While other UMass routes get insanely busy at peak periods, the 33 is always just kinda…there. During UMass’s rush hour, packed 60-foot 30 and 31 buses truck students out to off-campus apartments, while the 33 just trundles through with a marginal amount of people on board. Funnily enough, my summer 33 did happen to get packed, but it was an anomaly.

It feels weird to see a UMass bus at a Stop & Shop…

The route starts at this place called “Campus Plaza,” but the schedule just calls it Stop & Shop. From there, we made our way onto Northampton Road, passing all of the suburban development horror that that road goes through. Next, we turned onto University Drive, and it was time for another deviation: Big Y.

Not even UMass Transit can escape the tantalizing pull of Big Y…

The stop on this deviation was placed in such a way that we had to navigate a real maze of a parking lot to get out. There was a variety of buildings along University Drive, including businesses, offices, and an eye doctor. We turned onto Amity Street and picked up a ridiculous amount of people from another summer program at a small shopping center. It was standing room only!

Houses on a side street.

The rest of Amity Street was residential, at least until we got to Amherst Center, where we turned onto Pleasant Street and passed lots of businesses. We headed around Kendrick Park and some satellite UMass buildings began to appear. Finally, we entered the campus itself, making the three university stops along the main drag and dropping off that huge group of summer students.

Some campus buildings.

On the other end of the campus, we hit a roundabout and headed right onto Eastman Lane. It went up a hill, going by various dorms, then there was a woodsy section for a bit. Outside of the Amherst fire and police stations, we turned onto East Pleasant Street, which was just lined with suburban houses.

A quiet side street.

We went by a cemetery and a farm, then it was time for a strange deviation. We turned onto Pine Street and passed a common, a market, and a train track. Next, we turned onto Henry Street, arriving at the objective of the deviation: the Cushman Day School. It got no passengers, and we made our way back to Pine Street by means of Bridge Street. That was pointless…

A surprisingly clear shot of some trees.

Pine Street was mostly houses, aside from a farm and an apartment development. Eventually, there was some retail in the form of a small shopping plaza when we turned onto Montague Road in Amherst Center. However, it quickly became houses again, and they continued as we travelled down Summer Street. This took us to our terminus, the Mill Hollow housing development, right next to Puffer’s Pond.

This is such a nice place to lay over!

However, this is a loopy route, and we still had more to go. We turned onto Mill Street, then Pulpit Hill Road, then Montague Road, and finally, Cowls Road. After the houses we had been seeing for a while, Cowls Road had more of an industrial edge to it. We turned onto Sunderland Road next, going by the Amherst Survival Center and coming back into North Amherst Center.

Well, this is a change…

Going back to UMass, the 33 takes the much more straightforward route down North Pleasant Street. It was mostly residential, but in the form of housing developments for UMass students. There were a few normal houses after those, but then it was back on campus, where Sam and I got off and let the bus make its way back to Stop & Shop.

See ya!

PVTA Route: 33 (Puffer’s Pond/Shopper Shuttle)

Ridership: The 33 has two distinct tiers of ridership: shoppers on the southern portion, and residents on the northern portion. While the route may not get a gigantic amount of daily ridership (about 754 people per day), it averages out to about 35 passengers per trip, which is great.

Pros: This is almost like UMass’s “sweep route,” serving the nooks and crannies around campus that other routes don’t serve. The fact that it has two ridership classes fanning out from the main campus means that the bus has great ridership turnover within UMass. Still, it’s not like that many people use it, and the schedule reflects that well: every 40 minutes on weekdays and every 80 minutes on weekends.

Cons: Some of the route’s deviations are a little questionable. The Big Y one is a big pain going inbound, while the Day School one just seems pointless. The loopy nature of the route means that people getting on in one place may have to go for a long ride in order to get to where they’re going.

Nearby and Noteworthy: In the summer, Puffer’s Pond was a big swimming destination. Otherwise, you may have to suffice with Stop & Shop and Big Y…

Final Verdict: 6/10
The 33 is probably UMass’s chillest all-day route. It doesn’t get packed like the other ones – it just does its meandering little loops with generally marginal ridership. Yeah, some of the deviations are pointless, and the loops make it a little annoying to ride sometimes, but the 33 is just a nice, pleasant ride that serves a good amount.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

Oho, you can tell from that title that we’re in for a good one today, folks! Oh man, it’s good to be back in the world of deviatory minibus semi-flex services. Dear viewers, let’s see what the Nash-a-wan-nuck Express has to offer. That’s hard to pronounce…

Nooooooo…

Right, first we’ll talk about how this route works. It has a ridiculous four-tier stop system: first, you can get on the bus at the normal timepoints, which are color-coded by location for no discernable reason; next, there are “on-demand bus stops,” which can be requested by phone for the next available bus to stop at; after that, you have trip scheduling, because this route also has a gigantic flex zone into which you can deviate the bus if you call a day in advance – a few days in advance “for best results” (that is actually what they say); finally, you can “place a standing order,” which allows you to deviate the bus to your location regularly. Alright, got all that? There’s a test later.

The inside of the minibus.

Gosh, it’s a good thing Sam and I had day passes already! The fare box on this minibus was prehistoric. Also, surprise surprise, we were the only ones on board. The driver shut the doors and we left the Academy of Music stop, turning onto the steep and narrow Crafts Ave. Next, we turned onto Old South Street, which led us to normal South Street, taking us out of downtown Northampton. It’s funny that this mess doesn’t serve Salvo House like so many other Northampton routes, but there were plenty more deviations to come.

Coming off of Crafts Ave.

South Street was just lined with houses for a while, at least until a few industrial buildings as we crossed over the Mill River. The street became Easthampton Road on the other side of the river, and we were now zooming through the woods, passing the occasional industrial building. At some point it became Northampton Street, marking our entrance into Easthampton.

Ooooh!

The road became this strange mix of open fields, industrial buildings, and housing developments, but those fields did offer some nice views! Eventually there were some shopping plazas and other businesses, then it got residential. After crossing the Manhan River, we made our way around a common and entered downtown Easthampton. It consisted of one nice block of businesses and…not much else of note.

The common.

We turned onto High Street. “Council on Aging!” the driver shouted out as he pulled over. Now he turned to us. “Where are you going?” he asked. I did my spiel about how I write a blog, and we were just hoping to ride around, but he interrupted me. “Ohhhhhh, no,” he said, “that’s the number one rule of public transportation! You can’t ride around!” He continued to lecture us about how “they” have him on camera and “they” could get him in trouble, but eventually we negotiated a deal where we get out at the last stop and get back on after the layover as if we had done some shopping. Perfect!

Hey, guess what the Council on Aging has…its own bus! Glad we deviated!

Now we turned onto Campus Lane, going around a Big E’s Supermarket. I guess the driver thought we were tourists or something, because now he decided to give us an in-depth tour of Easthampton by means of the Nashawannuck Express. “We are now on Pleasant Street,” the driver announced as we made our way around the common again and went down that street.

A woodsy parking lot.

We went by some huge old factories while the driver was telling us about how the houses on the other side were built by the factories for their employees. “We are now turning onto Ferry Street,” he announced as we passed another factory and a pond. There was some dense housing as we went down Parsons Street, and it continued onto Everett Street.

I’m sure the driver had something to say about that tower, but I can’t remember it.

We had to make an annoying deviation to serve an elderly home that, of course, got no passengers. “This is the first of three cemeteries on the route,” the driver said just before we turned onto Franklin Street. It was still residential, and there were more houses as we turned onto Clark Street. We were really close to Easthampton’s secondary “downtown” that the R41 goes through, but we didn’t serve it, going south on Holyoke Street instead.

A residential side street.

The street was mostly residential, but there were a few businesses on street corners, too. The houses were getting less and less dense, and just before the R41’s amazing mountain section, we turned off onto Hendrick Street. “That’s Mount Tom,” the driver said, pointing out the humongous mountain in the background.

Yup, there’s Mount Tom!

The road was mostly woods, but there were some houses mixed in there too. We made our way onto Plain Street next, featuring houses endowed with very large front yards. We turned onto Strong Street, which was more of the same. Strangely, the intersection of Hendrick and Plain is considered a “request stop” at night, while Strong and Plain is not. They’re both intersections that the bus passes through. What is there to request anyway?

The intersection with Strong Street.

We merged onto Park Street, and soon enough it was time for another deviation. This one was to serve Treehouse Circle, a housing development, and no one got on. We were also supposed to deviate to serve the White Brook Middle School, but luckily we didn’t (it was summer). There were more houses back on Park Street, and they continued on Garfield Ave, as well as Williston Ave (where we went by the route’s second cemetery, said the driver).

Inside Treehouse Circle.

We came up alongside the lovely Nashawannuck Pond and made our way up Union Street, passing a repurposed factory and Easthampton City Hall. There were businesses with parking lots along here, but they got denser and we went through a nice block of interesting ones. Soon enough, we were back in downtown Easthampton, and we looped around that same common again.

The pond!

Now we went south down Main Street, which was mostly houses, but we also passed the third and final cemetery of the route! There was some retail at the intersection with South Street, and a little more further down the road. Finally, we entered Southampton and arrived at the Southampton Big Y…time to get out and wait for the departure.

What a nice view!

After a 20-minute wait, the bus came back, and it was time to go back to Northampton. I was so ready for the trip back, mainly because of the timepoints: “CVS” and “Easthampton Post Office.” Were we seriously gonna deviate to serve such pointless things as those? No. No, we didn’t, it was just a straight shot back. Okay, but then why are there trips that shade out the timepoints like the bus is bypassing deviations?! They’re not deviations, you just go straight by them on the main road! What???

The bus back at Big Y.

PVTA Route: NE (Nashawannuck Express Flex/Van Service)

Ridership: Well, I can’t find any information about the route’s ridership online, so I’ll just have to base it off of my experience: no one. The end! No, actually that’s not quite true – this route has one trip that I’ve seen get people, and that’s the 4:45 one. That always seems to get 5-6 commuters from Northampton, which is at least something.

Pros: Parts of this route feel like they could be useful, such as the section serving dense housing east of downtown Easthampton. Aside from that, though, there’s really only one other pro I can give: the driver. Man, he should be a tour guide! He somehow managed to make a town as boring as Easthampton sound interesting with his neat facts and enthusiastic announcing. He made this ride great!

Cons: Everything else. This route is actually very deceiving: it doesn’t deviate that much, making you think you’re actually going somewhere, but you’re NOT. It’s just this big stupid loop that forces anyone trying to get to Northampton to wait at the freaking BIG Y for 20 minutes! The stop system makes no sense, the route’s timepoints make no sense, and even the map makes no sense – there’s literally an arrow that points in the opposite direction of where the NE actually goes. And then there’s the schedule: every hour and a half for a route like this makes sense in theory, but honestly, it could just run two rush hour trips per day, and it would probably get the same amount of ridership. And why the heck is there a 9 PM trip on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays? Are people really taking the Nashawannuck Express to Northampton to party until 9 PM? Yeah, wishful thinking. I’m sure that trip is empty, just like almost every single other one.

Nearby and Noteworthy: All of the interesting parts of Easthampton are also served by the R41, which would allow you to A) ride a nice, full-sized bus, and B) not have to travel around a gigantic loop to get where you’re going.

Final Verdict: 2/10
As a minibus shuttle, the Nashawannuck Express is at least a little more tolerable because the bus itself travels quickly and there are some nice views…but this is still just such a bad route. Forcing people to board on a one-way loop only to have to wait at the Big Y is just cruel. Why can’t the bus just have its layover at Northampton? Or better yet, why can’t the bus only run at rush hour? That seems to be the only time anyone actually uses it!

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

Ehhh, the B6 is just kind of a boring route. Sorry, I don’t have anything exciting to say for the intro…

The back of the bus at Union Station.

We went down the main drag of Main Street for a while, at least until some tall buildings at Harrison Ave. There, we turned onto it, then we turned onto Dwight Street, which went by apartments and a hockey rink. Next, we turned onto State Street, passing a library, a church, and the US District Court.

Turning onto Dwight Street.

We went by the Springfield Armory, which occupied one side of the street, while the other side held businesses. Once we hit Mason Square, our independent section began with quick turns onto Saint James Ave and Bay Street. This was a narrower road than State Street, and it was almost entirely residential, aside from a bit of retail at each intersection.

One of those retail intersections.

Eventually, a cemetery took up one side of the road while we passed a housing development. After that, Bay Street became industrial all of a sudden…but only on the left side of the street. The other side was just woods! Finally, the trees were broken by the huge Springfield Central High School.

A field for the school.

It was houses once again after that, but there was an apartment development as we turned onto Berkshire Ave. However, that went back to houses, at least for a bit until some industrial buildings cropped up. We went over some train tracks, and after a little more industry on the other side, it became residential once more.

Houses, houses, houses.

Outside of a gas station, the route splits. Some trips stay on Berkshire Ave, but others, like mine, go via Page Boulevard. This road passed a cemetery, then we turned onto Goodwin Street, which curved its way through a monochromatic apartment development. Now, at this next point, we could’ve just gone down Oak Street and met up with the other routing. However, for some strange reason, the PVTA elected to have the route take tiny side streets to get there: Pasco Road, Essex Street, and Myrtle Street.

Back on the main route!

We turned onto Berkshire Street for a block, then we turned onto Oak Street. Again, why didn’t we just go right onto Oak Street? Who knows? We turned onto Main Street next, and we were in some sort of “downtown”? It had some pretty nice-looking buildings, but most of them were just empty, even though they would be perfect for stores and restaurants.

A little before the “downtown.”

There were dense houses and some businesses, but they eventually switched to industrial buildings and suburban businesses with parking lots. We merged onto Ludlow Ave, which took us over the Chicopee River into, yes, Ludlow! Next, we headed onto East Street, passing a shopping center, a park, and a few other businesses.

Coming into Ludlow.

We turned onto Sewell Street, which started out with with a bit more retail that quickly turned to houses. Eventually we merged into Center Street and went under I-90. Right on the other side was the Big Y, which is what the PVTA chooses to call the B6’s terminus…even though it’s actually a shopping plaza with a number of other stores, and the bus stops as far away from the Big Y as possible.

Ready to go back!

PVTA Route: B6 (Union Station/Ludlow via Bay Street)

Ridership: For some reason, the B6s I’ve seen have always been pretty light, but apparently the route does get very good ridership. It’s the eighth-busiest route on the system and it gets about 23 passengers per trip.

Pros: The B6 carves a straight path (for the most part) up towards northeastern Springfield and Ludlow. It has excellent service, running every 20 minutes on weekdays, every half hour on Saturdays, and every hour on Sundays.

Cons: First of all, the Pasco Road/Goodwin Street variant is just a curvy weird mess – it could take a much simpler route. Also, the Sunday service is just ridiculous. The route essentially deviates to Ludlow Big Y, then comes back to the Eastfield Mall and ends there…and on the way back, it deviates AGAIN to the Big Y. Why does it need to do it again? Why does it serve Eastfield Mall in the first place?

Nearby and Noteworthy: I utilized Joanne’s Arts and Crafts at the “Ludlow Big Y” for a project, and I must say, I was happy with their services. Hooray! As for the rest of the route…eh.

Final Verdict: 7/10
Overall, despite a few weird twists, turns, and deviations, it’s hard to hate the B6. It’s frequent, it serves a lot, and it gets pretty good ridership. It’s also (essentially) the only route to serve Ludlow, unless you want to count the B12’s service to the Hampden County Jail. I don’t.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

Wow, how lucky was I to make it onto the R14’s one Saturday trip that deviates to the Heritage Nursing Home? Pretty darn awesome, I gotta say! Of course, there’s lots more to the route than that once-a-Saturday deviation…

Boarding at Union Station.

We went under the Union Station train tracks on Dwight Street, then there were various offices, parking lots, and apartment buildings everywhere. We turned onto Harrison Ave next, and after a few tall buildings and a crossing of I-91, we went over Memorial Bridge into West Springfield. There was a roundabout, then we headed down Memorial Ave.

A quiet street in Springfield.

We didn’t get too far before having to deviate, though. It was a pretty big plaza with an actual name, Century Center, but the schedule only calls it the “West Side Big Y.” Memorial Ave started to get industrial once we came back from the deviation, including a giant freight yard. Eventually it became more retail-oriented, and we also passed the Big E, some sort of exposition center.

Trains!

Next, we went by a replica 18th century village (pretty cool) and crossed over the Westfield River. This led us into Agawam, and we turned onto Springfield Street alongside some shopping plazas. On Sundays, the route terminates here, but it has a lot further to go on weekdays and Saturdays. Onward!

Going over the river.

We turned onto Walnut Street, running along the Westfield River with houses on the other side. The street curved around to become River Street, then we turned onto Bridge Street, going back south the way we came. This continued to be residential, but there were at least a few businesses when we turned onto Maple Street.

A residential side street.

At this point, we entered the loop section of the R14, where the inbound route splits with the outbound route. We headed down Springfield Street, which was a mixture of houses and some pretty unappealing businesses. It was a weird, ugly road for a while, and it only got weirder when apartment developments and random stretches of farmland entered the mix.

“Feeding Hills.”

I’m not sure where exactly the line is for this, but at some point we arrived at Feeding Hills Center. This was a big cluster of suburban businesses with parking lots, and it sure as heck didn’t feel like a “center.” We went down Southwick Street from there, which was lined with houses and the occasional patch of farmland. Next, we turned onto West Street, then Pheasant Hill Drive, looping around an apartment development of the same name. This was the last stop on the route, and we had a few minutes for layover.

The bus hanging out at the Pheasant Hill Apartments.

We made our way back to Feeding Hills, but this time we took a different route. Instead of continuing onto Springfield Street, we turned onto North Westfield Street, going by houses and a residential development. There were a few businesses when we turned onto North Street, but then it was just houses until we rejoined the outbound route at Springfield Street.

Coming back onto Springfield Street.

I remained vigilant for the rest of the ride looking for where the Heritage Nursing Home deviation would start, but it turned out not to happen for awhile. Instead of turning onto Suffolk Street over the Westfield River back into West Springfield, we continued down Main Street, which was mostly industrial. Next, we turned onto Cooper Street, which led us into the Heritage Nursing Home complex. We looped through it, got back onto Main Street, and went back the way we came.

Once a Saturday, once a Saturday!

PVTA Route: R14 (Feeding Hills/Springfield)

Ridership: My Saturday trip was really quiet, with only about six people in each direction. Strangely, the Heritage Nursing Home deviation was the single busiest stop on the whole trip, with a few workers from the Home, which I wasn’t expecting since it only happens once a day. Overall, the route gets about 21-22 passengers per revenue hour, comfortably beating the 20 PPRH threshold.

Pros: This is the only PVTA route that serves Agawam, and the loop at the outer end allows it to catch as much as possible. The base R14 schedule is a solid every hour, including on Sundays when it operates a shorter route and interlines with the B4.

Cons: Weekday service to Pheasant Hill Apartments is really inconsistent, including a 3-hour gap from 1:10 to 4:10. However, on Saturdays, the apartments get all day service? That doesn’t make much sense! An even more inconsistent part of the R14 is the Saturday Heritage Nursing Home deviation. Clearly people use this to get home from work, but how the heck do they get to work? Finally, the PVTA eliminated the R14E route, which ran express to the Agawam Industrial Park, and shoehorned it in with the regular R14. This means there are awkward buses that go along the route at random times and break the hourly schedule. Why can’t it have stayed an express? Why do the R14E buses have to take a longer trip while not really serving anything new?

Nearby and Noteworthy: I’ll be honest, Agawam isn’t a very pretty town. There are no centers, no walkable retail areas…this route is ugly.

Final Verdict: 6/10
The R14 is a theoretically good route, but it suffers from inconsistencies that drag it down. The Pheasant Hill Apartments service on weekdays is abysmal, the Heritage Nursing Home deviation on Saturdays makes no sense, and the R14E trips are a complete waste of extra time. At least the route is decent outside of those inconsistencies, though.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Thanks to Boston.com for this amazing article about my completion of the MBTA bus system! And welcome if you’re coming from there!

Thank goodness for my B23 being 20 minutes early! I was prepared to wait a really long time for the next R10, but thanks to a ridiculously early bus, I had time to both review the Olver Transit Pavilion and catch the previous R10! This is a route that runs every 60 minutes, keep in mind.

The bus at Westfield State University.

I took the bus out to Westfield State University, then after taking a quick picture, we were ready to go. From Scanlon Hall, we headed down Western Ave, going by Westfield State buildings for a little while. After that, it was nice houses, at least until a big cemetery, where we merged onto Court Street.

The cemetery.

There were more houses and a hospital, then we started to pass a few businesses, as well as Westfield City Hall. Court Street started to get a lot wider, but before it gained a full-on median, we turned onto Washington Street. After a church, a police station, an apartment building, and some houses, we turned onto Arnold Street, which took us back around onto Elm Street to serve the Olver Transit Pavilion.

A common in downtown Westfield.

We headed down Elm Street, passing lots of businesses, then we made our way around a modern common (Park Square). After a few businesses, we merged onto Main Street, but we turned off to serve a Stop & Shop. Once that lovely deviation was over, we returned to Main Street, where there were suburban businesses with parking lots.

Case in point…

It was residential, and the houses continued as we turned onto Meadow Street (there’s another variation of the R10 that just stays on Main). There was some retail along here, too, as well as the Westfield Food Pantry. We approached another park, where we turned onto Union Ave, going over the Westfield River.

The bridge over the river.

Next, we turned onto Union Street, which was kind of a weird mix of houses, huge industrial buildings, and apartment developments. It got more industrial as we continued, with a few…random fields mixed in too. Of all things, though, there was just a mini-golf course in the middle of it all? Alright, well, we got some woods after that strange sight, then there were some businesses and industries as we turned onto Springfield Road.

Looking down Springfield Road.

We were running alongside a train track, then the road got wider for a Walmart. Oh…and we had to deviate into it. After serving the big box behemoth, we returned to Springfield Road for about 0.2 seconds before yet another deviation. This time, it was on East Mountain Road, which went under the train tracks in a tunnel that wasn’t even wide enough for two cars to pass each other, let alone a car and a truck!

Yeah, why don’t you go first?

This deviation took us up to Western Mass Hospital and East Mountain View Apartments, the latter of which we looped around in. Next, we came back to Springfield Road, which kept going along those train tracks with the Westfield River on the other side. The road became Westfield Street when we entered West Springfield, and we made a few curves past various types of buildings and over the train tracks.

Another narrow tunnel under the tracks!

There was some retail after the train bridge, but now it was all residential. For a while, we were just going by suburban houses until the intersection with Kings Highway, where we got some businesses. There were more businesses as we continued down Westfield Street, but also a few more houses and apartment developments.

Some power wires bisecting a neighborhood.

Eventually we got a line of retail, then an industrial/apartment development break, then retail again. We turned onto Elm Street, which featured a wide median, then we turned onto Park Ave, which featured a wider median! After that, we turned onto Main Street, running through a mostly residential neighborhood.

Now that’s what I call a median!

Businesses started to get more abundant between the houses, and after going under some train tracks, we turned onto Memorial Ave next to a shopping plaza. We went around a rotary, then crossed over Memorial Bridge into Springfield proper. Once there, we turned onto Main Street, and after passing tall buildings, businesses, and offices, we came into Union Station.

The back of the bus.

PVTA Route: PVTA: R10 (Westfield/Westfield State University/West Springfield/via Route 20)

Ridership: The R10 gets heavy student ridership from Westfield State University as well as commuters from Westfield. This all amounts to about 24 passengers per revenue hour.

Pros: This is an important link from Springfield to Westfield, and it’s one of two buses that connect the town to the outside world (the other being the B23). The academic year frequencies are pretty good, with service every 20-30 minutes during the rushes and every 60 minutes during the day, on Saturdays, and on Sundays. On school year weekdays, the R10 only goes as far as Westfield Center, while the R10S shuttle runs every half hour from there to the university.

Cons: The summer weekday schedule is pretty weird, with frequencies randomly shifting between every hour and every 45 minutes. Also, this is one of those routes where each trip is defined by a bunch of different letters representing routings and deviations. Do you have an “SWE” trip? Or a “UWE” trip? Or maybe an “SWR” trip? Have fun constantly referring to the bottom of the schedule to find out what these all mean!

Nearby and Noteworthy: Westfield is a decent town center, and this is the best way of getting there. There isn’t all that much of note along the route’s independent section, though.

Final Verdict: 7/10
Westfield doesn’t have many options for transit, so the R10 link is crucial. Since most of its riders are going from Springfield to Westfield, the strange letters on the schedule don’t usually matter too much, but it’s just such a pain to read. The summer schedule is also just…weird, but at least it makes sense during the school year!

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Thanks for all the positive comments and feedback about finishing the bus system. Yesterday the blog got its highest daily viewers – 9,989! So close to 10,000, but that’s okay – thank you to everyone for reading and following my adventures!

Okay, what is it with naming unnecessarily fancy transit centers after John Olver? Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he was a great congressman, but geez! First there was the FRTA’s gigantic John Olver Transportation Center, and now we’ve got the PVTA’s smaller (but no less fancy) John Olver Transit Pavilion in Westfield. Alright, then…

The building.

The Transit Pavilion is definitely a smaller affair than the huge FRTA terminal, but just look at that building! It really sticks out in Westfield Center, a place mostly with older brick buildings. Right outside the Pavilion structure, there’s a bench, while the other side has a fare machine, bike locks, and a vending machine for bike parts. Wow!

Squeaky clean!

Geez Louise, here we go again. The inside of this thing is impeccable. It’s very well-lit, modern, and clean, with lots of benches all around the outer wall. There are also vending machines, a fare machine, and a departure board. A wavy table along the middle of the room features outlets for charging devices.

Huh…alright.

The Pavilion also houses a strange little touch screen thing. It shows bus departures, whatever the heck “CHAMBER” is, and even the Yelp reviews for restaurants and businesses in Westfield. This seems very useful for Westfield’s throngs of tourists consisting of approximately no one. There’s also a really empty cork board with a few lone schedules in it and a space for retail that wasn’t filled when I was here.

The bathroom!

Since this hub is so quiet, Westfield’s bathrooms are squeaky-clean! Maybe now that college has started up at Westfield State University, they’re far worse, but who knows? There’s also a water fountain that additionally fills up water bottles. It had only saved 608 plastic bottles when I went there in July, but I’m sure now it’s higher!

The boarding area.

The Transit Pavilion’s boarding area isn’t much, but it gets the job done. There are benches along the more northerly section, but once you go further down the line, they disappear. There’s plenty of seating inside, though, so it doesn’t matter all that much. The plaza is clean and modern, and some newly-planted trees and bushes look very nice.

Further down the platform.

PVTA Station: Olver Transit Pavilion

Ridership: Well, when I was here on a Saturday in July, it was practically empty – there were only three or four people in the terminal. Perhaps it gets busier during the school year when there are students from Westfield State University?

Pros: Just like the FRTA’s Olver building, the Transit Pavilion is near-perfect. It has lots of amenities, including seating space, wastebaskets with recycling, outlets, bathrooms, vending machines, bike racks, bike vending machines, and weird touch screens!

Cons: ALSO like the FRTA’s Olver building, the Transit Pavilion doesn’t seem all that…necessary. I mean, even in this video from the first day, it still looks empty! And that was the grand opening!

Nearby and Noteworthy: Downtown Westfield is fine, I guess. There’s nothing about it that seems all that interesting to me.

Final Verdict: 9/10
The Olver Transit Pavilion is in the exact same boat as the FRTA’s Olver Transit Center. It’s beautiful and fancy with many amenities provided, but it just seems like kind of a waste of $3.6 million. Westfield students had been concerned about not knowing when the bus was coming…couldn’t transit arrival screens have sufficed? But oh well, what’s here is here, and it’s certainly a great terminal!

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

The trip I took on this route would now be impossible! Yes, I took the B23 on a Saturday, and the PVTA has now eliminated Saturday service for it. I feel so accomplished!

The bus just kinda sat in the middle of the street like this for a while…

We went down Maple Street from the Holyoke Transportation Center, running past brick buildings and parking lots. We passed the Holyoke Public Library, then we turned onto Hampshire Street, passing brownstones strangely reminiscent of the Back Bay. Next we turned onto Beach Street, which went by the huge Holyoke High School building, as well as lots of houses.

Oh no!

We came up alongside the Holyoke Medical Center, and I think the bus is supposed to deviate to it, but we…uh…didn’t. We stayed right on Beech Street, which became Cherry Street and got a heck of a lot wider. After going under I-91, it was time for a deviation that we did perform: we turned onto Fairview Street, taking us up a huge hill to Soldiers Home. There was also a great view from up there!

Too bad my picture didn’t really capture it…

We returned to Cherry Street, which had lots of houses, but also some apartment developments for nearby Holyoke Community College. Speaking of which, that’s where we went next, as we made our way down George Frost Drive through the woods for a bit before entering a gate to the college. We turned onto Campus Road, although strangely enough, the driver decided to skip serving the little loop in front of the main building.

Onward to more trees!

We continued down Campus Road, then made our way onto Doyle Drive, which passed something called the Kids Place, and…hey, we were supposed to deviate there, too, and we didn’t! Okay, well, we just stayed on Doyle Drive, then turned onto Westfield Road when that street ended. This was just pure, hilly woods, and it was awesome. Not quite R41 awesome, but still awesome.

Yeah, basically just this for a while.

So after lots of forest, we finally got some houses when we entered Westfield and the street became North Road. There was also a sorry excuse for a shopping plaza and a pond where a family got off to go to its beach. We went through some marshland next, then we went by a series of churches, businesses, and houses.

Marshland!

There were a few businesses where we turned onto Southampton Road, which got very industrial with warehouses, auto shops, and one random pizza joint. Next, we went by Barnes Airport, a general aviation facility, as well as some unfortunately-located houses. There were also lots more industrial buildings, as well as two cemeteries, a school, and a bit of retail.

Of all the places for someone to get on…

For some reason this is written on the map for the B23: we crossed over I-90 at Exit 3. This is pretty significant, though, since the distance between Exit 3 and Exit 2 on I-90 is 30 miles – the 7th longest gap between highway interchanges in the country. We went over a single train track, then there was all manner of residential, retail, and industrial buildings.

No more exits until Lee…

Eventually, Elm Street split into two one-way sections with the following in between: first a nice park, then random industrial buildings, then a parking lot, then another nice park. We crossed over the Westfield River on one of two one-way bridges, then there was some pretty nice retail on both sides of the street. There were even more businesses after we went under a train track, then we arrived at the Westfield Center bus station…20 minutes early. Geez, PVTA, this is crazy even for YOU!

You early rascal!

PVTA Route: B23 (Holyoke/Westfield via Holyoke Community College)

Ridership: I can definitely see why they got rid of Saturday service on this route, because my ride had barely anyone on it. However, weekday service actually gets lots of people, with about 20 passengers per revenue hour. I’m sure it gets especially busy when school is in session, both for Holyoke Community College and Westfield State University.

Pros: The route serves as an interesting connector between Holyoke, its Community College, and Westfield…and honestly, not all that much in between. It’s actually pretty neat that this thing gets good ridership, since on a map it looks like it wouldn’t do well at all. The B23 also has a fitting schedule, for what it’s worth – it runs every hour on weekdays only. There used to be a marginal number of trips on Saturdays, every two hours, but I can totally see why they got rid of those.

Cons: You wanna give this thing a legitimate time from Holyoke Community College to Westfield? I dunno, I think being 20 minutes early might mean the schedule is a bit too padded. You know, maybe. It’s even worse going the other way, when the route would be about as early coming into Holyoke Community College. This time it’s in the middle of the route, and you know what that means: CLASSIC PVTA WAITING!!!! On a side note, why the heck did we skip three of the route’s four deviations? This may have just been a driver thing or a Saturday thing or something, but it was definitely weird.

Nearby and Noteworthy: There actually isn’t much that the B23 can call its own. All of the noteworthy places along it (i.e. Holyoke, the Community College, and Westfield) are shared by other buses.

Final Verdict: 7/10
The B23 is most definitely a “doing its thing” route. It just does its run through practically the middle of nowhere between some pretty sizeable ridership hubs. It runs on weekdays only because that’s the only time it’s really needed, and it does its job well within those times. Not much else to say.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

I think the R24 can be summed up by what a passenger said to the driver as he got off the bus: “This took way too long! I’m never taking this bus ever again! Goodbye!” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

The bus coming towards the transportation center.

We started this loopy disaster by pulling out of the Holyoke Transportation Center and heading down Maple Street. It was mostly just brick buildings and parking lots, at least until the lovely Holyoke Public Library. At this point, we turned onto Cabot Street, which became residential in the form of dense houses.

A grim-looking side street.

Outside of a nursing home, we turned onto Locust Street, then Essex Street, then Pleasant Street. Keep in mind that Cabot Street becomes Pleasant Street, but I guess we have to do that one-block deviation so the residents of some apartments don’t have to walk a whole block. Geez! There were more apartments along Pleasant Street that were, incidentally, much bigger than the ones we had to deviate to.

Crossing Appleton Street.

Next, we turned onto Hampden Street, which had some retail, as well as more apartments. Wait…we stayed on Pleasant? But I’ve got the route map right here, it turns onto Hampden…oh, I see that’s after it does a figure-8 on itself. Sigh…alright, so we continued up Pleasant, turned onto Lincoln, and then deviated to serve a Stop & Shop. Hey, you know the B48 can get you here far faster than the R24, right? And way faster coming back…at least, if the B48 actually had a southbound stop there. But I digress.

Cars, cars, cars.

Okay, now we turned onto Hampden Street and actually started going somewhere again. There were businesses along the street for a bit, but then it turned back to dense houses. Next, we turned onto the wide Northampton Street, which was simply lined with suburban businesses with parking lots.

About to head onto Northampton Street.

Around the time we got to a cemetery, it became all residential again. There were a few smaller businesses mixed in between the houses, too. Next, it was time for another deviation as we turned onto Corser Street and made our way to the Holyoke Medical Center. You know, the B23 can get you here far faster than the R24. That makes two redundant deviations so far!

Serving the hospital.

This deviation was particularly painful, too, since we now had to backtrack a ways down Northampton Street. It felt like it took forever – finally, we turned onto Sargeant Street, going by a park, but mostly houses. The street took a curve to the southeast and a few businesses made their way into the mix.

A residential side street.

Eventually we passed some apartments and the Holyoke Senior Center (which, strangely, doesn’t get any kind of timepoint), and the former continued as we kept going. We turned onto High Street eventually, which featured lots of varied businesses that felt more “downtowny” the further we went. However, instead of going down Hampden Street to go to the transportation center, we had one more deviation to do. And I swear to God, it makes absolutely no sense.

So…close!!!

First, we turned onto Lyman Street, then alongside a big cathedral, we turned onto Maple Street. This took us past Pulaski Heights, the apartment building we were ostensibly deviating for. Does that mean this huge mess was over? No, not at all. We turned onto St Kolbe Drive, then Chestnut Street.

This is pretty ugly…

Now we turned back onto Lyman Street for a block, then Elm Street for a block, then Hampden Street for, yes, a block. Next, we did Walnut for a block, and after that, we were back on Lyman for, wow, a whole three blocks! Finally finally finally finally finally, we turned onto Maple Street, and that took us back to the Holyoke Transportation Center. THIS IS THE MOST INSANE BUS ROUTE IN THE UNIVERSE!

GET AWAY FROM ME!

PVTA Route: R24 (Paper City Express)

Ridership: This thing gets 17.4 passengers per revenue hour?? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I know I should trust the numbers, but my Saturday ride had four people. Four people! Was it a fluke? Does this route get far more riders than I give it credit for? I mean…yeah, I guess so!

Pros: It serves stuff. In the most indirect way possible.

Cons: Paper City Express? Paper City EXPRESS???? WHAT PART OF THIS ROUTE SUGGESTS AN “EXPRESS” AT ALL???????? This thing twists and turns its way around Holyoke like it wants to travel down every single street in the entire city! The B48 already serves Stop & Shop! The B23 already serves Holyoke Hospital! And those ridiculous turns just before returning to the hub? What, did a child plan this route? Did they have a five-year-old scribble all over a map and say “Okay, there’s our route!”? It sure seems like it!

Nearby and Noteworthy: If you’re looking for a slow, agonizing sightseeing tour of Holyoke, I’ve found the bus for you!

Final Verdict: 3/10
This route is painful. The phrase “Paper City Express” sends shivers down my spine. You know there’s actually a special bus that has a Paper City Express livery? It’s never actually on the Paper City Express, so that means that this route can still haunt me, even if I’m trying to avoid it! WHYYYYYYY?????

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates