MBTA Bus Roadeo 2017!
Once again, I got the opportunity to attend the MBTA Bus Roadeo! It was basically the same thing as last year’s Roadeo, but of course that means I had a blast! Like last year, I was a runner, bringing score sheets up to the scorers, and it was great to be able to help out. Since the proceedings were basically the same as last year, I’ll just put up the pictures I took from this year’s competition:
448/449 (Marblehead – Downtown Crossing via Paradise Road or Humphrey Street, Lynnway, and Airport)
My very first review was of the 459. My second-to-last MBTA review will be of its counterparts, the 448 and 449. The funny thing is that I took the 449 over a year ago, but I just didn’t want to review it until I had the 448 done and I could do both in one post! Well…it’s finally time. Let’s do this.
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| There were a few 7’s blocking the actual stop… |
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| That’s a problematic destination sign! I think it’s still like that on that bus… |
I’ll be documenting the 448 trip primarily, since I took that one, you know, yesterday. I would say the trip started off great: the bus arrived 20 minutes late. Awesome! The driver told us to hurry on, then we accelerated our way bit by bit onto Summer Street. Traffic was far more plentiful than the narrow streets could handle, and it was slow-going.
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| Downtown streets. |
Summer Street got a heck of a lot wider as we crossed Atlantic Ave and the Greenway, then we stopped outside of South Station. We were about to cross over the Summer Street bridge, but at the last second we turned onto Dorchester Ave. Next, we made our way onto the Congress Street Bridge, featuring the Boston Tea Party Museum right in the middle of its span.
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| Goodbye, Summer Street! |
After the Fort Point Channel had been crossed, we entered the neighborhood of the same name. There were lots of brick buildings everywhere, then Congress Street widened and we were surrounded by…parking lots. Yeah, the switch from Fort Point to the Seaport District is a sudden one. We turned onto B Street, then Seaport Boulevard, which went by the World Trade Center.
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| Crossing Congress Street. |
We turned onto D Street, then we went by the Silver Line portal and turned onto Massport Haul Road. This took us around into the I-90 tunnel, although we did come up for air briefly…then it was into the Ted Williams Tunnel. Under the harbor we go!
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| Heading onto the highway. |
We popped out of the tunnel and curved our way around onto Airport Road, passing two bunched and crowded SL1’s in the process. Bypassing Terminals A and B, we finally made our way into Terminal C, where someone actually got on! From there, we skipped Terminal E and returned to I-90, which ran up onto an elevated viaduct next to the Blue Line tracks.
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| Planes! |
The highway became Route 1A, but we were only elevated for a little while longer. Eventually we came back down to ground level and the road became McClellan Highway, famous for playing host to the ugliest buildings in America! Woah! From awful billboards to dreary Logan Airport parking lots to run-down industrial wastelands to the most out-of-place Starbucks ever, McClellan Highway has it all.
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| Oh, and traffic. Did I mention traffic? |
We went by a lot of big mysterious vats, then the road went over Winthrop Ave and the Newburyport/Rockport Line tracks. After a long wait in some truly horrific traffic, we arrived at the Bell Circle Rotary. (Aren’t rotaries supposed to alleviate congestion??) Here, we merged onto VFW Parkway, which went over the tracks again and past an abandoned building and a really dead-looking shopping plaza.
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| This diner has seen better days… |
There was more traffic at the next rotary, but eventually we were able to weave our way around into Wonderland Station. It had taken us 40 minutes to get this far. Coming from the South Station area, it would only take about 25-30 minutes on the Blue Line. Even from the World Trade Center, it would still take about the same amount of time as us, 40 minutes, on the Blue Line. I’m starting to see a problem with this route…
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| It wouldn’t be this crowded if we were right behind a 441 or 442! |
Now we headed up North Shore Road, which was at first residential with a few businesses. However, there was also lots of marshland between the buildings, offering either terrific open views, including a train heading north, or awful views of the backs of apartments – depends on what side you sit on. The further we went, the more industrial the road got, at least until the Point of Pines neighborhood where it got residential again.
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| Some houses in the marsh. |
Luckily, we didn’t have to do that annoying Point of Pines deviation that the 441/442 does. In fact, the 448/449 runs express between Wonderland and Lynn, so we didn’t have to make any of the stops that the 441/442 does! We went over a bridge into Lynn, where there were a few gigantic businesses and a lot of industrial buildings.
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| A view! |
As the wide Lynnway continued north, it basically just got entirely industrial. It, uh, kinda took a while to go away, but eventually we came up alongside the water and turned onto Market Street. Next, we turned onto the Lynn Busway, right next to the Commuter Rail station, then we made our way up Union Street and turned onto Exchange Street.
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| Downtown Lynn. |
Exchange Street merged into Broad Street, featuring a mixture of dense houses, apartments, and businesses. Eventually, it became Lewis Street and we passed what looked like an abandoned elementary school, or at least a very run-down one. The house-business mix continued as we entered Swampscott and came about a block away from the ocean.
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| So close!!! |
Unfortunately, the 448 doesn’t go by the ocean, preferring to go inland on New Ocean Street. It soon became Paradise Road, but the scenery stayed the same: dense houses lining the street. There was an elementary school and a park, then some industrial buildings after a line of telephone wires.
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| Houses on a side street. |
It started to get more hilly and rocky, although not in any kind of exciting or scenic way. We went by a few big apartment complexes, then there were a few barebones shopping plazas and businesses with parking lots. This was “Vinnin Square,” but it wasn’t much of a square at all, and it was, in fact, pretty ugly and boring.
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| Yup, there it is. |
We turned briefly onto Vinnin Street, then made another quick turn onto Salem Street. We passed through a golf course, then there were some fairly dense houses alongside the road. Once we reached Humphrey Street, we turned onto it, rejoining the 442 and 449.
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| Tee up! |
Of course, I need to talk about the 449’s unique section, too, so we’ll go back to Ocean Street briefly for that. That route does go by the ocean, and it goes right by the ocean. It runs along Humphrey Street with water on one side and houses and businesses on the other side, and it’s really scenic.
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| NICEEEEEEEE!!!! |
After a nice section along a beach, though, that was it – we were inland again. It was mostly houses, but we did also pass a police station and a park. The houses got a little bigger and more spread out as Humphrey Street curved north, and once we hit Salem Street, we were joined by the other routes. Back to the 448! Well, technically still both of them, but you know what I mean.
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| How’s about one more view before we go inland again? |
Humphrey Street was almost entirely houses, aside from the one-off retail building on occasion. There was also a church and a school, but not all that much else until we merged onto Pleasant Street, where there was…another church and another school. It was still mostly residential, but now we also passed a rail trail, a fire station, and yet another school.
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| Lotsa houses. |
There was a small shopping plaza soon after, though, and then we entered Marblehead Center! Of course, there were businesses everywhere. Pleasant Street turned one-way beyond there, and it got very narrow with really dense houses on either side. There was even more retail when we turned onto Washington Street.
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| Marblehead is so charming! |
Washington Street was just historical houses that were really close together, and the street was so narrow that cars had to pull over to let us by. Finally, we turned onto Franklin Street, arriving at the lovely terminus at the Marblehead Fire House. There was a 442 waiting right there, so after a bit of a wait for it to actually open the doors, we hopped on board and headed home.
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| Darn it…the bus changed to a 441! |
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| At least we’ve still got the 449, albeit still with that horrible destination sign. |
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| I love this terminus! |
Route: 448/449 (Marblehead – Downtown Crossing via Paradise Road or Humphrey Street, Lynnway, and Airport)
Ridership: Okay, I’m not gonna lie and say that these routes don’t get a lot of ridership, considering how many trips they have: the 448 gets 176 people per day, while the 449 gets 158. HOWEVER, these numbers don’t take into account how many people actually ride this thing from Boston. You see, on both my trips, the express ridership was tiny. I can’t remember what it was on the 449, but it was a measly five people on the 448. Sure, 20 extra passengers boarded at Wonderland, but they could’ve just as easily waited for a 441 or 442 that plies the exact same route.
Pros: The big draw for the 448 and 449 as express routes is that they offer a one-seat ride to the Seaport District. This is definitely a good thing in theory. I also love the fact that they run express from Wonderland to Lynn, meaning they don’t get bogged down with even more 441/442 passengers. The schedules for the routes also make sense, with service about every half hour during weekday rush hours only.
Cons: The thing is, these routes don’t need to exist. I mean, let’s take South Station as an example. Google Maps affirms that it takes about the same amount of time (in fact, a little faster) to take the Blue Line to the 441/442, rather than just take the one-seat ride on the 448/449. The Seaport is a bit of a different story, since it’s further from the Blue Line, but the 448 and 449 are often so late anyway that you’ll have to wait a long time for them, and they’ll take far longer than their scheduled time. Ergo, the 448 and 449 are essentially redundant, and they don’t have to exist.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Oh, Marblehead is still a beautiful town. However, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to take a day trip up there starting at 5 PM! Yeah, the 441/442 is a lot more flexible with regards to getting to Marblehead…
Final Verdict: 2/10
Look, all these routes do is get a few people to their jobs at the Seaport at a marginally faster speed than the 441/442. And you know, the 441/442 gets absolutely slammed at rush hour. Why is the T wasting four buses (five in the morning rush) to do these trips that really only get people on the combined section with the 441/442? No, a much better use of resources would be to take the four or five buses and put them on the 441/442 to increase service. Maybe there could even be a new route, the 440, that runs from Wonderland to Lynn, where most of the ridership is. The full trips on the 441/442 to Marblehead could run express between them, while the 440 would make local stops. Even just pumping up service on the existing routes is fine…but please do something with these buses other than put them on this waste of an express route.
UPDATE 9/1/19: Yay, they’ve been eliminated!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
One more to go…
PVTA: B23 (Holyoke/Westfield via Holyoke Community College)
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!
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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
PVTA: R24 (Paper City Express)
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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
Holyoke (Amtrak)
Holyoke was a newer addition to the newly-rerouted Vermonter, and it shows. This thing was designed with people in mind, and unlike Greenfield and Northampton, it actually has a full high level platform! Would you like to see more? If not, then you probably should, uhhh, close the tab or something…
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| The entrance to the station. |
The Holyoke Amtrak station is a bit of an oasis in the area it’s in. Located in the Flats section of Holyoke, this neighborhood is dominated by abandoned industrial buildings. Thus, this modern station with lots of green trees around it sticks out in a great way.
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| The…”busway”? |
I’m not entirely sure what buses stop here, if any (definitely nothing on the PVTA), so I have no idea why this place has a bus area. Truth be told, it seems like it would be tough to fit a bus into the parking lot anyway! Speaking of the parking lot, this station actually offers long-term parking! Yay! There are 9 short-term spaces and 16 long-term ones. THANK YOU for actually providing long-term parking on this one, Amtrak! There are also ten bike spaces.
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| The platform. |
Like I said, the entire platform is high-level, and a huge amount of it is sheltered, to boot! There are plentiful benches and wastebaskets along the whole thing, and it all feels modern and clean. Also, down on the far end of the platform, there’s an interesting emergency exit that just leads into the grass. Better than Boston Landing’s prison cells, I guess!
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| It actually GOES somewhere! |
Station: Holyoke
Ridership: Well…granted, this is a new station, and it would definitely take a while to gain traction, but…three people per day in 2016? I mean, gosh…that’s, uhhh…that’s ridiculously low. Obviously.
Pros: The whole station is really modern and clean! I love that most of the platform is sheltered with lots of seating, while the station also offers long-term parking and a few bike racks. It feels like a welcome addition to downtown Holyoke.
Cons: Geez, that ridership…Holyoke has the opposite problem of Northampton. Northampton had a platform that was far too small for the number of riders it gets, while Holyoke’s station seems way fancier than necessary! I just hope ridership grows as it settles in, but it’s hard to attract passengers with only two trains per day.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Good ol’, weird ol’ downtown Holyoke, baby! Love it or leave it!
Final Verdict: 8/10
As a station, Holyoke is very satisfactory, providing basic amenities in a clean modern space. It would just be nice if more people could experience it! Apparently there are tentative plans for a commuter rail line from Springfield to Greenfield, which would definitely boost demand here, but until that happens (if it ever does), I can’t imagine growth here being very fast…
UPDATE 2019: This station does get three trains a day in each direction now, thanks to the new Valley Flyer Amtrak service up to Greenfield.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
PVTA: Holyoke Transportation Center
Is it possible for a transit center built in 2010 to look like it came from the 1970s? The Holyoke Transportation Center tries to answer this question, and clearly, the answer is a resounding “Yes.”
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| *Ahem.* Case in point… |
Yeah…this is it. Gotta love that…floor pattern. And the…wall colors. And the…seat designs. Okay, granted, the transportation center was retrofitted from an old fire station, and I imagine they just didn’t bother to change the decor.
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| A corner of the room. |
Okay, but still, this place just feels dated! I mean, we’ve got some perfectly adequate vending machines, but then the departure TV screen is just ripped from a Windows 7 computer with some sort of notification no one bothered to close. Then on the wall, there’s a master schedule of all the PVTA Holyoke routes, which is great, but also random maps and directions for the X90 (which does go to Holyoke) and the R14E (which doesn’t go anywhere near Holyoke, and also doesn’t exist anymore…I hope they took its map down now! That being said, why was it up in the first place?).
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| Another corner. |
On the other side of the room, there are lots of PVTA schedules, as well as a lone security guard with nothing better to do at this quiet hub than to use his phone. Hey, I don’t blame him! There was also a ticket booth, but it was closed because the ticket agent went on maternity leave and the PVTA didn’t bother to replace her. Sigh…
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| The bathroom hallway. |
There’s also a hallway that leads to some bathrooms and a water fountain. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see what the bathrooms were like because they’re only open on weekdays from 9 to 5. Well, darn it! The bathroom picture is the most important part of any station review!
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| The outdoor area. |
There isn’t all that much to say about the outdoor waiting area next to the building. It’s got benches, bike racks, and another Holyoke master schedule, and that’s about it. I will say that the brick transportation center building is quite charming, though!
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| The boarding area. |
The Holyoke Transportation Center’s boarding area is a prime example of form over function. Sure, it looks pretty, but all of the bus boarding bays are really narrow with no benches or anything – just a little wastebasket at each one. I do like how little alarms go off when a bus is leaving, but other than that, this outdoor area just isn’t much.
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| That’s a nice building! |
PVTA Station: Holyoke Transportation Center
Ridership: Although lots of routes converge here, I’ve never seen the hub be all that busy. Maybe it’s the fact that there are three different places to wait (the inside, the benches outside, and at the berths themselves), or maybe it’s that the hub is just kind of a quiet place, but it never feels crowded at all.
Pros: The outdoor areas all look great. The inclusion of master schedules everywhere is helpful for knowing when departures are, and the screen inside, as ugly as it is, is even more helpful. There’s plenty of seating inside the building, and it never gets too crowded.
Cons: Ugh, the decor on the inside is just…ech! The PVTA just doesn’t seem to care all that much about this place – they didn’t bother to replace the ticket inspector, they stuck a lone security guard in here with nothing to do (not that the PVTA doesn’t do that in other places, too), and they close the bathrooms on weekends, even though that aforementioned security guard could literally make sure no one loiters in them!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Downtown Holyoke is a weird place. I don’t think I’ve ever discussed it on this blog, but it’s kinda like…Lawrence. Except weirder. And more abandoned-feeling. Uhh…okay, having taken a walk through the downtown, all I can say is that it’s a hard place to describe.
Final Verdict: 5/10
The Holyoke Transportation Center is in a convenient location and it serves lots of bus routes, but it just offers a…subpar experience. I can’t stand that the outdoor berths have no seating of any kind (people often just sit on the railings), and I simply refuse to believe that the inside wasn’t designed 40 years ago! At least the outside looks good.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
GUEST POST: Service Change: Big Blue Bus: 1 (Santa Monica Blvd and Main Street)
Sam recently took a trip to LA, and he’ll have several guest posts coming soon about the bus system in Santa Monica, Big Blue Bus. Here’s the first in a series.
The Big Blue Bus Route 1 is very similar to the MBTA’s 1, in the way that it’s long, frequent, relatively straight, and very busy. It also, like the 1, is an important link between several dense ridership draws. My hotel was in Venice, on one end of the 1, and I just so happened to be on the other end of the route in UCLA. Thus, our review begins.
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| A bus in Venice |
Since I was riding on a Friday afternoon, my trip began at the UCLA Hilgard Terminal. However, the terminal is only used on weekdays between 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM. At all other times all of Big Blue Bus’s routes begin at the nearby P2 terminal. Hilgard was incredibly quaint, nestled in the midst of a quiet residential area. Not too many riders board buses here. One major con of Hilgard is the lack of any berths. Despite being about 200 feet long, buses kind of leave from wherever they please. I was waiting at the wrong end of the platform and had to run for my bus, which almost left without me.
We made a right out of the busway and soon made a left on Westwood Blvd. We picked up a handful of people at each stop, and soon arrived at Westwood, where several people got on. Westwood was lined with tall buildings, flashing lights, and lots of people. We continued down Westwood Blvd. for a few more blocks, with people still getting on, before making a right onto Santa Monica Blvd.
The route spends most of its time on Santa Monica Blvd. People began spilling off the bus, presumably to walk to the nearby Expo Line. The stops were comfortably spaced out and all of them were used. Santa Monica Blvd was very commercial, with lots of businesses lining both sides of the street.
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| Another bus; this one a newer Gillig |
Soon, we arrived in Santa Monica. The bus zig-zags quite a bit here, making a left, followed by a right, then another left, then a right, then one last left onto Main Street, where the route spends the rest of its time. During the zig-zagging, the bus services the Santa Monica Station.
Main Street was very dense. It runs near the Pacific Ocean and the beach culture spreads onto the street, with several surfboards and bathing suits seen on pedestrians. The bus only had 5 or so people at this point. After fighting through thick traffic, we arrived at a roundabout, where we veered to the right and entered the Venice busway.
Ridership: The trip I rode was the first to come in 25 minutes. That being said, it never had more than 30 people on at once. However, I was traveling against the peak; several buses travelling the other way were packed. In FY2014-15, the route carried 2.4 million people.
Pros: This route serves a lot: UCLA, Westwood, Santa Monica, Venice, and several places in between. It runs frequently enough for one to not need a schedule, and it carries a lot of people.
Cons: The 1 is very prone to bunching, and isn’t always the most reliable. While the 1 rarely has gaps of 25 minutes like the afternoon I took the bus, gaps of 15 to 20 minutes are commonplace, as are bunches of 2 to 3 or more buses. The sheer number of traffic lights on Santa Monica Boulevard, as well as unpredictable traffic and fluctuating ridership contribute to this problem.
Final Verdict: 8/10
The 1 certainly does its job, and man, does it have a big job to do. It connects several major ridership hubs with very frequent service. It is definitely one of Big Blue Bus’s best performers and does the area a lot of economic good for sure.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
PVTA: R41 (Northampton/Easthampton/Holyoke Community College/Holyoke Mall)
Wow, this route is scenic! The name of it doesn’t sound all that impressive, but the R41 offers some awesome views from mountain peaks as it winds its way from Northampton to Easthampton to western Holyoke. Let’s see how my awful pictures ruined those views…
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| The bus coming into Northampton. |
Oh, but before any of that could happen, we had to serve Salvo House, like practically every other Northampton route. We went down Main Street, which was the main drag of Northampton and there were businesses everywhere…you’ve heard this before. Next, we turned onto Pleasant Street, where there was more retail, as well as the Northampton Amtrak station.
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| Some houses. |
It started to get less dense the further we went, and the businesses started to get parking lots in front of them. Some houses even started to show up as we made our way around onto Conz Street via Wright Ave. This took us to Salvo House, that apartment building that so many routes serve, then later on we turned onto Old South Street.
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| Yup, we’re definitely in Northampton! |
We turned onto (regular) South Street next, which was residential, and it finally took us out of that Salvo House loop. The street was basically lined with suburban houses until we went over the Mill River, where there were a few other buildings. The street was called Easthampton Road after the river crossing, and it was now industrial buildings mixed in with patches of woods.
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| Just after entering Easthampton. |
There were a few businesses as we entered Easthampton, then we turned onto Oneil Street, which was industrial again. Eventually it took us over the Manhan River, where it became Lovefield Street. This took us onto Pleasant Street, where there were both old factories and old factory houses.
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| An example of the latter. |
There were some dense houses after that, then we curved around Main Street Park onto, well, Main Street. We rolled through downtown Easthampton along the wide road, which featured four lanes as well as parking spaces perpendicular to the sidewalk. There wasn’t all that much in the way of businesses, either, and what was there was pretty boring.
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| Some churches downtown. |
There were more businesses when we turned onto Union Street, and these were a lot more interesting than the ones on Main Street. Plus, the street was much narrower, so it had more character. We left downtown soon enough, though, and the businesses got parking lots out front. Coming alongside a lovely pond on Cottage Street, there was a repurposed old factory on the other side, then there were some more charming and interesting businesses!
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| Some kayakers enjoying the pond. |
We merged onto Holyoke Street next, which was lined with houses. They got smaller and more spread-out the further we got, and their front yards got way bigger. We went by a big field, then the road started to curve its way up the side of the looming Mount Tom. It was time for the scenic part!
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| Darn trees in the way! |
The road climbed up along the mountain, with a sheer cliff going up on the left and a sheer cliff going down on the right. That right-hand side offered a simply fantastic view of the surrounding areas, and other than that, it was just pure woods. Actually, at one point there was a tavern, an event venue, and a coffee shop all in a row, but that was about it.
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| Gotta admit, it’s a good place for a restaurant. What a view! |
The street became Easthampton Road as we entered Holyoke, but aside from an animal hospital, of all things, it was still just mountainous woods. We were starting to head down, though, and soon enough we were in a mostly flat residential neighborhood. Aw, man!
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| BORING. |
We turned onto Jarvis Ave, where it was basically all houses. There was also a residential development called University Park, presumably for students of Holyoke Community College, and a few similar developments further down the way. Next, we turned onto George Frost Drive, which went through the woods for a bit.
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| Coming into the college. |
We went through a gate into Holyoke Community College, then we turned onto Campus Road. This took us to the college’s main building, where we made our way around a little loop in front to serve the bus stop. After that, we headed onto Doyle Drive, which went through the forest until we reached Westfield Road, onto which we turned – this was residential.
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| The intersection with Homestead Ave. |
There were some businesses when we turned onto Homestead Ave, but it went back to houses as soon as we proceeded down the road a bit. All of a sudden, we came to a factory, where we turned onto Lower Westfield Road and went under I-91. There were lots of suburban businesses and shopping centers on the other side, where we turned onto Holyoke Street. This took us to the mother of shopping centers: the Holyoke Mall, the R41’s final stop.
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| The bus at the mall. When it gets back to Northampton, it’ll do an R42. |
PVTA Route: R41 (Northampton/Easthampton/Holyoke Community College/Holyoke Mall)
Ridership: My Saturday trip had pretty low ridership, but that being said, it was a summer Saturday. I would guess that more people use this thing on school-year weekdays as a commuter route from Northampton to Holyoke Community College. I mean, it gets about 18 passengers per revenue hour, which isn’t awful.
Pros: The R41 provides an important connection from Northampton to Holyoke Community College without the need of any transfers. It has a decent schedule, too, with every hour service on weekdays and Saturdays. Plus, the thing is so scenic!
Cons: Weirdly, it’s not quite every hour – for some reason, there’s a 75-minute gap from 12:45 to 2:00 from the Holyoke Mall. It’s not too big of a deal, but it doesn’t seem to make much sense. There’s also a shift from leaving on the :00 to the :05 at 4 PM from Northampton, which also doesn’t make much sense.
Nearby and Noteworthy: As I was going down this route on Google Maps, this place in Easthampton caught my eye. It’s basically a game where you and a few other people get locked into a room and you have to solve puzzles to escape. That’s a cool concept!
Final Verdict: 7/10
The R41 is an important route, even though it may not have all that much ridership. It still provides a useful connection from Northampton to the Community College, and actually, it’s the only direct route from Northampton to the Holyoke Mall too. Sure, it’s not very busy and it has a few minor schedule quirks, but this is still a decent, useful route.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
PVTA: TT (Tiger Trolley (Holyoke Transportation Center to South Hadley Commons))
On the day this post comes out, August 27th, 2017, the Tiger Trolley is being eliminated. Good freaking riddance.
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| The bus at the Holyoke Transportation Center. |
We left the Holyoke Transportation Center and made our way up Maple Street, then we turned onto Lyman Street. As we passed a few housing developments, we descended a hill to “The Flats,” the part of Holyoke where there are a bunch of industrial buildings and canals. And…uh…yeah, we basically just went by those.
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| A canal and a railroad bridge. |
We turned onto Canal Street, which did indeed parallel a canal, and it was just more industrial buildings. Next, we turned onto Bridge Street, which, yes, did feature a bridge! Two, in fact! The first was over another canal, while the second took us over the Connecticut River into South Hadley.
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| This incredible view never gets old! |
On the other side, I was assuming we’d just continue down Bridge Street like the R29, but the Tiger Trolley is never as straightforward as just “continuing down” something. Instead, we turned onto Main Street, going by some industrial buildings and businesses. Those weren’t the point of this endeavor, though – no, we had to deviate to the South Hadley Public Library. And, oh boy, we were a few minutes early, so we had to wait for a bit! Fun!!
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| A side street. |
We returned back down Main Street, and this time we actually continued down Bridge Street. There was a mixture of houses, businesses, and industrial buildings along here, and it all continued as we turned onto Lamb Street. However, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, we left the R29 again by getting on a highway ramp.
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| WHAT IS THIS??? |
Okay, turns out it was the very end of the highway, and it instantly became the residential Granby Road. As we came alongside a cemetery, the road widened and we reached an intersection with a school on one side. You’d better get used to me talking about this place, because this bus comes through here a lot.
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| The school. |
The first thing we did from here was turn onto Willimansett Street, a wide road with a median that curved south past nothing particularly interesting. This led us to the South Hadley Big Y, into whose parking lot we deviated. Oh, and we were a few minutes early again. Sigh…more waiting…
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| Hi, Big Y. |
We returned the way we came, back to that same intersection, and now we turned back onto Granby Road in the same direction we had been going before. It was residential for the most part, but we did start to get some businesses along the road as we came up alongside a reservoir. Right after that, we deviated into…well, gosh it was just an empty commercial building! Turns out there’s a medical building right behind it, but still!
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| THIS IS NOT DEVIATION-WORTHY!!!!!! |
Sigh…we came back to that same intersection for the last time. Now we turned onto Lyman Street, which was lined with houses for a while before it came up alongside a cemetery. After that, we turned onto Newton Street, which had lots of suburban businesses, but we targeted a shopping plaza: Woodlawn Plaza, to be exact. We pulled into its parking lot, stopped at a random place, and…oh my God, are we seriously thirteen minutes early?
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| I guess I don’t blame him for leaving… |
If you were a bus driver, what would you do if your bus showed up at a timepoint thirteen minutes early? How about leave the bus and get some grub? I don’t see why not! Yeah, our driver did just that, visiting both Friendly’s and Dunkin’ Donuts over the course of the layover. Might as well take advantage of the time, right?
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| A side street. |
We even left the mall early! We headed up Newton Street, which was mostly residential, with a few businesses and industrial buildings thrown in. The street became College Street soon, and it briefly took us alongside a river. Next, we arrived at the street’s namesake, Mount Holyoke College. We didn’t actually serve the university, though – no, instead the Tiger Trolley terminates at Village Commons, a downtown shopping mall-type thing across the street. Sure…
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| Good riddance! |
PVTA Route: TT (Tiger Trolley (Holyoke Transportation Center to South Hadley Commons))
Ridership: This thing’s ridership is just abysmally low. The PVTA claims it gets 2.4 passengers per revenue hour, but I dunno – had Sam and I not taken this thing, our trip would’ve been completely empty.
Pros: The route…uh…serves stuff. And gets hardly any passengers. Oh wait, that’s a con.
Cons: Okay, complaining about the fact that this route is a deviatory mess (complete with strange stops called “transit access points” that require a reservation for the bus to serve) that hardly gets anyone is like taking candy from a baby. We all know this thing is just a waste of resources. But even if it was to stick around, why the heck does it run every hour and a half? The schedule is padded so ridiculously much, maybe because of the stupid “TAPs,” that it’s running far more infrequently than it has to. This thing could easily do its trip in half an hour plus a bit of padding, so it could run every hour with no problems at all.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Woodlawn Plaza and Village Commons are both served by the R29, plus the library is within easy walking distance of that route. Thus, the only real “destination” this thing serves on its own is the South Hadley Big Y. How exciting…
Final Verdict: 1/10
Luckily, the PVTA shares my sentiments with this route. Like I said, it’s being eliminated today. HA! WOOOOOOO! LET’S HAVE A TIGER TROLLEY GOING-AWAY PARTY! SEE YA, TIGER TROLLEY! WOULDN’T WANNA BE YA! WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
PVTA: X98 (Crosstown Northampton)
I let out a groan when this thing showed up and it was a stupid minibus. I mean, with some routes you expect it. The “Tiger Trolley”? Yeah, that’s a minibus. The “Palmer Village Shuttle”? Gotta be a minibus. But the X98…gosh, I mean, that sounded like a legitimate route…
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| Ugh, it’s got the paper sign on the side and everything… |
We started off at Salvo House, an apartment building south of downtown Northampton. The bus left that and made its way around the building on Fruit Street, in order to serve…oh come on, a Senior Center deviation already? Alright, so we served the Northampton Senior Center, then we proceeded down the residential Fruit Street.
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| Leaving the Senior Center. |
Next, we turned onto Old South Street, which went past some parking lots, then up a steep hill into downtown Northampton. We turned onto Main Street, the main drag, where there were tall buildings with charming businesses on both sides. Just after going by the Academy of Music, we turned onto State Street, which became narrow and residential.
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| Bustling downtown. |
The dense houses continued as we turned onto Finn Street, then Prospect Street. Eventually, we did pass a temple, a YMCA, and the Northampton Survival Center, but it was back to being residential when we turned onto Jackson Street. We passed the Northampton Bikeway, then there was a school, and later on a housing development.
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| Looking into the development. |
We continued onto twisty Cooke Ave, which went down a hill around the back of Hampshire Plaza. Next, we entered the plaza itself, and…oh, we were ten minutes early? Cool, alright, that’s totally FINE. So after waiting for what felt like an eternity, we were off again.
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| The parking lot. |
We made our way out of the mall and headed onto North King Street. We were paralleling I-91, while on the other side (and later on both sides when the highway curved away), there were industrial buildings. North King Street started to go up a hill, then we turned into the River Valley Market, a small grocery store. What a strange place to end…
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| The bus back in Northampton. |
PVTA Route: X98 (Crosstown Northampton)
Ridership: The standard for good ridership on the PVTA is 20 passengers per trip. The X98 averages 2. That’s exactly what my trip got: a mother and her kid got off at the residential development we passed.
Pros: It serves the Survival Center. That’s about it.
Cons: Like, the Survival Center is basically the only thing this route serves. Everything else is about a half mile from the R44, so this route is pretty darn redundant. When I took it, it was running every hour throughout the day, weekdays and Saturdays, which was just far too much service. Not to mention, and this is just the tiniest nitpick on a gigantic cake of awfulness, there was the classic PVTA schedule padding at Holyoke Plaza.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Like I said, all this route really serves is the Survival Center. And a bunch of houses that are a 10 minute walk from the R44.
Final Verdict: 2/10
PVTA’s service changes, which will go into effect for this route on September 3rd, make a lot of sense. They’re planning on reducing the X98 to just three trips per weekday, only serving the Survival Center during food distribution hours. That’s perfect – that’s all the route really needs to do. There’s also a bit about having the R44 deviate to cover up part of the lost X98, which is…uh…okay, if there’s anything the R44 doesn’t need, it’s another deviation, but oh well. The X98 is being given the right treatment, I think.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
PVTA: 46 (South Deerfield/Whately Park & Ride/UMass)
Rush hour-only bus time! Oh…except there’s one midday trip. And one late morning trip. Alright, so I guess the 46 is 66% rush hour-only…
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| The bus zooming down the street. |
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| An auto shop north of North Amherst Center. |
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| A farm. |
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| Wow! |
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| 46, UM… |
PVTA: B48 (Northampton/Holyoke Transit Center)
The B48 is amazing and wonderful and I love it to bits! Final Verdict: 10/10. Alright, review over, have fun! No…I guess there’s more to talk about than just that…
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| The bus coming into the terminal. |
Leaving the Holyoke Transportation Center, we headed down Dwight Street past a post office, a parking lot, and apartments. Next, we turned onto Beech Street, which made its way up past a field and around a huge rotary. Whilst traversing the rotary, we passed over the same train tracks twice, then we turned onto Hampden Street.
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| Going by a park. |
There were some houses, then we merged onto Lincoln Street, going by a Stop & Shop on one side and a park on the other. Unfortunately, this area only seems to have a stop on the northbound side, which is a big problem. Lincoln Street curved west and it was lined with dense but yard-endowed houses, then we turned up onto Northampton Street.
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| Some shrubbery at the turn. |
Northampton Street was also residential for a while, but then we entered the reason why I love the B48 so much: the majority of the route is just woods! Also, the majority of the route is stopless, which is great for through passengers, but the bus does go by a lot of houses in certain places that could possibly use the bus. I mean, we even went by a tourist attraction: a bunch of dinosaur footprints by the Connecticut River! I don’t know who would take the bus to those, but it seems like they deserve a stop.
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| I love this route I love this route I love this route |
Next, the road came alongside the Connecticut River, giving us a great view for a good amount of time as we also paralleled a train track down which the Amtrak Vermonter runs. Meanwhile, the other side was mostly woods, but we also went by a few housing developments and motels. As we curved away from the river, we started to see some other buildings: a banquet hall, a church, and some houses.
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| A factory poking above the trees. |
After that, there were some woods again, as well as a field, then we passed a hotel and a factory. As we entered Easthampton, there were some houses, then we were briefly on an isthmus between rivers that took us into Northampton. The street was now called Mount Tom Road, and there were more woods, then a bit of farmland.
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| Did I mention I love this route? |
We came up to an industrial area, then passed a development called Atwood Drive. Except…on one B48 trip, and I took a good amount of B48 trips, we actually deviated into it. And there was a shelter and a sign and everything in there, and…well, I have no idea what the deal with that is. I wanna say the PVTA is eliminating the “deviation”, but I can’t remember the exact details of the sign I saw, and there’s no information on the website. Either way, it’s weird.
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| Wow, nice fire truck! |
We went under I-91, traversed around a roundabout, and all of a sudden there was development everywhere. We went down Conz Street, going by industrial buildings at first, then an apartment building and some dense houses. Next, we turned onto Old South Street, then New South Street, which took us up to downtown Northampton. Our final turn was onto Main Street, where we arrived at the Academy of Music stop.
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| The bus and a…shopping cart. |
PVTA: P21 (Holyoke/Springfield via Chicopee)
Ahhhh, the P21 is like the total opposite of the P20, and from a riding perspective, that makes it way better of a trip. No malls, no deviations, just a nice straight route from Holyoke to Springfield. Yeah, it still takes a while, and it’s less frequent, but it’s a much better ride!
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| Heyyy, that destination sign is red, not purple! |
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| Oh, I guess there’s a “Micky D’s” on the business side of things over there on the right… |
Outside of that library, we turned onto Cabot Street, and after some apartment buildings, we passed through the old industrial part of Holyoke. We went over two canals, then it was a mixture of apartments and businesses. We passed over another canal, then it was time for a big bridge over the Connecticut River.
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| One of the canals. |
We were in Chicopee on the other side, and our street was called Chicopee Street. It curved around next to a train track, then there was a mixture of dense houses and businesses. Eventually, we went under I-391, which had a park right next to it – because, you know, a busy elevated highway is the perfect place to put a park!
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| A side street. |
It’s at this point that the route splits into two possible alignments. Every other trip goes via Chicopee Street, while the others (including mine) merge onto Meadow Street. It was mostly residential at first, with a few businesses thrown in too. However, one side of the road eventually became occupied by a huge office park.
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| Still houses on the other side, though! |
One side of the street was still industrial, but the other side started to see some housing developments, too. There were even more of them when we turned onto Meetinghouse Road, at least on the northern side of the road – the other side was normal houses. We turned back onto Chicopee Street, rejoining the other routing.
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| One of the many housing developments. |
After passing a golf course, it was entirely residential on Chicopee Street. We finally got a few businesses at the intersection with Meadow Street, then the road got wider and went over a train track, under I-90, and under I-391, all in quick succession. Next, we turned onto Springfield Street, which took us over the Chicopee River.
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| The river. |
There were some old factories, and after going over a canal, we turned onto Front Street, then Cabot Street. There was a shopping plaza here, but once we turned onto Exchange Street, there were more traditional retail buildings on either side. This was downtown Chicopee…but I can’t say it was a particularly interesting downtown.
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| No pedestrians…it’s empty. |
We continued onto Springfield Street, going by dense houses, a few churches, and a high school. Later on, we went by College of Our Lady of the Elms, then it was just all houses for a little while (aside from some retail at the intersection with Asinof Ave). We entered Springfield soon enough, where there was a little roundabout called Glenwood Circle with a few businesses.
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| Houses. |
Springfield Street continued to be almost entirely residential past there, with really nice houses with big front lawns. After a side street called “Derby Dingle” (I’m really curious where that came from), we passed the gigantic Baystate Medical Center. The street became Chestnut Street, but we weren’t on it for much longer, turning onto Jefferson Street, then Dwight Street, going around a park.
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| Said park. |
It was mostly dense houses and apartments along here. Eventually, we went under I-291 as the street widened, then there were some businesses, offices, and parking lots on the other side. Finally, we arrived into Union Station.
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| There we go, now it’s purple! |
PVTA Route: P21 (Holyoke/Springfield via Chicopee)
Ridership: The P21 gets great ridership, and it’s ranked 9th overall in the system. It averages about 39 people per trip, which is amazing! Yes, it’s a long route with a lot of destinations along the way, but like the P20, you’ll generally get pretty busy vehicles along here.
Pros: This is an important route for Chicopee, running straight up through the western end of the city. It’s the second-largest city in western MA, and yet it really doesn’t have all that much bus service. Granted, it’s a small city, but anyway, the P21 is an important route through it. It’s also pretty frequent on weekdays and Saturdays, running every half hour.
Cons: Sundays the frequency becomes every 45 minutes, which…okay, yeah, I’m not saying it doesn’t make sense from a ridership perspective…it’s just kind of an ugly number. But hey, this route didn’t really suffer from the PVTA’s earliness problem, so yay!
Nearby and Noteworthy: I can’t say there was much along here – Chicopee Center was the only true “destination,” and it just seemed boring.
Final Verdict: 7/10
I wouldn’t call the P21 as good of a route as the P20, just because it’s not as frequent and doesn’t serve quite as much. In particular, the Sunday schedule is kinda wonky since it’s not clockface, but it’s not too bad. After all, the P21 is still a lifeline to Chicopee, plus it’s the fastest local route between Springfield and Holyoke! At some point later on, though, we’ll cover its express variant…that’s gonna be FUN.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Long story short, two guys broke the T record and are trying to send it to Guinness. Needless to say, expect a run from me at some point soon…
PVTA: P20 (Holyoke/Springfield via Riverdale Street)
Why does the most frequent route from Springfield to Holyoke also have to be the looooonnnngggeeeesssstttt? The P20 is a miserable splurge of shopping malls and housing developments connecting the two biggest hubs of the PVTA system. Okay, it’s not a useless splurge, but it’s definitely a miserable one.
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| The back of the bus at Union Station. |
We didn’t even get to serve downtown Springfield – instead we travelled northwest down Main Street, where it gets a lot more suburban already. After going under I-291, we turned onto Plainfield Street at an intersection with a small statue in the middle. This took us over I-91, then the road became West Street and passed some industrial buildings.
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| Crossing the Connecticut River! |
As you can see, this street went over the Connecticut River, then immediately turned into a rotary on the other side in West Springfield. We merged onto Park Street, which was a good name for it, because the street literally had a park in the middle of it! Next, we turned onto Elm Street, which still had a leafy median.
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| Houses on a side street. |
There were a few businesses at first, but as the street lost its median, it became lined with dense houses. Eventually the street curved left and there were a few industrial buildings, then we curved right and it was a strange horrendous mix of houses, housing developments, industrial buildings, car dealerships, and motels. Oh, and a COUNTRY CLUB hidden behind a layer of trees!
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| Sigh…a lot of the route’s gonna be like this… |
There were a few suburban businesses with parking lots, but once we turned onto Riverdale Street, everything got bigger: a bigger road, bigger businesses, and bigger parking lots. It was also time for our first deviation, a long trip through the parking lot of Riverdale Shops. It took a while to actually get back to the road…
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| Sigh…there’s a good amount of this on the route, too… |
We went under I-91, and then it was time for a wholeeeee lot of businesses with parking lots. Like, a lot. They just kept on coming. Yeah, at one point we went under some pylons and came kinda close to the Connecticut River, but it’s not like we could see anything. There was kind of a forest break, I guess, when we went under I-90, but that was just for an interchange.
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| Wow, I can almost see the river… |
Finally, we turned onto Highland Ave, a residential street lined with houses. Yay! Something different! Next, we turned onto Whitney Ave, which took us to…the Holyoke Mall. Oh, come on! Not to mention we were ten minutes early! Great, time to sit here for what seemed like forever…
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| At least there was a big empty parking lot to look at. |
After the mall, we went up Holyoke Street, which had more businesses and parking lots along it. Next, we turned onto Lower Westfield Road, then Holy Family Road. This was a deviation to serve a few different housing developments, most notably Holyoke Farms Apartments, which were mostly along Tokeneke Road. We used that to make our way to Whitings Farms Road.
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| Or…Holyoke Hill Apartments? |
There were some houses for a bit, then we passed a few office parks. As the street curved east, we went by a fire station, then we entered for…another mall deviation? Okay, this is getting old. We had to travel down the entire length of the mall, which the PVTA refers to as K-Mart Plaza while Google Maps calls it Holyoke Shopping Center.
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| This is getting old! |
We made our way up Northampton Street after the deviation, which passed a cemetery and then became residential. Next, we turned onto South Street, which had a mix of dense houses and businesses. We went by another shopping plaza (thank goodness we didn’t deviate), then we curved onto the one-way High Street, which was mostly industrial at first.
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| A scene in downtown Holyoke. |
As we got further into downtown Holyoke, there started to be more businesses, apartments, and in true Holyoke fashion, abandoned factories. Eventually it turned to brick buildings housing retail on their ground floors, which was at least a little nicer. Finally, we made our way around the block and arrived at the Holyoke Transportation Center.
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| The bus boarding for its journey back. |
PVTA Route: P20 (Holyoke/Springfield via Riverdale Street)
Ridership: The P20 is one of the highest-ridership routes on the PVTA, ranked at number 5 in 2016. The route averages 48 passengers per trip, which is huge! Okay, it’s kinda long, and there’s a lot of ridership turnover along the way, but you’ll still get a reasonably busy bus along the whole route.
Pros: The greatest asset of the P20 is its frequency. The route runs every 20 minutes weekdays and Saturdays and every half hour on Sundays, which is really good! Also, for as miserable as the full ride is, the route really does serve a lot of important shopping centers and connects them up to the two biggest hubs on the PVTA. I doubt (and hope) that no one subjects themselves to ride this thing from beginning to end, though – there are much faster ways of getting between Springfield and Holyoke.
Cons: Aside from the route being the longest and most miserable way of getting between Springfield and Holyoke? For as long as I’m reviewing PVTA routes, I will forever be complaining about earliness; the real culprit of the P20 is at the Holyoke Mall. For some reason, it’s only on the northbound route where they do this – the southbound trips are only padded at the end! That seems to be extra evidence that the “layover” at the Holyoke Mall has absolutely no point.
Nearby and Noteworthy: This route basically serves any mall in West Springfield or Holyoke, so it’s a great one for shopping.
Final Verdict: 8/10
While I personally hated my ride on this route, the P20 is ultimately very useful and well-used. The frequency is great, and the route serves quite a bit of important destinations. I’d rather not wait for 10 minutes at the Holyoke Mall when I’m going north, though, thank you very much!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
PVTA: B12 (Stonybrook Express)
Heyyyyy, let’s hop on the Prison Express! No, I’m not joking, that’s literally what the B12 is: a nonstop, highway-running express route…to a prison. Like, a gigantic, proper prison. Huh. Yeah, I’m just gonna go ahead and say that this is a strange route.
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| Here we go! |
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| Some parking lot. |
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| A formless apartment building? I guess that works too. |
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| Woooo. |
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| A “business” and a motel. |
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| Very rustic! |
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| Here we go! |
We looped around the parking lot and headed onto Texas Drive, going by a small lake-pond-something? There were random buildings along the way, then we pulled into the Pre-Release Center, where prisoners are allowed to spend the day outside of the prison with trackers around their ankles. The driver said that operators of the B12 are specially trained to report to the Sheriff if any of the pre-release passengers act up even a little bit. This is intense stuff! There was no one getting on there today, though, so we just headed back to Springfield with an empty bus.
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| Security is high… |
PVTA Route: B12 (Stonybrook Express)
Ridership: This route has two classes of ridership: there are the pre-release prisoners, as I mentioned, and there are also visitors. My ride was entirely the latter class, with seven women going to see people in the prison. In 2016, the route averaged about 4 passengers per trip, which makes sense, considering the first inbound and last outbound are almost guaranteed to be empty.
Pros: It’s, uh, a prison express? You know, it’s a weird thought, but it definitely provides a really important service. Plus, the entire route is paid for by the Hampton County Sheriffs Department, so PVTA doesn’t have to worry about a thing!
Cons: The schedule is really weird. Maybe it has something to do with how the prison works, but there are four trips from Springfield, weekdays and Saturdays: 1:48, 4:03, 6:03, and 7:48. Strange times…
Nearby and Noteworthy: Uhhhh…literally just the prison. That’s it. Have fun!
Final Verdict: 7/10
This is sort of a hard route to review, but I think a 7 suits it pretty well. It definitely provides an important service for a very limited group of people, and it’s fully subsidized, but…gosh, it’s just weird! The fact that it makes no other stops is strange, and those schedule times (seemingly) make no sense. One thing’s for sure, this was an interesting experience, and I’m really glad I was able to ride this crazy route!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates