PVTA: PV (Palmer Village)
We go from Park Street, one of the busiest and most iconic stations on the entire MBTA, to the PVTA Palmer Village Bus, a stupid minibus route with half a million deviations? Sigh…alright, then…
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| NO! |
Having gotten off our R27 just before the Eastfield Mall (the starting point of the PV), we were waiting on the side of the road, desperately hoping this oncoming minibus would stop for the two teenagers waving like ducks. Thankfully the bus did stop, and we were off down Boston Road. It was basically just a lot of suburban businesses that eventually devolved into industrial buildings.
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| An exemplar for the neighborhood. |
We went past two ponds, then outside of the Wilbraham Police and Fire Departments, the R27 left us, and we were on our own. There were a few businesses, then we went through a stretch with woods on one side and the Chicopee River on the other side. After that, there were some houses along the road, then we briefly entered the town of Monson (never heard of it).
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| The Chicopee River. |
There were some industrial buildings as we entered Palmer. We also passed a gritty K-Mart, and luckily, we didn’t have to deviate to it. However, this merciful period of relative speed and directness would soon be over. We went over the Chicopee River, passed a big old factory, and merged onto North Main Street.
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| Some scenery along Main Street. |
There was a mixture of businesses with parking lots and dense houses along here. Eventually, we came into Palmer Center, and it was a miserable scene. There were some dense retail buildings, but they were in terrible condition and either occupied by sketchy businesses or just completely empty. Outside of an abandoned gas station, we turned onto Thorndike Street.
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| Palmer Center, everyone! |
There were a few more businesses and dense houses, but after a cemetery, things got a lot more spread out. We passed some houses for a bit, then a gas station and an interchange with I-90. After a brief woodsy section, we arrived at our first deviation: the Palmer Big Y.
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| Entering the parking lot. |
Now, for some reason, the 12:00 trip from the Eastfield Mall changes the route order. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but oh, it is: on the 12:00 trip, the entire JOURNEY from Palmer Center to the Big Y is a deviation. So we literally had to go all the way back down Thorndike Street to Palmer Center!
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| Oh look, it’s that graveyard we passed ten minutes ago going the other way! |
Before getting to the center proper, though, we turned onto Park Street (no, not that Park Street – if only), which went along the side of a small shopping plaza. Outside of a church and a post office, we turned onto Central Street, taking us back to the decrepit businesses of Palmer Center. We also made the ubiquitous stop at the Palmer Senior Center, because of course the route serves the senior center.
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| Back here again… |
We headed down North Main Street again, going back the way we had come toward our starting point. However, rather than return to civilization, we stayed on Main Street this time, which was lined with suburban houses. We didn’t stay on here for long, though, because it was time for a cavalcade of deviations!
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| That’s the way towards civilization… |
We turned onto Wright Street, then the hilly, woodsy Beacon Drive. This led to the Palmer Green Estates, a housing development, and we looped around there and came back down the hill. After that, we turned again onto Wright Street and looped around the front entrance of the Baystate Wing Hospital.
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| The hospital. |
Could we now return to North Main Street? Nope! We had to do one more deviation via Fairview and Fletcher Streets, ostensibly to serve “Laurel Manor,” even though that development is easily accessible from North Main. Regardless, we were finally able to turn onto that street, and after going under I-90, we entered the forest.
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| Crossing a river. |
We turned onto Palmer Road, going over the Quaboag River and past a mobile home park. The road crossed over a train track next, then we were running alongside it with practically identical houses on the other side. Eventually, we arrived at a place called Three Rivers, a “town center” of sorts featuring a gas station, an old factory, and a post office.
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| Not much here. |
Once we turned onto Main Street and crossed the Quaboag River again, there was a little more town center-y stuff. For a stretch, the street was lined with retail buildings, but like Palmer Center, they were merely shells; many were abandoned. There were dense houses for the most part after that, but we also passed a church and a cemetery.
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| A side street. |
We were supposed to make a deviation to “Kirkwood Place,” but at least on my trip, we didn’t and just turned right onto Sykes Street. We passed some Palmer municipal buildings, then there was a section of forests and fields. After going under some telephone wires, houses showed up along the road, which eventually became Palmer Street.
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| Going over the Ware River. |
Next, it became South Main Street, and we passed through a mostly residential neighborhood (aside from two retail buildings and a pond). We turned onto River Street, crossing the Swift River and entering Belchertown, then we headed onto Keyes Street. Outside of a convenience store, we turned onto Depot Street, reentering Palmer after another Swift River crossing.
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| “YE OLDE GROG SHOPPE” |
There was a playground on the corner as we turned onto Main Street, paralleling the river for a bit. And now, with that long deviation having been completed, we retraced our steps for a while before merging onto Thorndike Road. As it became Pleasant Street, this was the first time in quite a while that we were getting some decent speed and actually going somewhere – not just doing a deviation.
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| A hilly side street. |
The curvy road became Church Street as we entered the Thorndike neighborhood. There were dense houses, a playground, a church, and a post office here. It continued to be residential for a while until we reached an old factory and crossed over a canal, then the Ware River.
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| The old Palmer Amtrak station! |
The road now became High Street, lined with houses and later, a cemetery. Next, we turned onto Ware Street, a lovely straight section of road lined with houses where we could just speed past everything. It became woods eventually, and it was honestly quite scenic! It basically alternated between houses and forest, even once we entered Ware and the street became Palmer Road. We went over one last river (this route has a lot of river crossings), and finally, after 75 minutes of endless looping, we pulled into the Ware Walmart. Thank goodness!
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| Get outta here!! |
PVTA Route: PV (Palmer Village)
Ridership: I can’t find any cold hard numbers regarding the PV’s ridership, and unfortunately, my ride was so long ago that I can’t remember the exact number of people who rode. I think it was around seven, with different people getting on and off locally in different places. That’s not bad for a minibus route, honestly.
Pros: 1. It serves Palmer. 2. It gets decent ridership for a route of its ilk. 3. The end!
Cons: I could talk about the horrendously deviatory route that loops all over itself and takes a grotesquely longer amount of time than just driving, but it should be clear from the review that the route is like this. No, instead, let’s talk about the schedule, because it makes no sense. The first trip actually starts in Belchertown Center at around 7 AM (maybe the garage is there?), then the route operates about every hour and a half until 12:30 or so. Fine. After that, though, there’s a four hour gap until 4:30! From that point, the route runs until 9 PM. Yeah, I’ll say it again: THIS SCHEDULE IS NONSENSICAL.
Nearby and Noteworthy: As part of our expedition out here, Sam and I had to wait multiple hours in Palmer Center. We were hoping the Steaming Tender would offer some entertainment…but it’s closed on Mondays. Sigh…
Final Verdict: 3/10
It’s a pain to get anywhere using this route. It’s so crazy and all over the place that a simple jaunt down the street could take an hour because of all the loops and deviations. Also, what kind of minibus route runs only in the morning and the late evening? I feel like the afternoon would be one of the busiest times of ridership for shoppers! Still, at least it can pick up those Palmer partiers at 9 PM. Woo-hoo!!!!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Park Street
Oh yeah. I’m doing it. You guys have been requesting this for months and months and months, and now it’s finally here. We’re checking a big one off the list today – it’s time to look at what is quite possibly the most iconic station on the MBTA, Park Street!
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| Here’s that Red Line platform you all know and love! |
Everyone’s heard that classic announcement coming into Park Street on the Red Line: “The doors will open on both sides of the train. For elevator service, please exit the left side of the train onto the center platform.” That about sums up the unique setup of the Red Line platforms: there are two side ones, one for each direction, and a center platform with more waiting space and elevators.
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| Basically an identical view, except on the other side. |
The platforms themselves are decent. There’s good spacing of benches along the whole station, and plenty of seating is offered on both the side and center platforms. Wastebaskets are a little sparse, though, showing up mostly near the entrances to the Green Line. Thanks to the fact that most of the station consists of two big arches, random pipes are less prominent than at other stations, although the paint from the popcorn ceilings has seen better days.
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| High five! Or…Jardell! For anyone who may get that… |
Other amenities at Park Street include the new television screens the T has been putting at stations that show mostly ads. There are also the two hands up where the arches of the station end that are kinda hard to notice if you’re not looking out for them. Finally, at the end of the center platform, there’s an emergency exit staircase that looks like it hasn’t been used in decades.
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| The end of the platform. |
Near the Green Line staircases is where the station starts to get busy. Park Street has a nice easy transfer between lines: just walk up the stairs, and you’re at the Green Line. These concourses where the stairs are feature lots of wastebaskets (the highest concentration anywhere on the platform), a few fans (it gets hot down here), and a payphone (I can’t remember if it worked or not).
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| Oho, a secret exit! |
Of course, I can’t fail to mention the “secret” exit from the Red Line station! It’s not actually that exciting, but on the ends of each platform, there’s an escalator (or in one case, stairs) that leads up to the street, exit-only. I can’t speak for the other ones, but the one I used from the southbound platform had a funny little sign saying “overhead door”…over the door. Uh…okay!
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| Not the iconic entrance, but still nice. |
As long as we’re up here, we might as well talk about Park Street’s various entrances. The one on the east side of Tremont Street, otherwise known as “the one closest to Downtown Crossing,” has some pretty good architecture and signage. I like the glass columns, and there’s a T sign to let everyone know where the entrance goes. There’s an elevator on this side, too, but it’s currently under construction.
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| Our first mezzanine! |
This entrance has a pretty small mezzanine, but it gives you everything you need: two fare machines and two fare gates. This one leads into the concourse area above the platforms, meaning it’s a bit of a pain to use if you’re going westbound on the Green Line, but it’s easy to get to the other parts of the station from here.
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| Oh…hi, Nathan. Uhh…thanks for holding open the door… |
There’s also the other entrance south on the common, otherwise known as “the one closest to Boylston.” It’s a pretty standard-looking building, but the staircase down is made out of nice-looking marble (or some material that looks like marble). The mezzanine for this one has no fare machines, though – just two fare gates. It leads to the westbound Green Line platforms, so if you’re going in the other direction, it’s sort of a pain to get there.
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| Such a big bus hub! |
Park Street is also, of course, the home of the 43 and 55 bus routes. As you can see above, their bus stop is barebones: it’s just a sign. No shelter. No bench. Nothing. Just a sign. Also, the traffic here is so bad that the 43 schedule essentially says, “Yeah, the bus is just gonna get here whenever it wants and leave right away, so, uh, be prepared for that.”
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| The elevator entrance. |
Now, the only accessible entrance open at the moment is the elevator along the common. The exterior is really nice: the modern glass shaft comes out with a simple but effective entrance. I particularly like the T logo at the top. However, the elevator itself is a very very very smelly affair, and despite being fully glass, it’s a miserable ride. We will encounter many more smelly elevators throughout this review.
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| Ahhhh, the classics! |
Of course everybody knows these entrances! These are so iconic, and they never get old! Well, technically they are old, but you know what I mean. They both have a few wastebaskets outside their doors, and the western one also has a few newspaper boxes. My one gripe with these lovely buildings is that I wish they said the primary Green Line direction for each one instead of just “All Trains” – I always have to figure out which way is which when I’m trying to quickly get onto the Green Line.
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| Down the stairs. |
Going down the stairs, there’s an awesome plaque above commemorating the opening of the Park Street Subway on September 1st, 1897 – the first subway in America. Unfortunately, the age of the station does show on this staircase, with some really horrible paint chipping issues on the white walls.
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| It’s busy down here! |
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| The Green Line platform. |
I’ll start with the westbound Green Line platform, since it’s at least a little less crazy than the eastbound side. Honestly, though, the Green Line platforms are both insane, with people darting around and waiting around in various places. There are two tracks per platform, with the inner track dedicated to B and D Line service, while the C and E Lines board on the outer track.
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| An example of typical Park Street insanity. |
The platforms feature a bunch of benches, wastebaskets, and maps among the throngs of darting crowds. It can get really hot down here, due to a mixture of low ventilation and lots of body heat, and that heat is certainly exemplified when you’re down here for twenty minutes to review it oh my God make it stop!!!!!!!!! Ahem…
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| Oh, also, here’s a random payphone. |
Other points of note down here include countdown clocks, showing the number of stops away westbound trains are (not very useful) and the number of minutes away eastbound trains are (much more useful). There are also full racks with every bus schedule on the system right on the platform, which is great. I also appreciate the Charlie on the MTA poster and the sign displaying various destinations and which lines to take to get to them.
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| Going downstairs! |
To get between the two Green Line platforms, there’s a crossover tunnel. It’s accessible either by a set of stairs or by an elevator of standard, stinky quality. One weird thing about the elevator is that it has completely different button panels for each door! One of them is pretty basic, while the other one has all these complicated buttons about opening individual doors and holding them open. Why does this discrepancy exist? I have no idea.
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| Crossing over. |
The underpass itself is pretty underwhelming. It has low ceilings, it’s aesthetically boring, and there are random holes in random places on occasion. Still, it’s just an underpass, so looks don’t matter all that much, and the mosaic work does at least have try to look nice.
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| The eastbound side. |
And here’s the eastbound side of the Green Line platform! Can you see the possible safety hazard? The entire outer track is a crossing. People can walk over it at any time! Imagine how terrifying it would be to drive a train through here! It’s no wonder operators ring their bells like madmen as they come into the station!
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| Kitschy souvenirs, anyone? |
This platform houses the T Underground souvenir shop, offering a lot of weird, semi-sketchy stuff with lots of flashy lights and grammatically-dubious signs. I guess it’s nice to have a store right on the platform, though. Moving on, there’s an ATM, a few more benches, and an outdated system map.
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| Our final mezzanine area! |
Finally, we come through a passageway on the outer platform and enter a mezzanine that feels like it’s been under construction forever! There’s not much in here aside from some wastebaskets, entryways to the Red Line platforms, and one of the station entrances we looked at a while ago. There’s also a countdown clock displaying Green Line arrivals, but it really should display Orange Line arrivals since it’s at the entrance to the Winter Street Concourse…but we won’t be going down that concourse just yet!
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| Two blurry trains. |
Station: Park Street
Ridership: This is the fourth-busiest station on the MBTA in terms of fare entries, with 19,653 riders per weekday! That doesn’t even account for the insane number of transfer passengers here: almost 30,000 people go between the Red and Green Lines in each direction per day (60,000 total), making this the busiest transfer station on the entire system. Also, on a weird side note, I find it interesting that 755 people who enter this station actually use the Winter Street Concourse to get to the Orange Line at Downtown Crossing!
Pros: This is one of the easiest transfers on the system, featuring quick and easy staircases between the Red and Green Lines (and a hallway to the Orange Line, if you want to count the Winter Street Concourse). Indeed, Park Street as a whole works very well functionally, with many entrances and mezzanines, allowing people to come in from a few different places around the area. However, it’s still easy to navigate, and it doesn’t have the labyrinthian qualities of other downtown transfers. The station features many amenities, particularly on the Green Line platforms, for as much passenger convenience as possible. Finally, although it doesn’t necessarily work in practice, Park Street makes a decent effort to look nice, which can’t be said for some of the other downtown stations on the T.
Cons: Park Street, especially the Green Line portion, is just a gigantic melting pot of pure insanity. Getting through the crowds here can be tough, especially at rush hour, and it doesn’t help that all that body heat comes together to make temperatures borderline unbearable. Every elevator at this station is guaranteed to smell – indeed, I once saw literal, actual human feces in one of them. Although Park Street tries to look good, and I appreciate that, it often falls flat. This may be one of the most (if not the most) iconic stations on the T in terms of appearance, but that appearance is often old and antiquated, more so in some areas than others.
Nearby and Noteworthy: This station is, of course, best known for its prime location right next to the Boston Common. Aside from that, you’ve also got the Massachusetts State House, Beacon Hill (some parts of it are easier to access from here than Charles), and various other historical sights.
Final Verdict: 6/10
On one hand, trying to brave the crowds between the Red and Green Lines at rush hour can be a total nightmare. On the other hand, this station is set up pretty darn efficiently (especially given its age!), and it’s just so darn iconic – those main entrances! They’re so beautiful! However, the hub is still plagued with a host of problems, including the lack of a proper bus area, questionable appearances in some areas, and human feces in an elevator. Did I mention that?? The station ends up being fairly middle-of-the-road for me, although it’s certainly better than its neighbor along the Red Line. Believe me, I’ll have a lot to say for that review…
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Airport Terminals
The last Silver Line reviews! It’s time to head up to the airport and see what kinds of “stations” the SL1 has to offer.
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| A bus leaving Terminal A. |
Station: Terminal A
Ridership: The stop gets 484 riders per weekday.
Nearby and Noteworthy: “This is Terminal A, serving: Delta Airlines, Delta Shuttle, Southwest, and WestJet, with the exception of international arrivals which arrive at Terminal E. Ticket counters and gates are located on the second level.”
Final Verdict: 5/10
This is basically what you’d expect from an SL1 airport stop: there are a few benches, a few maps, and a rather inaccurate countdown clock. Since it’s on the lower arrivals level, every sound from every car and bus is magnified, and it can get rather noisy here. Thus: meh.
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| Terminal B, Stop 1. |
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| Terminal B, Stop 2. Very different, eh? |
Stations: Terminal B Stop 1 and Terminal B Stop 2
Ridership: Stop 1 gets 367 riders per weekday, while Stop 2 gets 246.
Nearby and Noteworthy: “This is Terminal B Stop 1, serving: Air Canada, Air Canada Express, American Airlines Gates B4 to B14, American Shuttle Gates B15 to B19, and PenAir, with the exception of international arrivals which arrive at Terminal E. Ticket counters and gates are located on the second level.”
“This is Terminal B Stop 2, serving: American Airlines Gates B30 to B36, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines, and United Express, with the exception of international arrivals which arrive at Terminal E. Ticket counters and gates are located on the second level.”
Final Verdict: 6/10
These two stops are basically the same, so I’m doing them in one. Terminal B has the same amenities as Terminal A, except these stops have at least a little bit of outside space and foliage, with a nice long bench. It’s not much, but it does bump the terminal up a point.
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| Terminal C‘s island platform. |
Station: Terminal C
Ridership: This stop gets the highest ridership at the airport, with 687 people per weekday.
Nearby and Noteworthy: “This is Terminal C, serving: Aer Lingus (all arrivals and departures), Alaska Airlines, Cape Air, JetBlue, Sun Country, TAP Portugal, and Virgin America, with the exception of international arrivals which arrive at Terminal E. Ticket counters and gates are located on the second level.”
Final Verdict: 2/10
This one sucks. I hate how it’s located in the middle of a traffic island, so you have to cross a few lanes of vehicles to actually get here. There’s only one bench, and it’s right next to a pole with paint chipping away and a broken payphone haphazardly attached to it. This is the worst stop at Logan, especially considering it gets the highest ridership!
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| And finally, here’s Terminal E! |
Station: Terminal E
Ridership: Strangely, Terminal E gets the exact same amount of people per weekday as Terminal A: 484.
Nearby and Noteworthy: “This is Terminal E, serving: Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, Avianca, Azores Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Copa Airlines, El Al Airlines, Emirates Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Iberia, Icelandair, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Norwegian Air, Porter Airlines, Qatar Airways, Scandinavian Airlines, Swiss Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and WOW Air. The following carriers are international arrivals only in Terminal E: American Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue, and TAP Portugal. Ticket counters and gates are located on the second level. This is the last stop at Logan Airport.”
Final Verdict: 6/10
I guess I’ll give this the same score as Terminal B, since it offers basically the same amenities: maps, a countdown clock, an outdoor area with some foliage, and some benches to sit at out there. And with that, all the Silver Line stops are done! I wonder what review is coming up next…
Harbor Street, Tide Street, 23 Drydock Avenue, 27 Drydock Avenue, 88 Black Falcon Avenue, and Design Center
The SL2 now, huh? We’re really gonna review SL2 stops? We’re gonna walk around an industrial area to review shelters and signs? Sigh…duty calls, I guess…
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| I think the SL2’s been drinking some of the Harpoon Brewery’s exports, am I right?? Ahem…this is Harbor Street. |
Station: Harbor Street
Ridership: 94 boardings per weekday…something tells me a lot of the ridership will be like this.
Nearby and Noteworthy: BEER BEER BEER BEER BEER
Final Verdict: 2/10
This station offers shelters on both sides, which I guess is nice, especially since outbound ridership from here is basically nil. That being said, apparently the Silver Line doesn’t even stop here in the outbound direction, since the outbound side just has a sign for the 4! Whoopsie!
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| A bus stopping at Tide Street. |
Station: Tide Street
Ridership: This is the busiest stop on the independent section of the SL2, with…461 riders per day? Oh…that’s not a lot…
Nearby and Noteworthy: No, just some factories and weird buildings.
Final Verdict: 3/10
This one improves slightly upon the last one with the inclusion of wastebaskets on both sides! It also correctly implements Silver Line signs in both directions, which is certainly a step up.
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| 23 Drydock Ave. Thanks to the big 23 sign! |
Station: 23 Drydock Avenue
Ridership: They moved the stops a bit since the last Blue Book came out, so I guess I’ll use the data from the former 25 Drydock Ave stop: 171 boardings per weekday.
Nearby and Noteworthy: This stop is dominated by the huge Design Center!
Final Verdict: 2/10
It’s a fine shelter, but there’s no sign. How are people supposed to know what bus stops here?
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| 27 Drydock Ave. |
Station: 27 Drydock Avenue
Ridership: This one isn’t really comparable to anything that existed before…maybe we could split the 25 Drydock Ave ridership in half?
Nearby and Noteworthy: The Design Center again.
Final Verdict: 1/10
This one has the opposite problem of 23 Drydock Ave – this is just a sign!
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| The Black Falcon corner stop. |
INTERMISSION: This stop on the corner of Black Falcon Ave and…uh…Black Falcon Ave is only served after 8 PM and during snowstorms. It seems like buses also stop here on weekends (instead of going around the Black Falcon loop), but I don’t think they’re supposed to do that. This isn’t an actual stop, per se, but I did want to give it a mention.
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| 88 Black Falcon Ave…what a weird place for a stop. |
Okay, this is a weird one, so I’ll dedicate a bit of time to it. The SL2 actually goes out of its way on a deviation to serve this stop. It runs out next to the water, loops around to the sign, and then just rejoins the regular route. It’s so strange!
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| And then there’s just this unused shelter… |
Station: 88 Black Falcon Ave
Ridership: 124 riders per weekday.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Geez, I dunno…just another industrial building.
Final Verdict: 1/10
This one is just stupid. It’s pointless for buses to deviate an extra block – I’m sure people can walk that much extra to get to the corner stop described above, because that’s what the route should use. This loop is a waste of time.
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| Why is the Design Center stop way over here? |
Station: Design Center
Ridership: A whole 48 people per weekday. Geez…
Nearby and Noteworthy: The edge of the Design Center, as well as the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal. And the Thompson Island Ferry terminal, for anyone who wants to deal with that boat’s crazy schedule. I should ride it someday…
Final Verdict: 1/10
Yes, it has a shelter and a sign and everything, but I just can’t get over the stupid placement of this thing – why is it to the west side of the intersection? That means the bus has to travel all the way around the block to get here. It really couldn’t have just been placed on the eastern side or on Design Center Place so vehicles could just turn? Sure, there wouldn’t be room for a layover point, but the route could easily layover somewhere else, such as 88 Black Falcon (if that deviation is gonna be there, it might as well be useful).
Worcester Square, Massachusetts Avenue, Lenox Street, and Melnea Cass Boulevard
What’s on the ballot today? Oh, more Silver Line stations? Cool, cool…let’s just get Washington Street done with, then.
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| What the heck is this?? Well, it’s Worcester Square. |
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| The two sides of Mass Ave. |
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| A hubway station, with Lenox Street in the background. |
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| Good thing we have Melnea Cass Boulevard for all the school buses! |
Herald Street, East Berkeley Street, Union Park Street, and Newton Street
This is painful, but in order to say I’ve truly reviewed every MBTA rapid transit stop, I kinda-sorta have to do the Silver Line ones too. Yup, I’ve stooped down to reviewing literal, actual bus stops. This should be interesting…
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| A bus leaving Herald Street. |
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| The inbound stop for East Berkeley Street. |
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| Pretty busy for a Sunday – the inbound Union Park Street stop. |
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| The two sides of Newton Street. |
Morton Street
Let’s take care of a one-off Fairmount Line review, shall we? This is Morton Street. It’s a Fairmount Line station in Mattapan. That’s all the background you need.
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| There it is! |
Morton Street Station is located on the road of the same name, a four-lane behemoth of speeding traffic. It’s too bad, then, that the station entrance is only on one side of the road, with no crosswalks for a while on either side! It’s not too big of a deal, I guess, but it’s definitely a little annoying. The entrances are marked with a few T symbols and station signs. There’s a secondary entrance to the outbound platform on Flint Street.
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| Coming down on the inbound side. |
The inbound side of the station has a lot more amenities than the outbound, such as a staircase and a ramp (the other side just has the latter) and some bike racks. This side also has a little parking lot, which is interesting. The MBTA website claims there’s no parking here!
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| The platform. |
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| No train picture, unfortunately, but here’s another one of the platform. |
Pros: As a normal Fairmont Line station, Morton Street features luxurious high-level platforms, beautiful convenient shelters, and more benches than are probably necessary, since this thing can’t generate any kind of ridership with an hourly Commuter Rail service because this is destined to be a rapid transit line ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Cons: I gotta say, this station is somewhat lacking in the wastebaskets department! Other than that, it’s really just the fact that there needs to be way more frequent service here, because the Fairmount Line as it is is just a joke.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There are some businesses to the east of this station, but they don’t look particularly appealing…
Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s a Fairmount Line station. The end!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Logan Airport Shuttle: 55 (Serves All Terminals to subway station and to Rental Car Center)
So I found out that before I can do the big review, I have to do some other reviews that sorta pertain to the big review in a way, mostly for dramatic purposes for when the big review finally comes out. It’ll become clear at some point. Well, anyway, before I can do the other reviews before the big review, I’m gonna patch up the time by taking care of some reviews in my backlog of my reviews, not pertaining to the other reviews or the big review. Thus, here’s my review of the Logan Airport 55 route review. Review? Review!
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| The bus at Terminal A. |
The 55 is basically a combined version of the 22 and 33 that runs in the late evening and early morning in lieu of those routes. That’s about it. So we started at Terminal A and proceeded to, yes, Terminal B – stops 1 and 2. From there, and I know this is a big surprise, we went to Terminals C and E! Oh, and there was also that weird Massport control tower stop between B and C that no one ever uses…
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| Oooh, blurry! |
After Terminal E, we headed down Service Road, passing a gas station, some parking lots, and a few airplane hangars. Eventually we turned into Airport Station, then from there we went down Transportation Way. There was a park on one side, and we curved around it before running up to the upper level of the Rental Car Center. Alright, review over!
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| Another 55 getting ready to go back to the airport. |
Logan Airport Shuttle Route: 55 (Serves All Terminals to subway station and to Rental Car Center)
Ridership: Since this route operates during the airport’s off-peak hours, ridership is pretty light. My trip had maybe seven people in total.
Pros: It makes sense that during times of lighter ridership, Massport combines the 22 and 33 into one route. It does mean a longer ride to Terminals C and E, although in the case of E, most international flights don’t leave when this route runs, so it’s not too big of a deal. The route operates with consistent frequency, and you should never have to wait too long for a bus.
Cons: It’s kinda weird that this uses 60-foot buses, isn’t it? I mean, there really doesn’t seem to be enough ridership to justify them, and I imagine the costs for running them are higher than normal 40-foot buses.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Every terminal of the airport! Woah!
Final Verdict: 6/10
I don’t really have all that much to say about the 55. It’s just a fairly meh shuttle that runs when the ridership isn’t high enough to support the 22 and 33. Basically, you’re in for a slow, quiet ride in a 60-foot bus with very few people on it.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
PVTA: R27 (Springfield/Eastfield Mall via 16 Acres-Wilbraham)
As I continue to work on my big review that I know all of you will like quite a lot, let’s take a look at a defunct PVTA route! The R27 was eliminated pretty soon after I left Amherst, so I’m glad I got the opportunity to ride it – and it was hard to find even when it existed! Having been on this elusive bus, I can safely say that…yeah, good thing the PVTA cut this thing.
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| This schedule is Exhibit A! |
Oh boy, it’s one of these schedules, huh? More dashed lines than actual timepoints? Every single trip has some sort of letter attached to it that makes it different from all the others? Cooooool. I’d also like to point out that only three of the five trips actually operated as R27s; the two evening ones were deviated B17s.
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| Well, here’s the stop…or something… |
Sam and I took a B17 to Sixteen Acres Center, and we had half an hour to wait for the R27 (despite the fact that the schedule promised a “transfer to and from the B17”). We literally spent almost all of that time poring through the horrible PVTrack app looking for the right R27 stop – there were so many of them, and they were in seemingly no order at all! We were paranoid about missing the bus (or worse, the bus not coming at all), so we settled for the stop after Sixteen Acres Center, which was pretty desolate.
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| IT EXISTS!!!!!! |
We were already past the suburban businesses of Sixteen Acres Center at this second stop – by this point, it was all residential. We headed down Wilbraham Road past lots of houses; eventually we entered Wilbraham, and the name changed to Springfield Street. It already started to feel more rural, with more trees and larger spaces between houses.
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| A pleasant side street. |
For some reason, the R27 was planned in the most complicated way possible. It had two deviations along the route that certain trips served, and my trip was doing one of them. Thus, we turned onto Stony Hill Road, which was more houses, then it ran straight through a golf course. We turned onto Tinkham Road next, passing more sparse houses.
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| Fore! |
We went by the entrance to the Minnechaug High School, then a cemetery, and next, we turned onto Main Street. There was farmland for a bit, then it went back to being residential once more. Eventually, at the intersection with Springfield Street, we reached Wilbraham Center! It was basically a few businesses and a small common…and Main Street dissolved into woods a few seconds after passing through the downtown.
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| Welcome to Wilbraham Center! YAY!!!!! |
Houses came back pretty soon, and they were the only thing along here for a while. Eventually we went by a church, and soon after, we turned onto Boston Road. This was completely different from before: now there were auto shops, suburban businesses with parking lots, and…a few ponds!
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| This is me trying to get a picture of one of them… |
The suburban sprawl continued for basically our entire run on Boston Road. Now, Sam and I were trying to catch the Palmer Village Shuttle from the Eastfield Mall, where this route terminates. Somehow, though, our bus was late (a rarity for PVTA!) and we had to get off just before the mall in order to catch the PV on its way out. Still, there isn’t much to the end of the R27 – all it does is deviate into the mall, and that’s the end of the route.
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| This could very well be the last picture ever taken of an in-service R27! |
PVTA Route: R27 (Springfield/Eastfield Mall via 16 Acres-Wilbraham)
Ridership: My ride featured a grand total of one other person! Cool! According to the PVTA, this route got 11 riders per revenue hour, which seems like a lot. I mean, maybe the rush hour trips got busier, but my midday trip was empty.
Pros: The PVTA must have some political obligation to serve Wilbraham, because there can’t be any other reason why fixed-route buses are running through such a low-density area. In that sense, I guess this route provided that service?
Cons: The R27 was just a confusing mess – its schedule was completely nonsensical! Also, the ridership was really low, and the route was just way too complicated for its own good, with too many deviations and service variants. The stops were organized really badly on the app, too, and the route itself was insanely hard to find in real life!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Wilbraham Center is not a thriving hub of activity by any means, but…yeah, that’s about all you’ve got on this route.
Final Verdict: 2/10
The only thing keeping this from a 1 is that if the numbers are to be believed, this route got at least a little ridership. Anyway, the way they replaced it was well-done: they just deviate three rush hour B17 trips per day to Wilbraham now. It doesn’t affect that route’s frequency, and B17 riders aren’t impeded at all – the ride takes the same amount of time, with the added bonus of less padding on those trips. That means less waiting at random stops! Yay! This is much simpler and more convenient than what the R27 was like, so I’m really glad they integrated the two routes.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Harvard Shuttle: Crimson Cruiser (Quad – Mather House via Memorial Hall)
Might as well crank this one out while we’re on the topic of Harvard Shuttles. The big review that’s coming will be really good, I promise!
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| The bus alongside Cambridge Common…and a car that got in the way. |
I got on at Garden Street along Cambridge Common, and we looped around the Harvard Bus Tunnel onto Mass Ave. After going by the Harvard Law School, we turned onto Everett Street, then Oxford Street, which took us past the Harvard Natural History Museum, among other buildings. Next, we turned onto Kirkland Street.
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| Ah, much brighter than the Extended Overnight! |
We pulled into the Memorial Hall deviation, and…oh, cool, we were early? Great, fun, let’s wait around. Luckily, we were only stuck here for about a minute, and we were soon off to make our two-block jog because of one-way streets. Finally coming onto Quincy Street, we ran alongside Harvard Yard and dropped someone off at the Lamont Library.
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| Somewhere on some side streets. |
After the library, we cut our way down Bow Street, curving down onto DeWolfe Street. This took us down to Cowperthwaite Street, where we arrived at our Mather House stop…four minutes early. Sigh…alright, more waiting…
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| No one’s on board. At least we have the nice poofy seats! |
Finally, it was time to go, so we went up Banks Street, then looped around to Mass Ave. We ran on this all the way up to Harvard Yard, where we made the stop at Holyoke Gate, then continued around the yard past the Red Line station. After that, we looped around the bus tunnel again in order to get back onto Garden Street, which we took out of the square and back to the Quad…where the bus was early. Again.
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| Aw man, the sign is off! |
Harvard Shuttle Route: Crimson Cruiser (Quad – Mather House via Memorial Hall)
Ridership: Here’s the lowdown for morning ridership: from the Quad to Harvard Square, the bus gets packed. Going around the Memorial Hall loop, you might see one or two people; ditto for Mather House. Then the bus loops empty back to the Quad and gets another huge load of people for the trip back down to Harvard. In the afternoon, I imagine the Quad traffic switches to the other direction, but I’m pretty sure the other ridership camps still stay light.
Pros: This route provides crucial weekend morning service around Harvard, which is clearly well-used by students. There’s also service for a few trips weeknights, replacing the former River Houses B. After we establish the fact that this is an important route, though, it all goes downhill…
Cons: Firstly, this route has the same earliness and timing problem that the Extended Overnight has: it has mid-route layovers, and it runs with uneven 35-minute headways. Unlike that route, though, traffic is more variable during the day, and getting rid of layovers to increase frequency may not be the best idea just in case an unexpected jam occurs. Instead, a better solution to run more frequent service would be to cut one of the deviations – either Memorial Hall or Mather House. Neither one gets very high ridership, and getting rid of one would easily allow for half-hourly service. However, I’d also like to point out that the 1636’er, which runs weekend afternoons and replaces this route, gets two buses and runs every 20 minutes. Why does that route get more service? It’s basically the same thing as this one (almost), except in the afternoon and evening! Clearly the Crimson Cruiser would benefit from more service – it can get really crowded to the Quad!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Well, you’ve got all of Harvard Square, I guess! Oh, except for Peabody House – this route unfortunately doesn’t perform that “important,” “useful” deviation.
Final Verdict: 5/10
The Crimson Cruiser’s main function, at least based on ridership, is getting people between Harvard Square and the Quad. The other two deviations, as far as I’m concerned, are pretty unnecessary, although probably political – I doubt Harvard could eliminate them. Still, something has to be done about those crowds, and the solution might have to be an extra bus. After all, the 1636’er gets another one! Why can’t the Crimson Cruiser have one too?
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Harvard Shuttle: Extended Overnight (Quad – Mather House via Memorial Hall)
We’re taking a break from the PVTA for just a bit while I work on a huge review that I think all you guys will really like! In the meantime, let’s look at this piece of trash.
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| Comin’ round the bend. |
The Extended Overnight is Harvard’s overnight bus (obviously), running from around 1 AM to 4 AM (5 on Saturday and Sunday mornings) on a strange, loopy, deviatory route around the entirety of Harvard Square. Nathan, Sam, and I took this route before doing the 171, because…well, why not? We boarded at the Quad at 3:10 in the morning.
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| No buses coming out of here at this time of night! |
From the Quad, we made our way down to Garden Street, which was briefly residential before we came up alongside Cambridge Common. We looped all the way around, circling the Harvard Bus Tunnel and running up Mass Ave. It wasn’t for long, though – we turned onto Everett Street, then Oxford Street, going by various Harvard buildings.
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| Uhhhh…trippy? |
We turned onto Kirkland Street, then we pulled into the Memorial Hall deviation…and had to wait, because we were early. Well, gosh, I might as well be reviewing a PVTA route, since clearly Harvard took a page out of their book! We finally left and made a loop around the block via Quincy Street, Cambridge Street, Prescott Street, and Broadway, before coming back to the one-way Quincy.
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| The Yahd! |
We were alongside Harvard Yard now, and we continued our loop around its perimeter by heading onto Mass Ave. We ran past the Holyoke Gate stop, however the route bypasses it, because…no, I have no idea why it does that. We turned onto Dunster Street, then Mount Auburn Street, going by smaller, more local Harvard Square businesses.
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| The intersection of Mount Auburn, Bow, and Linden Streets…duh!!! It’s so obvious from the picture! |
Next, we turned onto Dewolfe Street, then Cowperthwaite Street, which took us to Mather House…and we were early again! Oh boy! After a wait, we had to deviate to serve Peabody Terrace (or “Peobody” in the schedule – good one, guys), so we turned onto Banks Street. Upon reaching the stop, we just…did a three-point turn to turn around. Sigh…
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| The driver graciously let me take a picture at Mather House! |
We went up Banks Street until Mount Auburn Street, where we looped around to Mass Ave for the third time on the trip. We took this up towards Harvard Square, but we got off at the stop just before it, at the intersection with Quincy Street. The bus continued towards Harvard, where it would eventually go back up to the Quad.
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| Goodbye, you rascal. |
Harvard Shuttle Route: Extended Overnight (Quad – Mather House via Memorial Hall)
Ridership: On the outbound trip to the Quad, there was one person who got off. For our entire ride, there was absolutely no one. Yes, folks, this route truly gets amazing ridership.
Pros: It does provide overnight service to Harvard, but as we’ll see, this doesn’t mean much…
Cons: Okay, first of all, the route is a loopy mess. It’s literally faster to walk to your destination than take the bus a lot of the time! Also, why the heck is it every thirty-five minutes? I mean, this thing definitely has at least five minutes of waiting time – it could easily be cut down to every 30 minutes to simplify the schedule. Finally,and here’s the real kicker, why does this route run at all? Harvard provides an evening on-demand van service for all students and faculty that can be called with a special app – why isn’t this just the only service? It would get people to their destinations much faster, plus it would save the university money by not having to run the Extended Overnight around in circles all night!
Nearby and Noteworthy: I don’t know what you’re doing up at 3 AM, but if you are, all of Harvard Square is at your fingertips with this route!
Final Verdict: 1/10
Cut it. Cut it. Cut it. Okay, I know there’s probably some political reason that this route needs to exist, but why? The evening van can literally perform all of its functions more directly and more efficiently. That’s right, I am actually calling a flex service more efficient than a fixed-route service. That’s how bad this route is!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
PVTA: G1 (Chicopee/Sumner-Allen/Canon Circle)
The G1 is honestly the most legit-feeling bus route on the PVTA. Sure, the B7 is busier and more frequent, but the deviations along the route still make it feel like an RTA. The G1, meanwhile, could honestly pass for a T bus route in Boston, at least for most of it.
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| Okay, not this part. |
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| Coming onto Memorial Drive. |
We turned onto Memorial Drive, a wide road with suburban businesses and parking lots on either side. They got a little sparser after we went under I-90, and in fact, it even got a little woodsy. There were a few more businesses, then we went over the Chicopee River, where there was an amazing view.
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| On the other side of the bridge. |
After the river had been crossed, we turned onto Main Street, then Grove Street. There were businesses at first, but Grove Street added some apartments to the mix. We merged onto Front Street next, which was mostly retail, but there were a few random houses in there as well.
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| A residential side street. |
We went by a park, then it started to get more urban, with lots of different buildings lining the road. There were dense houses, businesses, a library, a basilica, and a school, among other things! We soon entered Chicopee Center, where we turned onto Cabot Street, taking us through the really boring and run-down downtown.
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| Oh, gross! |
We passed a post office and a small park, then we merged into Center Street. After a mix of auto shops and normal retail, the road grew really wide for an interchange with I-391 and we came up alongside the Connecticut River. It was woodsy for a little while, but it got industrial after we went under I-91.
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| Some random auto shop. |
Soon we entered Springfield, and the street became Main Street. We went through part of the Baystate Medical Center complex, then we went under I-91 again. On the other side, there was a gas station, a post office, and some businesses later on. We also passed the PVTA garage; there are lots of short-turn “G1” trips that pull back here from other routes.
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| A side street. |
From that point, Main Street was basically lined with businesses for quite a while. Eventually it grew really wide and we went under I-291 (so many highways to go under!) and past some office buildings. Finally, we came into Union Station, the midpoint of the route. There were a lot of people waiting to get on.
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| Union Station! |
We returned to Main Street, going under the Union Station tracks and past lots of buildings and businesses. The buildings were tall for a while until eventually they lowered and it became just pure retail. There were also some apartments and churches mixed in there, too. Also, did I mention the bus was packed by this point?
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| This is getting a little ridiculous! Remember, this isn’t the MBTA! |
Eventually we merged onto Locust Street, then another merge onto Fort Pleasant Ave. This was a wide road lined almost entirely with dense houses. Next, we turned onto Sumner Ave, which was…basically the same. We passed a park, and there were lots of businesses when we went through The X, but it was back to houses after that.
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| Leafy! |
There were a few bits of retail at certain points, but it was almost entirely residential by now. Also, at some point along here…we were passed by another G1. I’ll repeat: we were passed by another G1. THIS IS AN RTA ROUTE WITH BUNCHING! HOW COOL IS THAT?? Okay, it was also kind of annoying, but still!
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| Houses, houses, houses… |
We merged into Allen Street, which was one-way, and it continued to be the same kind of housing as before (aside from an apartment development at one point). Once the two one-way roads merged back together, there were suburban businesses with parking lots, mostly to the south. Allen Street eventually got narrower, and after a run through a semi-woodsy area, we turned onto Cooley Street.
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| More, more, more houses. |
After some regular residential areas, we turned onto Canon Circle, which was home to Spring Meadow Apartments. We looped around the development, then made our way back up Cooley Street. This time, we bypassed Allen Street in order to deviate to both Stop & Shop and Five Town Plaza. Yeah, the G1 feels like a legitimate bus route except at both of its termini…
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| More people! Poor bus! |
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| Two G1’s going in opposite directions – the one on the left was our bunch. |
PVTA Route: G1 (Chicopee/Sumner-Allen/Canon Circle)
Ridership: This is the third-busiest route on the PVTA, so…yeah, it gets great ridership. It averages about 33 passengers per trip, but my late bus got absolutely packed, as you could see! The buncher behind us wasn’t that busy…
Pros: The G1 provides frequent service to lots of dense parts of Springfield and Chicopee. By “frequent,” I mean every 20 minutes on weekdays, every half hour on Saturdays, and every 45 minutes on Sundays. This is an important route!
Cons: Wow, as it would turn out, I have a lot of problems with this route. First of all, the G1 is decidedly busier than the P20 (not by much, but still), yet the P20 is far more frequent on weekends. Also, the whole Walmart thing with the G1 bothers me – it needs to be way more obvious in the schedule that the route serves Walmart first. Finally, there’s the fact that this is a huge beast of a route that clearly gets late a lot. It seems like it would be better to split it into two – are there really that many people going from one side to the other, anyway? If it was two routes, I’m sure the on-time performance would be much better.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Meh, I didn’t see much of note along here. The malls and stuff that it serves are probably the most interesting places, since downtown Springfield and Chicopee Center are not.
Final Verdict: 6/10
Huh…okay, well, turns out I dislike the G1 more than I thought I would. It’s an important route, but in that vein, it feels like it should be more frequent on weekends. As for the Walmart bit, I think I wouldn’t care if I hadn’t experienced it the hard way, but I did, so now I’m a big advocate for making the footnote on the schedule way more obvious! And then there’s the lateness…this seems to be the one PVTA route that normally gets late (from my experience, at least), and I think a good way of fixing this would be to split the G1 at Union Station. That way, late buses would get some layover time and they wouldn’t have to stay late all the way to the other side of the route.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The Last Route (Video)
Well, this is long overdue! Here’s a video review of the last bus route on the T…but that’s easier said than done. Enjoy!
PVTA: G3 (Springfield Plaza via Liberty/King-Westford)
The G3 is the least “trunky” of the three routes that run from one end of the system to the other via Union Station. I mean, more than half of the northern G3 parallels the X90 (although I would love for that to change), while the southern section ends on really tiny cute residential streets! This is an interesting route.
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| Oh look, its tongue is sticking out! |
The G3 starts at Springfield Plaza, and since it was a Saturday, we could get right to the route – on weekdays, it has to make an extra deviation to the Springfield RMV after the plaza. We went onto Liberty Street, and after a brief bit of woods, there were houses on both sides. As we got far enough south, businesses finally started to appear along the road.
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| Liberty Street runs at an angle to other streets. |
Eventually we reached a big rotary around an interchange with I-291. At this point, the X90 left to go onto Armory Street, and so we were finally alone on Liberty. There were dense houses on one side and industrial buildings on the other, but eventually the latter moved to both sides.
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| Welp… |
We made a brief deviation down Franklin Street to serve Saab Court, which had a few sizeable apartment buildings. Coming back to Liberty Street, it turned out we were pretty close to Union Station – we pulled in there after a few blocks. After a brief wait, we were off again.
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| At Saab Court. |
We went down Main Street, which went under the Union Station train tracks and into downtown Springfield. Next, we turned onto Harrison Ave, Dwight Street, and State Street, passing various urban buildings. State Street went by the Springfield Museums, the US District Court, and the Springfield Armory.
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| A side street. |
There were lots of businesses along here, as well as Springfield Technical Community College. All of a sudden, we entered our unique section by turning onto the narrower Hancock Street. There was retail for a little while, but once we turned onto King Street, it was all houses.
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| This is so pleasant! |
There was a big cathedral eventually, and soon after that we saw some athletic facilities for Springfield College. We turned onto Westford Ave next, then Westford Circle, which had a nice leafy median. After that, we turned onto Middlesex Street, which was the start of the bus’s loop to turn around – I got off along here.
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| See ya! |
PVTA Route: G3 (Springfield Plaza via Liberty/King-Westford)
Ridership: It may not get the highest ridership in the world, but it’s above the threshold of 20 passengers per trip – about 23 people. It adds up over the course of the day, too; this is the 10th-busiest route on the system, which is pretty good!
Pros: The G3 is sort of a nook-and-crannie route, covering little parts of Springfield that other routes don’t serve. It does this with relatively good frequency, at least on weekends: every half hour on Saturdays and every hour on Sundays (when ridership is less).
Cons: More than I realized, honestly. First of all, there’s that stupid weekday RMV deviation the PVTA added recently…WHY IS THAT A THING? For one thing, the route already serves one down near Union Station, and for another, the deviation made the weekday schedule really weird – it has 30-minute gaps, 40-minute gaps, 45-minute gaps…it’s just a complete mess. Also, the nature of the route requires it to spend a lot of time paralleling other ones. It’s not so bad with the State Street corridor in the southern section, since it basically has to use that, but in the north, so much of the route is with the X90. It’s even worse on Sundays, when for some stupid reason, the route is extended to Chicopee Falls. WHY? All it does is parallel the X90 more, and they’re not even coordinated – they run about 10-15 minutes apart. The route could go way more frequently if it was cut back to Springfield Plaza! Sigh…
Nearby and Noteworthy: I gotta say, the southern end of this route is really pleasant. It’s quiet, peaceful, and right by a calm river!
Final Verdict: 6/10
Wow, that’s too bad. This route has so much potential! If the X90 were to go onto Saint James Ave like I proposed, two of the G3’s problems would be solved: it wouldn’t have to parallel the X90, and it wouldn’t have to serve the RMV, meaning it could go back to normal half-hour frequency on weekdays. As for the Sunday extension to Chicopee Falls…yeah, just get rid of that already. I don’t know why it even exists in the first place.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
PVTA: X90 (Inner Crosstown)
The X90 has a split personality, both literally and figuratively. The literal part is that it’s split into two branches, the X90A and X90B. The figurative part is that the southern half of the route is fine, while the northern part of the route is so horrible. We’ll start on the southern end.
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| We’re not quite at the first stop, unfortunately. |
I didn’t get to ride the bus from the very first stop, since I was walking from my G2 trip on its other branch that doesn’t run with the X90. Still, it’s not like I missed much – just a deviation to Stop & Shop and a deviation to the East Longmeadow Big Y. I boarded at one of the first street stops after that, and we headed down North Main Street.
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| Some houses on a side street. |
There were pretty ugly businesses for a bit, but as soon as we entered Springfield, it was residential and the road was now White Street. We broke off from the G2 when it turned onto Belmont Ave, and there were bits of retail both at that intersection and at the one with Sumner Ave. There were more dense houses from there, as well as an elementary school.
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| That’s a nice median there! |
We merged onto Allen Street, which made some twists and turns and went over a small river. There were some abandoned-looking factories here, then the street became Walnut Street and we passed some businesses. After that, there were a lot of dense houses and apartments, but businesses showed up in there too.
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| Some of the factories on Allen Street. |
As we crossed State Street, we passed some businesses, as well as the buildings of Springfield Technical Community College. Next, we turned onto Lincoln Street, then Magazine Street, which became Armory Street. It was kinda weird and industrial around here.
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| Some scraps and what looks to be a church. |
We went over some train tracks, then we crossed I-291 on a weirdly-shaped rotary thing and merged onto Liberty Street. We were now joined by the G3, and we would be running with that route for a while. Along here, there were businesses, auto shops, churches, and dense houses on the side streets.
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| An auto shop with houses behind. |
Eventually everything but the houses left, and they started to get more spread out. There was a brief section of woods, then all of a sudden, the huge expanse of Springfield Plaza came into view. Of course, we deviated into it, and…oh God, did I mention this route has some of the worst PVTA Syndrome on the system? We were 9 minutes early. And this wouldn’t be the last time we would have to stop and wait at a timepoint!
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| I guess that means more time to admire this…uh…parking lot… |
We finally left and returned to Liberty Street, which quickly became Broadway Street when we entered Chicopee. It was residential for a while, but there were some businesses at the intersection with Saint James Ave. For the first time, the two branches of the X90 split: the X90B went onto Grove Street, while I was on an X90A, so we just stayed on Broadway.
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| A parking lot for somethin’ or other. |
The street was pretty diverse, with a park at first, then some dense houses, retail, a cemetery, and an apartment development, in that order. We rejoined the X90B (that was quick!) and headed onto the Deady Memorial Bridge over the Chicopee River. On the other side, we headed onto the wide Memorial Drive and zoomed past lots of trees.
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| What a view! |
After going under I-90, we were absolutely surrounded by suburban businesses with parking lots. Time to deviate into some of them! First we served Chicopee Walmart, as well as Chicopee Marketplace. Next, we went over to the other side of Memorial Drive, ran around Chicopee Big Y, and finally arrived at the stop for it. Luckily we weren’t early, and we could just keep going.
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| The Big Y stop was right next to a hotel. |
We travelled down a weird unnamed entrance road that took us all the way over to Montgomery Street. We quickly merged onto Granby Road from there, which featured a trailer park and an apartment development, then suburban houses for a bit. However, when we came back to Memorial Drive, all those businesses with parking lots came back.
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| Sigh… |
Memorial Drive was really just those kinds of businesses for a long time. Sure, there was the occasional apartment development or shopping plaza to spice it up a bit, but it was still really really boring. We went around a rotary, then we passed houses for at least a little bit. Finally, we waited forever at a light to make a left turn onto Britton Street.
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| At least it’s kind of a change… |
We turned onto Montcalm Street, which was residential, and we arrived at the Montcalm Heights Apartments stop, a major timepoint. After that, we turned back onto Memorial Drive, and…oh, that whole thing was a deviation? Now we have to take it all the way back to that second rotary? Oh…okay, then.
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| The backs of some houses. |
Back at the rotary, we turned onto James Street, which was mostly just residential. We were joined by the X90B at Montcalm Street, and we both headed together down James. Eventually it got woodsy, then it became Syrek Street, with houses on one side and the Connecticut River on the other. There wasn’t a view, though.
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| Now there’s a view! |
We entered South Hadley and the street became Main Street, but it didn’t last long. We curved around past a park, then we turned onto Bridge Street, taking us over the Connecticut River into Holyoke. The street went over a canal, then we turned onto (surprise) Canal Street. Here, we split from the X90B again – the B stays on Canal Street, while we turned onto Lyman Street, which was lined with various apartments.
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| Welcome to Holyoke! |
We turned onto Race Street, and right next to the Holyoke Amtrak station, we turned onto Dwight Street. After two more canals and the Volleyball Hall of Fame, we made our way around to the Holyoke Transportation Center. Finally! That was a long ride. So that’s it, right? I don’t have to do the X90B, do I…?
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| OH NO!!!!!!!!!!! |
The X90B takes a different route out of Holyoke, travelling down the main drag of the city. Well, we were one block over from the main drag on Maple Street, so it was less “main draggy,” but it was close enough. At the Holyoke Public Library, we turned onto Cabot Street, which became industrial after some apartments and a canal crossing.
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| The window was open, so these pictures came out great! |
After a second canal crossing, Cabot Street had some businesses along it. Eventually we got really close to the bridge that would take us to the next part of the route if the X90B was planned with any kind of sense. But guess what? It’s not. Instead we turned onto Canal Street, which was literally just a stretch of abandoned factories. Good thing they deviated the bus to serve all this!
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| WHY?! |
Eventually we rejoined the X90A and headed onto Bridge Street together. We stayed with the A on Main Street, Syrek Street, and James Street for a bit before turning off onto a unique section again. This was Montcalm Street, but it quickly became Prospect Street, and it was residential.
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| Getting a little more urban. |
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| A mostly residential side street. |
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| THIS DOESN’T LOOK LIKE A RIVER. |
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| That stupid hotel again… |
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| Well, finally! |
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| A northbound bus, with mine in the background. Both were early. |
There are multiple advantages to this routing. Firstly, there are practically no neighborhoods that lose service; it’s only where there’s a single black line on the map, and most of that is industrial. Secondly, the Saint James Ave route passes the Springfield RMV, meaning the G3 could eliminate its new deviation there, which caused that route to lose frequency (we’ll be covering the G3 soon). Third, this route is slightly longer than the current one, so the schedule padding at Springfield Plaza would be at least a little smaller. Finally, it serves a pretty sizeable neighborhood of dense homes with no access to bus service! Seems like a win-win-win-win to me, but there’s probably some reason why it can’t happen. Oh well…it looks good on paper!
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