Harvard Shuttle: Quad Express (Memorial Hall via Harvard Square)
Huh…that route title is flat-out incorrect! The Quad Express doesn’t serve Harvard Square at all! I mean, contrary to what you would think, the Harvard Shuttle website is full of typos, so this could just be another one. But yeah, the Quad Express goes from the Quad, a campus northeast of Harvard, to Memorial Hall, north of Harvard Square. That “via” in the title is very deceiving…
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| Oh wow, a proper waiting room! |
The Quad features what is probably the best facility in the whole Harvard shuttle system. There are a few benches outside for the summer, but on the inside – there’s a heated waiting room! Sure, it’s kinda small, but it has a bench, a paper schedule, and a screen showing the shuttle tracker! Now that’s what I call luxury.
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| The bus coming down the narrow street. |
Another cool thing about the Quad stop is that it’s located on a street for Harvard vehicles only. The bus that came trundling down the road was a different one from before, both inside and outside. It was boxier with its exterior, while the inside had mostly sideways seats this time. Everything also felt wider, from the actual width of the bus to the very large back doors.
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| I dunno…it’s a mixed bag for me. |
This busway actually has two stops on it, with another at the southern end. It’s only missing, oh, you know, a sign. Come on, there’s a big brick pole they can easily stick a sign on! Well, anyway, we turned onto Sheppard Street, then Garden Street, which was initially residential.
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| A side street getting closer to Harvard. |
It got denser pretty quickly, though; after we passed the Longy School of Music, there were apartment buildings on either side of the street. We came up alongside the Cambridge Common, with some churches and Harvard University buildings on the other side. At the end of Garden Street was our closest stop to Harvard Square, but it was decidedly not Harvard Square.
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| Some 66s at Dawes Island. |
Next, we curved around the portal for the Harvard Bus Tunnel onto Mass Ave, heading up past the Law School. We turned onto Everett Street, skirting the border of Lesley University, then we turned onto Oxford Street, passing the Harvard Natural History Museum and some other university buildings. After the road curved left to become Kirkland Street, we pulled into the Memorial Hall busway, where Nathan and I got off – from here, the route heads back to the Quad.
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| An earlier bus coming ’round the bend outside of beautiful Sanders Theatre! |
Harvard Shuttle Route: Quad Express (Memorial Hall via Harvard Square)
Ridership: Luckily, we didn’t ride this route during the peak. According to Nathan, who uses these shuttles on a somewhat-regular basis, they can get really crowded. Our ride was fairly light, but since the Quad is pretty far from the main part of Harvard, this bus is a lifeline for people going up there.
Pros: Like I said, this route is great for students heading to the Quad, and its 10 minute headways allow the shuttle to be pretty reliable. This is also the simplest of the three main Harvard Shuttle routes, with direct service to the Quad – its only one-way service is around the Law School loop, which the other two buses also do.
Cons: It doesn’t serve Harvard Yard! Why not? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I can’t say I’m too familiar with Harvard University commuting patterns, but based on the heavy ridership of the evening Quad Yard Express (which will be covered in a later post), it seems like it would make sense to always serve the yard. Plus, running around via the Law School to Memorial Hall takes a while, and is already covered by two other routes.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Well, the route’s unique section is the Quad, which doesn’t seem to offer too much for non-Harvard students. Anyone know anything of note around there?
Final Verdict: 7/10
Having a route to serve the Quad is definitely needed, and I guess this route does a fine job of it. I’m mainly miffed at the fact that it doesn’t serve Harvard Yard. And sure, maybe people do use this to get to the Law School or Memorial Hall (which I personally don’t think it needs to serve, since other routes already serve them), but then why stop service there at 4:30? It shifts to the Quad Yard Express then! Oh well…the Quad Express provides frequent service to the Quad, which is the most important part of it, I guess.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Harvard Shuttle: Mather Express (Memorial Hall via Harvard Square)
Wow, look, guys, I’m at Harvard University! Okay, so I’m not actually in the university, but I did get to ride some of their shuttles around! That’s almost as good as getting accepted, right?
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| Wow, who knew the Harvard shuttle had such great facilities? |
The Harvard shuttle system is a complicated beast, but on a typical weekday it has three primary routes. We’ll be covering all three of them, and eventually all of their routes – hey, why not, they’re free! So today, we’re looking at the Mather Express, which makes sort of a figure-8 loop around the main portion of Harvard University.
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| The bus coming down Cowperthwaite Street. |
The route starts to the south of Harvard Square, near the Charles River, on Cowperthwaite Street. This stop serves – of course – Mather House, as well as Dunster House. It’s a narrow street, but it has a nice glass shelter for Harvard buses. The vehicle itself was rather nice inside, and it was just strange to be parading around Cambridge in a non-MBTA bus!
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| How quant! |
We reached the end of Cowperthwaite Street (that’s fun to say, isn’t it?) and turned onto Banks Street, a narrow side street lined with dense houses. At the end of that, we turned onto Mount Auburn Street, then made a sharp swerve around onto Mass Ave. As we came closer to Harvard Square, the street was lined with businesses and apartments.
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| Going past the main part of Harvard Square. |
We came up alongside Harvard Yard, making a major stop at Holyoke Gate. Next, we made our way around the yard, passing the Red Line station and then curving around the portal for the bus tunnel. Now we were heading up Mass Ave, but first we made a stop for the Harvard Law School.
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| Some apartments on Mass Ave. |
Continuing up Mass Ave for one more block, we turned onto Everett Street. There were Harvard buildings on one side and apartments on the other; we also had a run-in with a Leslie University dorm! Next, we turned onto Oxford Street, with Harvard buildings on both sides – the Harvard Natural History museum was to the left.
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| The museum! |
Oxford Street curved to the left to become Kirkland Street, and outside of the beautiful Sanders Theater, we had another major stop. In fact, this stop (Memorial Hall) was major enough to earn itself a proper busway! For some reason, though, our bus decided not to serve it, so the person waiting had to walk out to the street and get on. That’s rather annoying…
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| Rounding the corner on Felton Street. |
We turned onto Quincy Street, then Cambridge Street. Due to one-ways, we had to make a bit of a jog in the route, next running on Felton Street (past the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School), and finally Broadway. This allowed us to return to Quincy Street and continue alongside the yard again. This brought us to Lamont Library, which is where my friend Nathan and I got off; from here, the route makes the short trip back to Cowperthwaite Street to start its journey again.
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| The bus heading back to its starting point. |
Harvard Shuttle Route: Mather Express (Memorial Hall via Harvard Square)
Ridership: My trip was fairly light, with less than 10 riders in total, and it has to be said that this is the least-used route of the three primary shuttles. However, it still serves a purpose, as the residents of Mather and Dunster Houses use the route to get to Harvard Yard or Memorial Hall.
Pros: This is a pretty short route, meaning it can operate service every 10 minutes with only two buses! It does a good job of covering the “inner” section of Harvard University, and it gets a decent smattering of ridership.
Cons: Not much with the route itself, but service gets a lot more complicated after 4 PM. After 4, the Mather Express gets replaced by the River House A…which then gets replaced by the River House B…and that gets replaced by the River House C. I have no idea why there are three River House routes that more or less serve the same things, but that rant is for another review.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Well, in terms of the route’s unique sections, you’ve basically got Mather/Dunster Houses and that’s it. However, the northern part of the route does run by the Harvard Natural History Museum, although the two other main shuttles serve that, too.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Of all the Harvard shuttles, this one makes the most logical sense. Its route is fairly straightforward, its schedule is mostly consistent (aside from a few random gaps, presumably for driver switches), and its ridership is fine and evenly spread out. Sure, once the clock strikes 4 PM, everything goes crazy with the River House routes, but on its own, the Mather Express is a great little route.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The Great GATRA Deviation Game (Trailer)
Sam and I spent a day on the GATRA and filmed it! What could possibly go wrong? Stay tuned for the craziest video review yet!
North Scituate
Wait…so this is an Old Colony station…in a town center? No, no, I simply can’t believe it…and yet here it is! Sure, this isn’t “downtown” Scituate, per se (the Greenbush Line doesn’t serve that, alas), but it’s still downtown NORTH Scituate! Hey, that’s good enough for me.
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| Wow, what a nicely-lit path! |
To get from said “downtown” to the station, there’s a convenient path that runs alongside the track. It takes you behind the backs of businesses, and then over what seemed to be a pretty gross river. There’s also another pedestrian path that runs around the parking lot, so people don’t have to walk between hundreds of cars if they’re coming from that direction.
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| Basically empty… |
Oh yes, not only is North Scituate located in a downtown, but it still has the room for a classically large Old Colony parking lot! With 279 spaces, the lot only gets a little under halfway full on a typical weekday, so there’s definitely enough room here. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any bike spaces when I was here, and the MBTA website seems to confirm that there are none.
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| My camera was drastically low on battery, so I had to settle for this slightly blurry shot… |
The platform at North Scituate seems to go on forever. It has a shelter near the path, a stretch of open space, another shelter on the other side of the parking lot, and more open space into the woods! The open parts don’t offer too much, featuring only ads and sparse benches, but the shelters have maps, schedules, more seating, and wastebaskets.
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| My camera was dead by the time the train came, so photo credit to Sam! |
Station: North Scituate
Ridership: This isn’t really saying much, but North Scituate has the second-highest ridership of any Greenbush Line station. With 419 inbound riders per day, it’s only beaten in passengers by its neighbor and terminus, Greenbush.
Pros: Well, the station offers plenty of parking and a typical Old Colony feel (with two shelters), but what sets North Scituate apart for me is the fact that it’s ACTUALLY in a downtown! See, Old Colony Lines? You can have a station in a downtown and still feature a gigantic parking lot! Take lessons from here.
Cons: The absence of bike spaces is pretty annoying, considering there are a lot of residential neighborhoods within biking distance to North Scituate. It’s also strange how long the platform is, but I guess that doesn’t matter too much.
Nearby and Noteworthy: You’re in a downtown! The world is your oyster! Okay, North Scituate doesn’t offer too much, but there are a few restaurants and businesses in this “center” bit.
Final Verdict: 9/10
If the station wasn’t in a downtown, it would be a 7 or an 8 – I mean, it’s fairly typical for an Old Colony station in most respects. But the fact that it’s in a downtown? Well, that changes everything! Seriously, I kinda love this stop for that.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
40 (Georgetowne – Forest Hills Station via Washington Street and West Boundary Road)
You know, when I review RTAs, I usually bash them for having long deviations to housing developments that get very few riders. Well, here’s an MBTA route that does exactly that – except it actually gets people! Indeed, the 40’s sole purpose is to serve a housing development, Georgetowne…well, it also serves Washington Street, but a million other buses run along there, too.
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| A new 1600 bus coming in! |
Wow, this is the last time I’ll be talking about the Washington Street corridor out of Forest Hills. That’s probably for the best – if I have to describe it one more time, I’ll go crazy! So, like so many other routes, we headed out of the busway and passed some businesses and industrial buildings along Washington Street.
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| Running along the Southwest Corridor. |
Soon dense apartments started to line the road, but we still got some businesses at certain intersections. After going by a park, we entered Roslindale Village, where all of a sudden there was retail all over. We curved around the town common (decked out in Christmas decorations), then continued down Washington Street, which was once again residential.
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| Some buildings in Roslindale. |
Once again, businesses showed up at certain intersections, including a bunch at the one with Metropolitan Ave. As we ascended a hill, we went by some apartment developments, then a small shopping plaza. The street gained a median from there, and we passed through a woodsy section. Houses came up on one side eventually, but then we unexpectedly turned onto West Boundary Road, starting our independent section.
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| About to make the turn! |
This was a narrow street just ambling through the woods – it was weird to think we were still in Boston! As the road curved its way through the forest, we could catch glimpses of houses in a different neighborhood. We passed a school, then the street made a hard right, and we were in Georgetowne.
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| The main building of Georgetowne. |
Now on Georgetowne Drive, we went past the main Georgetowne building, and then it was time for a NEVER-ENDING SUPPLY OF IDENTICAL HOUSES. The route also got really complicated here, with a bunch of different deviations. Right, so first we turned onto Crown Point Drive, which is a section of the development. We looped around it, passing all those similar houses.
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| Looking up a hill. |
We returned to Georgetowne Drive, eventually leaving the complex. We turned onto Dedham Parkway, then Alwin Street, running along with the 33. Alwin Street was residential, but it got a lot more woodsy when we looped onto Turtle Pond Parkway. Finally, we turned onto Dedham Parkway again, coming back to a shelter outside of Georgetowne.
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| Some random houses along the loop. |
Now that we were heading back the way we came, I assumed the route was over. However, there was actually one more deviation to do – we turned onto Georgetowne Place, running up a hill to the top of a dead-end street. The bus looped around a parking lot at the end of the road, stopped over for a few seconds on a slope, and then we finally started to head back to Forest Hills.
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| Heading through the parking lot. |
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| Aww, it’s just a boring ol’ NABI doing the next trip… |
Route: 40 (Georgetowne – Forest Hills Station via Washington Street and West Boundary Road)
Ridership: It’s pretty good! The route gets 1,344 riders per weekday, 715 per Saturday, and 309 per Sunday as the 40/50. Whether a bus will get crowded or not is pretty dependent on whether or not a 34 has departed recently, but the 40 is always guaranteed a decent amount of people going to the independent section.
Pros: Having a bus specifically to serve a housing development seems weird, but apparently Georgetowne is a big enough draw to necessitate it! The 40’s schedule may not be too frequent, but I think it’s good for the ridership – every half hour during the rush, every 50 minutes on weekdays, every hour on Saturdays, and on nights and Sundays, the route runs combined with the 50 in a loop every hour (the 40/50).
Cons: Are those deviations in Georgetown really necessary? Sure, they do get people, but it would save a lot of time if the bus stayed on Georgetown Drive, did its loop, and returned the way it came. Yeah, people would have to walk a little more, but it could allow the route to run a bit more frequently if it made enough of a time impact. Also, better coordination between the 34, the 34E, and the 40 along Washington Street would allow for crowds to be better spaced-out.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Basically just Georgetown… I mean, there are always the various Washington Street attractions that are served by a bunch of other buses, too.
Final Verdict: 7/10
The 40 is a route with a simple goal: provide a direct link from Georgetowne to Forest Hills. It definitely achieves that, with good ridership and a decent schedule. It definitely has its quirks that drag it down, what with the borderline-unnecessary deviations and poor coordination with the 34 and 34E, but overall, this is a pretty good route!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Plymouth
Coming off the heels of ranting about the Kingston/Plymouth Line’s split termini, let’s review one of them! Andddddddd…it’s the pointless one. Look, Plymouth is perfectly fine as a station, but I have some serious issues with the fact that it even exists. Oh well…it does, so let’s see what it has to offer.
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| Woah… |
Well, I think the most important question to address first is: where the heck is Plymouth Station? Because as you can tell from the picture, it ain’t near the Mayflower and it ain’t near the rock! No, Plymouth Station is about a 40 minute walk from either of those popular historical attractions; instead, it’s located in beautiful Cordage Park, which is anything but beautiful. It’s, uh, just a gross industrial park. Hm.
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| The platform shelter. |
Plymouth’s high-level platform isn’t anything special. It’s typical Old Colony, with a long shelter and a few benches and wastebaskets underneath. It stretches pretty far on either end, with a few sparse benches and nothing much else.
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| The parking lot, next to an abandoned Walmart. How the heck does a Walmart get abandoned? |
This station offers 96 parking spaces, some lined up along the platform and some in a more typical lot formation. “Gosh, 96 spaces?” you may say, “That doesn’t seem like a lot!” Well…it’s over three times the station’s ridership, so, uh…it’s definitely enough. The MBTA website says the station has eight bike spaces, but I couldn’t find any anywhere.
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| More of the lot. |
We can’t forget that the GATRA serves this station too! The Freedom and Liberty Links run right alongside the platform in a characteristic deviation. Also, they don’t have signage! Gee, I feel like a bus from this station to downtown Plymouth could get some great tourist ridership, but, uh, I guess GATRA disagrees. PUT A DARN SIGN UP!
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| Two shots of the same train. |
Station: Plymouth
Ridership: This is one of the least-used stations on the Commuter Rail. Are you ready for this? 30 inbound riders per weekday. That’s it.
Pros: Well, as a station, it’s fine. You know, it’s your typical Old Colony platform, and the station is right by the water, which is nice. There’s also more than enough parking – like I said, three times the ridership!
Cons: Quite frankly, trains should just stop serving this station, because it’s not helping anyone to send them out here. Okay, it’s helping 30 people, but that’s not a lot of people. The thing is, having trains come out here adds a lot of time to train schedules and to commuters, and for what? So that a few people can get off at a station that shaves off a few minutes of driving time for them? No, I’m sorry, I just don’t see the point.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Oh, you know, one of the oldest settlements in the entire country…if you’re willing to walk 45 minutes, that is! At least there’s always the GATRA to take you there.
Final Verdict: 2/10
Okay, Plymouth as a station is fine. It’s typical. It’s normal. Whatever. But come on, does it really need to exist? No, no it doesn’t. Deviating trains here takes so much time, and it’s helping so few people per day. Yes, as a station it’s fine…but it shouldn’t have been built in the first place.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Why does the Kingston/Plymouth Line have split termini?
This is the kind of thing I feel I need to rant about in its own separate post, because this really bothers me. So what’s the deal here? Well, we’re discussing the Kingston/Plymouth Line of the Commuter Rail, one of the newest additions to the system. Completed in 1997, the line runs down to the southeastern portion of Massachusetts.
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| The MBTA map, with the Plymouth Line beautifully circled in red. Thanks, Microsoft Paint! Image source |
As a kid, I thought that Kingston and Plymouth were separate lines and both got full service, but of course that’s not true. That said, the setup used isn’t any less strange. All stops are shared up until the tail end of the line, where it splits to serve Kingston, a park-and-ride station in the middle of nowhere, and Plymouth, an industrial station in the middle of nowhere. No train runs to downtown Plymouth – remember this.
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| The line’s weekday schedule. Image source |
Okay, so here’s the line’s schedule on weekdays. Note that Plymouth is basically never served in the rush hours – trains go to Kingston only during those times. This means that Plymouth gets absolutely terrible ridership, making the station a waste, anyway!
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| The inbound weekend schedule… |
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| …and the outbound. Image source |
But then it’s even worse when trains actually serve Plymouth! That adds so much time to any given trip! As an example, let’s look at train 1051 on Saturdays. It leaves South Station at 8:30 and arrives Plymouth at 9:27 – about an hour trip, that’s not bad. But if you’re going to Kingston (which many people are)? Well, too bad for you – you have to wait for the train to leave Plymouth at 9:37, then suffer through an almost-20-minute ordeal of reversing and brake tests before clunking into Kingston at 9:55! What a complete waste of time…
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| A train going beyond Plymouth, only to change directions and drop its passengers off at Kingston. |
So why does this arrangement exist? Honestly, I have no idea. Kingston is the one with the big parking lot that gets a bunch of trains, while Plymouth is just…there. I mean, if it was actually in downtown Plymouth, I could see why the split exists, but no, it’s a long shot away. Honestly, I think it’s time to retire Plymouth and send all trains to Kingston. It’ll save time, and since most people are driving to get to the train, it won’t add that much time to people’s commutes. End this stupid split!
RIPTA: 66 (URI/Galilee)
The 66 is a long route. The 66 is a longggggggggggggg route. Traversing almost the entirety of Rhode Island, it runs from Providence to Galilee, on the southern tip of the state. And sure, it’s kinda lame that it only takes around an hour and a half to cover an entire state (sorry, Rhode Island, you’re small), but the 66 is a neat ride.
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| Woah, pigeon photobomb! Check out that gray blur! |
Like most other RIPTA routes, we began at Kennedy Plaza in Providence. However, we didn’t stay in Rhode Island’s capital city for too long – after a quick run on Dorrance Street and Francis Street, we were already heading around a highway interchange onto I-95! Oh yes, time for an express section.
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| Wow, that’s an intense interchange… |
The interchange was elevated, but as we merged onto the highway, it headed below ground level. We headed through a dense area for a bit, then went elevated over an industrial section – unfortunately, I missed the bug this time! The area became residential after that, as houses lined the service road next to the highway.
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| Zooming past a hospital. |
We went by RIPTA’s Elmwood Garage, then crossed over the Commuter Rail tracks. After that, we passed through a complex interchange with the Huntington Expressway, and it was mostly residential with some industry beyond there. Indeed, it became entirely industrial eventually, interspersed with random stretches of woods.
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| A school bus yard. |
We went through another interchange, this time for the T.F. Green Airport Connector Road, and the road passed a wind turbine later on. Next, we went under East Ave – on weekdays, buses take the exit and deviate to serve CCRI Warwick, but on weekends, they speed right through, as did our trip. The highway merged with I-295, and after some more woods, we took Exit 9 onto another highway, Route 4.
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| Gotta love wind power! |
What grand scenery was there along Route 4? Nothing much, actually…just a lotta woods. The most interesting thing we passed was an interchange for yet another highway, this one bound for Quonset. We took the exit after that onto South County Road, finally ending the express portion. We went by a RIPTA park-and-ride, then various suburban businesses and industrial buildings.
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| Some industrial something-or-other just off the highway. |
The scenery continued pretty much like that as we entered North Kingstown and the street became Quaker Lane. Right near another RIPTA park-and-ride, we turned onto Ten Rod Road, taking us under some telephone wires and up to Wickford Junction Station. It felt weird to be deviating there on a weekend (when trains don’t run to the station), but surprisingly, we ended up dropping a few people off. Well, there are a few shopping centers near the stop, I guess, including a big Walmart.
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| Nice colors! |
After that, we headed back the way we came, staying on Ten Rod Road and passing a few more malls. However, after we went under Route 4, it was more residential, aside from one “family-owned’ business that happened to also have a drive-through! When we turned onto South County Trail, (I guess that name is back?) the surroundings changed drastically and became a lot of…farmland? Wow, we’re not in Kansas anymore. Or perhaps we are…
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| Wowwwww… |
As we entered Exeter, the farms gave way to just plain ol’ woods. Eventually, we arrived at some sort of small shopping place – the 66 schedule refers to it as “Exeter Variety”. Beyond there, a solar farm was hidden behind trees as we reentered the woods. The trees were briefly broken at one point by a shopping center and a recreational center.
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| A pond view! |
It continued to be mostly woods, with businesses popping up every so often. Now in Kingstown, after passing a nursing home, the road briefly skirted a pond, then we got a bit more farmland! We turned onto Kingstown Road, going by more farms, and then we arrived at Kingston Station. Our deviation failed to attract any passengers, alas, and so we returned to Kingstown Road.
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| A nice little chapel by the road. |
Beyond the station, there was a dense, mostly residential area, then a stretch of woods, and then we arrived at University of Rhode Island. Turning onto Lower College Road, we arrived at the main bus stop at the Student Union, and dropped off many of our passengers. After that, we made our way onto Campus Ave, then Upper College Road, and finally we returned to Kingstown Road.
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| The main university stop. |
We passed through a cool historical area with dense housing, then we turned onto Kingstown Road. It was still mostly residential, but less dense. Also, the houses were mostly hidden behind trees, so it felt like we were back in the forest. Eventually we came through a more developed section, with various businesses and housing developments on either side.
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| Some sort of apartment complex. |
It was more residential for a bit, then it got dense after we passed a bog. There was a big industrial building, and we entered sort of a “downtown” area after that. The street curved past houses and businesses, then we reached a rotary and merged onto High Street. This took us past more (somewhat) dense residences, which continued for a while.
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| Goin’ round the rotary. |
Next, we turned onto Main Street, entering yet another downtown area! This felt even more like a town center, with purely retail lining the street. It continued for a good while, too, although the businesses got less interesting as we went along. This culminated when the street became Old Tower Hill Road, where malls and parking lots basically lined the street.
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| This turned out surprisingly symmetrical considering I was on a moving bus! |
Indeed, we even deviated to serve one of the malls! This was the Wakefield Mall, and after some strange madness in the parking lot involving a pedestrian yelling at the driver for seemingly no reason, we returned to Old Tower Hill Road. Next, we got…another express section? Yes, we merged onto the Route 1 highway, staying on for two quick exits before merging onto Woodruff Ave, now in Narragansett.
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| Parking lotsssssss! |
And now, we got yet another mall deviation, this time to serve Salt Pond Plaza. Okay, so we went through all that parking lot jazz, then headed down Point Judith Road. We quickly left the horrible mall area, and the wide four-lane road was now mostly passing houses and forest (and a golf course at one point). We even got some more farmland, featuring livestock!
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| Anyone up for some 5-pars? Or something? I think that’s how golf works… |
We started to get some houses along the street again, before turning onto Burnside Ave. Another wide road, this took us out to…the beach! Yes, turns out there’s a big honkin’ beach down here (Scarborough State Beach, to be exact)! There was a great view of the ocean as we turned onto Ocean Road, but the beach buildings and parking lots all felt rather dead. I mean…it’s almost winter, after all.
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| The view of the water! |
One side of the road became occupied by houses eventually, and it was all residential once we turned onto Knowlesway (all one word – interesting street name). There was some retail once we rejoined Point Judith Road, but it felt pretty woodsy again as we continued south. We went past a park, then turned onto the narrower Sand Hill Cove Road.
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| What a beautiful empty beach parking lot… |
This street was very marshy, but somehow there were still houses alongside it. As the street made a curve around a bog, we came up alongside another beach! This was Roger W. Wheeler State Beach, and unfortunately, its parking lot was so big that we didn’t get a water view this time. Still, it must get packed in the summer!
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| A view of Galilee (from after I got off, obviously). |
It was pure marshland from there, with some nice beach houses facing the water. Next, we turned onto Galilee Connector Road, passing lots of overflow parking lots for the Block Island Ferry. This street curved around and took us onto Great Island Road, where we arrived at the last stop. The bus went out of service and headed down the seafood restaurant-filled street to lay over.
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| The bus hangin’ out. |
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| Okay, how could I not include this one? |
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| Looking across the harbor to some houses. |
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| Time for the long trip back… |
RIPTA Route: 66 (URI/Galilee)
Ridership: Okay, there’s a lot to talk about here, but we’ll start with the numbers from 2012: the route got 1,636 riders per weekday, 650 per Saturday, and 521 per Sunday, ranking as the 14th-busiest RIPTA route. The 66 gets a huge variety of riders, too – commuters, locals, shoppers, beachgoers in the summer, college students during the school year…it serves a lot. Finally, it’s very much worth noting that the route gets over half of its ridership from URI and points north, which we’ll discuss later.
Pros: The benefits of the route being so long is that it serves so much. It’s also nice that so much of the 66 is express, making the ride at least somewhat palatable – an hour from URI to Providence on weekdays isn’t terrible. The headways are pretty sensible for the ridership, too, with 30 minute service at rush hour (including short-turns to URI), 60 minute service middays, 45 minute service on Saturdays, and 70 minute service on Sundays.
Cons: Like I said, it’s a long route – almost 40 miles! That affects both on-time performance and the costs to run the route, both of which are worse as a result. One semi-solution for this is to have the route balance its ridership better, something it’s not particularly good at now – there need to be more short-turns from URI to Providence, where the majority of the ridership is. If it was coordinated well, it could help prevent empty buses. The current weekday URI short-turns are usually scheduled to leave just before a full trip to spread the people over two buses, but if short-turns were made full-time, it would be optimal to have them coordinated for more consistent headways.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The area around URI seems pretty cool, and that “downtown” area had some decent-looking attractions. Definitely the biggest draw of the 66 is its southern section, where beaches surely draw throngs of riders in the summer. Couple that with the Block Island Ferry at Galilee, and you’ve got lots of noteworthy places along here!
Final Verdict: 7/10
The ability to get down the entire coast of Rhode Island for 2 bucks is pretty darn great, and the express portion definitely improves the ride a bit. The typical rider probably won’t have too many problems with the route, aside from maybe Sunday frequency, but the ridership doesn’t seem to be there to justify more service. From a planning perspective, the 66 has some logistical problems, for sure, particularly when it comes to balancing the ridership – I would love to see URI short-turns on Saturdays to allow for more frequent service along the busier part of the route. Regardless, the 66 serves a huge part of the state, and serves a multitude of different purposes. Plus, it’s a really fun ride from beginning to end!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Yeah, yeah, I know I never update this section, but here’s an interesting tidbit: starting December 31st, the MBTA will reroute its Alewife routes to travel via Acorn Park Drive when coming in on Route 2. It should hopefully help the buses avoid traffic, but I’m just interested in what it’ll be like to ride the bus through the office parks along there!
GUEST POST: Canton Center
Here’s the second of Eric Sanford’s two Commuter Rail posts. Thanks again, Eric!
Welcome to Canton Center, an average Stoughton Line Commuter Rail station. This station is right smack in the middle of Canton Center. You could even walk right out into the center from here. Ok, lets march our way into specifics.
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| A view of the station. |
Here at Canton Center, there is a low platform and a mini-high platform, just like any typical Commuter Rail station. It contains the minimum necessities to run a station: newspaper stands, wastebaskets, benches, etc….. It even has a bike rack to hold up to 10 bikes.
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| A close-up view of the bike rack and newspaper stands. |
In terms of parking, there are 215 spaces total including handicapped spaces – don’t worry, the station does serve the handicapped. That’s a lot of spaces, considering that it’s in the center of Canton. That’s why the station is named “Canton Center”, after all. During a weekday, parking gets to capacity. On an average weekday, the station gets an average of a whopping 1,113 passengers per day. What a busy station that’s deteriorating!!!
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| Wow, parking lot abundance! |
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| On the other hand, the high platform looks terrible along with the rest of the platform… |
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| Geometry train passing thru! |
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| Hi, Canton Junction. Lovely foliage! |
Station: Canton Center
Pros: Yes, yes I know that the station is in deteriorating conditions, but it is used by lots of locals that live around here. It has the basic needs to run a station just like Norwood Depot does. The abundant parking spaces for vehicular passengers is excellent!!! It receives a total of 4-5 peak rush hour trains per day along with midday and late evening trains too. Plus stores and restaurants are in walking distance from the station.
Cons: Ok this station has a couple of obvious problems. One is that the mini-high platform is not sheltered and has no benches. The other thing that really bugs me is that the platforms are disgusting. Just look at the high platform picture, it looks like no one has ever thought about refurbishing them to make it look more presentable and well maintained!! Most MBTA stations are like that anyways!!
Final verdict: 7/10
Yes, the station has the basic needs. Fixing the deteriorating platforms and adding a shelter over the high platform would benefit passengers, especially during inclement weather. On the other hand, people can always wait in their vehicles until the train approaches. Oh well, at least passengers use it, the primary goal of having a station.
GUEST POST: Norwood Depot
Eric Sanford sent me a few Commuter Rail reviews for the blog – here’s the first one, Norwood Depot. Thanks, Eric!
Welcome to Norwood Depot, a station along the Franklin Line. It’s not the nicest station on the line, but at least it is used. Ok, let’s get down to specifics.
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| Oh look, a bike rack! The station features a bike rack right next to the inbound mini-high platform, which is convenient. |
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| Yay, more parking! |
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| The Patriots Train passing thru Norwood! |
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| Hey, you can even see Norwood Central down the tracks from here! |
Final Verdict: 8/10
Yes, the station has its basic needs to run as a proper station. On the ugly side, it could use some more maintenance and proper care to keep it presentable and well maintained. Other than the tiny flaws it plagues, it does the job!!
Walpole
What a strange, unique station this is. And being here at night just made it even weirder! Today we’re looking at Walpole, and continuing with the Franklin Line tradition of most stations being completely distinct, Walpole is situated in the middle of a crazy industrial railroad junction. Intrigued? So am I.
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| What the heck is this parking lot??? |
Let’s start off with the first of many weird things about Walpole: the Elm Street parking lots. The one pictured above seems to be more of an overflow lot than anything, as it’s not paved – however, it has an old honor box at its entrance, so I assume it’s MBTA. It’s also one of the strangest MBTA lots I’ve ever seen, what with the ropes hanging from the lights with (presumably) the space numbers on them.
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| A new 1600 bus on the 34E exiting the station! |
But then there’s the actual paved lot, which is just as weird. Firstly, there’s a fairly small section right next to the street, which also includes the 34E stop. (Imagine that you can ride the bus from here to Forest Hills for 2 bucks!) The bus stop is pretty bad, but other than that, it seems like a normal lot…until you notice the road that leads further into the woods.
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| The desolate Elm Street Lot proper. |
The road goes over the Neponset River and past a few more parking spaces (sans sidewalks, I must add), before opening up into…another lot? Yes, there’s an Elm Street Lot part 2! Or 3, I guess, if you include the overflow one. It’s a fine lot, I guess, but it’s just so far from the station itself! And like I mentioned, there are no sidewalks on the connector road.
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| That is…dark. |
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| Well, well, well. |
Who wants to talk about more parking lots? Yes, Walpole has one final lot, and it’s a complicated one. See, the station is located within a rather complicated four-way railroad junction, and one of the tracks goes right through the lot. This requires a level crossing and some interestingly-placed spaces. Overall, the station has 343 in total, which doesn’t seem like that much considering how many darn lots it has! It’s enough, though – they get about 2/3 full on the average weekday.
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| The station building. |
Walpole’s red building is really charming. It kinda looks like a fancy house! Also interesting is the way it’s situated in the corner of the railroad intersection. Along the parking lot, there are some sheltered benches where people can wait to be picked up (as seen above), as well as potted plants, which add a nice touch of charm to an already charming building.
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| Looking inside the building. |
Ahhhh, but the building has an inside, too, and it’s a good one! Unfortunately, it’s only open during the morning rush, but man, it must be a nice place to wait. The main attraction is the amusingly-titled “Rail Good Coffee”, which offers drinks and pastries for rather cheap prices.
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| Kinda eerie, isn’t it? |
What else does the inside have to offer? Well, you’ve got some benches, a community board, a wastebasket, and a table with a bunch of stuff on it! Okay, I think it’s just boring stuff like straws and sugar, from what I can see. But still, this building is fantastic!
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| The platform. |
Walpole’s platform definitely has its good points and its bad points. For the good, there are benches underneath the shelter of the building, along with a few wastebaskets and newspaper boxes. On the bad side, the platform cement isn’t in the best shape, and the whole thing is low-level – no accessibility here.
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| This is a strange thing to see… |
So, remember how I mentioned that this station is in the middle of a huge railroad intersection? Well, one of the strangest parts about it is right at the end of the platform: a diamond crossing! Yes, the Commuter Rail track crosses right over a freight track here, and it’s…weird. You just don’t expect to find this kind of thing at a station!
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| Oh! Hey there, CSX. |
Another side effect of Walpole being in the middle of a railroad intersection is that there’s all this industrial stuff visible from the platform. It seems to be a popular place for freight trains – a CSX locomotive was hanging out on one of the curves, while another train was further down the intersecting track. It was strangely pleasant to wait here with the CSX loco growling in the background.
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| A train zooming over the Elm Street overpass. |
But I can’t end this review before talking about the crazy experience Sam and I had here. You see, there were some…problems on the Franklin Line that night. That meant we had to wait on the desolate platform for about an hour longer than we had hoped. We even had a run-in with a rather questionable person, but eventually the train came – a double-draft, too, with two sets stuck together! The conductor didn’t even collect fares, which just seemed to emphasize the craziness of the Franklin Line that night.
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| There are many blurry train pictures in this review… |
Station: Walpole
Ridership: Lots! As the second-busiest station on the Franklin Line after Norwood Central, Walpole gets 945 inbound riders per weekday. and it’s one of those stations that gets way more people than parked cars – that always makes me happy.
Pros: It’s just a really quirky place! The diamond crossing, the industrial yard, the weird out-of-the-way parking lots…this is definitely a unique station. Also, the building is quite charming, and seems to be of great use to rush hour commuters in the morning.
Cons: Big thing: it’s not accessible. Considering how well-used this station is (I believe it’s the second-busiest inaccessible Commuter Rail station after Natick Center), some sort of mini-high platform would be great. Also, the Elm Street lot is really inconvenient for passengers, as they have to walk quite a distance to get to the station itself. How about a random solution? The 34E runs to the back of the lot to turn around…what if a stop was added back there and people could use the bus as a free shuttle to get to the front of it? It’s a bit crazy, but certainly not difficult to implement!
Nearby and Noteworthy: You’ve got Walpole Center right nearby, with a good amount of stores and restaurants to keep you busy, if you so desire.
Final Verdict: 7/10
I would feel bad giving an inaccessible station anything higher than a 7 – although of course, I’m sure some diligent reader will point out a multitude of times in which I’ve done that, but I like to think I’ve followed some sort of moral standard for the past four years! Seriously, though, Walpole is a super interesting station, and if you have any interest in freight trains or just quirky Commuter Rail stations, it’s a cool place to check out.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
West Roxbury
Alright, let’s finish up the Needham Line! Let’s do it! WOOOOOOOOOOOO! WEST ROXBURY IN DA HOUSEEEEEEEEEE!
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| The station parking lot. |
There’s a nice little road that leads up to the West Roxbury parking lot from Lagrange Street. The lot has 62 spaces, and that’s a good amount for a small neighborhood station like this. For pedestrians, meanwhile, stairs lead up onto both sides of the track crossing over Lagrange. There was bridge construction when Sam and I were here, so it made it a bit harder to get around.
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| The station shelter. |
West Roxbury’s shelter is veryyyyy typical for the Needham Line. Is it newer? Check. Is it in ugly shape, despite being newer? Check. There’s a bench underneath it, as well as a wastebasket, but what’s interesting is the presence of a separate bike shelter right on the platform. That’s a nice touch!
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| Wow, this platform is beautiful! |
Heading down the single platform, you pass an old “honor box”, a few wastebaskets, a map, a screen, and some ads. Also, you see some beautiful trees – this station has some gorgeous foliage. Finally, there are two more entrances by the end of the parking lot. One is a path that runs alongside the lot to the south, while the other is a staircase that leads to a side street on the other side.
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| The sun pokes through the trees onto this rather terrible mini-high. |
Oh yeah…I forgot that all the Needham Line mini-high platforms are horrible. Typical to the rest of the line, the one at West Roxbury is only a tiny shelter at the very end. There’s no bench – only a single wastebasket. What’s more, it’s a long walk from the station’s proper shelter to the high platform, so you might as well stand at the latter, since that’s where you have to board!
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| Man, this is a great place to take pictures of trains! |
Station: West Roxbury
Ridership: West Roxbury’s ridership is about average for the Needham Line as a whole, with 409 inbound riders per weekday. This is still pretty good, though, considering that there are three frequent bus alternatives from here, and that the station is really close to Highland.
Pros: Maybe it’s because I came here on a fall day, but this station’s foliage is just beautiful! Other than that, it performs all the expected functions of a Needham Line station, including a good amount of car and bike spaces.
Cons: As usual, it’s a ridiculously long walk to the high-level platform, and that platform has a lot to be desired. Come on, Needham Line! All your stations have this problem!
Nearby and Noteworthy: You can find some small businesses from here by making the short walk to Centre Street, West Roxbury’s main drag.
Final Verdict: 8/10
Well, I gave Highland an 8, and West Roxbury is pretty similar. Although Highland’s mini-high walk isn’t as bad as the one here, West Roxbury strikes back in the beauty department. Don’t get me wrong, both stations are lovely, but West Roxbury is at least equally tranquil to Highland. Plus, this station gets more riders!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
RIPTA: 19 (Plainfield/Westminster)
Okay…I know Walmart contributed to the destruction of American cities and brought everyone out to the suburbs and represents everything wrong with American consumerism and whatnot…but man, they really have everything, don’t they? And for such low prices! The Walmart in Cranston, RI was the first one I had ever been in, and…wow, what an experience! But then I remembered what Walmart did to America and went right back to hating it. Anyway, did you know that there’s also a bus that goes to the Walmart in Cranston, RI? Let’s talk about that.
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| Yes, it’s the 19! Also, don’t ask what my friend Michael and I were doing in Cranston at 6:00 at night. |
This route is basically as simple as running from this Walmart in Cranston back to Providence. So yeah – we headed out of the parking lot and turned onto Plainfield Pike. The road went downhill, playing host to both houses and suburban businesses with parking lots. There was a brief residential neighborhood before we got to the intersection with Atwood Ave, where there was retail on all sides.
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| An earlier trip speeding along Plainfield Pike. |
Past that intersection, the road became just Plainfield Street, and it had a bit of an industrial feel. I mean, there were houses and businesses, too, but it just wasn’t a very nice neighborhood. It became entirely residential soon, but it was all broken by a storage place – a clear sign that we were in the suburbs. Unfortunately, it was also the start of another semi-industrial section.
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| Beautiful. |
Once again, though, it became houses after a little while. Eventually, we reached a park. where we turned onto…Plainfield Street. Okay, I guess the street decided to take a right, too. Now it was dense, with a lot of houses along the road, interspersed with sketchy-looking restaurants.
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| Oh dear, that is not a nice intersection… |
Pocasset Ave merged into Plainfield Street near an apartment building, and we headed under an overpass for Route 6. This took us into Olneyville Square, where we merged into Westminster Street. There were businesses along the road as we headed through the square, then we crossed over the Commuter Rail tracks and under Route 10 in quick succession.
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| A few businesses. |
The street was a close mix between houses and random businesses. It continued like that for a good while, actually, before we merged with Cranston Street – now there was a high school and an apartment building on one side, and multistoried brick buildings on the other. We crossed over I-95, then made our way onto Washington Street. We were most definitely in downtown Providence now, with multistoried buildings on all sides. This street led us right into Kennedy Plaza, where the bus let everyone off.
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| Those buildings make for a rather pleasant background. |
RIPTA Route: 19 (Plainfield/Westminster)
Ridership: In 2012, the 19 got pretty good ridership, with 1,541 riders per weekday, 980 per Saturday, and 754 per Sunday. Most of these came from the denser part of the route, but a lot of people got on at Walmart, too. This held true for my trip, which only got about 10-15 people, but it was an inbound trip on a Saturday night, so that makes sense.
Pros: This bus serves a lot. The Walmart out in Cranston seems to be a big ridership draw, and a few rush hour trips are extended to the Cranston Industrial Park, so the route definitely has reverse commuting opportunities.
Cons: Aside from the weekday schedule (every half hour), I think the 19 could stand to run a little more often. On Saturdays, it’s every 50 minutes and on Sundays, it’s every 70 minutes. That said, the route is coordinated pretty well with the 17 to provide frequent service along Westminster Street to Olneyville Square, so there’s that.
Nearby and Noteworthy: When I told my band teacher (who’s from Rhode Island) that I took the bus through Olneyville Square, he went “Oh my gosh, that’s the most dangerous neighborhood in Rhode Island! You don’t want to be hanging around there!” So, uh…don’t go to Olneyville Square, I guess. But hey, there’ll always be Walmart!
Final Verdict: 7/10
I was originally going to give this one a 6, but the coordination with the 17 brings it up for me. Most of the 19’s ridership is concentrated on the inner section, and a lot of it is shared with the 17 anyway, so service is more frequent than it looks. That’s not to say that people don’t take the route further, and I would love to see more frequent service in the outer section, but it would just result in less-crowded buses.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Talbot Ave
When the MBTA was upgrading the Fairmount Line, Talbot Ave was the first new station to open, in late 2012. And, uh, I realized that I’ve been really harsh on the Fairmount Line stations I’ve reviewed so far. Yes, the line itself isn’t the greatest, but the stations really aren’t quite as bad as I’ve say they are. So, with that in mind, let’s look at Talbot Ave.
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| The station platform. |
The main part of Talbot Ave’s platform is pretty standard Fairmount Line fare, but I like it. There’s a large shelter that runs along the southern part of the station, and underneath it, you’ve got benches and wastebaskets. Plus, many of the station signs have cool historical pictures of the area.
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| The other end of the platform, as well as a train in the background! |
However, unlike most Commuter Rail stations, the rest of Talbot Ave’s platform is not bare! It has a few shelters along the whole thing, which is pretty nice and makes the station seem more hospitable. Indeed, the whole place is rather tranquil…until you see the broken glass in the shelters and remember what kind of neighborhood you’re in.
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| The station drop-off area. |
One of my favorite parts of Talbot Ave is at the entrance to the inbound platform along its namesake street. That’s right, the station actually has a drop-off area and a parking lot! Okay, so “parking lot” means two spaces that are for people with disabilities only, but it’s still really nice to see in the middle of such a dense area. There are also some bike racks here, and then a long but mostly sheltered ramp up to the platform.
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| Well, this is convoluted… |
Meanwhile, the outbound side has another crazy ramp that twists and turns on itself a few times before finally making it up to the platform. Like other Fairmount Line stations, I really wish there was a convenient set of stairs, too. Talbot Ave (the street, that is) is where this station’s bus connection is – the 22 gets a shelter on the inbound direction and a bench heading outbound.
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| The Standish Street entrance, featuring some graffiti. |
Finally, Talbot Ave has two additional entrances on its northern side, one on each platform, that lead to quieter residential neighborhoods. They’re both pretty simple, with T logos and signs at each one. plus some more bike racks on the Norwell Street side. However, there’s no way to cross between platforms here, so you have to go around the whole station if you’re trying to get a train in the other direction.
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| Two trains meeting! |
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| Heading towards Boston. |
Ridership: Well, in 2013, this station got an average of only 82 inbound riders per weekday, but I do hope that number’s gone up since then. I mean…it’s the Fairmount Line, so it’s hard to have high ridership expectations.
Pros: The station certainly tries to look and feel pleasant, and for the most part it succeeds. It’s weird that it manages to be as tranquil as it is, considering it’s not in the safest neighborhood. Also, Talbot Ave has a good amount of bike spaces, and even a few automobile spaces, which is a great inclusion. Finally, the platform offers shelter and seating the whole way down.
Cons: The broken glass all over the place is definitely an indication of what kind of area the station is located in. Aside from that, it would be great if there was a way to connect between the two northern entrances. Perhaps a pedestrian tunnel? Although I imagine that would be more expensive than it’s worth. Finally, the ramps down to Talbot Ave itself are really long…stair alternatives would be nice, although again, cost could be an issue there.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The surroundings of this station are mostly residential, so there isn’t much to see. It’s not the best neighborhood, anyway…
Final Verdict: 6/10
Okay, in terms of the station itself, the only problems are the ramps and the lack of a connection between the northern entrances. So what lowers it down to a 6? Well, the broken glass is ugly, dangerous, and could put people waiting on edge. Plus, there’s the fact that Talbot Ave just deserves to have rapid transit service, as does the rest of the Fairmount Line. I wish I was reviewing an “Indigo Line” station right now!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
240 (Avon Square or Holbrook/Randolph Commuter Rail Station – Ashmont Station via Crawford Square, Randolph)
So many MBTA bus riders demand that their routes get more service, whether they’re deserving of it or not. Well, here’s a route where those complaints are definitely justified. It seems like the 240 is always packed, no matter what time of day it is. Why could that be? There’s only one way to find out…
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| The 240 inching its way past the BAT. |
After the huge crowd at Ashmont boarded the bus (and believe me, it took a while), we left the busway and headed down Dorchester Ave. It was lined with houses for a bit until we passed Carney Hospital, and later on there were businesses as we entered the Lower Mills neighborhood. There was a nice view of some repurposed factories as we turned onto River Street.
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| Lower Mills is such a cool neighborhood! |
River Street had some houses and some businesses, but we didn’t stay on it for long. Soon, we turned onto Central Ave, crossing the Neponset River and connecting with the Mattapan Line. Beyond there, the street became all residential, aside from a very fleeting view of a nice little pond.
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| The pond is just around that house. |
Outside of a middle school, we merged onto Reedsdale Road, now joined by the 245. It was still lined with houses, but there were points of interest unseen from the road: a fire station, Milton’s town hall, and a hospital were all located on side streets. Next to a church, the 245 headed its own way while we turned onto Randolph Ave.
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| A side street. |
Houses were still the principal buildings, but they were a lot further apart, and the woods basically dominated the east side of the road. We passed a golf course, and then houses lined the street again for a time. However, soon after going by a few farms, that was it – we were heading through the Blue Hills Reservation in Quincy with trees on both sides.
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| What a pretty driveway! |
There wasn’t much of note for a while, but once we made it past a traffic snag, the bus was going fast! We went through a gigantic cloverleaf interchange with I-93, and beyond there, we were in Randolph. The street was called North Main Street now, and we were back in civilization.
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| A shopping plaza. |
There were a few gross parking lots and hotels immediately past the interchange, but it was houses again beyond there. This became retail pretty soon after – indeed, the street was lined with businesses. A little later it became more of a mix, with housing developments or just plain ol’ houses coming between the businesses.
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| Well! It’s a man on a key! Okay! |
Eventually, we reached another shopping plaza. And then another. And one more! Yes, we were in Crawford Square, and shopping plazas with parking lots seemed to be popular, though there were also some normal businesses lined up along the street. On weekends, this is where many trips terminate, while on weekdays, some trips follow the 238 down Union Street to Holbrook/Randolph Station. However, we were on the full route to Avon, so instead we merged onto South Main Street.
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| A side street in Crawford Square. |
We went by a few municipal buildings and businesses before it became mostly residential again. Some telephone wires crossed over the road and we passed a tennis court, and later on, we went through a brief industrial section. Soon after that, we entered Avon, and arrived at our terminus pretty quickly from there, The driver pulled into the front drive of a church and let us off at a BAT shelter. It was a weird place to end, for sure…
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| The bus pulling away toward Ashmont. |
Ah, but you thought that was it, didn’t you? Nope – the 240 has another trick up its sleeve. You see, it has a total of eight trips (seven on weekdays and one on Saturdays), inbound only, that run express to Quincy Center. Yup, you heard me right! So Nathan, Sam, and I waited in Avon to catch one of these strange runs, and indeed, the only one that starts in Avon – the others are from Crawford Square.
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| “VIA N. RANDOLPH”??? No, I missed “Quincy Center”! ARGHHHHHH! |
It was the same scenery as before, up until North Randolph, back at that huge highway interchange with I-93. Instead of passing through it, we took that exit and merged right into…traffic. Okay, there was a bit of an accident on the highway, but eventually we passed it and started actually running quickly.
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| At least traffic allows for somewhat non-blurry pictures. |
So, what kind of amazing things were there to see? Not much at first – the highway was just running through woods. However, there was still a really cool novelty factor of being on an MBTA bus travelling down southern I-93! Eventually, we got to see some office parks, which was…not particularly exciting.
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| A building (after we left the highway). |
We arrived at the Braintree Split, taking the exit and going on Route 3 for just a tiny bit before merging off. We ended up on Thomas E. Burgin Parkway, going right past Quincy Adams, actually! The Parkway became its own little “express” road soon after that, travelling next to the Red Line tracks without any intersections.
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| What a beautiful parking lot. |
We rose up to ground level again and passed a few shopping centers. After that, we only had to pass a few houses before we got to Quincy Center – the drop-off busway to the west of the station. And with that, the bus headed off to go back home to Quincy Garage.
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| Not in service, unfortunately…I was hoping to get a picture of it signed as the 240. |
Route: 240 (Avon Square or Holbrook/Randolph Commuter Rail Station – Ashmont Station via Crawford Square, Randolph)
Ridership: Very, very high. The route gets 2,912 riders per weekday, 1,640 per Saturday, and 912 per Sunday. Those numbers may not seem too large for the T, but since the 240 doesn’t run as often as other routes, it’s very often packed. My rush-hour trip squeezed about 50-60 people on board, and the route is frequent at rush hour!
Pros: The 240 serves a lot. A lot. The North Main Street corridor in Randolph is huge, and it’s where most of the ridership goes. Also, I understand that the schedule tries its best to alleviate crowding for the most part – the route is anywhere from every 10-20 minutes during rush hour, and every half hour during the day and on Saturdays.
Cons: But the route is always so crowded. It doesn’t help that it runs every 70 minutes at night and every 75 minutes on Sundays. There are also some problems with schedule intervals – on Saturdays, for example, inbound buses at Crawford Square depart on the :00 and on the :20. That means there’s a 20 minute gap in service, then a 40 minute gap. I understand that this discrepancy is because the route is interlined with the 238, but it would be great if the intervals were more consistent.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Mayyyyyyybe Crawford Square, but even that doesn’t seem to be too interesting. Avon Square has a historical building, I think.
Final Verdict: 6/10
The 240 tries its best, it really does – it just can’t seem to satiate its crowds. Also, it doesn’t try at all at night. Or on Sundays. But anyway, this is a lifeline route to Randolph, and seeing how many people use it, it would really benefit from more service, if possible. A good start would just be to even out headways on Saturday inbound service, as well as midday outbound service. Oh, and also, those Quincy express trips are fun if you ever get the chance to take one.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates