was…well, it was sparse, to say the least.

Here we are…

We turned onto River Street, and finally, we looped onto Central Street, arriving at our final stop next to Brookfield Common. “Is this the last stop?” the final passenger mumbled groggily as he woke up and stumbled off the vehicle. Nathan and I stepped out with a bit more grace into the rain – we would have to find someplace to hide out for an hour until the next bus.

It’s so weird seeing a WRTA bus way out here!

We tried Brookfield Town Hall first, but it was closed aside from its small-town community board outside. Thus, we wandered over to the next building, the Tip Top Country Store…and hit the jackpot. It was a tiny grocery store with a ton of charm, a really nice cashier, and the best tomatoes I’ve ever had in my life, presumably grown right down the street. We sat at a nice little table in the store and devoured our purchases. I even bought a weird little Alexander Hamilton ornament made from sheep’s wool in Kyrgyzstan because…well, where else would I find something like that???

This is such a great store!

With a few minutes until the next bus was supposed to come, we came back to the common and waited there in the rain. Finally, our vehicle back to civilization came around the corner and opened the doors to its warm interior – there was no one on board. There was a short layover, then the driver…turned off the lights? Yes, for the entire ride back to Worcester, the bus’s lights were completely off. We just sailed through the middle of nowhere in this dark, empty bus, and it was the most relaxing experience. Finally, we snapped back to reality when the lights turned on at the Central Hub, and we ran through the now-pouring rain into the station to get the train back home. What an awesome trip.

The only light was the warm orange glow of the interior sign.

WRTA Route: 33 (Union Station Hub – Spencer – Brookfield via Main Street and Route 9)

Ridership: The 33 has the highest ridership of the four WRTA “community routes,” with an average of 567 riders per weekday. The thing is, though, that pure number doesn’t tell the whole story. My ride got 18 people, and the vast majority of them got off at or before Leicester Center. There were maybe three people who disembarked in Spencer, and then it was no one until Brookfield – and the person who left there didn’t seem to even know where he was.

Pros: Well, the 33 is certainly a lifeline route for a lot of communities west of Worcester, most notably Leicester and Spencer. It has a good schedule for its purpose, running every hour throughout the day. Though the route is weekdays only, the 19 runs out to Spencer on Saturdays and as far as the Leicester Walmart on Sundays, so the busiest portions of the 33 still get weekend service.

Cons: Okay, I say it’s every hour, but for some reason from 7:40 to 11:00 AM, the route runs every 100 minutes. Come on, that’s a pretty big difference! Luckily, it goes back to every hour after that. However, I think it’s clear that the route does not need to go all the way out to Brookfield, even during rush hour. From what I saw, there was one half-conscious person on one evening rush trip and no one on the second trip. It doesn’t seem like it would make too many people upset to cut the route back at East Brookfield Courthouse at all times.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Oh, the Tip Top County Store, obviously. That was such a cool local place, and if for whatever strange reason you end up in Brookfield, definitely pay it a visit. Also, on a completely random note, did you know that the 33 is the closest you can get to the PVTA from the Commuter Rail? That’s right, the Ware Shuttle is just two towns and a 3 hour walk away! Of course, the 33 already serves a Big Y, and that’s basically all the PVTA serves, am I right? Ha!

Final Verdict: 7/10
Despite its quirks, the 33 is a good community connector. It probably doesn’t need to be as long as it is on those Brookfield trips, but even if it just terminates at the East Brookfield Courthouse (or the Spencer DPW Garage, which probably makes more sense), it’s still serving some important towns with no other transit options. I will say, though, that the ride to Brookfield is incredibly scenic and relaxing, and the town (at least, its most notable store) is packed with middle-of-nowhere charm – this was the most unique transit trip I’ve done since the Rural Ride.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

WRTA: 40 (Union Station Hub – Downtown Loop)

Feb 1, 2018 | | 0 Comments

Remember the 80? That free little downtown loop that didn’t exist anywhere? Well, the WRTA has scrapped that and replaced it with a larger and not-free loop, the 40. They really pushed this one, going as far as to give it…an actual schedule online. Well, it has to be good, then!

Alright, a Proterra! The same one I got on the 80, actually. Small world.

Nathan and I got on at City Hall, meaning we did miss a slight jog in the route that serves the Worcester Social Security Office, but it’s not too substantial. Once we were on board, we headed up Main Street, running through downtown Worcester past lots of businesses in tall buildings. Eventually, we used School Street to get onto the wide Major Taylor Boulevard, which passed what appeared to be more modern constructions.

Gotta love that rear window!

We turned onto Belmont Street quickly, and this was mostly lined with churches and a tall apartment building. After going over I-290, we arrived at the UMass Memorial Hospital and turned onto Edward Street. This was a mostly residential side street, but once we turned onto Laurel Street and went back over I-290, we entered a very extensive apartment development called Plumley Village.

Making a stop in the “village.”

Coming out of that development, we turned onto Summer Street, which had a few office buildings flanked by large parking lots. Later on we went by Saint Vincent Hospital and a huge post office, then we went around a rotary onto Grafton Street. Finally, turning onto Franklin Street, we looped around and arrived back at the Central Hub.

The bus getting ready for another trip.

WRTA Route: 40 (Union Station Hub – Downtown Loop)

Ridership: This is such a new route that there’s no ridership data available, but we can probably use the numbers from the 80 to get an approximation. That route got an average of around 250 people per day, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the 40 gets even more, since it serves a lot more. Then again, my trip only had two people, so who knows?

Pros: I think this is a much more useful route than the 80 was. That route was meant for tourists to some degree, running only a short distance from the Commuter Rail station to the core of downtown Worcester. The 40, meanwhile, is clearly bent more towards residents, and I think that’s a better angle to take. It serves more, and though it runs every 30 minutes instead of every 15 like the 80 did, it’s still much more useful overall.

Cons: It seems like ridership might be low, but I seriously doubt it’s any lower than what the 80 got. It’s too bad it only runs weekdays only, but then again, so did the 80.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Most of what the 40 serves is noteworthy only to local residents, but downtown Worcester is still a bustling place that is slowly becoming a bigger and more interesting attraction to outsiders.

Final Verdict: 8/10
I think this is a better use of the downtown loop concept than what the 80 was doing, and it uses the same amount of resources. And yes, I know the 80 effectively got a 9, but that’s because it was free. Even though you do have to pay a fare for the 40, it takes passengers a longer distance, so I think it makes sense. Plus, it allows the WRTA to make at least some of the operating costs back.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

WRTA: 7 (Union Station Hub – Washington Heights Apartments)

Jan 30, 2018 | | 1 Comment

Did you know that the intersection of Mill Street and Park Ave is the most dangerous intersection in the entire whole wide universe? Yes, who knew it would be in lil’ ol’ Worcester? Well, anyway, after taking 10 minutes to cross this abomination of suburban city planning, Nathan and I made our way from the 27 up to the terminus of the 7, Washington Heights Apartments.

An earlier bus zooming down Mill Street.

It was not the most enjoyable walk, even past the intersection of death. Mill Street was a wide busy road, and its sidewalk was miniscule. Eventually we did make it to Washington Heights Apartments, climbing up a hill to what we assumed was the first stop. It started pouring when we were waiting, and to add insult to injury, the bus was late!

Hurry up!

Now safe from the rain, we left the apartment complex down a hill and onto Mill Street. The majority of buses just go straight down, but we were on one of the rare trips (every third one) that makes an additional deviation to Coes Pond Village! Thus, we turned onto First Street, which went past houses and up a really steep hill, then we entered Coes Pond Village – it was two huge apartment buildings.

The rain made it hard to get good pictures…

We returned to First Street and went down the super steep hill, then we turned back onto Mill Street. This was a wide, ugly road lined with weird, desolate buildings with a variety of different uses. But hey, eventually it came up alongside Coes Pond, and there was even a little beach next to the road!

This was from our walk to the route, and it’s far better than any of the other pictures you’ll see in this review.

Mill Street got narrower after the beach, and once the pond ended, we were in a residential area…for about five seconds. We took a left turn at the Intersection of Death onto Park Ave, another ugly road with a bunch of weird buildings. We turned onto Lovell Street next, passing the Lakeside Apartments, as well as a school and some smaller triple-decker homes.

We should’ve just walked the whole route! It would’ve made for better pictures…

Going around a small rotary, we headed onto Maywood Street, which took us back to Park Ave past a strange, huge, abandoned parking lot. There was a mix of apartments and businesses along Park Ave, but we soon left it again by turning onto May Street. This took us up a hill past some dense houses, which continued as we turned onto onto Woodland Street.

Some of the dense apartments.

We eventually pulled into a deviation to serve Family Health Center, a hospital, which took us onto Queen Street. Next, we turned onto Chandler Street, which had just about everything: industrial buildings, retail, and apartments all lined the road. Once we turned onto Main Street, though, we were right in downtown Worcester, and there were tall buildings and businesses on either side. Nathan and I got off at Worcester City Hall, but the Central Hub was only minutes away.

Hey, it stopped raining!

WRTA Route: 7 (Union Station Hub – Washington Heights Apartments)

Ridership: The 7 is fittingly the seventh-busiest route on the WRTA, getting itself a sizeable 814 riders per weekday, 330 per Saturday, and 137 per Sunday. My trip only had three people, but I’m sure others are busier!

Pros: The route serves some very dense Worcester neighborhoods, and it does so surprisingly frequently: service is every half hour on weekdays, while on weekends it’s every hour.

Cons: The WRTA does this weird thing where they’ll have “consistent” headways that actually shift around by five minutes, and the 7 has it particularly bad – weekday evenings just throw any kind of consistency out the window. Also, why do the Washington Heights Apartments get full service while Coes Pond Village only gets a bus every 90 minutes or worse? They seem to me like they have equal populations.

Nearby and Noteworthy: For some reason, most of the main streets the 7 uses are really ugly, with some awful-looking businesses. That being said, it does serve Coes Pond Beach, which would be a fun place to take the bus to.

Final Verdict: 6/10
There’s a lot wrong with this twisty route. For one thing, service to Coes Pond Village is really inconsistent and weird – though you can request any outbound bus to deviate to it, inbound service only comes every 90 minutes or worse, like I said. Also, it’s really annoying to rely on a route that almost has clockface headways but they’re actually all over the place. How hard would it be to straighten those out?

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

WRTA: 27 (Union Station Hub – Auburn Mall via Main Street)

Jan 29, 2018 | | 0 Comments

Man, I really have not covered a lot of the WRTA, have I? This is a system I’ve done very little of, and most of the ones I have done are their weird minibus shuttles. Well, the 27 is a decidedly normal WRTA route, and in fact, it is one of the busiest on the system. Wow!

Glad that Proterra could sneak in on the side there!

We pulled out of the WRTA Central Hub and after looping around a rotary to turn around, we made our way onto Franklin Street. This was downtown Worcester, and we had tall buildings on one side and Worcester Common on the other. Once we turned onto Main Street, it was just buildings and businesses everywhere.

An urban side street.

Of course the buildings started to shrink in height as we left downtown, but it stayed urban for quite a while. Main Street was still lined with apartments as high as five stories, although eventually they got replaced by single-story businesses. Still, it was a diverse neighborhood: there were also apartments, houses, and religious buildings in the mix.

A typical view of the neighborhood.

Eventually, seemingly out of nowhere, Clark University showed up. I mean, it just didn’t feel like a “college” kind of area, if you know what I mean. But we went by its beautiful campus with its charming old buildings…and then it just went back to businesses and apartments again.

It’s an awful picture, but it gives you an idea of the type of architecture at Clark.

We eventually got to “Webster Square,” but it wasn’t much of a square – just two huge apartment buildings and some rather suburban, boring businesses. It was soon after this that we split off from the 19 (and to a lesser extent, the 33), which we had been running with since the Central Hub. I’ll be talking more about how the 19 and the 27 interact later on, but for now, just know that we merged onto Stafford Street, which took us past a pond.

Making the split.

We passed the boring-looking Webster Square Plaza, and after that it was a weird mix of apartments, suburban businesses, and industrial buildings. We went over some train tracks when we turned onto James Street, and the similar scenery continued as we merged onto Ludlow Street. Finally, we entered Auburn, the street became Pinehurst Ave, and we entered a purely residential neighborhood with lots of dense houses.

Nice view!

Some businesses came up as we merged with Oxford Street and crossed over Kettle Brook on a tiny bridge. There was one final residential section from there, but retail grew more prominent among the houses when we turned onto Auburn Street. After going under I-290, we went by the Auburn High School, whose athletic facilities occupy more than three times the land of the school itself, then we turned onto Southbridge Street. This took us around the edge of the high school campus and past a bunch of suburban businesses, then we pulled into our terminus: the smaller-than-expected Auburn Mall.

Back to Worcester with you!

WRTA Route: 27 (Union Station Hub – Auburn Mall via Main Street)

Ridership: This was actually the busiest route on the WRTA, at least it was in 2010. Turns out I just found more recent ridership data, though, and the 27 has been demoted to third-busiest now. Still, it has great ridership, with 1,071 people per weekday, 661 per Saturday, and 188 per Sunday.

Pros: This is a super busy and super efficient route overall. It’s the most productive one on the whole WRTA, and it has the lowest subsidies of any route on the system! It has an awesome schedule on its own, with service every half hour on weekdays and every hour on weekends, and it serves lots of dense and important neighborhoods.

Cons: The coordination with the 19 could be better. See, these routes share a huge common section, and they actually both run every half hour on weekdays and every hour on weekends. They’re coordinated for half-hourly service on weekends, which is great, and there are proper 15-minute headways going inbound on weekdays. Going outbound is a different story, though – the routes leave within five minutes of each other. Now, I get that their lengths are different, but I will also say that the 19, the shorter of the two, has some of the worst on-time performance on the WRTA. Perhaps it would make sense to pad it out, thus allowing for those 15-minute headways to work in both directions?

Nearby and Noteworthy: The Auburn Mall is tiny for an indoor shopping mall, but it will still fulfill all of your indoor shopping mall needs.

Final Verdict: 9/10
I was originally going to go on a tirade about how the coordination between the 19 and the 27 is awful and needs to be fixed, but looking more closely at the schedules, it’s really just going outbound on weekdays that it needs work. I know it’s not as easy as just padding out the 19, and there’s a complex system of interlines behind the scenes, but it would be great to get 15-minute service along this important corridor in both directions. Other than that, though, the 27 is a great route, and the WRTA is even considering some BRT-like improvements along the common section with the 19. Sounds like a good investment to me!

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates