MVRTA: 34 (Prospect Hill)
The MVRTA’s Lawrence routes have a certain style to them. The authority seems to like very loopy routes that take different streets going inbound and outbound. It makes for some very strange-looking maps, and the 34 is no exception. Plus, this one has deviations!
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| The bus boarding at Buckley. (feat. Jordan!) |
We left the Buckley Transportation Center and headed down Common Street, going past – surprise! – a common (Campagnone Common, to be exact). The other side of the street was lined with the businesses of downtown Lawrence. After a few blocks, the common ended, and we got retail on both sides.
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| A Getty? Wow, I haven’t seen one of those in a while! |
We made a quick turn onto Newbury Street for a block, then we turned again onto Garden Street. The street was lined with apartments, but then we passed a huge abandoned factory. Past there, with the road now called General Street, things got a lot more barren, with lots of half-empty parking lots everywhere. After going over the small Spicket River, we pulled into the Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
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| This is a strange area… |
It was a steep hill down from the hospital that was scary to traverse in a full-sized bus. We returned to General Street for a bit, then headed through a huge parking lot. Now, on weekday middays, the 34 actually makes an additional deviation from here to the Marston Medical Center that looks like an incredibly long waste of time that makes the route wayyyyyyyyy too convoluted. Luckily, this was a Saturday, so we didn’t have to make the deviation.
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| Crossing over the Spicket River. |
Instead, we took a right onto Canal Street, running alongside – you guessed it! – a canal. Next, we turned onto Union Street, with one side occupied by that abandoned factory from before. We went through an intersection with Garden Street, from practically the beginning of the ride! From there, the street became a mixture of apartments and businesses.
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| A playground with some apartments. |
We turned onto Summer Street, then Newbury Street, which merged into Haverhill Street. We went over the Spicket River yet again, and the street curved around past apartments, retail, and a church. After the intersection with Prospect Street, we went up a hill and the road became lined with larger houses.
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| A side street. |
Next, we turned onto Howard Street, whose houses were more dense. After we passed a fire station and a small school, those “houses” became more “apartments”. We soon turned onto Allston Street, going down a rather steep hill. The road ended at Marston Street, where we took a left, going past a lot of car dealerships.
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| That’s a lotta cahs! |
Near a school, we made an incredibly sharp turn onto Haverhill Street. This went up onto a hill past the other side of the school, (that’s how sharp the curve was!) then it became residential with dense houses. Next, we turned onto East Pleasant Street, which soon curved into John Street. From there, we turned onto Ferry Street, running past more houses.
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| Kinda-sorta a view? |
Ferry Street ended at Prospect Street, an intersection only three blocks away from the 1. We turned onto Prospect, taking us down a slope. The route overlapped itself at the intersection with East Haverhill Street, where the road’s houses became denser. Eventually we arrived back at the Lawrence Memorial Hospital, deviating again to serve it.
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| Coming down to the hospital. |
We retraced our steps for a while, doing the General Street to parking lot to Canal Street to Union Street route again. This time, however, we turned onto Haverhill Street, running past dense houses. One side of the street became Campagnone Common, marking our arrival back into downtown Lawrence. We soon arrived at the Buckley Transportation Center.
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| Unfortunately, all I have is this rather lame picture of Lawrence… |
MVRTA Route: 34 (Prospect Hill)
Ridership: Sad to say, this is the least-used proper MVRTA route in Lawrence (sorry, 85) – it got 88,402 riders in 2015, or about 242 people per day. My Saturday trip consisted of entirely local riders heading into the city or going home.
Pros: It’s got a typical MVRTA pulse schedule, which is good – every half hour during the rush, and every hour middays and weekends. And, well…the route definitely serves a lot of the eastern part of Lawrence. Yup, you would be hard-pressed to travel through there without encountering the 34…
Cons:…mostly because it loops and crosses over itself so freaking much! I mean, this is a seriously inefficient route. And yes, I know that it’s a pulse system and the round trip has to take enough time to make the next pulse with a decent layover. But if that means having to traverse this loopy, indirect route, then isn’t that a negative experience for the riders?
Nearby and Noteworthy: Houses or car dealerships…take your pick.
Final Verdict: 4/10
Although it serves a lot, no doubt about it, the 34 is just a mess. Well, I decided to go ahead and fix it…
This routing eliminates all of the places where the route crosses over each other, aside from the hospital deviations, which I assume are a necessity. I included the existing route on a separate layer so you can see how much of an improvement it is – and the best part is that a large majority of the route is either still served or has service only a few blocks away. The only significant portion that loses service is the northern part of Prospect Street and Ferry Street – but that’s the bit that’s only a few blocks from the 1, so they still have nearby service! Overall, the new routing cuts the 34 down from an 8.85 mile round trip to 6.26 miles. Really, the only drawback is that stupid pulse system – I imagine with this routing, the buses would get back to Buckley incredibly early. That’s the drawback of a pulse: sometimes buses have to be purposely inefficient so they can get back to the hub at the right time. Oh well… (UPDATE: I was poking around on the MVRTA’s website, and they have at least one route that gets back ridiculously early – the 34 update could still be feasible!)
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
MVRTA: Buckley Transportation Center
As we move away from the MWRTA for now, that “W” turns into a “V” and we enter a very different type of system. The bulk of the MVRTA is located in Lawrence, a city where people actually, you know, use the bus (sorry, MWRTA). And all of its routes there are consolidated into one bustling hub, the Buckley Transportation Center.
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| That is not a pretty building… |
Yup…that’s the Buckley Transportation Center. It appears to contain a rather large parking garage, but I can’t find any information on how many spaces it contains. And boy, is it an ugly parking garage! I mean, I just hate the look of this building so much!
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| Inside the waiting room. |
Okay, let’s cover the waiting room first. This is probably the best part of the Buckley Transportation Center, not that that’s saying much. It features seating, a ticket office, some maps, schedules for all the routes, and even a few vending machines.
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| Ohhhhhh noooooo… |
And now we get to the reason why I hate this place so much! This boarding area is just dingy, first of all – I mean, it’s a parking garage in the middle of Lawrence, what do you expect? There are essentially no facilities out here, aside from a few benches and wastebaskets on the edges of the terminal. Buses line up frontward and backward in rows, and you need to consult a map outside the waiting room to find out where you’re boarding, since there are no signs anywhere else.
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| Check out those amenities! Wowwwww! |
As for the boarding procedure? Jeez Louise, it’s ridiculous. The MVRTA follows a pulse system, which works fine for the most part (I think the system might be a little too big for one, but that’s just me). This means that during each pulse, a bunch of buses will be all lined up in the terminal waiting for passengers; people get on the buses they want, which have open doors but no drivers. Once all the drivers come back, the riders have to get up and all gather at the front of the bus to pay their fares! How inefficient can you get? That’s ridiculous!
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| I needed one last picture, so, uh…here ya go! |
MVRTA Station: Buckley Transportation Center
Ridership: This is the downtown hub of all of the Lawrence MVRTA services, and it’s where most people get on and off each route. Of course, I don’t have any actual numbers, but rest assured, this place can get busy.
Pros: You know, having a consolidated hub is good. The MVRTA pulse system makes it easy to transfer between buses. The waiting room has a decent amount of amenities. These are some proper pros…but it’s downhill from there.
Cons: Everything else about the Buckley Transportation Center is terrible! The building is ugly, the busway is dingy and dark, and the boarding procedure is ridiculously inefficient! Waiting here is just a miserable experience that I wanted to end as soon as possible. And for the record, why the heck is this place so far from the Commuter Rail station? It’s such a pain to walk from there to Buckley and vice versa!
Nearby and Noteworthy: The hub is located right in downtown Lawrence…but I’m really not a fan of downtown Lawrence. Look, maybe I’m overreacting, but I always feel a little nervous whenever I walk around here. It’s not a very nice place.
Final Verdict: 3/10
I’m all for having a pulse system with a consolidated hub…but if the hub is this uncomfortable to wait at, there’s a problem. And sure, it has its good points – the waiting room is a somewhat decent place to wait – but I just can’t get behind the crazy boarding procedure or the dinginess of the main busway. Sorry, Buckley Transportation Center, but I kinda hate you.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
MVRTA: 85 (Lawrence Downtown Shuttle)
A downtown shuttle in Lawrence? Sweet, I like that idea! It’s great that Lawrence has the 85 to connect all of downtown’s businesses, houses, and transportation centers alike. Oh wait…it doesn’t serve the Buckley Transportation Center on weekdays? And it doesn’t serve the Lawrence Commuter Rail station at all?! Huh…
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| The bus at Buckley. |
Jordan and I got the bus at Buckley, since it was a Saturday. As the pack of the pulse left, we made our way onto Essex Street, the main drag of downtown Lawrence. We headed past multistory brick buildings with businesses on their lower floors, with views of abandoned factories down side streets towards Lawrence’s canal.
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| One of those aforementioned factories. |
As we kept going, the buildings got shorter, but the businesses still stuck around. Essex Street ended in the shadow of a gigantic old factory, where we turned onto Union Street. This took us up past some apartments and housing projects, then we turned onto Haverhill Street, which was lined with dense houses of all different shapes and sizes.
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| Turning onto Haverhill Street. |
We came up along Campagnone Common and passed the Lawrence Senior Center, a major timepoint on the route (even an RTA as urban as this one can’t avoid shouting out the ol’ senior center). Only three blocks away from where we started, we turned onto Lawrence Street, going by a library, a church, and a park. It got more residential as we proceeded northward, then crossed over the tiny Spicket River.
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| A side street. |
Outside of some retail, we turned onto Park Street, continuing the dense housing we had been seeing before. The street ended at Broadway, onto which we turned, going by some more old factories. The street was predominantly lined with businesses, though – some of them had parking lots, while some of them were right up against the sidewalk.
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| Going over the Spicket River again on Broadway. |
After we had gone a little ways down Broadway…we got off to eat lunch. But we were almost done with the route, anyway – the only truly unique portion of the route we had missed was a section down Essex Street. After that, it would loop around to the senior center again before returning to Buckley.
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| See ya! |
MVRTA Route: 85 (Lawrence Downtown Shuttle)
Ridership: To put it bluntly, this is the lowest-ridership route in Lawrence. In 2015, it got 30,867 riders which equates to a little over 100 people per day. And sure, it appears that the route was introduced in 2015, but considering that our ride had only two other people, I don’t think it’s gone up that much.
Pros: I love the concept of a frequent downtown shuttle, and the 85 fits the bill pretty well. On weekdays, it runs every half hour in a constant loop; on Saturdays, it’s every hour, but it’s also timed with a pulse from Buckley, which helps alleviate the lower frequencies.
Cons: Why doesn’t this so-called “downtown shuttle” serve the Commuter Rail station?! On Saturdays I can understand why it wouldn’t, since the schedule is tight, but on weekdays, it gets a 10 minute layover at the senior center! Why not have the route serve the station to give commuters a frequent service into and out of downtown Lawrence? And even aside from that…I’m just not sure how useful the 85 is. Most of it parallels other routes, and destinations around the loop are mostly walkable aside from a few rare cases.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Like I said before, I’m not a fan of downtown Lawrence…but this route will definitely get you around there!
Final Verdict: 3/10
I’m most definitely not a fan of this route. Aside from the fact that it could probably be eliminated, it doesn’t even perform its basic duties well – there’s nothing stopping it from serving the Commuter Rail station on weekdays. Seriously, though, the 85 just doesn’t serve enough on its own to get a lot of ridership, and, well, it doesn’t. I doubt many people would miss it if it were cut.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
MWRTA: 5 (Ashland/Hopkinton)
Hoo boy, these MetroWest towns are starting to get to me. A few reviews ago, I covered a route that went to Holliston…now here’s one that goes to HOPKINTON? They sound so similar! So here’s the 5, a bus that goes to Hollis-wait, Hopkinton. My bad!
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| The bus near the Commuter Rail station. |
We headed up Blandin Ave from the Blandin Hub, then turned onto Waverly Street. This took us to the Commuter Rail station, where there were also some businesses. Continuing down Waverly Street, the 5 can make a deviation to a hospital on Bethany Road by request, but I guess we didn’t get one. The road was mostly residential, but as we came closer to the Commuter Rail tracks, there was a short industrial section (including a gigantic AT&T building).
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| Trundling past downtown Framingham. |
From there, the street became entirely lined with houses, at least for a bit. Once we entered Ashland, though, we got to see the magnificent sights of a storage building and an industrial lot! Okay, we also got to see a reservoir soon after that, but then it was all industrial on the other side.
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| Going past the reservoir. |
We crossed over a small river, then turned onto Homer Ave, taking us right up to the Commuter Rail tracks again. It was lined with houses at first, but as we entered downtown Ashland, there were a few businesses. We didn’t really serve the heart of downtown, though, which is located across the tracks. For the record, why the heck does the Commuter Rail pass right through here without stopping? Stupid automobile culture…
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| A look at downtown. |
We headed down Summer Street after that, which soon grew residential (along with a park). Next, we turned onto Union Street, getting some suburban retail at the intersection. From there, aside from the Ashland Middle School and the Community Center, the street was entirely lined with houses. We also passed a long road that ultimately leads to Ashland Station. After a convenience store, we entered Hopkinton, but it was still houses everywhere.
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| An apartment development hidden in the trees, just before crossing into Hopkinton. |
We went through a rather strange mix of houses, farmland, and woods, then we ascended a hill into Hopkinton Center. It featured some historical buildings and businesses, but it ultimately seemed like a boring downtown that was unfriendly to pedestrians. There were dense houses and some businesses beyond there, but eventually it went back to the suburban housing we had been seeing before.
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| A frozen-over pond! |
After passing a pond, there was an assisted living facility suitably called “Golden Pond”. The street widened beyond there, playing host to both suburban businesses and office parks. We went through an interchange with I-495, then deviated to serve a modern but rather small shopping plaza. Turning onto South Street, we proceeded past lots of office parks before arriving at our terminus: a tiny shopping plaza with, like, two stores. Was it really necessary to bring a bus out here?
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| What a great terminus… |
MWRTA Route: 5 (Ashland/Hopkinton)
Ridership: With 17,243 riders in 2015 (about 69 per day), the 5 is one of the least-used routes on the MWRTA. Still, it has pretty consistent ridership throughout the day, and actually gets a lot of reverse commuters heading to the office parks near the route.
Pros: The route serves an important street and two towns within the service area. It’s also great that the schedule is consistent; the route runs every 65 minutes. Sure, it’s an ugly number, but consistency in MWRTA schedules is always a good thing (they have some crazy headways on some routes).
Cons: Service is weekdays-only right now, but I think that’s about all the route needs. One problem with the route is that it really ought to be extended a little further from its terminus – there’s a gigantic Dell office park a little further down the road that would be great to serve during rush hour!
Nearby and Noteworthy: I didn’t find downtown Ashland or Hopkinton Center to be particularly captivating, but those are the two most interesting places the route serves…
Final Verdict: 6/10
MWRTA does a great job catering to reverse commuters up along Route 9, but I think they could do a lot better with it on this route. I don’t see any reason why the route shouldn’t serve that gigantic Dell office park during rush hour! On the flip side, the 5 still serves significant towns within the service area, and its headways are nice and consistent.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Framingham
Man, for such an important station, you’d think Framingham would be more…grand. I mean, it’s one of the busiest stations on the Commuter Rail and the only unique thing we get is a fancy footbridge? Still, it’s a heck of a lot better than something like Hastings – I shouldn’t be complaining.
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| The parking lot out front. |
The station is parallel to Waverly Street, and it has a small parking lot running alongside it. A little further down the street is an old station building that unfortunately lacks a direct connection to the platform. Still, it features a restaurant – “Deluxe Depot Diner” – which is great for morning commuters.
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| The alternate exit. |
There’s another exit on the other side of the station from the outbound platform. This is a level crossing over a single track (there are a lot of random tracks in Framingham) that leads to a second parking lot. The lot curves alongside that single track, making the MWRTA affectionately call it the “Banana Lot”. Speaking of the MWRTA, over here they have a…caboose? Nice touch, I guess. They’re also building a third, larger lot alongside the outbound platform, which will hopefully raise the number of spaces up from the current 166.
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| Looking down the platform. |
Aside from the mini-highs (which we’ll get to), both platforms at Framingham have alternate waiting areas. The inbound side features a modern shelter with benches underneath, as well as multiple bike racks! There are also two pay phones here, for whatever use that may be.
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| Eww… |
Unfortunately, the outbound platform doesn’t get anything as good as the other side. Its shelter is a very long walk away from the mini-high platform, and it’s made out of wood. All it has underneath it is a sign, with no seating to speak of. Still, it’s not like many people are travelling outbound from here, is it?
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| Up on the footbridge. |
So how do you get between the platforms? Your only option is the station’s huge footbridge, which has a really nice design on the exterior. What’s more, it features both elevators and stairs, while the bridge portion is fairly standard and utilitarian (not that that’s bad). It would be near-perfect if it wasn’t for the fact that the stairs are starting to rust underneath – looks like a case of Savin Hill syndrome.
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| The outbound mini-high platform. |
Framingham’s mini-high platforms are fully-featured, more so than a normal Commuter Rail mini-high. On both sides, the shelter extends far enough to include a low-level bench and wastebasket, allowing for more seating. The high-level portion of it features the same amenities, although weirdly, the bench appears to be facing the wrong way in the photo above…I wish I had a better one of the inbound side to see if it has the same quirk!
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| No train pictures…at least not of the Commuter Rail variety! Wink-wink. |
Station: Framingham
Ridership: This is a very busy Commuter Rail station – the tenth-busiest on the system, in fact, with 1,299 inbound riders per weekday! The fact that it gets so many riders despite having a small parking lot shows the advantage of having stations right in town centers (unlike some of the stations further west on the Worcester Line, among many others). But it’s easy to forget that Amtrak comes here too, with its once-daily Lake Shore Limited route to Chicago. Ridership on that is much lower, with 1,963 riders…per year. That’s only about five people per day, with most of those folks heading out to western Massachusetts or eastern New York.
Pros: Framingham gives you all your basic amenities: mini-high platforms, a decent footbridge, and a respectable second shelter on the inbound side. There’s also a bunch of bike parking, while automobile parking is being expanded with the station’s new lot. The station has decent bus connections as well, with six MWRTA routes directly serving the station.
Cons: Okay, that footbridge was built in 2001 – should it really be rusting already? It’s not as bad as that staircase I mentioned at Savin Hill, but it still doesn’t feel safe when you look at it. Other than that, my main problem with Framingham is just its blandness. I dunno, for such a major station, I would expect something a little more interesting.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Yeah…still not a fan of downtown Framingham. I’m sorry, but it’s just not a very exciting place.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Framingham is most definitely a functional station, and it performs its duties well. Fancy aesthetics really aren’t that important on the Commuter Rail, anyway, so wishing for them is a waste of time. However, something ought to be done about those footbridge stairs – I mean, I am not a fan of rusting stuff that could potentially be unsafe!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
MWRTA: 14 (Milford)
Back at the end of August 2016, the MWRTA quietly added a new route to its network: the 14, a loop around the town of Milford. The only advertising it got, as far as I could find, was a few small articles in local newspapers. This doesn’t seem to have contributed positively to ridership…
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| Oh no, the “1” is cut off! |
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| The intersection with Route 16. |
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| Oh yeah, we also went by a pond! |
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| Nothing like a mall deviation to spice up an RTA route! |
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| Alright, alright, we get it! Malls! |
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| Cool view! |
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| A view of downtown. |
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| What an interesting view! |
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| The intersection with West Street. |
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| Inside the development. |
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| Hey, look, an actual stop! With a sign and everything! |
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| A side street. |
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| The bus at Mission Springs. |
MWRTA: 6 (Holliston/Milford Line)
Oh geez, how do I come up with a catchy introduction for a route to a town as uninteresting as Holliston? Eh, I’m not even gonna try. Here’s the 6!
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| The bus coming into the Blandin Hub. |
We left the Blandin Hub onto Blandin Ave, then turned onto Waverly Street, running alongside the Commuter Rail tracks. It was pretty industrial until we reached Concord Street, which is the main drag of downtown Framingham – there were some businesses here. We continued down Waverly Street for a bit in order to serve Framingham Station, then we turned onto Cedar Street, then Claflin Street.
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| There are so many railroad tracks in Framingham… |
Claflin Street was a mix of industry and houses, but it was also a short street – we were only on it to get to Hollis Street, which was a main road. We passed a few more industrial buildings and a few businesses, but the street was primarily lined with houses. For a few brief moments we came up alongside a pond, while we passed a CSX yard on the other side.
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| The pond! |
Now in Ashland, we passed some more houses, then a shopping plaza. It had a good amount of stores. but the timepoint is just referred to as “Market Basket”. There was a brief section of woods, then some businesses and industrial buildings. We also went by the entrance to a gigantic housing development.
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| What a boring parking lot… |
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| Were they nice businesses? Nope. |
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| That’s a really charming church! |
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| I don’t have another bus picture, so here’s a cool historical building! |
River Works (Video Review)
Enjoy our video review of River Works Station!
River Works
Awwwww yeah, here we go! It’s the station I thought I would never be able to visit! River Works is a Commuter Rail stop meant only to serve the GE River Works facility in Lynn, and thus is only open to its employees. Thanks to a connection on the Commuter Rail, though, Nathan and I were able to check the place out, and it was quite an experience!
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| The outbound side. |
The outbound side of the station is notably worse than the inbound, despite the fact that more people travel that way from here. This side features two old shelters with peeling metal paint, benches, and wastebaskets. Inside one of them is a super old poster featuring the “MBTA Customer Bill of Rights” and some old Commuter Rail chief. There’s also a wooden bench outside just chained to the barbed-wire fence – I guess no one will be stealing that!
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| Trim the hedge, I can’t read the scary signs! |
This side also has a screen with a third, horrible wastebasket next to it. Next to the shelters, there’s a gigantic gate leading into what looks like a complete no-man’s-land from here to the Lynnway. Imposing signs on the gate warn against trespassing, while on the other side there’s a message instructing passengers to call Amtrak if there’s a railroad emergency. Amtrak definitely doesn’t serve this place, guys…
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| The outbound side from a little further. |
The outbound boarding procedure is a complete mess, by the way. The shelters are separated from the tracks by a private road that just kinda runs alongside them. Plus, there’s not even a proper platform on this side, so passengers have to duck under the level crossing as the train’s approaching in order to get close enough to board!
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| The inbound side. |
Now, as a big yellow line running along the ground indicates, the inbound shelter is actually within GE property. It’s arguably the best shelter here – it’s modern, big, and features a long bench with a wastebasket. Also on this side is another imposing gate, this one leading into the facility itself. We actually saw this one open, as the operator shift for the Commuter Rail drawbridge was changing, and I can now say that it’s very creaky when it moves.
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| The “fare gate”, as it were. |
And now we get to the big behemoth of an entrance this place has. To get both in and out of this station, you have to present an ID card (Tap? Swipe? We couldn’t tell.) and type in a secret code on the keypad! That unleashes one of the huge creaky turnstiles (there are two) to allow access in or out of the GE facility. They’re really not joking around with the whole employees-only thing, are they?
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| A train heading out. |
Station: River Works
Ridership: Okay, the ridership stats given in the Blue Book don’t tell the whole story here, since the Blue Book only covers inbound riders – River Works gets an average of 56 per day. However, many more people are commuting here from outbound down the line, and I would go as far as to predict that River Works gets more outbound riders than inbound. Oh well – regardless, ridership is pretty good considering that it’s a station meant purely for employees of the GE factory.
Pros: The waiting facilities here are pretty good for such a low-service Commuter Rail station (most trains only stop here during rush hour) – it’s got lots of shelter and seating room. The keypad system for getting in is also really cool, and prevents any outsiders (like Nathan and I, to be perfectly honest) from entering GE.
Cons: The outbound platform is significantly worse than the inbound side. Why is it bisected by a road? Why do people have to board on the other side of the gates for the level crossing? Why is there a super old poster rotting away in there? This is where the majority of people are going – I need answers!
Nearby and Noteworthy: If you’re a GE employee, then work is nearby and noteworthy. If you’re not a GE employee, then…well, you probably shouldn’t be here.
Final Verdict: 5/10
Essentially, this is a stark imposing station for a stark imposing facility. It offers a lot of shelter and benches, and it’s nice that the factory gets its own station for commuters, but the outbound platform (and generally the whole area) just looks terrible. It also has that horrible boarding procedure, which is just ridiculous. But hey, the inbound side is good! And the station features that keypad turnstile – can’t beat that!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
A big thank-you to John Arico for arranging our visit here. Also, we filmed a video review of River Works, so stay tuned for that tomorrow!
MWRTA: Blandin Hub
Like the GATRA’s Bloom Terminal, the MWRTA chose to locate its hub at its main yard. This is a boon for scheduling, since you can have buses and drivers start shifts mere minutes before their trips. Of course, you may remember that the Bloom Terminal was absolutely terrible – the MWRTA’s Blandin Hub isn’t quite as bad, but it certainly ain’t good!
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| A statue outside the building. |
I will say that the hub’s entrance is very nice. A path offers a more direct route to the hub from downtown Framingham, although it’s still pretty out of the way – why can’t pedestrians use the alternate employee entrance from East Street? Outside the main entrance, there’s a memorial to citizens of the MetroWest area who fought in the Vietnam War.
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| And once again, Sam strikes a pose. |
Ouch. Yeah, the waiting area of the Blandin Hub is less-than-impressive. There’s a board with schedules for all the routes and three benches haphazardly spread around. One of them has a tiny bike rack hidden behind it. It’s all covered by a really boring metal shelter. The one cool thing about this area is the bookcases – the MWRTA has a library where passengers can take out books to read while waiting for the bus!
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| Looking out at the yard. |
Right, and now I need to dedicate a whole paragraph to the stupid stupid stupid boarding procedure here. As you can see above, there are poles that prevent buses from going up to the sidewalk to pick people up. Is the solution to: A) Extend the sidewalk up to the poles so passengers can have easy, accessible boarding, or B) Have buses board on the other side of the poles and make people walk to them? Well, the MWRTA chose option B, and that’s just ridiculous. That makes buses harder to board, especially for disabled folks who have to make the step down from the curb!
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| The inside of the building. |
You know, the day we went to the terminal, it was pretty cold. Good thing the Blandin Hub has a spacious interior…oh wait, it’s tiny. The only place open to the public is a minuscule vestibule (hey, that rhymes!) with ONE SEAT. There’s a door further into the building, but despite a lack of signage saying so, the area is employees-only. I will say that the actual atmosphere of the building is pleasant – there are colored pictures hung up on the walls, and the receptionists are very nice. If only there was, I dunno, MORE THAN ONE SEAT.
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| Have a belated “happy holiday’s” from the MWRTA! Argh, it pains me just to WRITE it with an apostrophe like that… |
MWRTA Station: Blandin Hub
Ridership: The hub was never too busy when we were around – I think the most people we ever saw was around 6-7. I guess that about lines up with the MWRTA’s ridership, though, since the system just doesn’t get that many people.
Pros: This hub is in a much better location than their former hub, which was practically in Natick – sure, the walk from downtown is still less-than-ideal at almost 10 minutes, but it’s a necessary evil if the MWRTA is to have a proper facility like this. And there are a lot of aspects of it that I like: the outside area is all sheltered, there’s parking for bikes, the receptionists are nice, the Vietnam Memorial is poignant, and the library is a fantastic inclusion.
Cons: Firstly, the boarding procedure is just stupid, and I’m sure it’s an easy fix – how hard is it to extend the sidewalk a few feet? Also, there really should be a more robust interior here. It’s cold and uncomfortable outside in the winter, and the one seat inside is just sad. It seems like waiting here in the cold is a disagreeable experience no matter where you go…
Nearby and Noteworthy: There’s nothing interesting in the immediate vicinity, but if you walk to downtown Framingham, there’s, uh…some buildings? Look, I’ll be honest, Framingham has one of the starkest and most boring downtowns in any Massachusetts city. I don’t think it’s really worth a visit.
Final Verdict: 4/10
Yes, I do like a lot about this hub. But the experience of waiting here is just miserable in the cold! I’m sure it’s better in the summer, but even then, the benches and building are very stark, and you still need to walk out to buses past the poles in order to board. Well, at least there’s plenty of reading material in the library!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
MWRTA: 1 (Woodland Shuttle)
Yeah, it’s kinda easy to forget that Woodland has a bus connection, isn’t it? The MWRTA actually runs two buses here, but the one we’re focusing on today is the 1, which goes from Woodland all the way to the Natick Mall! Not bad for $1.25, eh?
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| OH NO, IT’S A MINIBUS! ABORT, ABORT!!! |
Okay, it wasn’t that bad of a minibus. It was standard fare, with those classic minibus seats and a bunch of MWRTA posters everywhere with dubious grammar. The wheelchair lift wasn’t too jiggly, but it could get annoying if one sat next to it for too long.
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| The inside. |
We pulled out of the Woodland Station busway (gosh, it just feels weird to say it!) and turned onto Washington Street, passing a golf course on one side and a hospital on the other. As we merged with Beacon Street (the same one that runs into Boston), we crossed over I-95, then we turned onto Walnut Street, crossing the Charles River. After some office buildings, we reached more residential fare on Cedar Street.
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| Going over the tiny Charles. |
Eventually we merged off of Cedar Street in order to turn onto one of my least-favorite roads ever, Route 9. Luckily, it wasn’t too horrible yet – right now it was just woods and houses with driveways that would be a pain to get in and out of. At Wellesley Hills, we took the underpass, speeding under the downtown area instead of, you know, stopping. Sure, the MWRTA 8 serves it on Washington Street, but the 8 barely ever runs!
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| Zooming over a side street. |
We crossed over the Worcester Line tracks, and it went back to being residential beyond there. There were a few businesses and offices as we crossed over Weston Road, and then we entered…the horrible part of Route 9. The street was lined with so many suburban businesses with parking lots out front, and it was disgusting! For the record, the bus was supposed to deviate onto Overbrook Drive to serve a housing development, but we didn’t…
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| This shot doesn’t do the grossness justice! |
We got a very quick forest break, and then the horrible buildings were back. The gigantic Mathworks building occupied the other side of the street – we just sped right by, but eastbound buses deviate to serve it. Other than that, it was just more suburban businesses, shopping plazas, and of course, parking lots.
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| Beautiful office parks… |
Later on there was another quick break from the disgusting buildings. For a brief moment the road was on an isthmus running through a lake, offering a nice view…until we reached land again. More office buildings, anyone?
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| At least we’ve got the lake. |
And then it was deviation time! We took an off-ramp from Route 9 and turned onto Superior Drive. This took us to a parking lot deviation, in order to serve an under-construction branch of Mathworks. After that, we returned to Superior Drive and took a left outside of a FedEx facility, snaking through more parking lots until we popped out onto Speen Street.
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| Going past the FedEx building. |
We went by a pretty small shopping plaza, then it was time for the big moment we had all been waiting for: the Natick Mall. It was a long process, too – first we merged onto Natick Mall Road, taking us past part of the mall and into a tunnel under another part. On the other side, we went around a rotary and exited onto Flutie Pass. We went by a parking garage (one of many at this mall), then after another rotary, we arrived at the Natick Mall shelter.
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| Alright, Sam, thanks for photobombing… |
There are a few select trips on the 1 that are extended to Framingham, and Sam and I were under the impression that we were on one of those trips – after all, the schedule said it was. However, the driver asserted that it wasn’t, which would mean that he was either incredibly early or incredibly late. Either way, we were forced to get off at the mall, so we would have to board another bus to get into Framingham.
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| Alright, well, have fun going back to Woodland… |
MWRTA Route: 1 (Woodland Shuttle)
Ridership: When we took the 1 out to Natick around mid-morning, we were the only people on board; coming back during the evening rush, there were three other people – and this is one of the busier routes on the MWRTA. Over the course of 2015, the 1 got 35,280 people, or around 140 riders per day. Most of those trips were during the rush hour – this route is popular with reverse commuters heading out to the Route 9 area.
Pros: This is just a great concept for a route. It’s awesome that reverse commuters have a connection from the Green Line out to MetroWest jobs. I could even see this route being used by shoppers – the Natick Mall is huge, and this bus is the most convenient way of getting out there from closer to Boston.
Cons: Thanks to traffic on Route 9, the 1 has a bit of a chronic lateness problem. However, there’s nothing that can be done about that – instead, let’s take a look at what is quite possibly the stupidest schedule I’ve ever seen! Okay, they have it down pat middays and during the evening rush – about every 80 minutes during the former and every 40 minutes during the latter. Great. But what the heck are these departures during the morning rush? 7:44, 8:03, 9:03, 9:17, 10:22, 10:31????? YOU HAVE TWO BUSES TO WORK WITH, WHY THE HECK ARE THEY RUNNING RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER?!?!?!!?! You have a gap of over an hour, then two trips within NINE minutes of each other? A five-year-old scheduled this, I swear.
Nearby and Noteworthy: I’ve never been inside the Natick Mall, but it’s definitely…big. I’m sure it has a store for everyone!
Final Verdict: 5/10
Look, the route is great and the midday and evening rush schedules are fine. But that morning rush schedule just rubs me the wrong way. How are such stupid headways considered okay? Why should passengers have to be waiting over an hour in the morning rush? The other problem with the 1 is its lateness, which can get pretty darn bad…and I’m sure with that stupid schedule, it causes horrible bunching to make those hour-long gaps even worse! Brilliant!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Anderson/Woburn
Holy moly, this station is incredible! Not since Route 128 have I seen a Commuter Rail station with this much stuff! Could Anderson/Woburn be as good as that station, which received a perfect 10? Let’s find out!
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| Looking down the platform. |
This is a modern station, having been built in 2001, so the entire platform is high-level. Also, about half of it is sheltered, which is really good for Commuter Rail standards. Sure, it’s nothing special to look at, with a typical modern shelter and views of either a gigantic parking lot or random industrial buildings, but the place has lots of benches and wastebaskets – ultimately, that’s what matters most!
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| The station’s smaller exit. |
On the other end of the platform, there’s actually another shelter. Over here you’ve got a small, simple exit – it’s a staircase that leads onto a footbridge over the tracks and into the parking lot. This is very useful for automobile commuters, since this lot is huge! It contains 2000 spaces contained over a massive area, including a long-term lot for extended trips.
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| Coming toward the building. |
The vast parking lot has a sidewalk along it, which is good – I would hate to try to walk through that whole thing! Alongside the lot, there’s what I believe is a drop-off area, and it features a forlorn black shelter in which to wait. It has sliding doors, and the inside contains a few benches. I don’t know why anyone would want to be picked up here when there’s a much better drop-off area on the other side of the building, but hey, it’s an option.
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| The busway! |
An alternative name for this station is the “Anderson Regional Transportation Center”, and the reason for that is that it’s served by a bus, the Logan Express! That’s right, coach buses run from here to the airport every half hour on weekdays and Sundays and every hour on Saturdays, and they get a proper busway! It’s basically just a bunch of sheltered benches along the building, offering plenty of seating for waiting passengers.
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| OH MY GOD! |
And now it’s time to cover the true masterpiece of this station: the building! There’s a lot to talk about in here, but first, can I just say how pretty it is? I came here a few days before Christmas (yeah, yeah, I know the review is painfully outdated), so the place was decorated with wreaths and lights! Plus, it’s just really modern and clean, and I like the sleek architecture.
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| Down on the first floor. |
At ground level there were even more decorations scattered about, including a Christmas tree and a bunch of presents everywhere! This station has a few spots for businesses, but right now the only one occupied is a Dunkin’ Donuts. Admittedly, that’s still a great place to go for commuters in the morning…or the evening. It’s open all the time!
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| The robust ticket area. |
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| A waiting area opposite the ticket area. |
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| Looking out at the other side of the building. |
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| The entrance to the Commuter Rail platform. |
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| The longgggg ramp down to the platform. |
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| A train leaving the station. |
Transit Tales: Last Bus Madness
The “last trip” system on the T is fantastic in theory, but it doesn’t always work out in practice. To put it simply, the last trains downtown all have to wait for each other, then there are a bunch of bus routes that have to wait for those trains to get out to their respective stations. For a more detailed explanation, check out this post from the Amateur Planner – but to put it simply, despite the T shifting the last E’s departure time earlier, the last trains, and thus the last buses, are almost always late.
And I had the pleasure of dealing with one.
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| It all started on the 73… |
So I was coming back from my friend’s house in West Cambridge rather late at night, and I had just missed the 12:27 inbound 71. (but it was using a diesel bus, so who cares, right?) That meant I would have to wait for the 12:46 73, which is the second-to-last one. My feeble mind believed that this trip would become an elusive 77A, getting me home in around 20 minutes, so you can imagine my disappointment when I discovered it wasn’t going to do that. “Oh well,” I thought, “I’ll just get on a 77 at Harvard. Easy.” Turns out nothing is easy when it’s the last trip…
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| The bus stopped at University Road. I feel bad for that 71 behind it… |
The first sign of trouble was when the bus stopped at University Road, just outside the Harvard Bus Tunnel. The driver said he was going to get some water and left the bus. The minutes dragged on, and eventually I went outside and started taking pictures. Buses were gathered in Bennett Alley waiting for the last train to arrive, and the drivers were all hanging out in their vehicles.
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| A 77 in the front, a 74 in the back, and an unsigned 96 on the right. |
The driver of the 77 said I could wait on his bus – a much better arrangement than being out in the cold. Before I got on, though, the 73 driver came back out and gave me a cup of water, which was very nice! So now I was sitting on an empty 77 in Bennett Alley just waiting for the last train to get closer so we could drive into the tunnel.
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| A bus to myself! |
Eventually we started to make our way into the tunnel. The 73 and 71 went first, presumably going to the Cambridge Common in order to loop back around to the Lower Busway. Next, our bus headed down, followed by the 96, and the 74 brought up the rear.
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| The empty busway. |
At the 77 berth, there were four other people waiting, although the last train had yet to come. We were basically playing the same waiting game as before, only with different scenery. The driver was outside the bus doing some sort of stretch/dance singing “Waiting for the inspectorrrrrr!” It was now about 1:15 – the last 77 is supposed to depart at 1:00.
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| Looking out into the empty mezzanine. |
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| Coming out of the tunnel. |
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| I wasn’t expecting this many cars to be out this late at night! |
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| Bye! |
Wilmington
So, why Wilmington? Well, my friend Nathan and I were debating whether to visit this station or North Billerica. The reason we chose Wilmington was because we’d have a little more time before the next inbound train came. Cool story, huh?
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| The parking lot. |
Wilmington’s parking lot is long and skinny, and doesn’t actually offer that many spaces – just under 200. It seems like there are a few industrial lots around the station that could theoretically be converted to station parking, which could be a good idea, seeing as the parking on offer doesn’t seem to be enough. There are also a few bike spaces near the ramp to the outbound platform from here.
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| The station’s bus stop. |
Alongside the parking lot, there’s a small plaza area for pedestrians, separated from cars with some big yellow poles. There are newspaper boxes alongside the platform, and a surprisingly decent bus stop for the LRTA 12. Sure, there isn’t any shelter, but a good amount of benches is provided.
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| Heading down the outbound platform. |
The outbound platform has a building along it, which houses a convenience store and a café – both of them have staircases leading down to the platform, but I’m not sure if they’re actually open to the public. (UPDATE: the convenience store is closed) As for the platform itself, it’s a long one. There are sporadic benches and wastebaskets all the way out to the end, where one could technically get onto Main Street if they wanted to, but it’s not a proper entrance.
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| The sheltered inbound platform. |
A single level crossing takes passengers across to the inbound platform, staggered with the outbound. The level crossing actually features an alarm that goes off whenever a train comes by, which is both safe and really annoying. A large part of the inbound side is sheltered, even a decent chunk of the low-level portion. The mini-high (just like the one on the outbound platform) is standard, with a few sheltered benches.
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| Another exit! |
On the other end of the inbound platform, there’s one more exit from the station. It’s a pretty long ramp that goes under a bridge and leads out to a housing complex, Metro @ Wilmington Station. It’s always nice to see transit-oriented development!
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| A blurry train going by! |
Station: Wilmington
Ridership: For the Lowell Line, it’s the third least-used station. But it’s the Lowell Line, so that’s not saying much! Yes, 544 inbound riders per weekday is still a perfectly good number for the Commuter Rail.
Pros: This station offers a lot of modern amenities, including good mini-high platforms, a decent bus facility, and some convenient TOD apartments. I like in particular how a large part of the inbound platform is sheltered, making for a more comfortable waiting experience – even if the mini-high is full, people can still be sheltered and close to it.
Cons: Parking is rather lacking here, and it could theoretically be expanded into one of the nearby industrial lots around here. Also, that alarm when trains come in is really annoying, but for the sake of safety, I shall let it slide!
Nearby and Noteworthy: This station is technically in “downtown” Wilmington, but it’s borrrrrring! There are some shopping plazas about a 15 minutes walk up Main Street, but it’s not like you’ll find anything unique there.
Final Verdict: 8/10
Purely as a waiting experience, Wilmington is spot-on. Whether it’s the bus or the train, you’ve got some great facilities here for Commuter Rail standards to wait at. Of course, if you’re trying to park here…well, let’s just say I recommend you arrive a little early.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Miles on the MBTA Anniversary Rodeo!
To celebrate Miles on the MBTA’s fourth anniversary, Josh, Jordan, Miles, and Nathan embark on the MBTA Rodeo, a series of challenges all around the system devised by Sam. Join us for 43 minutes of action-packed competition and rivalry between the contestants. Who will win?