MART: 5 (Intermodal Center – Parkhill Plaza – Central Plaza)
This is a route designed to waste everybody’s time. No matter where you want to go on the 5, there is almost no doubt that you will have to suffer a ride far longer than it should be. How could a route be so inefficient? Read on, dear reader!
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| The bus, as seen from behind a glass window. |
We headed down Main Street from the Fitchburg Intermodal Center, entering downtown Fitchburg. There were pretty nondescript buildings on both sides, and most held businesses. We passed a few parks and a library, then the road curved north with the pleasant Upper Common as a median.
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| Interesting view! |
Soon we turned onto River Street, crossing the Nashua River. The area was industrial, with a bunch of old factories, but there were a few houses that surprisingly made it into the mix. We went by a repurposed factory housing apartments, then crossed over the Nashua River again. After going under the Commuter Rail tracks, we reached a rotary, where we merged onto Daniels Street.
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| Going around the rotary. |
This road went over the Nashua River again, then it curved up a hill, lined with businesses and dense apartments. We passed a church, then turned onto the residential Daniels Street. Next, we turned onto Oak Hill Road, which we “stayed on” for a while, although the street itself made a few turns at intersections.
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| Some houses in the neighborhood. |
At an intersection with a little pizza parlor, we turned onto Franklin Road, returning to the residential nature from before (aside from one other variety store). As the street became Electric Avenue, though, we were suddenly surrounded by suburban businesses and huge parking lots. The principal one was Parkhill Plaza, into whose parking lot we deviated.
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| A shelter outside the plaza…but it’s on the wrong side of the street! |
Okay, now, are you ready for this next bit? All of that…ever since that rotary from River Street…all of that was a deviation! That’s right, now we had to go alllllllllll the way back to that rotary in order to continue the route. Oh boy, that’s just great, isn’t it? I’ll spare you all the pain of having to recount every street we had driven down, so let’s return to that rotary.
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| Crossing the Nashua River. |
From there, we headed back onto River Street, which was rather woodsy as it paralleled the Commuter Rail tracks. We eventually went under the tracks, coming out in a fairly industrial area. Next, we merged onto Westminster Street, which went by all manners of buildings – houses, businesses, industrial buildings, and even a park.
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| An industrial view. |
There was another woodsy section for a little bit, then we passed a huge industrial building right across the street from some houses. Soon after that, we made a little loop around a small park, arriving at our terminus, Waites Corner, right outside of a variety store. We didn’t stay here for long, though, immediately coming back the way we came.
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| The park at Waites Corner. |
Is that it for deviations? Nope! Although we skipped the really long one from before, we did have to make one more near Fitchburg. Just outside of the Intermodal Center, we instead turned onto Water Street, going over the Commuter Rail tracks. Right over the bridge, we turned into the parking lot for Central Plaza, some awful-looking shopping mall. This is where Nathan and I got off, deciding to walk back to the hub, since they’re so close.
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| The bus at Central Plaza. |
MART Route: 5 (Intermodal Center – Parkhill Plaza – Central Plaza)
Ridership: This is kinda tough to judge, since the ridership data in MART’s Regional Transit Plan is from 2014, when the 5 was interlined with the 6. The ridership given is for both routes combined: 154 average riders on weekdays, and 58 on Saturdays. Sad as it may sound, this was apparently MART’s fourth-busiest route. Now that the 5 is its own separate bus, I can’t tell you how much ridership it gets in total, but my round trip got about 10 people.
UPDATE 4/7: I found more recent MART ridership data that shows the 5 all on its own. The route averaged about 187 riders per day in late 2016, which is pretty good, especially given its ridership two years before!
Pros: The route’s long deviation does serve a very dense neighborhood, one that definitely needs a bus running through it. It also seems to get a decent amount of riders, at least based on my ride – the numbers don’t agree, but perhaps ridership has gone up since 2014.
Cons: Oh boy, there are lots of these. Let’s start out with the elephant in the room: why is the long deviation, which is where literally every person on my ride went, only served in one direction? There were a bunch of people who got on there to get to downtown Fitchburg, but they had to ride all the way out to Waites Corner and then come back in! Check this out:
When going from Parkhill Plaza to the Intermodal Center, it takes only five more minutes to walk than to take the bus! You could even walk to the 3 and take that in – only three minutes slower! If this isn’t horrible route planning, I don’t know what is. And the worst part is that no one got on or off at Waites Corner. Well, gosh, why even serve it, then??
The problem is that there have to be sacrifices made to fix this problem. The route takes 48 minutes for a round trip (yet they run it every 50 minutes, which is stupid – just make it every hour, it’s a lot easier to remember), meaning there’s not enough time to serve the deviation on the way back. This makes me think that the only solution would be to eliminate all Waites Corner service, except for the twice-daily Montachusett Industrial Park trips, and just run the route to Parkhill Plaza. That’s where all the ridership was, after all…
Nearby and Noteworthy: Yeah, no, not really. Parkhill Plaza seems like kind of a dump, as does Central Plaza. That one pizza place the route passes has good reviews…
Final Verdict: 4/10
It’s not like this route doesn’t get riders, because it definitely does. The problem is that they’re practically all coming from that deviation! Having to go all the way out to Waites Corner just to get to Fitchburg seems like the biggest pain. Unfortunately, it seems like the only solution would be to just cut most Waites Corner service. The route would be shorter as a result, but maybe it could be interlined with certain trips on the 4 to keep it from needing too much layover time.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
This is really late notice, but there’s a mock-up version of a new Orange Line car displayed at City Hall! Tomorrow is the last day to see it, and yes, I am most definitely seeing it tomorrow. Expect a post with pictures! I’ve tried not to look at any, so it’s going to be a surprise!
MBTA Announces Private Company to Take Over Bus System
It’s no secret that the MBTA is in desperate financial waters right now. The T has been looking for any way to cut costs, and they’ve often turned to privatization to do so. The Commuter Rail, for example, is operated by Keolis, while the door-to-door RIDE service is run by various companies around the Boston area.
These have been always been privately contracted; now, however, the T is attempting to outsource more sectors. In October, the Authority privatized its “money room,” sparking much protest from union workers, and it is currently trying to do the same for its bus maintenance operations.
Now, however, the T is announcing that rather than just maintenance, they plan to privatize their entire bus system. “If we are to get the MBTA out of its financial deficit,” says Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, “we must make these important decisions.”
MBTA GM Brian Shortsleeve admits that the announcement may not be received well by all, but he asserts that riders will see vast improvements in service. “We’ve chosen a great company to run the system,” he says. “They have a great track record, and riders will definitely be happy with the new change.”
“Well, we’re very excited to be taking over the MBTA bus system,” says GATRA president and secretary of the Norfolk Senior Center Knitting Club, Rhonda Burke. “This is such a big, busy system! I’ve seen some buses with people standing! That has to be so uncomfortable!”
GATRA has announced a series of changes that will come with the change of operator. Firstly, riders will see a huge drop in fares. “We at GATRA believe in cheap transit for all,” says the financial supervisor of GATRA and two-time winner of the Middleborough Council on Aging’s Bingo Tournament, Gladys Rodman. “How can they charge $1.70 for a local bus fare? We’re lowering that to one dollar for everyone!”
When asked how GATRA could ever expect such a fare system to be financially feasible, Rodman declined to comment.
GATRA has also confirmed that they will be cancelling the T’s current order of new Xcelsior buses. “Those are so big and flashy,” says Burke. “Instead, we’re ordering a brand-spanking new fleet of shiny minibuses! They’re more intimate and comfortable for the rider, you know.” GATRA hopes to replace the entire MBTA bus fleet by 2019.
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| GATRA testing out its new destination signs. “We wanted a font that looks fun and exciting,” says Burke. |
The biggest change for riders, however, will be the realignment of almost all T bus routes. “These current routes? No good,” says Robert “Bobby” Jenkins, GATRA’s director of routes and scheduling, as well as the captain of the Marshfield Council on Aging’s shuffleboard team. “Almost all of these routes are just straight. They don’t serve anything. Fiddlesticks!”
GATRA is still working on the realignments, but they say it will affect every route “except the 112, which is perfect as it is.” So far they have released their new version of the 1; its map can be viewed below.
“Don’t worry,” says Brian Shortsleeve. “No one will notice the difference. We have all our faith in GATRA to run the most efficient routes possible.” Whether or not Shortsleeve has actually talked to GATRA is questionable.
The operations turnover is expected to occur today, April 1st. Some riders have speculated that based on the date of its occurrence, this switch is just an April Fool’s Joke.
They would be right.
RIPTA: 17 (Dyer/Pocasset)
Remember how the 19 allowed me to discover the majestic land known as Walmart? Well, now we’re riding its sister route, the 17. I wonder if it has any more amazing big box stores to discover! Oh…Stop & Shop is this route’s terminus? Weeeeeeeeeeeee…
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| That’s a rather nice sky in the background! |
We left the Stop & Shop parking lot and turned onto Phenix Ave, with suburban businesses all around. However, the road became residential once we crossed Atwood Ave…and then there were more suburban businesses only a few blocks later at the intersection with Cranston Street (on which the 30 runs). There was also a big apartment tower over here.
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| That is indeed a big apartment tower. |
The street became Park Ave after that, and it was still lined with those businesses as we turned onto Dyer Ave. We went over the Pocasset River, offering a brief forest break, but then the scenery got industrial. We crossed Cranston Street and the 30 again, then after a few houses, we passed by the terminus of the 18.
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| Some random shopping plaza. |
Beyond there, Dyer Ave was a mix of basically everything – houses, businesses, and industrial buildings. As we entered Providence, the street became Pocasset Ave, and it got a lot denser. The street was lined with mostly houses and businesses now.
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| I don’t know why I find this picture kinda cool… |
There was a brief block where it became entirely residential, but once Pocasset Ave merged left and we joined the 19 on Plainfield Street, there was a short industrial section. We went under Route 6, a highway, and right after that we entered Olneyville Square, where there were businesses all around. After travelling through the square, we merged onto Westminster Street, going under Route 10, another highway.
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| A mural under the highway. |
We passed an elementary school, then it was another mix of dense houses and businesses. At the intersection with Cranston Street, we were joined by the 18 and the 31, and together we passed some varied buildings and crossed over I-95. We made our way to Washington Street on the other side of the highway.
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| Enjoy this random business, I guess! |
Oh, the route map makes the downtown trip look so easy, doesn’t it? Just straight up Washington Street to Kennedy Plaza, that’s how it’s drawn. But of course we had to take the long crazy route because of course we were in a rush to get our train home!
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| A parking lot downtown. |
Thus, we turned onto Empire Street, then Weybosset Street, passing by the Providence Performing Arts Center. And wouldn’t you know it, there was a play going on that night! The traffic was awful through downtown, even after we passed the theater! Eventually we got some speed again as the street curved around and we finally arrived at Kennedy Plaza. For the record, we did make our train, but just barely – we had to sprint to the station!
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| I didn’t get any pictures at Kennedy Plaza because we were running too fast, so here’s an earlier bus after we had gotten of the 18. |
RIPTA Route: 17 (Dyer/Pocasset)
Ridership: The 17 is, funnily enough, the RIPTA route with the 17th highest ridership! Every weekday in 2012, it got an average of 1,377 passengers, while on Saturdays it got 730 riders. The route didn’t have Sunday service back then.
Pros: The 17 is a pretty straight corridor route that serves a bunch of dense residential areas in Providence and Cranston. It has a decent schedule, too – every half hour on weekdays, every 50 minutes on Saturdays, and every 70 minutes nights and Sundays. Now, that weekend schedule sounds bad, but you have to remember that much of this route is shared with the 19, and the two are perfectly coordinated. Thus, service on the highest-ridership section is actually double the frequency of the 17.
Cons: Can RIPTA please update its maps to show where the buses actually go downtown? I mean, that whole detour we took there nearly cost us the train! Also, a lot of the outer route is really close to the 30, which runs express and offers a much quicker ride out there.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Stop & Shop, I guess. Most of this route really isn’t that interesting at all…
Final Verdict: 8/10
The 17 is a great little route. It serves some neighborhoods that aren’t served by other routes, but also some that are – the 30 is a significantly faster ride to some of those outer areas than the 17 is. Still, that’s basically my only problem with the route. Overall, the 17 performs its job well, and has pretty frequent service on the shared portion thanks to great coordination with the 19.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
RIPTA: 18 (Union Avenue)
The 31 is one of RIPTA’s most frequent and well-used routes. However, more than half of it is shared with another route, the 18. The 18 is not nearly as frequent…
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| The bus coming into Kennedy Plaza. |
Leaving Kennedy Plaza, we made our way onto Washington Street. It was downtown Providence, so the street was lined with tall buildings of various uses. After we passed the Providence Public Library, there were just a few more buildings before we crossed over I-95, effectively leaving downtown.
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| Crossing I-95. |
After going over the highway, we made our way onto Westminster Street, going by businesses, a church, an apartment building, and the Providence Classical High School. We soon split off from the 17 and 19 by merging onto Cranston Street, which went by a park and some housing developments. There were also some businesses here and there.
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| A small park. |
Outside of the huge elaborate Cranston Street Armory, we left the 31, starting our independent section on Chapin Ave. This was a narrow street lined with dense houses and apartments on both sides. Next, we turned onto Ellery Street, offering mostly the same scenery, plus a park. There were a few businesses as we turned onto Union Ave, which crossed over the Huntington Expressway and the Commuter Rail tracks.
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| Looking down a side street. |
There was a bit of industry, then more dense houses and the occasional intersection with businesses. After the road went up a hill, we turned onto Laurel Hill Ave, entering Cranston. The houses along this street were bigger and further apart, and they continued as we turned onto Chestnut Hill Ave. We were only on here for a few blocks before turning onto Dyer Ave, where we reached the final stop – it was just a sign.
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| The bus laying over. |
RIPTA Route: 18 (Union Avenue)
Ridership: In 2012, the route got 636 riders per weekday and 338 per Saturday, sticking it slightly below average for RIPTA routes. On my trip, there was a decent amount of ridership along the shared portion with the 31, but the only people who stuck around as far as the independent section got off within a few stops.
Pros: The route directly serves some dense residential areas, and it definitely seems like a good amount of people use it (RIPTA’s ridership map shows good amounts of people even at the independent stops). The schedule is also neat and clean, with half-hourly service during peak periods and hourly service middays and Saturdays.
Cons: There’s no Sunday service, but that’s not actually a huge deal – the route never strays further than around a five minute walk from other RIPTA routes. Of course, that could also be considered a con, since it shows that the route may not be necessary.
Nearby and Noteworthy: No, there’s nothing much along this route. The few businesses it does serve on the independent section (and, indeed, on the shared section) seemed pretty sketchy.
Final Verdict: 7/10
The RIPTA evaluation for the 18 uses a term that I like to say a lot: this is a niche route. It gives infrequent, direct service to neighborhoods that are very close to other routes, but it seems like it gets enough people to justify its existence. That’s good enough for me!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
RIPTA: 78 (Beverage Hill/Newport Ave)
Oh boy, Beverage Hill! I’ve heard rumors that it’s a magical land full of beverages of all shapes and sizes! Orange juice, milk, soda…and some alcohol for the older folks *wink*. Well, I cannot wait to discover if these rumors are true! The 78 is our bus today, people!
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| The bus coming into Pawtucket. |
We headed down Roosevelt Ave from the Pawtucket Transit Center, then we turned onto Main Street, crossing the Seekonk River. As the road passed through an industrial area, we turned onto the one-way Water Street, which became School Street. This residential road took us up high, offering a great view of the Seekonk River.
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| I tried… |
The river eventually fell away behind a variety of buildings: a hospital, an apartment, and a boys and girls club. Soon, though, the street curved around to become…BEVERAGE HILL AVE! Were there the drinks all around that I had been looking forward to so much? Actually, no, it was just rather industrial. Shoot…
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| You let me down, Beverage Hill! |
We rejoined the outbound route at Prospect Street, then Beverage Hill Ave became mostly residential (aside from one little blip of more industry). After we reached Newport Ave, we made a really strange…deviation, I guess you could call it? The route eventually runs down Newport, but before doing that, we circled a block around the back of a shopping plaza through an industrial area. It really didn’t feel necessary…
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| Man, this is a wasteland… |
Well, we did make it to Newport Ave (entering East Providence), which was mostly lined with suburban businesses and parking lots. Near a golf course, we merged into the residential Pawtucket Ave. The road crossed over a single train track, then a large cemetery occupied one side of it.
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| The cemetery with some apartments behind it. |
We passed by some businesses and churches, but the area was still mostly just houses. Pawtucket Ave made a few curves left and right, then we passed through that same golf course from before (it’s pretty big). We had to deviate after that, pulling into the parking lot for a little mall called Wampanoag Plaza.
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| The mall parking lot. |
After the deviation had been completed, we headed down Taunton Ave, which was lined with more suburban businesses. Eventually we arrived at a pretty industrial area and passed through a strange intersection where Taunton Ave became Waterman Ave. However, we next turned onto John Street in order to make our way back down to Taunton Ave.
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| Part of that weird intersection. |
The street was lined with all manners of residential buildings, businesses, religious buildings, and even East Providence City Hall. Then all of a sudden, Taunton Ave became an on-ramp, and we were heading onto I-195. This took us over the Seekonk River again, offering a great view.
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| Nice! |
Now in Providence proper, we descended down to ground level and got off the highway at Exit 2. This took us onto South Main Street, which ran past various buildings and some kind of park…thing. Eventually we came into a really nice neighborhood with a bunch of awesome unique businesses lining the street.
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| The 78 used to go through the tunnel, but they rerouted it. Alas… |
We went by the Rhode Island School of Design, the portal to the East Side Bus Tunnel, the First Baptist Church in America, and lots of other businesses. Next, we turned onto Steeple Street, taking us over the Providence River. Turning onto Memorial Boulevard, then Kennedy Plaza, we arrived at the main RIPTA hub.
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| The bus about to pick up outbound passengers. |
RIPTA Route: 78 (Beverage Hill/Newport Ave)
Ridership: In 2012, the 78 got 1,000 riders per weekday, 800 per Saturday, and 300 per Sunday. That averaged out to about 20-25 riders per trip, which is about on par with what I saw on my ride. The great thing about the 78 is that it has transportation hubs on both ends, so ridership goes in both directions!
Pros: Well, for one thing, see the last sentence. Sure, no one’s gonna take this from beginning to end, but having big hubs on either end allows for great bidirectional ridership. It helps that the route serves a huge chunk of East Providence, and its schedule is decent – every 45 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, and every 90 minutes on Sundays (infrequent, but the ridership is lower).
Cons: The Sunday schedule could probably stand to be better, and I also have a problem with one section of the route: that weird one-block deviation around Newport Ave. The route only does it going inbound, and it really doesn’t serve anything that’s not within walking distance of Newport Ave. It seems like it just adds unnecessary time to the route!
Nearby and Noteworthy: There isn’t much of note along the 78’s independent section, but it does serve a really cool neighborhood on its approach into Providence. That said, it’s within easy walking distance from downtown, so I wouldn’t recommend taking the bus there.
Final Verdict: 8/10
This is a really solid route. It serves a big portion of eastern Pawtucket and East Providence, and can bring its residents to either of RIPTA’s two biggest hubs! The route is decently frequent as long as you’re not riding on Sundays, too. Yeah, that one deviation by Newport Ave is a bit weird, but the route is great aside from that.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
RIPTA: 76 (Central Ave)
RIPTA’s routes out of Pawtucket are definitely the sad stepchildren of the system. They generally get worse buses, they almost always have terrible schedules, and their ridership is often lower than the rest of the system. Does the 76 stack up to those expectations? Let’s find out.
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| The bus laying over. |
The route actually gets a little “busway” of sorts at its terminus, although the driver refused to board anyone from it. Thus, Nathan and I got on at the end of the block, and after I had trouble buying my day pass with an overly crinkly five dollar bill, we were off. We headed down Benefit Street, then made a sharp turn around onto Central Ave, coming close to the Massachusetts state line.
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| A residential side street. |
Central Ave was entirely lined with dense houses at first, but eventually some businesses started to come into the mix as well. There were a few churches near the intersection with Newport Ave, as well as a small school. Beyond that intersection, there were even more businesses interspersed among the houses.
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| It’s starting to get industrial over here! |
Eventually, we turned onto Freeman Street, taking us into the parking lot for a Stop and Shop. That’s right, we were deviating! At least we picked up a few people at the store, and even had a driver switch. After that, we looped around onto George Bennett Highway, an industrial street with a railroad track running right next to it.
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| Micky D’s!! |
After a bunch of industrial buildings (and a cemetery), we turned onto Armistice Boulevard, taking us into another residential neighborhood. Next, we turned onto North Bend Street for a block, then onto Walcott Street, via an intersection playing host to another church and a catholic school. Beyond there, the street was again residential, with bigger houses than before.
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| Looking down a side street with more houses. |
Soon, we turned onto Underwood Street, taking us right up alongside I-95. After that we turned onto Exchange Street, which was lined with multi-storied buildings of various uses. We crossed over the Blackstone River, then turned onto Roosevelt Ave, arriving at the Pawtucket Transportation Center and finishing the rather short ride.
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| A very head-on view of the next bus going onto the route. |
RIPTA Route: 76 (Central Ave)
Ridership: In 2012, the route was getting incredibly low ridership: 264 passengers per weekday, 191 per Saturday, and 131 per Sunday. They’ve made a lot of changes since then to increase the ridership per trip, most notably cutting Sunday service and lowering the route’s frequency. It seems these were good changes – while the route was averaging 4 riders per day on Saturdays in 2012, my ride had 10!
Pros: This is definitely a niche route, but it serves its fair share of Pawtucket. The whole route is full of dense residential neighborhoods, and though the Stop and Shop deviation didn’t get that many people back in 2012, it was the highest-ridership stop on my ride!
Cons: Man, that schedule…it’s a weird one. The route runs every hour on Saturdays, which seems like a good frequency, but then on weekdays it’s every…90 minutes? What?! Why does it run so infrequently on the days when ridership is typically higher?
Nearby and Noteworthy: Yeah, basically just Stop and Shop. There were some local businesses along the route that could be good, though.
Final Verdict: 6/10
The 76 may be short and its ridership not that great, but every 90 minutes on weekdays just seems way too infrequent. The hourly Saturday schedule definitely has the right idea! That being said, the route still serves a dense neighborhood, and this is its only direct link to Pawtucket, so I can’t fault it too much.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Transit Tales: 70 Minutes in Attleboro
If there was ever one redeeming factor about the GATRA, it was that its buses could be reasonably trusted to arrive on time. I never had any doubt that their routes were at least reliable, and even if they were late, it was never more than five minutes or so. Buuuuuuuuut…I guess after this experience, that’s another good thing about GATRA I can discredit, because this was just ridiculous!
Nathan and I originally had a plan to arrive into Attleboro on the 1:56 train, do a round trip on the 2:00 GATRA 14, then come back and board the 3:11 train towards Providence. Pretty simple, right? Our train was perfectly on time, so we assumed we’d have an easy transfer to the GATRA. It was good that we wouldn’t have to wait long, too, since there were some pretty sketchy people hanging out at the station.
But 2:00 came and went, and the bus hadn’t shown up. Oh, well, it was okay if it was a little late – the route has a bit of recovery time at its terminus, so we would still make it back on time. But still, now it was 2:15 and the bus still hadn’t come? Something was definitely wrong.
At 2:20, we decided to call GATRA to find out what the heck was going on. After finding their number on a paper schedule, I dialed up and asked about where the heck this 14 was. “Oh, the bus broke,” said the woman on the phone. “You’ll have to wait for the 3:00 trip.” OH…WOW, OKAY. THANKS FOR LETTING US KNOW, GATRA!
At least one could make the argument that they don’t have any means of telling passengers when such things happen. Oh, hang on, YEAH THEY DO. HMMMMMM. Okay, anyway, we knew it would be a waste of time to take the 3:00 14 (we’d miss the train, obviously), so we formed another plan: we would get the 2:35 16 to the Rhode Island line, then make the 53-minute transfer to the RIPTA 56. Yeah, it wasn’t optimal, but it was the best we could do.
But ohhhhhhhhhhh no, the 16 decided to play games, too! 2:35 went right by, and there was no sign of a bus. At 2:45, we decided to call GATRA again, this time from Nathan’s phone (since I had called about the 14). “It’s just a little late,” the woman said. “It’ll be there any minute.” Great.
Well, if by “any minute”, she meant 15 minutes, then yeah, that’s about right. At around 3 o’clock, the bus finally arrived in Attleboro – 25 minutes late! Oh well, at least the insane lateness made the wait for the RIPTA that much shorter. And now I can review the route, right?
NO! GATRA announced that they’re extending the route! I have to ride the stupid thing again! But at the very least, while the route was pretty bad when we rode it, this extension has made it reeeaaaalllyyyyy bad. I look forward to being able to slam it even harder than I would have! Until we meet again, 16…
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| ‘Bout time… |
M2C (Coolidge Corner)
So, did you know that a few night M2s run via Coolidge Corner? Yeah, I had no idea, either! I mean, who would suspect? It’s just so unexpected that these few random M2s happen to take a vastly different route than their counterparts. Well, anyway, want to hear about the ride? Heck yeah!
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| Whoosh! |
To be honest, Nathan and I had no idea where to wait for this elusive M2C. There were shelters on both sides, and people were waiting at both. Originally we took the northern one, but eventually everyone meandered to the other side of the street, so we headed over there too. The bus arrived right on time, missing a front destination sign, unfortunately.
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| At least the side one was working! |
We left the southbound stop and made our way around the wide median at the end of Avenue Louis Pasteur. This took us onto Longwood Ave, running right through the heart of the Longwood Medical Area. The buildings started to thin out as we continued down the street, until we crossed the Riverway, then went over the Muddy River and the D Line.
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| That’s interesting… |
Independent from any MBTA bus routes, Longwood Ave was now residential. Going by lots of handsome brick houses and apartments, we trundled down the road in the darkness. This eventually led us to Coolidge Corner in record time, where we turned onto Harvard Street, joining the 66 and crossing over the C Line.
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| Hi, Gap. |
Along this whole section we were passing those classic Coolidge Corner businesses, then they became apartments as we left the “downtown” area. It didn’t last long, though, as retail soon lined Harvard Street again in full force. It consisted of single-story businesses for a while, but as we crossed Harvard Ave and the B Line, the buildings got taller.
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| Some more businesses. |
There was a mixture of retail and apartment buildings past there. While the 66 does its annoying Union Square “jog,” we just stayed on Harvard Ave, then turned onto Cambridge Street. This blasted us over the Commuter Rail tracks and I-90, then some apartments and industrial businesses appeared on one side of the road beyond the bridge.
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| This is eerie… |
The 66 turned onto North Harvard Street, so now we were running with the 64. Meanwhile, Cambridge Street ran on a bridge over its interchange with I-90, then we went over the Charles River. Cambridge Street became River Street, and after a park and a huge apartment building, we were surrounded by mostly dense housing.
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| Not my best-ever picture, that’s for sure. |
I was assuming we’d run right into Central Square, but apparently that wasn’t the case! No, instead we turned onto Franklin Street, a narrow one-way going past mostly more houses. Next, we turned onto Brookline Street for two blocks, and finally onto Mass Ave, making a stop at the rainbow MBTA shelter.
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| Oh hey, it’s that new Target! |
Central Square was full of businesses and tall buildings, which both continued as we left the square. There were also plenty of apartment buildings in the mix, as well as Cambridge College. Soon, Mass Ave split into two parts, and we ran up into Harvard Square. Holyoke Gate was the last stop, and the bus laid over there for a little while before returning to the LMA.
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| Too bad that destination sign still isn’t working. |
Route: M2C (Coolidge Corner)
Ridership: Okay, I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting anyone on this route, but I was dead wrong. Our trip got over 30 people, and most of them did indeed get off along the independent section, even as far as Cambridgeport! Clearly there’s a lot of demand for this strange, infrequent route.
Pros: Yeah, so, people actually use it! I really wasn’t expecting that! But then again, when you give it a good look, it’s hard to see why people wouldn’t use it. It’s by far the easiest way of getting from the LMA to the places it serves, since it offers a direct trip right down Longwood Ave to Coolidge Corner. (I didn’t even know that was possible!) This is actually the only one-seat ride from the LMA to that area, so it beats the MBTA in that regard!
Cons: Aside from the fare system, which continues to be ridiculous, this route only has the wee little problem of never freaking running. This route has five departures: four northbound trips at 5:15, 6:25, 9:30, and 11:30; and one southbound trip at 10:00. Why the heck does it only have these trips, and why the heck does it only run at night? It got so many people!
Nearby and Noteworthy: I love Coolidge Corner, but it’s very unlikely you’ll ever actually use this route to get there. Maybe try a route that runs during the day, such as the Green Line or the 66. Just sayin’…
Final Verdict: 4/10
This is a great route, but it just doesn’t live up to its potential. There’s gotta be some way they can give this thing more service, at least a few trips in the morning rush to get people to the LMA. And just to drive the point home, the schedule is really the only thing wrong with this route, but it’s just so terrible that it’s worth all those lost points. Give it at least a little more service!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
UMass Boston Shuttle: 1 (JFK/Umass – Campus Center)
Longtime readers will definitely have seen this one before – maybe even more than once. But hey, it hasn’t gotten a proper review yet, so it’s time to take our final look at the route and give it a definitive score! Time to take one final ride on the 1.
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| The beautiful Xcelsior at the Campus Center. |
The bus used on the 1 was scores better than the one Nathan and I had gotten on the 3. It was an Xcelsior, and the inside was just beautiful! It had yellow poles, cords running along the bus to signal a stop request, and some amazing plushy seats that could recline. It’s interesting that they have such nice seats for a five-minute ride, but I can’t complain!
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| Wow! |
We left the Campus Center loop and ran up Columbia Point along the water. Instead of staying on that street, which “deviates” to serve the JFK Library, we briefly turned onto an unnamed road alongside a parking lot for a more direct route. We returned to Columbia Point, which then swung right and became University Drive North.
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| It was really hard to get decent pictures in this lighting… |
There was lots o’ construction going on along University Drive North, but we soon made our way onto Mount Vernon Street. This took us past some apartments, a school, and a church. We passed the UMass Bayside Lot, where the 3 terminates, then a hotel and a bank. Finally, we navigated an absolute mess of an intersection, which led us into the JFK/UMass busway.
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| An earlier 1, using one of those terrible buses! |
UMass Boston Shuttle Route: 1 (JFK/Umass – Campus Center)
Ridership: I believe this is the UMass route with the highest ridership, getting packed with students coming from or going to the Red Line. Our trip was no exception, with a healthy smattering of people heading to the station.
Pros: This is an awesome, quick connection between the UMass campus and the Red Line at JFK. It runs incredibly frequently, with service every 5-7 minutes throughout most of the day, and every 10-12 minutes at night (on Fridays, the “night” schedule starts earlier in the evening). It does only run on weekdays, but the connection is still there on weekends by means of the more deviatory 2.
Cons: It’s really weird that the shuttle tracker shows that this bus could take two possible routes going to UMass. I mean, it’s not that important, since the route only has two stops, but is there any reason why a bus would take one routing over the other?
Nearby and Noteworthy: This is the best way of getting to UMass on a weekday, so if you happen to be going there…this is the route for you, I guess.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Considering that UMass Boston has no actual dorms, this bus allows throngs of students to commute to school via the subway. It’s frequent, it’s fast, and it gets people where they need to go. Sure, the streets it takes may differ according to the tracker, but the destination is always the same, so it really doesn’t matter all that much.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Hingham Shipyard
You’d think a new ferry terminal would be at least somewhat of a big deal, but the T apparently didn’t think so – this place got practically no fanfare at all! That’s why Sam and I had no idea to expect when we headed down to Hingham to see the new Hingham Shipyard Terminal. What was it like? Let’s find out.
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| A nice plaza in the Shipyard complex. |
Hingham Shipyard isn’t just the name of the ferry terminal, but also the surrounding development. In conjunction with the new ferry terminal (or maybe just for the heck of it), a developer built an Assembly Square-esque retail “neighborhood” around the area. Despite that, the MBTA terminal still has room for a gigantic parking lot – is almost 1700 spaces enough, do you think? There are also a few bike spaces next to the building, as much as the T website wants to tell you there aren’t any.
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| The building, with a stream of commuters advancing! |
On the outside, the building is absolutely beautiful. It’s modern, with a lot of glass and metal. My only problem with the outside is that signage is practically nonexistent! The building has plenty of room for a beautiful T symbol, but instead, the only indication that it’s an MBTA station is a tiny sign outside the building that looks like it belongs at an office park.
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| Wow… |
But boy, any complaints go straight out the window when you get into the building. A rush of heat blasts you as you walk into a gigantic room with floor-to-ceiling glass windows on three out of the four walls. Bright LEDs provide light when it’s dark, while benches with beautiful wood designs line one of the windows,
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| See last caption! |
There are other amenities here, too. For example, one of the doorways leading into the office section of the building has some water fountains, while there are some random brochures next to the benches. (Providence Ghost Tours, anyone?) Bathrooms are directly accessed from the main waiting area, and I’m pleased to report that yes, they’re absolutely spotless!
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| Excellent! |
Next to a poster about the building’s amazing energy efficiency, (a green roof, a geothermal heating system, and more!) there’s a ticket desk where you can buy your ferry passage. Now, I’m sure that office gets overrun with commuters in the morning, but when Sam and I were here in the late evening, the two staff members occupying the office seemed like overkill. The lack of a ferry schedule in the shipyard is annoying, although the people at the ticket desk were knowledgeable about departure times.
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| The building from the back. |
Leaving the building toward the dock, there’s an outdoor plaza area that’s surprisingly nice. It features a couple of big flags outside the building, as well as a picnic table that must be great to wait at in the summer – indeed, I hope they add a few more! I also like the weird orange “MBTA bus” sign, pointing toward the small bus stop that the 220 deviates to once in a blue moon.
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| Heading down to the dock later in the night. |
I think the walkway out to the dock is a remnant from the old terminal, since it didn’t seem as modern as everything else. Still, it did its job well, and I liked the well-lit blue shelter over the whole thing. I can understand the benches that were along the pathway, but the newspaper boxes? That seems like the wrong place to put those.
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| So mystical! |
And finally, we get out to the dock. I mean, it’s a dock, there isn’t much else to say. It’s not the most organized of places, with a bunch of random stairs and ramps strewn all over the place, but commuters are only going to spend a few seconds here. At least it’s well-lit!
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| Since I’ve already got a boat picture, here’s the 220 near the Shipyard with some great lighting! |
Station: Hingham Shipyard
Ridership: Well, there aren’t any actual ridership statistics for the terminal specifically, but one thing we could do is take the average weekday ridership of the Hingham Ferry (2,654) and divide it by two, since it only has two stops – 1,327 riders per day? Well, it’s a number. Regardless, this place was swarming with commuters heading home when Sam and I were here. Our inbound trip had only one other person, but that makes sense – it was the evening.
Pros: Oh my gosh, it’s so beautiful! It feels like a miniature airport terminal, and I love it! The benches, the ticket office, the bathrooms, the huge windows…it’s all so amazing! Waiting here was just the greatest experience.
Cons: I have three very small problems with this terminal:
1. There’s no T symbol outside.
2. There isn’t a schedule displayed on the inside.
3. There are a bunch of outlets in the terminal, but no benches next to them.
But other than that. it’s perfecttttttt!!!
Nearby and Noteworthy: The easiest place to compare Hingham Shipyard to is, of course, Assembly Row…and honestly, I think the Shipyard is better. Sure, Assembly has a movie theater and that small Legoland (its two saving graces), but Hingham Shipyard’s got a lot more variety in terms of its businesses, including its own, vastly cheaper movie theater! There are a bunch of different restaurants and stores, and I think the seaside atmosphere is awesome.
Final Verdict: 10/10
No, it’s not completely perfect. I mentioned the three issues this terminal has, but the first two really aren’t that big of a deal. There should absolutely be benches next to all those outlets, though…but aside from all that, holy moly, this place is so great! From the energy efficiency to all the amazing amenities in the beautiful building, the Hingham Shipyard is an obscure little gem. Gosh, I could hang out here all day, I tell ya!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
UMass Boston Shuttle: 3 (Bayside – Campus Center)
Nathan and I had decided on a whim to ride the UMass shuttles as we were approaching JFK/Umass on a Red Line train. Five minutes later, we were scrambling over barriers in the Umass Bayside Lot trying to catch a 3 laying over at the shelter way on the far end of the lot. Luckily, we made it before the bus left, and we were on board! Mission accomplished.
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| The bus in the parking lot. |
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| Gross… |
We headed out of the parking lot, although it took forever since some car was taking forever to pay. Once we made it out, we turned onto Mount Vernon Street, with a church on one side and a housing development on the other. We also went by a middle school, an elementary school, and a high-end apartment complex (with terrible reviews).
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| Oh boy, construction! |
We turned onto University Drive North, but soon after, we made a short deviation to serve the Clark Athletic Center. No one got on, so we returned to University Drive, going by a bunch of construction. The street turned left and became Columbia Point, then we turned onto an unnamed street, going by the Massachusetts Archives (but the beautiful JFK Library was in view on the other side).We turned onto Columbia Point again, and soon arrived at the main UMass Campus Center.
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| Okay, I gotta admit, I love this picture. |
UMass Boston Shuttle Route: 3 (Bayside – Campus Center)
Ridership: To my understanding, the ridership on this thing is really low. I mean, at a time when the other Umass route running, the 1 (which will be covered soon) was packed, the 3 had ridership in the single digits in the peak direction, and no one in the non-peak direction.
Pros: The Bayside Lot is a huge lot meant for commuters (students, staff, and visitors) to UMass, and this route is the link between that lot and the campus itself. The shuttle is frequent (every 5-7 minutes), meaning commuters don’t have to wait too long for the next bus.
Cons: The problem is that it’s run really inefficiently. They have one too many buses on this thing, to the extent that they get really long layovers, and you’ll often see two buses at once at the Bayside lot. You could easily run the route just as frequently by cutting a bus and shortening the ridiculously long layovers!
Nearby and Noteworthy: In terms of the route’s independent section, it’s…uh…literally just a parking lot. So no, there’s not much.
Final Verdict: 4/10
This route is definitely necessary in order to encourage people to park in the Bayside Lot, but it’s run in just about the worst possible way. Yes, it’s good that it’s frequent, but why do all the buses have such long layovers at each termini? It’s a really short route, so you could easily remove a bus and have it run just as often, and probably still have time for a decent layover. Use your resources better, Umass!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
212 (Quincy Center Station – North Quincy Station via Billings Road)
Time to finish off this 210/211/212 cluster in Quincy with its highest-numbered route, the, uh, 212. Like the other two routes, this one baffles me in its own unique way. Why? Keep reading!
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| The bus coming into Quincy Center. |
We left Quincy Center and headed up Hancock Street, taking us past some businesses and tall apartment buildings. After going over Furnace Brook, we went by the MBTA Quincy Garage, then a middle school and a park. We passed a church and some businesses, then we turned onto Elm Ave, breaking away from the 210 and starting the route’s independent section.
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| Quincy Garage! |
Elm Ave had a nice leafy median, and it was lined with big suburban houses. At one point we had to make a weird twist briefly onto Staunton Street in order to continue on Elm Ave…or rather, West Elm Ave at this point. The houses were a little denser now, although it still felt pretty suburban.
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| A side street leading to a church. |
We almost made it to the water, but a block before the beach, we turned onto Billings Road. This street continued to be entirely residential, but after it curved in a southwesterly direction, we did go by a small elementary school. Eventually the street became lined with businesses as we turned onto Hancock Street. This took us to North Quincy, where the ridiculously short ride was over.
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| The bus at North Quincy. |
Route: 212 (Quincy Center Station – North Quincy Station via Billings Road)
Ridership: The 212’s ridership is really, really, really low. I mean, it’s the 15th least-used route on weekdays with 293 riders per day, and…wow, okay…the fourth least-used route on Saturdays, with only 151 riders. I had no idea how awful this ridership was until I looked it up just now, and…wow, this is really gonna impact the route’s score.
Pros: You know, I will say that the 212 does actually serve a neighborhood far from other transit modes, unlike the 210. It’s also nice (?) that despite the route only running six days per week, it gets seven-day service, courtesy of the 211 running along the 212 on Sundays.
Cons: Usually I can at least say that “the schedule is sensible,” but no, it’s not! On weekdays, the route runs rush hours only…but then it runs all day on weekends! What?! Not to mention it runs twice as often in the morning than the evening (every half hour vs. every hour). That weekday schedule has the right idea, though – clearly weekend service is not necessary on the 212! Fourth-worst ridership on Saturdays? Just despicable!
Nearby and Noteworthy: The 212’s independent section is almost entirely houses, so, uh, no.
Final Verdict: 2/10
The 212 isn’t quite 1/10 territory, but it’s definitely close. Still, I think it does get a reasonable amount of rush hour ridership in the peak direction, so that’s why I’m not going all the way down. All other times, though, this route could (and should) easily be eliminated. Come on, it gets practically nobody on Saturdays! You could use the extra service on a Quincy route that actually needs it, like the 240! Yeah, this is most definitely my least-favorite route of the three North Quincy buses.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
210 (Quincy Center Station – North Quincy or Fields Corner Station via Hancock Street and Neponset Ave)
Don’t you hate it when you have a connection to make, but the bus you’re taking to that connection is late, so you miss the connection? Thanks, 210! (Okay, the Fields Corner traffic is really what’s to blame, but I just needed a way to start this post.)
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| Well, this has to be the strangest bus photo I’ve ever taken. |
We left the Fields Corner busway travelling right behind a 202, turning onto Geneva Ave along with that bus. Outside of a big shopping plaza, we merged into the short Park Ave busway, which took us around onto Dorchester Ave. We were on here for about two seconds before turning onto the narrow residential Gibson Street.
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| Looking down a slight hill. |
Finally, we left that 202, merging onto Neponset Ave, which was lined with dense houses and apartments. There would be the occasional retail block but for the most part, it remained residential. After a big field and a sizeable clump of retail, we went under I-93 and crossed over the Neponset River.
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| Nice view! |
Beyond the bridge, we were now in Quincy. We turned onto Newport Ave Extension, a wide road which curved around past some huge office parks and marshland. Taking an exit off that road, we then made our way onto Squantum Street, leading us into the North Quincy busway.
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| What a beautiful office park… |
After the busway, we made our way onto Hancock Street, the route’s main road for the rest of the trip down to Quincy. The intersection with Billings Road had a bunch of businesses, but beyond there the primary scenery was dense houses again. We still passed some retail and an assisted living facility, though.
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| A Catholic school and a church. |
There was another bunch of businesses at the intersection with Beale Street. Many of these were Asian, such is the nature of the area around Wollaston (whose Red Line station was only a few blocks away). There was a pretty wide variety of scenery from there, including houses, businesses, and a church.
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| Walkin’ in a winter wonderland… |
We went by a large middle school and an even larger park, then the MBTA Quincy bus garage. We crossed over Furnace Brook after that, and then the surroundings consisted of more businesses and some tall apartment buildings. Hancock Street would have continued right into the main drag of Quincy Center, but before that happened, we turned into the station’s busway, ending the route.
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| A different bus on a different day, with a slightly more normal picture. |
Route: 210 (Quincy Center Station – North Quincy or Fields Corner Station via Hancock Street and Neponset Ave)
Ridership: Nope, ridership isn’t high at all. On the average weekday, the route gets 736 riders, while on Saturdays, it gets only 204 people. My trip was pretty light, with only about ten people, but one could argue that it was just before the evening rush – it was in the peak direction, though.
Pros: You know, all I can really say here is the schedule, which is sensible for the route’s ridership. The 210 runs about every half hour during the rush periods and every hour middays and on Saturdays. There’s no night service, but the route does have one very late trip that times with the last Ashmont train and serves the Braintree branch stations.
Cons: Basically everything else. For one thing, the 210 really isn’t serving much. Let’s go down the route: the section from Fields Corner to Neponset is shared with the much more frequent 201/202; the section from there to North Quincy is just office parks for the most part; and from there to Quincy Center, the route is never more than a 10 minute walk from a Red Line station or another bus route! Also, the 210’s Saturday service is just terrible – it only serves the section from North Quincy to Quincy Center, and the trip takes ten minutes. Yeah, okay, sounds like a great ridership generator.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Those two businesses squares along Hancock Street were pretty interesting, although both are within easy walking distance from the Red Line.
Final Verdict: 3/10
The 210 definitely serves its purpose during rush hour, since taking the bus beats walking, no matter how short the walk is. However, you could easily eliminate it all other times. I mean, I just don’t think it serves much of a purpose, and the “bus beats walking” demand is a lot smaller outside of rush hour. Sorry, 210, but I’m just not a fan.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
211 (Quincy Center Station – Squantum via Montclair and North Quincy Station)
Long-time readers may remember wayyyyyyyy back in 2014 when I rode the 211 for the first time. The reason I didn’t review it then was because it was a Sunday, when the route cuts out a huge swath of its path from North Quincy to Quincy Center, following the 212 instead. Well now I finally had the chance to ride it on a Saturday, so we can finally review the proper route. I present to you: the 211!
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| An earlier trip on the route near Quincy Center. |
We left the Quincy Center busway and headed up Hancock Street, bypassing Quincy Center itself. Instead, we merged onto Adams Street, going by businesses (with parking lots) and apartment buildings. After the road went over the Red Line tracks, we turned onto Newport Ave, which paralleled the tracks. It was lined with houses on the other side.
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| The race is on! |
As we rushed down the street, we managed to get a lead on a Red Line train going right along next to us. Right outside of Wollaston Station (but apparently not close enough to justify an announcement), we turned onto Beale Street, entering a mostly residential neighborhood. There were also a few businesses and a school to break it up.
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| Some random side street. |
Outside of a little retail block, we entered a long, twisty section with very similar scenery. Okay, so just imagine relatively dense, leafy houses around as we made a right on North Central Ave, right on Brook Street, left on Highland Ave, left on Wilson Ave, right on Harvard Street, and finally, right onto West Squantum Street. Geez, Louise…
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| Another random side street! |
West Squantum Street had a few businesses among the houses, and eventually we passed a few big apartment towers. After some marshland, we crossed the Red Line tracks and entered the North Quincy busway. We made a quick stop, then headed onto East Squantum Street, going by North Quincy High School and a bunch more houses.
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| A corner on East Squantum Street. |
The street made a few twists and turns as it went by dense houses. After we crossed Quincy Shore Drive, we were all of a sudden surrounded by marshland – we were on the Squantum peninsula! As the left side of the road opened up to just water, we got an awesome view of Boston, while the other side was occupied by more houses.
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| An intersection in Squantum. |
Upon arriving in Squantum proper, we turned onto Newland Street and laid over for a few minutes at a generic bus stop. After that, we left the stop, turning onto Huckins Ave and running past mostly dense houses. We went up a slight hill, then turned onto Bellevue Ave, which took us steeply down; there were views of the water down every side street. It ended at Dorchester Street, which took us back along the sea to the starting point of the loop, where the bus began heading back to Quincy Center.
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| The bus heading back towards the mainland. |
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| Don’t think I forgot about the view! This is from when Sam and I walked back to North Quincy after our ride. |
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| Wowwwww… |
Route: 211 (Quincy Center Station – Squantum via Montclair and North Quincy Station)
Ridership: Not good, not good at all. The route gets 936 riders per weekday, 216 per Saturday, and a measly 119 per Sunday – that makes it the third least-used Sunday route, after the 171 (which only has two departures, in the early morning) and the Silver Line Waterfront shuttle (which hardly ever even runs on Sundays). My trip continued that low-ridership trend, with only about five other people over the course of the ride.
Pros: The view! The view! The view! The view! The view! Okay, what else? Well, I guess the route does serve parts of Quincy that other buses don’t serve. The schedule is also sensible for the most part, with service about every half hour during the rush, and every hour all other periods it runs.
Cons: Where shall I start? Well, first of all, the route really needs to be straightened out in that residential section of Quincy (Montclair, I think), because the current route is just insane. Plus, you could use the time gained from a straighter route elsewhere: serving Marina Bay. It’s a super dense mixed-use development near Squantum, and I honestly think the 211 could gain a lot of ridership if it deviated to serve it (yes, I’m actually suggesting a deviation). Otherwise, the route really doesn’t need to run on weekends – it gets hardly anyone! Oh, also, it’s really weird that the route towards Squantum is considered “inbound,” but it makes sense geographically.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The route itself doesn’t serve much of note, but that view makes it worth the ride!
Final Verdict: 4/10
To be perfectly honest, the 211 would totally be a 3…if it wasn’t for the view. But aside from that extra “view point,” I am not a fan of this route. It’s twisty where it doesn’t need to be, yet it runs straight past what could be a really big ridership draw. Either fix the route, or nix its weekend service, because at the moment, it doesn’t seem worth keeping around during those times.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
M2 (Cambridge – HMS)
For anyone who rides the M2 regularly, it’s incredibly easy to board. For anyone who doesn’t…well, that’s problematic. The M2 is a Longwood Medical Area shuttle that runs from Harvard to the LMA, and its fare system makes absolutely no sense. So, a Harvard ID allows free passage onto the bus, but anyone else needs to purchase a ticket in the form of Crimson Cash…and that’s a wild goose chase in itself.
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| The bus that wouldn’t let us on because we had no tickets… |
So where does one go to get tickets? Well, in Harvard Square, you have to go to the Holyoke Center, a building that’s currently undergoing a large amount of construction. Navigating through the makeshift path leading to the building entrance, Nathan and I arrived at the front desk. “We’d like to get some Crimson Cash,” we said. The man said we’d have to go up to the 8th floor, and he printed us visitor’s passes with our names on them.
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| Oh no, what is this relic? |
First problem with the machine: it was bills only. I didn’t have any bills, so I had to gather up a bunch of loose change in my pocket and get it exchanged at the desk. The machines also didn’t give change – we’re talking about a really simplistic thing here. Well, it did offer credit card payment as well, so that’s something.
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| Nice view from up here! |
After navigating the incredibly primitive interface, I managed to purchase a Crimson Card for a dollar and put four additional dollars onto it (Nathan had one already). With our fares now ready to be paid, we made our way all the way back down and out to the bus stop. Upon boarding, we showed our cards, and…that was it. The buses don’t have fareboxes. Yes, the website claims there’s a fare of $3.25, but…yeah, no, it’s basically free.
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| Let’s try this again… |
We boarded at the Lamont Library on Quincy Street. From there, the bus went like a 1, navigating its way onto the narrow and twisty Bow Street, meandering past various Harvard Square buildings. We turned onto Mount Auburn Street at an old church, which took us past dense apartments.
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| The inside of the rather nice Xcelsior! |
Mount Auburn Street merged into Mass Ave, and the surrounding buildings got a heck of a lot taller. We were passing a mixture of businesses and tall apartments for quite a while, broken by the beautiful facade of Cambridge City Hall. Right after that, we were in Central Square and the street was lined with retail, residential, and office buildings.
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| A park just past the square. |
The retail continued for quite a while, but as we started to enter the huge domain of MIT, the buildings grew more modern. There was a small industrial pocket as we crossed the single track of the Grand Junction Railroad, then we passed through the main part of MIT’s campus. Beautiful buildings and plazas were everywhere!
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| That view never gets old! |
After going over the always-gorgeous Harvard Bridge, we all of a sudden turned onto Beacon Street. It was so unexpected – I’m so used to just staying on Mass Ave like a 1 would do! For a block, Beacon Street was lined with fancy Back Bay apartment buildings, including one with an oversized chair in front of it. It was quite an interesting sight!
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| Goodbye, Mass Ave! |
We went under the Charlesgate and over the Muddy River, then arrived at Kenmore Square after a few more apartments. Staying right on Beacon Street through the square, we went over I-90 past Yawkey Station, after which there were more apartments. Just before the C Line surfaced onto Beacon Street, we turned onto Park Drive, soon crossing the D at Fenway.
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| This is a pretty neat view. |
Park Drive meandered its way through the traffic hell outside of the Landmark Center Mall, leading us onto the Fenway. After going by Emmanuel College, we turned onto Avenue Louis Pasteur, passing Simmons College and the Boston Latin School. Finally, at the end of the street, we arrived at our last stop, right outside the Harvard Medical School.
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| The bus taking a layover. |
Route: M2 (Cambridge – HMS)
Ridership: There aren’t any public ridership stats for the LMA shuttles from what I could find, but I can definitely say without a doubt that the M2’s ridership is great. The route is often packed; my ride had a full-seated load, and that was going toward LMA in the afternoon. Imagine what the buses going the other way must have been like!
Pros: There is evidently dire need for a direct shuttle from Cambridge to the LMA, and this route fulfills that need very well. After the M2 leaves Harvard Square, it makes very few stops – only at key areas – which allows for a slightly faster ride. They try to keep this thing running frequently, too, especially during rush periods, when it goes every 10 minutes. When ridership is lower, it doesn’t run as often, with service every half hour middays and every hour nights and Saturdays. Also, did I mention the route is free with a Harvard ID (and essentially free with Crimson Cash)?
Cons: This really only affects outside users like Nathan and I, but the ordeal required to obtain a Crimson Card is painful. Still, most riders are just going to have an ID, so it impacts very few people. My main problem with the M2 is the way it travels along the Fenway going northbound – a completely different route from the southbound direction! Not only that, it’s a lot more traffic-ridden, to the extent that they actually reroute it to Brookline Ave during the evening rush. Even then, the M2 can still suffer from bunching, which is always an annoyance with frequent urban routes.
Nearby and Noteworthy: If you’re trying to get from Harvard to the Longwood Medical Area for whatever reason, this is your route, I guess. Good luck getting a Crimson Card, though.
Final Verdict: 8/10
The M2 serves a very important purpose, and it shows in its ridership. Although bunching may cause it to be late, they run it frequent enough that people should never have to wait too long for a vehicle during rush hour. The northbound routing really bothers me, though – why can’t they just route it via Brookline Ave all the time? That’s close enough to the southbound route, and it would mean two-way service from Kenmore Square! Other than that, though, the M2 is a great bus…so long as you have an ID with you, of course.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates