Ipswich

Alright, now we’re getting somewhere! Ipswich is a huge destination in the summer and its station is right in its downtown.

The barebones mini-high.

Although it’s accessible, the station is plagued with a truly nothing mini-high platform. I mean, literally nothing – no bench, no wastebasket, just a shelter. And yes, I do know that the mini-highs get even worse elsewhere on the Newburyport/Rockport Lines, but consider that Ipswich is a busy destination and the platform can get crowded in the summer. The situation could be better than this.

Looking down the platform from the shelter.

I will say that Ipswich has a nice long shelter that’s very close to the mini-high – for once, I don’t have a problem with low-level seating. It offers two benches, two wastebaskets, a payphone, and a whole bunch of random newspaper boxes. There’s even a sign for the CATA Ipswich-Essex Explorer, the summer-only bus route that runs from here to Crane Beach! The rest of the platform is basically bare, though, so all we have left is the parking lot (170 spaces, and it’s free!) and a single bike rack with eight spaces.

Yeah, yeah, set off the level crossing.

Station: Ipswich

Ridership: Barring its namesake station, this is the busiest stop on the independent section of the Newburyport Line, getting an average of 579 inbound riders per weekday. Keep in mind, though, that that’s over the course of a whole year – in the summer, not only do you get commuters, but you also get a good amount of beachgoers.

Pros: The low-level section of the platform offers fine amenities, including a good amount of seating space with lots of reading material in the form of weird random newspapers. Although the parking lot is small, this station is right in the middle of Ipswich’s dense downtown core, which includes many houses. Plus, you can’t beat free parking!

Cons: It would be really nice to have a bench up on that mini-high. Also, would it hurt to throw in another bike rack here? The area around the station seems perfect for encouraging commuters to bike to the train. Finally, some trains set off the level crossing when they stop, which is always a pain.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Ipswich has a vibrant downtown with lots of small businesses in historical buildings, as well as summer events and a riverwalk!

Final Verdict: 6/10
Considering its tourist-heavy ridership during the summer months, this is definitely a barebones affair. However, it’s not that bad when you get down to it: the benches are close to the mini-high, and the platform has plenty of shelter. Also…free parking!!

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

Rowley

Why does the first outbound Newburyport train not make Rowley? Geez, what’s a guy gotta do to review the place? Go up to Newburyport and make a mad dash across the platform for the one-minute connection to an inbound train to take one stop going inbound? Yes.

All that effort for this?

Okay, it’s a typical modern Commuter Rail station. It’s a high-level platform with plenty of benches and wastebaskets, while on the other side you’ve got a sizeable parking lot with 282 spaces. Other than that, there’s some nice historical information on some of the platform signs, and I found a funny (unintentionally) newspaper that gave me some interesting reading material as I waited for the train to get me out of here.

Nooooo, take me with you!

Station: Rowley

Ridership: Okay, wow, Rowley has reallyyyyyy low ridership. I mean, it is one of the least-used full-service Commuter Rail stations on the entire system. 140 inbound riders per day. That’s it. WOW.

Pros: High-level platform, fine amenities, big parking lot…all your normal bits.

Cons: Why the heck is the ridership so low?? Is it because the station’s in the complete middle of nowhere? Granted, the tracks don’t run anywhere near civilization within the town of Rowley, so I guess this location is as good as any. Hey, why isn’t Rowley a flag stop on weekends? Also, of all stations to have this problem, the level crossing here goes down when a train is stopped…

Nearby and Noteworthy: Uhh…a few houses, I guess. A BBQ joint down the road. Have fun!

Final Verdict: 6/10
I mean, it’s fine. The only big problem with Rowley is the fact that all trains are forced to stop here on weekends. Come on, if weekday ridership is so low (and the station is a flag on weekdays), why does the T expect people to use it on weekends? They flag North Beverly, but not this?

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

South Weymouth, Abington, Whitman, and Kingston

Look, it’s four Old Colony stations. No one’s gonna mind if I just bunch them all together in one review, right…?

Our first stop.

South Weymouth is as basic an Old Colony station as you can get. It’s just one track with a long high-level platform stretching way out into the woods. There’s a typical shelter that practically everyone waits at, and it has benches and wastebaskets underneath it. It has a good amount of bike parking, as well as a huge 700-space parking lot.

A Boston-bound train.

Station: South Weymouth
Ridership: The station gets 532 inbound riders per weekday.
Nearby and Noteworthy: It’s a mostly industrial area around the station. Uhh…CVS?
Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s the classic Old Colony Station. Not much else to say.

This looks familiar already.

Alright, Abington’s way different. Wanna know why? Because the platform is above the parking lot! And passengers have to take stairs or a ramp to get up to it! Okay, yeah, it’s the same thing. I will say that I like the path from the level crossing with Centre Ave to the station, but that level crossing also goes down when trains are stopped at the station, so…win-lose situation? As usual, plenty of bike parking and a big car lot with just over 400 spaces.

Not much growth happening in that green spot, huh?

Station: Abington
Ridership: This is the second-busiest stop on the Kingston/Plymouth Line, with 625 people per weekday.
Nearby and Noteworthy: While the old Abington Station is in a town center-like area (and was probably the cause of its growth), this new one the T built has…basically nothing around it aside from a convenience store.
Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s another classic Old Colony. Sure, there’s the level crossing issue and the fact that the station was purposely built away from a downtown for more parking, but it’s not enough to take points away.

Okay, this is something different!

At first glance, Whitman seems like a normal station – it’s single track with that classic high-level platform stretching way out into the hinterlands. The only thing that seems unique about it is the fact that its 208 parking spaces are split between two lots, one on each side of the station. However, Whitman has something special up its sleeve: an old roundhouse converted into a park! At least, I think it’s a park…I couldn’t tell if I was supposed to be in there or not, and it definitely didn’t go out of its way to be safe, but hey, it was awesome!

The MassDOT train coming in.

Station: Whitman
Ridership: This one gets 563 inbound riders per weekday, making it the third-busiest stop on the line.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Heyyy, there are actually a few restaurants around here! And a convenience store! And a computer repair shop! We’re getting somewhere!!
Final Verdict: 8/10
Sure, I’ll throw in an extra point for the park. That’s a nice unique touch that puts Whitman a step above other Old Colony stations.

Andddddd it’s boring again.

Finally, we’ve got Kingston. It’s really just another Old Colony station, except its single track high-level platform has two shelters! Fancy. It also has a gigantic parking lot with 1,039 spaces, and its proximity to Route 3 makes it a good park-and-ride for commuters from further down the South Shore. Other points of interest include a few wind turbines, a sign advertising a café that doesn’t seem to exist anymore, and a map that shows trains to Foxboro going the wrong way.

I think these old NABI buses are gone now, but they were cool when they were here!

Station: Kingston
Ridership: As the busiest station on the line, this stop gets 683 riders per weekday. The lot is clearly far bigger than it needs to be right now!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Absolutely nothing interesting, from what I can see. The Kingston Collection mall is a 20 minute walk away.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Yup, it’s another classic Old Colony. Alright, glad I got these stations out of the way!

BAT: Rockland Flex (Flexible Route, Rockland to Brockton)

No, of course I didn’t forget about the BAT’s Rockland Flex service! It’s a little minibus route that goes from Rockland to…I guess technically Brockton, but it’s not the BAT Centre. Instead, the bus starts at Signature Healthcare… (also, for the record, I know I still have to do the BSU service, too)

A BAT minibus…I never thought I’d see the day…

This was a pretty interesting minibus. For one thing, it put its jiggly wheelchair lift in the front of the vehicle, which actually makes a lot more sense for the driver and for convenience of boarding. It also meant that they could clear a big space in the front of the vehicle for wheelchairs, meaning that the farebox (complete with CharlieCard support) didn’t eliminate a seat pair!

Inside the bus.

We headed out from Signature Healthcare and followed the 5 down Centre Street. There were some suburban businesses at first, but it soon became houses mixed with industrial buildings. They continued as we entered Abington and the street became Brockton Ave, then we deviated into Walmart, where someone – a loyal rider, given her familiarity with the driver – got on.

The Walmart parking lot.

Whereas the 5 ends here at Walmart, we sped off into the great unknown of Abington. Seeing me taking pictures, the passenger and the driver started to tell me about the route and how it works – the bus will pick a passenger up at any point in Rockland, but only in Rockland, and in other towns it will only stop at timepoint stops. Also, in Rockland, passengers can call in before 4 PM the previous day to deviate the bus to where they want to be picked up. If the website is to be believed, there’s apparently no distance limit!

Splitting off from another road.

There was a section of woods, then it was just a mixture of everything: there were houses, businesses, and industrial buildings. We turned onto Washington Street in what appeared to be an Abington Center-type place: there were dense houses, and a few of them contained businesses. Just after leaving the “center,” we turned onto Centre Ave, at first passing mostly houses and a lake.

A side street.

There were a few businesses around Abington Station, and we crossed the Commuter Rail track at street level. I asked the driver if the station was a big ridership generator; he said he gets a few commuters who use it every day, but he’s not allowed to drop them off at Abington. Huh? Well, the answer became clear after we drove for a little while longer and pulled into a Stop & Shop. Since this is a timepoint stop and Abington isn’t, the driver is forced to drop people off here and make them walk to the station!

The back of the Stop & Shop.

It turned out that this was a double deviation – we also had to serve a Target within the same complex. But with that out of the way, we came back onto Centre Ave, and after a few more small shopping plazas, it got mostly residential and we entered Rockland. Merging with Market Street, we curved around past lots of suburban businesses with parking lots before sailing past some houses to get to an Ocean State Job Lot deviation.

A residential area along the way.

We headed back down Market Street, then we turned onto Concord Street, entering a residential neighborhood. “Hey, free pool table!” the driver exclaimed as we went by some furniture someone had left outside their house. Next, we turned onto John A. Dunn Memorial Drive, which led us past a housing development called Studley Court. We then made our way into – ahem – “Rockland Plaza,” one of the most barebones shopping plazas I’ve ever had the misfortune of having to deviate to. It consisted of a liquor shop, a laundromat, and a huge church in a generic shopping plaza building.

Geez…

We headed up Union Street from there, which was lined with pretty dense houses. Eventually those houses turned into businesses, and we were in Rockland Center. There wasn’t much on offer, but it was better than nothing. Finally, we looped around at the Rockland Community Center, and that was the end of the route.

Taking a layover.

On the way back, I asked the driver if he could let me off at Abington Station, but of course, I had to get off at Stop & Shop instead. As I began the trek down Centre Ave, I heard a flurry of horn toots. The bus sailed past and the driver stuck his head out the window yelling, “THERE HE IS! THERE HE IS!” Wow, what an awesome guy!

Bye!

BAT Route: Rockland Flex (Flexible Route, Rockland to Brockton)

Ridership: I can’t find any exact numbers, but signs point to very low. My round trip had just three other people, although I will say that they all knew the driver and seemed to be loyal riders – the route has, for lack of a better term, a cult following.

Pros: This is the only bus route that serves Rockland, so I guess that’s something. Also, I hope I’ve made it clear that the driver on this route was fantastic. He was funny, talkative, and accommodating, and he made this ride great.

Cons: Aw geez…the route just isn’t very good, is it? It serves as a little Rockland circulator, but it only connects up the center of town without serving any residential areas. And sure, I guess it can be “flexed” for that purpose, but it’s a real pain to have to do it the day before. Even though the schedule doesn’t cater to commuters at all, it seems like people do use it for that purpose, but it’s like the route is working against them! There’s no stop at Abington, and service begins too late and ends too early. Oh, and the schedule: it’s every hour and fifteen minutes, weekdays only. What’s the problem with that? It doesn’t time with the 5! Okay, that’s an overstatement – most of the trips do time. Still, I think it would be best if the schedule made it more clear which ones you can use to transfer, and in which direction.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Apparently Rockland is a rather boring town. Sorry, Rockland!

Final Verdict: 3/10
Ehhhhh…if I didn’t have such a great experience riding the route, it might’ve even been a 2. This route just doesn’t seem very useful, serving mostly retail and few residential areas. Flexing is annoying to use, so I can’t see many people doing it, and the route seems to get commuter traffic but it makes their trip as hard as possible. It could probably just be replaced with a public dial-a-ride service within the town of Rockland.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

BAT: Brockton Route 5 (Brockton Hospital via Centre Street)

Alright, our final BAT route! It’s another typical one, just running out to the eastern sections of the city and a little bit into Abington. Let’s take a look at the 5.

Getting on at the BAT Centre one last time.

We went down Commercial Street, lined with weird buildings and parking lots, then we turned onto Crescent Street. After passing a bunch of different types of scenery, we turned onto Lyman Street, which was residential aside from a cemetery and a church. Next, we turned onto Centre Street, passing houses, businesses and a school.

A mixed-use intersection.

Eventually, it was time for a double deviation: first, we went into Signature Healthcare, a big hospital. Right after that, we had a jog via Libby Street and Quincy Street to serve the Brockton Multi Services Center. Back on Centre Street, it was residential aside from a few weird industrial buildings, then the road became Brockton Ave as we entered Abington. Finally, we pulled into the Abington Walmart and the final BAT route was completed.

Getting ready to go back.

BAT Route: Brockton Route 5 (Brockton Hospital via Centre Street)

Ridership: The route got about 500 passengers per weekday in 2014 while netting around 235 and 160 people per Saturday and Sunday, respectively. I will say that my ride had about 15 people going one-way, which is much higher than the 2014 numbers would suggest, so perhaps ridership has gone up.

Pros: The route connects up the important destinations of Signature Healthcare and Walmart to the Bat Centre, while running with the typical pulse schedule. Not much else to say!

Cons: Not much, aside from the route map appearing to show a deviation that we didn’t do – it looks like it serves some shopping plaza.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Walmart, I guess. There isn’t much along this one.

Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s just a typical BAT route, and that’s about it. Alright, well, that’s it for the BAT! Right? It’s not like they have a weird minibus flex shuttle that I have to review, right? Nope…

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Kudos to the T for sticking it out through the horrible storm today. Check that service updates link for more information on how it’s doing, as tomorrow won’t be much better.

GUEST POST: Framingham

Mike N. sent in an alternate take on Framingham Station. Thanks, Mike!

I live in Framingham, and I’ve gone through Framingham station many times, for red sox games and other events. But, I’ve never reviewed it, but was recently inspired because of some changes that they made.

First off, the inbound side is nice. It is fully accessible, with a shelter covering all of the mini high platform. There is also another shelter closer to the Deluxe Depot Diner, which is a restaurant opened in an old station building.

On the outbound side, there is the same nice situation with the mini high, however the second shelter is all the way towards the crossing on Concord Street. This is because that shelter was utilized along with the old station building. Also, there used to be a fully accessible Banana Lot right there, but it was closed and a new, bigger parking lot was added for commuters on the outbound side.

As for the footbridge, the stairs were redone not too long ago. The stairs are nice and clean (for now), although the flat section wasn’t changed. I’m almost positive that the elevators still have that awful smell, however. There are also nice bike racks and drop off lanes for commuters who use alternate forms of transportation.

Of course, people forget that the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited stops here too. Amtrak runs a once daily route to Chicago that has a station stop here, but ridership on that has never compared to the massive amounts of ridership that the MBTA gets. The MBTA added more conductors and an extra car on Worcester line trains to reduce crowding.

Station: Framingham

Pros: It’s accessible, helps accommodate bikers, has solid shelters, a nice new outbound parking lot, a newly renovated bridge, and bunches of ridership!

Cons: I just wish the rest of the platform was as nice as the mini highs. People still board there too, especially during the morning rush. Some spots in the sidewalks are cracked, and if there was another way of crossing to go along with the footbridge, that would be nice too.

Final Verdict: 8/10
This is a very solid station that does its job well. While it’s clear that the MBTA had a good thought with the remodeled bridge and new parking lot, more can be done. They can increase the lighting in the mini highs, repave the sidewalks, and maybe add another bike rack. But those are small issues. All in all, this is a great station.

BAT: Brockton Route 4 (Westgate Mall via Pleasant)

Oh yes, here we are on the craziest route of the BAT (barring the 12). The 4 could honestly pass for an MBTA route based on its crowds!

Here we go!

I purposely got the 4 in the inbound direction so I would have to take it around its loop from Westgate. First, we looped around to serve Sears, then we used Campanelli Industrial Drive to get to Oak Street. It was mostly housing developments, but there were some suburban businesses with parking lots as we turned onto Pearl Street.

824! They want their address to be known.

Before we could continue, though, we had to loop around into the Good Samaritan Medical Center. And once that was done, we had to do that same section on Oak Street and Pearl Street again. Why couldn’t we have just entered the deviation the other way? Who knows? So finally back on Pearl, it was houses on one side and a cemetery on the other.

Construction.

We turned onto Pleasant Street next, going over Route 24 and passing mostly suburban houses, although there were a few businesses sprinkled in at various points. The further we went down Pleasant Street, the closer the houses got to each other and the more frequent the retail showed up. Finally, we turned onto Warren Ave, then Legion Parkway, which became Centre Street. This led us to the BAT Centre.

Some of the dense houses.

BAT Route: Brockton Route 4 (Westgate Mall via Pleasant)

Ridership: In 2014, the 4 got about 1,090 passengers per weekday, 700 per Saturday, and 390 per Sunday. However, based on the ridership I saw on the route (30 people on the one-way trip, enough to require that people stand), I think the patronage for this route has gone up. After all, the route was experiencing positive trends before 2014, so why not stop there?

Pros: Going outbound, at least, this is the fastest and most direct connection to the Westgate Mall. It runs with the classic BAT schedule, which may actually be too infrequent, but we’ll get to that.

Cons: First, I’ll just address the potential confusion with fares: on the 4, you pay when you get on in both directions, even though that contradicts the typical BAT mentality of paying when you get off going outbound. No idea why that happens, but that’s what happens. Also, I guess I understand why the route does its big loop going inbound, but it’s definitely not conducive to a fast trip from the Westgate Mall to the Bat Centre. Finally, I wonder if this route is actually too busy for the pulse schedule. Seriously, instead of every 50 minutes on weekday middays, I feel like an extra bus could be added for 25 minute headways!

Nearby and Noteworthy: Really just the Westgate Mall, and that’s what most people use this route for.

Final Verdict: 7/10
Despite my trepidations with the loop and the crowding, this is still just a normal BAT route. It just happens to be busier than some of the other ones.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

BAT: Mini Maller Route 13 (Westgate Mall, Brockton)

Huh, apparently the Mini Maller doesn’t use a minibus! It makes just as many deviations as a minibus would, but it does not in fact use one.

Well, well!

I boarded the bus at Market Basket, but we couldn’t leave the mall until we served the other side of it, at Sears. With the deviations having been completed, we went up Westgate Drive and turned onto Campanelli Industrial Drive. Next, we turned onto Oak Street, which began with suburban businesses and housing developments but we soon entered a park.

Making a turn.

Next to a golf course, we turned onto Belair Street, a suburban road lined with houses. Eventually we reached an apartment building called Belair High Rise, which we had to deviate into. And then, as it turned out, this was part of a greater deviation: we had to return a ways down Belair Street in order to make our way onto Colonel Bell Drive. And within that deviation, we had another deviation into Sullivan Towers!

Within the Sullivan Towers deviation.

We headed back onto Belair Street for a block before turning onto Prospect Street. Next, we did a hairpin turn onto Pleasant Street, which we stayed on for a block before turning onto Wheeler Ave, then Malvern Road. This was a deviation to serve a tiny apartment complex.

The complex.

We came back up to Pleasant Street for a mere two blocks before turning onto West Street. This suburban road was mostly residential, although one side of it became occupied by yet another golf course – I had no idea Brockton had so many of them. Next, we did a triple-threat deviation, serving three shopping centers!

One of those deviations.

We made our way up to Torrey Street and ran down it, going by suburban houses on either side. After going under Route 24, we turned onto Pearl Street. It was residential for a while until the intersection with Pleasant Street, which had some suburban businesses and medical clinics. Once we turned onto Pleasant, though, it was all houses again.

A view of the neighborhood.

We turned onto Sumner Street, which stayed residential as we entered Stoughton. Finally, we deviated into Goddard Rehab and Nursing Company…and then it turned out that from Pleasant Street onward had been in itself a deviation! So we had to go allllllllll the way back down to Pearl Street, which we turned onto again.

Back on track finally.

Pearl Street was now residential with one side occupied by a cemetery. After merging with Route 27, we did yet another deviation into the Good Samaritan Medical Center. We headed down Oak Street from there, going under Route 24 before doing…come on, another deviation? Okay, okay, we had to go into a Walmart, but once we came back out, we only had to enter the Westgate Mall and the trip was over! Hooray!

At least it wasn’t a minibus, I guess.

BAT Route: Mini Maller Route 13 (Westgate Mall, Brockton)

Ridership: The 13 seems to get incredibly low ridership for the BAT, with a mere 95 passengers per weekday and 99 per Saturday. Strangely, my ride bucked those trends, getting 20 people in the round trip versus the supposed average of around 12 per round trip. Maybe the 13’s ridership has gone up?

Pros: I guess as a shopping circulator, it does its job well. It connects a bunch of housing developments to busy shopping centers, mostly catering to a senior crowd.

Cons: First, there’s the obvious: man, this route makes a lot of deviations! Secondly, we have the issue of the schedule – the route runs every hour on weekdays and Saturdays, but the problem with that is that it doesn’t time with other BAT routes serving Westgate Mall. I guess it’s meant to be its own self-contained thing, but it can definitely be problematic for, say, people from Brockton trying to get to the Belair High Rise. Finally, and this one bugs me the most, the schedule puts Westgate Mall and Goddard Rehab as the two timepoints, but it claims that Goddard Rehab is halfway along the route, taking half an hour to get between each location. That simply isn’t true! Goddard is far more than halfway, and buses get there anywhere from five to ten minutes “late.”

Nearby and Noteworthy: Most of the route’s independent sections consist of housing developments and medical centers – nothing exciting.

Final Verdict: 5/10
It’s hard to get too worked up about this one, but it definitely has its problems. It’s deviatory as heck, it doesn’t time with other BAT routes, and its schedule doesn’t conform to reality, but you know, it gets some riders and it’s an important circulator for residents of western Brockton. I’ll let it go with a 5.
UPDATE: So they got rid of the Goddard Rehab deviation. That’s good. But now the route runs every 45 minutes, which still doesn’t time with the BAT pulse! Could’ve had buses wait five minutes and make it every 50, but I guess not. I’m sticking to the 5.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

BAT: Brockton Route 4A (Westgate Mall via North Warren)

Who needs the 4 when you have the 4A, otherwise known as the less insane version of the 4? We’ll get into how crazy the 4 is another time, but for now, here’s its counterpart, the 4A.

The bus at the BAT Centre.

We went down Court Street, then turned onto North Main Street for a block before twisting onto Spring Street. The road had apartments on one side and a park on the other, but once we turned onto North Warren Ave, it was almost all dense houses and apartments. Things got a little more spread out the further we went, but it wasn’t a huge difference.

A side street.

We turned onto Battles Street briefly before entering Battles Farm, an apartment development. Meandering through the complex, we came back onto Warren Ave but turned onto Oak Street outside a middle school. The scenery was diverse, including houses, suburban businesses, and a golf course.

Making our way onto Oak Street.

We entered a park, going by the Fuller Craft Museum before passing some housing developments, suburban businesses, and an industrial building. Soon we turned onto Campanelli Industrial Drive, which was in fact industrial (it was aptly named). We turned onto Westgate Drive next, which took us in a big loop around the Westgate Mall past other suburban businesses and shopping centers. Finally, we headed into the mall parking lot, ending the journey.

A pond within the park.

BAT Route: Brockton Route 4A (Westgate Mall via North Warren)

Ridership: Even though this route isn’t nearly as busy as the normal 4, it still gets pretty good ridership: in 2014, it had about 850 people per weekday, 550 per Saturday, and 380 per Sunday. I even think ridership on the line has increased since then – my one-way trip had 20 passengers, which is way more than the averages in 2014.

Pros: The route serves dense portions of northwestern Brockton and connects them up to the Westgate Mall and the BAT Centre. It runs with the classic pulse schedule, which works fine for this route. However, on Sundays it combines with the 4 to form a loop, which is an efficient use of resources when ridership is lower.

Cons: The route has one quirk that’s not publicized too well, and it was confusing at first: whereas with most BAT routes you pay when you get off going outbound, on the 4 and 4A you pay when you get on.

Nearby and Noteworthy: The Fuller Craft Museum looks like a charming local art museum, and this is the closest route to it.

Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s another normal BAT route. Not much more to say – typical schedule, typical ridership, typical route.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

BAT: Brockton Route 3 (VA Hospital via Belmont)

It’s so weird to go to hospitals just to get a bus. I felt really awkward just standing outside of the VA waiting for the 3! Needless to say, I was happy when it came.

Hooray!

We headed out of the hospital complex onto Belmont Street, which was a mix of houses and businesses…for about 30 seconds. After that, it devolved into lots of strip malls, and we turned onto an access road to serve two of them. It was a smart deviation, though, as it took us out to Torrey Street – it felt a lot less painful than having to go in somewhere and come back out.

Going by Shaw’s Plaza.

Torrey Street merged back into Belmont Street, and after a weird empty field, there was a mixture of apartments and businesses. Soon after passing an elementary school, though, we turned onto Main Street, and we were surrounded by the tall but mostly empty buildings of downtown Brockton. We were only on Main for a block, turning onto Crescent Street, then Commercial Street, taking us into the BAT Centre.

Why can’t this have been my bus?????

BAT Route: Brockton Route 3 (VA Hospital via Belmont)

Ridership: The 3 is one of the busiest routes on the BAT, getting just under a thousand riders per weekday, a smidge under 500 per Saturday, and just under 200 per Sunday. My ride was lighter with about 10 people heading into Brockton, but the route generally averages around 30 per round trip on weekdays.

Pros: Belmont Street is a dense, busy corridor, and the 3 connects it up to downtown Brockton, to various shopping centers, and to the VA Hospital. Best of all, it does it in a direct way, doing a clever jog instead of a deviation to serve Shaw’s Plaza. As for scheduling, it runs with the typical BAT pulse schedule.

Cons: This is trivial, but on the online schedule for the 3, I think they just copied it over from the 1, because there are a bunch of “A”s at night that don’t mean anything for this route. Also, the 3 could arguably be even more effective if it was combined with the 9 on weekends. Just sayin’…

Nearby and Noteworthy: I guess the plazas are the most noteworthy places along the 3, but they’re nothing special.

Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s another typical BAT route! It’s got its typical schedule, it serves a good amount, and it gets good ridership. Nice.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

BAT: Brockton Route 9 (Pearl via West Elm and Torrey)

Welcome to the only numbered BAT route that runs weekdays only! Why is the 9 weekdays only? I honestly have no idea, since it seems to get pretty good ridership…

The bus at the BAT Centre.

We headed down Centre Street, going under the Commuter Rail tracks and passing the bland and unoccupied buildings of downtown Brockton. It continued as Legion Parkway and got a median for parking, then we made our way to Elm Street via Warren Ave. There were various buildings including a school, a church, and an apartment building, but it soon devolved into mostly suburban houses.

Some apartments closer to downtown.

Elm Street ended with a middle school, and at that intersection, we turned south onto West Street, passing a golf course of all things! I wouldn’t have expected to see one of those in Brockton. Next, we turned onto Torrey Street, passing a few strip malls before it became mostly houses again.

And we don’t have to deviate! Yay!

We went under Route 24, and though it was a little industrial immediately after that, we turned onto Pearl Street, which was all residential. However, we eventually turned onto Belmont Street, where there were lots of suburban businesses with parking lots, offering a scenery change. And there was yet another change soon after we entered Easton, when we entered an industrial park of the same name.

Turning off into it.

We went down Bristol Drive, then Norfolk Ave, looping around in a big circle at the end of that. It was just a bunch of office parks. Coming back onto Belmont Street, we reentered Brockton, but instead of going north on Pearl Street, we went south. This additional deviation was a loop via Pearl Street, Chestnut Street, and Liberty Street, and it served anywhere from housing and industrial buildings to a hotel and a hospital. I got out along this section and let the bus return to Brockton without me.

Bye!

BAT Route: Brockton Route 9 (Pearl via West Elm and Torrey)

Ridership: The 9 actually gets higher weekday ridership than the 10, with almost 300 passengers per day. That equates to about 18 people per round trip – my one-way ride had 10, so that seems pretty accurate.

Pros: The route serves a lot in southwestern Brockton, including many houses, shopping centers, and the Easton Industrial Park. It follows the BAT pulse schedule on weekdays (but only on weekdays), although rather than service every 20-25 minutes at rush hour, the route runs every 40-50. That does make sense given the route’s generally lower ridership numbers, though.

Cons: Okay, but still, this thing gets more ridership than the 10 and the 11, and those routes run on weekends! Why does the 9 only have weekday service? It wouldn’t have to go all the way to Easton Industrial Park, but it could still serve the shopping and medical centers out there!

Nearby and Noteworthy: I’ve mostly talked about what the route serves already (it’s not that interesting), but the 9 technically goes to Stonehill College, too! Yeah, it’s about a half mile away from the route, but this is the closest you can get to it.

Final Verdict: 6/10
I think the easiest weekend solution for the 9 would be to combine it with the 3. The two routes are close together, and it wouldn’t take much time to extend the 3 a bit down Belmont Street to serve the most important parts of the 9. It would only be about two minutes of driving to bridge the gap! Other than the lack of weekend service, the 9 is a fine BAT route, but I see no reason why it shouldn’t have buses on weekends too, especially when combining it with the 3 would be so easy.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

BAT: Brockton Route 11 (Cary Hill and The Village)

Here’s another route serving Brockton’s northeast suburban residential neighborhoods. Like the 10, the 11 gets low ridership and a slightly more limited schedule, except the 11 is really weird and loopy! Let’s take a look.

Getting on at the BAT Centre.

We looped around onto Montello Street, passing the weird industrial backlots of downtown Brockton. It turned into just normal industrial soon enough, and that continued until we turned onto Ashland Street, which became residential after we went under the Commuter Rail tracks. Of course, that lasted for about 15 seconds, ending with a few awful strip malls. We deviated into one of them, Ashland Plaza.

Ech.

I’m about to describe a million quick twists and turns here, so just know that the scenery along this section was mostly residential. Here we go: left on North Cary, left on Ames, right on Sawtell, left on Arthur, right on Intervale, right on Blendall, left on Circle, right on North, left on Sawtell, left on Field, right on Spark…and we were at Montello Station. GEEZ!

In the midst of some random turn.

Before heading back to the BAT Centre, the 11 crosses over the Commuter Rail tracks on Howard Street in order to serve a Stop & Shop. Cool, okay, so with that done, we came back to the other side and went down Winter Street. After a few businesses and a park, it was all houses once again.

A hilly side street.

The way back was less twisty, but it was still pretty crazy. We made a right turn onto North Cary Street, then a left onto Amark Road, which became Coe Road, then a right onto Alphonse Road, a right onto Waleco Road, a left onto Colgate Road, and a right onto Ashland Street, which took us back to the start of the loop. Okay, on second thought, that was pretty crazy too…

Another side street.

BAT Route: Brockton Route 11 (Cary Hill and The Village)

Ridership: Oh geez, it’s low. In 2014, the route got under 200 people per weekday, 180 per Saturday, and 70 per Sunday. My weekday ride only had about seven people round trip.

Pros: It serves some suburban areas of Brockton with the typical BAT pulse schedule (minus increased rush hour service, and combined with the 10 on Sundays), and that’s about it.

Cons: Does it have to be so darn twisty? Come on, why does it have to make so many turns? Also, it’s starting to get more and more insane to me that the 10 and the 11 aren’t combined full-time. Both routes get astronomically low ridership!

Nearby and Noteworthy: Nothing much, aside from some truly horrible strip malls. Ech!

Final Verdict: 5/10
This route would be on the same level as the 10, but it’s so darn twisty that I had to take another point off. Since both routes get such low amounts of people, it doesn’t make any sense that they’re not combined.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

BAT: Brockton Route 10 (Lisa and Howard via North Quincy and Court)

Did you know that there’s a suburban section of Brockton? A part of Brockton that’s just houses on quiet roads and that’s it? Neither did I, but we’ll see what it’s like from the 10.

The bus coming towards the Montello stop.

The area immediately around Montello Station is industrial, but once we went onto Howard Street, it was just spaced-out suburban houses…aside from a second industrial burst. We were actually running with the MBTA 230 bus, but we split off onto Lisa Drive, a suburban residential area with lots of people that own pools, according to Google Maps. Eventually we made our way around onto North Quincy Street, which had a few businesses and industrial buildings between the houses.

A typical street in the neighborhood.

That didn’t last long, though, and it was once again all houses. They continued all the way down the length of North Quincy Street, and furthermore as we turned onto Court Street (with the exception of a school). It was almost entirely houses, aside from a few apartment developments, a cemetery, and an auto shop, all the way until the BAT Centre. Alright, then, that was easy!

They did get denser as we got close to town, admittedly.

BAT Route: Brockton Route 10 (Lisa and Howard via North Quincy and Court)

Ridership: It’s light: about 225 passengers per weekday, 180 per Saturday, and…wow, 70 per Sunday? That’s only 6 people per round trip. That’s insanely low!

Pros: The 10 provides bus service to some suburban neighborhoods, which is nice, I guess. It has the typical BAT pulse schedule, although on weekdays it only runs every 40-50 minutes instead of 20-25 during the rush, and on Sundays it combines with the 11 to form a loop service around the northeastern part of Brockton.

Cons: This is a very low ridership route, and I think some measures can be taken to make it more efficient. For example, it could be combined with the 11 at all times, since both routes are underperforming. Also, Sunday service could be eliminated, because ridership seems to be far too low to justify service at those times.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Gosh, it’s really just all houses. There’s almost nothing else!

Final Verdict: 6/10
The 10 is an okay route, but it experiences lower ridership than many other BAT routes. I think it could easily be combined with the 11 full-time without any crowding, and Sunday service could probably be eliminated because it doesn’t seem like too many people are relying on it.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

BAT: Brockton Route 1 (Montello Street via North Main Street)

It’s interesting just how close this route comes to MBTA bus territory. The 1 ends only about a mile away from the southern terminus of the 238 and the 240! Does that mean the route itself is interesting? Nah.

The bus entering the BAT Centre.

We headed down Commercial Street, then we turned onto School Street. This took us under the Commuter Rail tracks and past Brockton City Hall before we turned onto Main Street, running through the vast array of unoccupied buildings known as downtown Brockton. As we continued north, it started to become a mix of industrial buildings and businesses, while houses lined the side streets.

Beautiful downtown Brockton…

We passed a cemetery and a school, after which the scenery got more diverse: there more more houses along the road now, and the industrial buildings came less frequently. After we “went by” Montello Station (it was a few blocks away, but close enough), the houses got more spread out and suburban. Entering Avon, we merged onto East Main Street, which was entirely suburban houses.

Heading onto East Main.

We made a sharp roundabout turn onto Memorial Drive, which led us to the route’s terminus, Walmart. However, I stayed on to go back to Montello, and the 1 takes a slightly different routing to go back. We headed down Harrison Boulevard, which was all forest, before turning onto West Main Street. That took us past houses back down to North Main Street, and I took the route down to Montello.

Mmm…Brockton.

BAT Route: Brockton Route 1 (Montello Street via North Main Street)

Ridership: In 2014, the 1 got about 680 passengers per weekday, 400 per Saturday, and 170 per Sunday. My ride had about ten people on board, which is good for a weekday morning going outbound, and the route seems to get pretty good ridership in general.

Pros: This is basically the local version of the 12, offering service along its Brockton section for a cheaper fare with additional service to Walmart. It has the typical BAT pulse schedule, which works fine, although there’s one exception…

Cons: There’s no weeknight service – instead, riders are put onto the 12. Now, I’m a little dubious about that: do passengers have to pay the higher fares of the 12 during those times? Sure, it’s only 25 cents more, but that could make a big difference if people are relying on night service every day.

Nearby and Noteworthy: I don’t think this route serves much of note. I guess there’s Walmart?

Final Verdict: 7/10
Despite the questionable weeknight service, the 1 is still a fine BAT route. It has the classic schedule, it serves a good amount, and it gets decent ridership.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

BAT: Brockton Route 6 (Massasoit via Crescent Street)

Just as a disclaimer: no, I was not able to ride one of BAT’s fancy new buses. And that’s a real shame, because it’ll make these reviews that much more boring. Lo and behold, the 6!

The bus at the BAT Centre.

From the Bat Centre, we headed down Commercial Street, running past weird apartment buildings and parking lots. It got industrial before becoming residential when we turned onto Lawrence Street. The dense houses continued as we made our way onto Grove Street.

Some houses.

We merged onto Crescent Street, where some businesses became interspersed with the dwellings. Eventually it burst into some huge shopping plazas; we deviated into one of them, a bland affair called Crescent Plaza. Continuing a little further down Crescent, we turned onto Massasoit Boulevard, which ran through the woods before coming out into the campus of Massasoit Community College. Yes, this review was short. Yes, it was boring. So is BAT. I’m sorry.

The college features a glass shelter with a yellow line and everything! Nice!

BAT Route: Brockton Route 6 (Massasoit via Crescent Street)

Ridership: My trip had light ridership, but the route performs well overall. It got about 780 passengers per weekday in 2014, while on Saturdays and Sundays it saw about 310 riders and 160 riders respectively.

Pros: The route connects Brockton to Massasoit Community College, which is what most people use it for, as well as some residential areas and shopping centers. It has the typical BAT pulse schedule (every 20-25 minutes rush hour, every 50 minutes midday, every 45 minutes Saturdays, every 40 minutes Sundays) with one exception: an extra bus is provided weekday middays when college is in session that runs express to Massasoit.

Cons: Nothing glaring – it’s just a normal BAT route.

Nearby and Noteworthy: This is the best way of getting to Massasoit Community College by public transportation, and that’s about it for interesting stuff this route serves.

Final Verdict: 7/10
Most BAT routes are probably going to get this score. The 6 does its job, providing extra service to Massasoit when it needs it while also connecting up residential neighborhoods. Like I said, it’s just a normal BAT route.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates