431 (Neptune Towers – Central Square, Lynn via Summer Street)
Well, I’ve had it with this stupid bus. I’ve tried to take the 431 four times, and every time the driver has either decided not to do the route, or just not let me on for whatever reason. When my friend Sam and I tried to do the route recently, it was the former, and we decided enough is enough: we were going to walk the 431.
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| Well…that would’ve been the 431… |
Sam was the driver on the 12:08 PM walking 431 trip. We went through the Commuter Rail busway but no one seemed to want to get on, so we headed onto Union Street, with buildings, businesses, and parking lots as the surroundings.
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| Going down Union Street. |
We went under the Commuter Rail tracks, turning onto Central Square in the process. The sidewalk was rather nice and treelined here, with more businesses lining the street. We also went by a cool building reminiscent of the Flatiron in New York!
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| Slightly less impressive than the Flatiron, but still quite nice. |
Alongside the Flatiron-esque building, we found a mannequin outside of a store that seemed to want to get on the bus, but it couldn’t move to pay its fare so we had to leave it behind. Next, we turned onto Oxford Street, which had a lot of parking lots alongside it. There were still a few businesses, but they didn’t seem to be as interesting as the ones back on the main drag.
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| Sorry, sir… |
It felt much less urban when we reached the intersection with the wider Market Street. Here, there was a big shopping plaza with a bigger parking lot out front. We turned onto Market (deviating from the actual route slightly, I think), which became lined with more businesses. We then turned onto Tremont Street, which had a school on one side and the back of that shopping plaza on the other.
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| This is starting to feel less urban. |
Next, we went by an apartment building on one side, and an office on the other. We then merged with Neptune Boulevard, which featured a tree-lined median. There were a few businesses, then we passed a housing project and merged onto Summer Street.
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| Some retail on Neptune Boulevard. |
This street was lined with more typical housing, while the back of a school occupied one side. There were a few businesses at the intersection with Commercial Street, including a convenience store and an auto shop. We turned onto Commercial for a block, then turned again onto Neptune Boulevard.
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| Some more businesses on Summer Street. |
At this point, we had arrived at the route’s terminus, Neptune Towers. Now, it wasn’t exactly the grandest terminus, for one particular main reason: THERE WASN’T A STOP. No bench, no sign, nothing. Just a bunch of parked cars. Great signage, MBTA! Wonderful!
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| The bus laying over at Neptune Towers. |
Leaving Neptune Towers, we passed a playground that seemed to have some really cool sprinklers for kids. We went by a school from there, then merged onto Wheeler Street, going by an apartment and some offices. We reached that shopping mall again, where we turned onto Pleasant Street, and Tremont once more after that.
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| Hey, it’s a The Ride vehicle! Does that not belong at Neptune Towers more than a fixed MBTA route that never runs? |
Tremont Street was familiar territory from before, but this time we made a slight route deviation to serve Dunkin’ Donuts. Hey, we had been walking for half an hour and we needed sustenance! We returned to Market Street after that deviation, which took us under the Commuter Rail tracks and back into the Lynn busway.
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| A different 431 on a different day. |
Route: 431 (Neptune Towers – Central Square, Lynn via Summer Street)
Ridership: The 431 gets truly high ridership that blasts all other MBTA routes out of the water. Get this: 45 people per weekday, 41 per Saturday, and all of 7 riders every Sunday. Perfect!
Pros: You know, on a route like this, I might say “it exists” as sort of a joke pro. But the thing is, the 431 isn’t even consistent with that! I’ve tried to take it so many times and it’s decided not to run every single one!
Cons: Um, so, like, everything? Yeah, basically. It’s one thing to operate a completely useless bus loop that gets hardly any riders and only serves to make late 435’s even later, but it’s another thing to advertise a service that only sometimes exists. And the fact that there never seems to be any people that complain when a bus forgoes its 431 trip just means that no one’s using it in the first place. Neptune Towers doesn’t even have a stop, for heaven’s sake!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Get this: on our walk, we saw an ice cream truck. NOTEWORTHY ALERT!
Final Verdict: 1/10
GET. RID. OF. THE. 431. It’s that simple. There is no point in keeping this route around in order to run a full-sized bus to some apartment complex that’s only a few blocks away from other routes, anyway. You know what they should do? Just utilize The Ride! It doesn’t have to be a fixed service, per se, although they could even just run The Ride vehicles on the tiny loop to Central Square, following the current 431 schedule. No service would be lost and it would be a much better use of resources, plus the 435 could get a proper layover (which it desperately needs).
UPDATE: The MBTA has discontinued the route, but things aren’t much better – the route is still there, but now it’s just an extension of the 435. Nothing has changed. I’m sure all of the problems mentioned in this post still exist.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
GATRA: Wheaton T Shuttle/Route 140
As the name suggests, GATRA’s 140 route is a bus meant for students at Wheaton College. I checked Wheaton’s website for more information: “The GATRA route 140 schedule is a campus favorite.” Barring the strange inclusion of “schedule” in that sentence, the website definitely makes the route seem appealing. Why, I’ll bet it’s gonna have lots of people! Oh wait…it’s summer. Why do they still run this thing??
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| What a strange-looking bus. There was no signage at Mansfield, incidentally. |
The 140 uses a pretty interesting minibus, although personally I’m not the biggest fan of how it looks on the outside. Still, it seats a lot of people on the inside, and there was even a screen in front! There weren’t announcements, unfortunately (aside from “stop requested”), so the screen just repeated the date and time over and over again. Finally, the bus was pretty quiet, owing to the fact that its wheelchair lift wasn’t too jiggly.
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| The inside of the bus. |
From the station, we headed onto Crocker Street, running alongside a common. We turned onto North Main Street from there, then Old Colony Road. The scenery was mostly apartments, but once we merged back onto North Main, there were businesses everywhere.
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| Prepare for lots of back views – rear windows are fun! |
The street turned into South Main Street at another common, and it got residential south of there. We turned onto Spring Street, and after some more houses and an apartment, there was a short woodsey section where we went over a river. The houses came back after that, and we also passed a cemetery.
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| Spring Street. |
We merged onto School Street, which became quite wide as we passed through a huge intersection. On the other side, we entered the Mansfield Crossing shopping complex. Lots of businesses and parking lots lined the road, culminating in a big parking lot for a mall, through which we looped and picked up no one.
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| Was there signage? Ha! |
We went back the way we came, except this time we turned onto the wide Commercial Street (Route 140). It was basically a highway running through the woods, which became even more so when we merged onto I-495. It was only the distance of a single exit, and a close one at that, but it was still cool to have a bit of an “express” section.
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| The section on I-495. |
We turned onto South Main Street once more at the next exit, intermittently passing random businesses with parking lots. When we entered Norton, the street became Mansfield Ave, and soon after we went by an apartment development on one side of the road. We then reached another mall (Great Woods Plaza), and of course we had to go in and serve it! Hey, wanna guess if there was signage or not? Answer: NO!
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| Sigh… |
We went by a trailer park upon returning to Mansfield Ave, but then the scenery got really nice – for a decently long stretch, the street ran alongside or even over the Norton Reservoir! On the land portions, it was a solid mix between houses, businesses, and industrial buildings.
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| Beautiful! |
After the reservoir, it became mostly houses again. Eventually, we turned onto West Main Street in downtown Norton…if it can be called that. It was basically just a common and a church, with a few businesses down Taunton Ave. We turned onto Howard Street, which was lined with Wheaton College buildings, and reached the last stop (with a sign!). Here, we laid over for a bit before leaving again to return to Mansfield.
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| Oh boy…this is not a photogenic bus. |
GATRA Route: Wheaton T Shuttle/Route 140
Ridership: Look, I’m sure this route gets great ridership when school is in session. Sure, it only gets about 80 people per weekday, but that jumps up to around 130 per Saturday – GATRA’s fifth-busiest route. The 140 even has Sunday service when school is in session, and the Wheaton College website goes as far as to call it a “campus favorite.” But on my summer ride? No one. Not a soul.
Pros: The 140 is a quick link (25 minutes) from Wheaton College to the Commuter Rail, and it serves a number of malls and shopping centers along the way. The schedule can be roughly simplified to every 30 minutes rush hour, every 90 minutes during the day, and every hour on weekends, although it’s really not that consistent.
Cons: Well, firstly, a 25 minute trip means you can easily have a clockface schedule, but the 140 refuses to do this most of the time. I also question the 70 minute layover at Mansfield on Saturdays – it’s clearly for the driver’s break, but having a driver switch would allow for one extra trip. Of course, I consider all of this to apply only to school days, because…WHY DOES THIS ROUTE RUN DURING THE SUMMER?! It’s clearly meant for students, and if my Saturday afternoon round trip was any indication, no one uses this thing during school vacation.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Students seem to use this route mostly for shopping, and you can, too! It serves a few malls, with Mansfield Crossing seeming to be the most interesting one.
Final Verdict: 6/10
There’s certainly no denying that the 140 gets ridership during the school year. But based on my experience (maybe it was a quiet day for one reason or another), no one uses this thing during the summer. The schedule could definitely be toned down when school isn’t in session, and could generally be tinkered with to give the route clockface headways. The 140 is definitely a solid route, but it has a lot of problems that need to be fixed.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
GATRA: 15 (Oak Hill)
The 15 is the shortest GATRA route in Attleboro, and also the one with the least ridership, not to mention an inconsistent schedule. What is this strange route? Does it get any passengers? Let’s find out.
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| The bus at the Attleboro Transit Center. |
From Attleboro, we went onto Capron Street, going under the Commuter Rail tracks, then turned onto Union Street. The scenery was pretty industrial, although Union Street had a major stop where a few people boarded the bus. We then turned onto Park Street, which was a mix of houses, businesses, and offices, with some variety in the form of the huge Sturdy Hospital.
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| A side street. |
Park Street became residential from there, the street lined with houses. At one point, we went past a factory, a field, and a gas station in quick succession, and there was an apartment complex soon after. From there, we went by a huge chapel called LaSallete Shrine, which is considered a major stop on the route.
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| The field. |
There was a bit of forest after the shrine, then it became houses once again, aside from a fire station and a seafood restaurant at an intersection. It was residential past there, although we also passed a Mass Audubon nature reserve. There were businesses at Oak Hill Ave, though, onto which we turned. We drove down here for a bit before making a u-turn at the Oak Hill Trailer Park, which is the strange last stop on the route.
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| A nice shelter at Oak Hill. |
GATRA Route: 15 (Oak Hill)
Ridership: The 15 is the least-used route in Attleboro on weekdays, with about 35 total passengers, while on Saturdays, it’s the least-used GATRA route in general, with only about 17 riders. My Saturday ride was surprisingly “busy,” though, with about five other people for the total round trip. Perhaps the 2:30 Saturday trip always gets a surge of riders?
Pros: A GATRA route that doesn’t make deviations? Well, that’s a pro right there! I like the 15’s simplicity in general – it’s a short, straight route that gets the job done and gets it done quickly. As for its schedule, the route generally runs every 60-90 minutes on weekdays, while on Saturdays, it has two morning trips and three afternoon trips – it’s not a lot of service, but it makes sense for the route.
Cons: The thing is, the weekday schedule has some odd quirks. You know how I said it “generally” runs every 60-90 minutes? Well, that’s because there are a few places where it can have a headway as close as 25 minutes! Why? What’s the point? Is it just something for the bus to do while it lays over? Seems like a waste of gasoline…
Nearby and Noteworthy: Mass Audubon reservations are always fun for hiking, while the LaSalette Shrine looks beautiful.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Well…it’s a GATRA route, so I’m giving it a break. To be honest, the 15 is hovering at around a 6.5 for me, but I give the GATRA a lot of hate, so I figured I’d round it up. Don’t get me wrong, this route has its problems, but it wins out with its simplicity and pretty sensible headways (aside for the weird tiny ones on weekdays).
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Restructuring GATRA’s Saturday Service
It’s still unclear to me whether the 11 deserves to exist or not. Still, just for kicks, I decided to see what would happen if it didn’t. Today we’re going to look at a GATRA Saturday schedule where the 12 and 24 completely replace the 11 along the Route 1 corridor. See the full schedule here.
This is a schedule for the 12 and the 24 if they were both to run on Saturdays. They’re pretty similar to how the routes are run now, except for the fact that the 24 serves Mayfaire Plaza in both directions with this scheme. Additionally, the Plaza has a timed transfer between the 12 and the 24 so that people can still go from Pawtucket to Emerald Square and vice versa (replicating the lost service on the 11). The 12 and the 24 would use one bus each.
So what about the 10? Normally that route would be interlined with the 11 on Saturdays. Well, don’t worry, for the 16‘s schedule lines up perfectly with trips on the 10! Thus, the 10 and the 16 would be interlined, using two buses total. This leaves two remaining routes, the 14 and 15, which can get one bus each (or they could possibly share one vehicle if the 14 gave up a bit of service for a few runs on the quick, infrequent 15 – it could work).
I’m not entirely sure specifically how the GATRA interlines and runs its Saturday routes, so this is all just theoretical. I have no idea if it would actually create savings for the authority (although the coordinated 12 and 24 technically provide three routes for the price of two, so that’s good), but it’s definitely food for thought. Feel free to give your opinions in the comments!
GATRA: 11 (South Attleboro Connector)
There are a lot of places where crosstown routes make sense. In Boston, for example, the 66 takes a very radial route around the city, but it still gets extremely busy because it runs through an urban area. People want to get between places without having to go downtown in the process, and it works great in this case. But how about running a suburban crosstown route in a suburban hub-and-spoke kind of system? That’s where GATRA’s 11 route comes in.
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| The fancy new bus at the Emerald Square Mall. |
The 10 is interlined with the 11, so my friend Nathan and I just stayed on the bus at Emerald Square. Leaving that mall, we headed onto Route 1 for a bit before…turning into the parking lot for a Target. Welp, that was fast! After looping around there, we crossed Route 1 again to serve another mall, this one also served by the 12.
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| I’m getting sick of malls… |
Strangely, we didn’t serve Walmart like the 12, going right back to Route 1 instead. There were a few more businesses with huge parking lots, then a bit of an industrial break before returning to more malls. One such mall was Mayfaire Plaza, into which we diverted.
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| A side street. |
After going by another mall on Route 1, the 12 left on Newport Ave, but we were joined by the 24. The road was lined with more businesses and parking lots, with a short break for some pylons to cross over. Eventually, though, we turned onto Brown Street, which went into a completely residential neighborhood.
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| A residential intersection. |
Only a school got in the way of the many houses, which continued as we turned onto Mendon Road. This street took us back to Route 1, where it was rather industrial with a few auto shops. We went under I-95, and after some more industrial scenery, we entered Rhode Island. Turning onto Roosevelt Ave and then George Bennett Highway (with an interesting freight track in the median), we arrived at the “terminus” at Broadway and Benefit Street.
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| This is the most random place to end a bus… |
GATRA Route: 11 (South Attleboro Connector)
Ridership: Well, if we’re talking about my ride, it got two other people, which is miserable. The route’s overall ridership on weekdays is slightly better, at around 125 riders per day (about the “average” for Attleboro and Taunton routes). On Saturdays, the route gets about 105 riders, which is above average, although I credit the increased ridership to the lack of weekend service on the 24.
Pros: Um…it serves Emerald Square…and it serves Pawtucket. Yeah. Uh…it runs every hour?
Cons: I’m sorry, but I don’t see why this route gets Saturday service but the 24 doesn’t. In a hub-and-spoke system, won’t more people want to go to the hub? Although…maybe people don’t need to go from Pawtucket to Attleboro. Perhaps there’s just a large ridership contingency of people going from Pawtucket to Emerald Square? After all, this is the GATRA’s second most productive route on Saturdays, so that’s gotta count for something. I’m seriously starting to doubt myself here.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Emerald Square, basically. The terminus is technically Pawtucket, but it’s basically right on the border. You would have to use the RIPTA to get into the city itself.
Final Verdict: 5/10
You know, I’m not really sure anymore. The 11 gets pretty good productivity, especially on Saturdays, but it was quiet both when I rode it and when I saw it at Emerald Square on a Saturday. Still, the numbers can’t lie…can they? I still think it would be better to operate the 10, 12, and 24 on Saturdays rather than the current 10, 11, and 12 setup they have now (and I think it would save them a bus). But still…if the 11 gets ridership, I guess that’s fine. I’m sticking with a tentative 5 at the moment.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
GATRA: 12 (Attleboro/North Attleboro)
Here’s an alternate way of getting from the Emerald Square Mall to Attleboro. The 12 is theoretically more direct than the 10, but it suffers from “deviation syndrome” up near Emerald Square, and it ends up taking forever just like the 10. Oh well…what GATRA route doesn’t have deviation syndrome?
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| The Emerald Square Mall busway is a…dark place. |
Leaving the Emerald Square Mall, we headed out onto Route 1…and almost instantly hit traffic. Well, no, Route 1 was flowing fine. But, see, we had to make a left turn in order to serve another mall, and since the light was so short and so many other people were heading left, we had to wait for quite a while.
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| HOORAY ANOTHER MALL! |
After serving this mall, I figured we would be able to get back onto Route 1 and get going. But nope! First we had to deviate again to serve Walmart! WOOOOOOOOO! Yes, there were two people that got on, but why do we have to go all the way up to the front door? What’s wrong with boarding from across the parking lot? It was so slow.
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| Walmart: everybody’s favorite place. |
Okay, so we finally returned to Route 1 and continued south. We continued to pass huge stores with big parking lots, but luckily we didn’t have to divert to serve them. There was a bit of an industrial section for a bit, but don’t worry – the malls came back! Indeed, we had to deviate once more to serve Mayfaire Plaza. I swear, these GATRA routes spend more time in parking lots than they do on actual roads.
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| Something being built, I guess. |
We returned to Route 1 for only a little bit before turning onto Newport Ave. All of a sudden, the surroundings became residential, and let me tell you, the route sped up immensely from there. The street became West Street and we passed a water treatment facility, then it became pure woods as we merged onto South Ave.
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| Some trees. |
After a few houses, we went under I-95, and it stayed residential on the other side. We also passed a few housing developments, and luckily we didn’t deviate to serve them. The street then became Thacher Street, but we turned onto County Street at a square of the same name (where there was some retail).
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| The intersection at County Square. |
We went by the nice-looking Capron Park (which has a zoo in it), then the housing became more dense. Soon after passing a school, there were a few more businesses before we turned into the Attleboro Transit Center busway. As this was the last 12 trip of the day, our bus went out of service and the driver drove off.
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| At least it’s bright now. |
GATRA Route: 12 (Attleboro/North Attleboro)
Ridership: On weekdays, this is the GATRA’s third-busiest route, with about 170 average riders. On Saturdays, it jumps up to second-busiest, with around 145 average riders. I took the bus on a Saturday, and there were about 10 people who boarded. That’s not bad for GATRA standards!
Pros: The route basically offers an alternate way of getting from Emerald Square to Attleboro, plus it serves some other malls along the way. To be honest, the residential section from Route 1 to Attleboro doesn’t seem to get many riders, but it does let the bus go pretty fast. The schedule is good, too, with every-hour service on weekdays and Saturdays.
Cons: But…but just like the 10, it still takes forever! The mall deviations are so time-consuming, and we ended up being late getting back to Attleboro. I understand that the deviations get some riders, but they really slow down the route and affect its on-time performance.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The malls, I suppose. Who doesn’t love malls?
Final Verdict: 7/10
Again, this is a good GATRA route that seems to get a good amount of people. It’s slow because of its deviations, but if people use them, I guess that’s fine. Next up, though, we’re looking at another Attleboro route that’s significantly less decent, and is the reason I think GATRA’s Saturday service should be restructured. Stay tuned!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
GATRA: 10 (Attleboro/North Attleboro)
Okay, maybe this one won’t be so bad. The numbered GATRA routes are typically more well-established and get more riders than some of their…other routes. What’s more, the 10 is basically the premiere Attleboro route, so maybe it’ll be good! Maybe it won’t make a bunch of deviations from the main route all the time, and it’ll be nice and direct. Or not.
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| Hey, at least the bus is nice! |
My friend Nathan and I were originally going to use the 16 to get to Rhode Island, but when this beauty of a bus came up, we had to take a ride. It was a brand new New Flyer MiDi, and the inside felt a bit like the second bus I rode in Florence, except more sensibly designed. It felt super modern and looked really great and clean, although the seats were uncomfortable and the stop request bell was very hard to hear. Still, GATRA only has three of these, so it was great to take a ride.
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| Looking toward the front of the bus. |
Leaving from the GATRA terminal at Attleboro Station, we headed up Main Street, passing the main businesses of downtown Attleboro. As we left the center of town, the scenery became a mix of houses and businesses, then we crossed over the Bungay River. We went by a cemetery on the other side and then we turned onto West Street.
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| Ahh, beautiful downtown Attleboro. |
West Street was lined with houses until the intersection with North Ave, where there was a small shopping plaza and some apartments. Coincidentally, we also turned onto North Ave, which was mostly houses for a bit, aside from another development. However, we soon passed a field and an industrial wasteland right across the street from each other, then went under I-95 after another field (connected to a high school).
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| That’s a GATRA Dial-a-Ride vehicle parked in the field. I wonder what it’s doing there… |
After more residential neighborhoods, we turned onto Robert F. Toner Boulevard to make – ugh – a deviation to Triboro Plaza, a shopping mall. But wait…there were two people waiting at the mall! A deviation that actually gets riders? And it had a shelter and signage and everything! Wow, this is a strange concept to grasp, but I like it!
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| There were two people waiting here? Oh well, more power to them, I guess. |
We returned to Robert F. Toner Boulevard, which became Commonwealth Ave. The scenery was pretty varied, with houses, businesses, and a post office along the road. It became Elm Street, where we passed a school and a park, as well as lots more houses. Eventually, we reached the North Attleboro Council on Aging, which we had to – aghhhh – deviate to serve. And yet…one person got on! Okay, 10, you’re two for two so far with deviations.
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| A park at the Council on Aging. |
We made our way back to Elm Street, and after crossing Route 1, we went by some dense apartments and a fire station. We then turned onto Washington Street, which was lined with businesses – this was North Attleboro Center, a place which I did not know existed! Next, we turned onto High Street, which was lined with more houses.
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| A side street in North Attleboro Center. |
But alas! It was a dirty trick! Turns out this whole High Street adventure was just another – AHHHHHH – deviation. This time, it was to serve a housing development, and it got no riders. Nice try, GATRA, nice try.
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| Some houses near North Attleboro Center. |
We made our way back through the center before turning onto…Route 1. Uh-oh. Yes, the road was just lined with really pitty, industrial businesses for a while, interspersed with the occasional housing development or shopping mall. And boy, there really isn’t much else to say. The bus usually diverts into a Stop and Shop, but I’ve taken two trips on the 10 and only one of them included that deviation; it got no one.
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| These flowers aren’t exactly making the median more pretty… |
At one point, someone hit the stop request and the bus pulled over next to the “Pineapple Inn,” the sketchiest-looking highway motel I’ve ever seen. And…two people got off here! And walked toward the inn! People inhabit that place? It was a very strange sight.
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| The Pineapple Inn, ladies and gentlemen! |
We went by some more washed-out businesses, including a huge Showcase Cinemas that seemed deserted. After going under I-295, we turned off into the Emerald Square Mall, which did seem like a decent mall, I’ll admit. However, we navigated to the strangest location for a bus stop – it was underneath the mall’s big parking garage. It was here that the bus became an 11, and Nathan and I just stayed on to continue to Pawtucket.
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| Here’s another shot in Attleboro, since the bus was signed as an 11 by the time we got to Emerald Square. |
Pros: Well, the ridership, for sure – at least people use this route. Also, the schedule for the 10 is good, since it’s solid every-hour service Mondays through Saturdays.
Cons: The problem is that it has a habit of being late, since they really don’t give it enough time to get to Emerald Square. And though the deviations get people for the most part, I think those should be the first things to go. For example, the Triboro Plaza deviation is also served by the 14, which takes a more direct route through it, anyway; the 10 could stop serving it.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The route serves a good amount of malls on its route, but the only one that really seems worth visiting is Emerald Square. Even then, it’s still just a generic shopping mall.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Sigh…this is only because the route gets ridership, okay? I’ll be talking a lot more about how the GATRA can improve its Attleboro routes later on, so for now, I just think that the 10 should iron out some of its deviations because it’s often late. It’s a fine route, I guess.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
RIPTA: 51 (Charles Street)
Ahh, here we go! This was the route my friend Nathan and I used to get back from CCRI, and it definitely seems superior to the 73. The 51 is a straight shot, with the trunk route remaining almost entirely on Charles Street down to Providence.
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| The bus coming from a layover point at CCRI. |
But first, I’d just like to take a minute to discuss the interesting stop at CCRI. It was a shelter, and despite being very beat up, at least it was there. However, there was no “RIPTA” bus sign, and it was entirely unmarked aside from an old schedule card on the wall of the shelter. There was also this pot that seemed like it should be used for plants, but people had thrown cigarettes in there instead – it wasn’t the greatest place to wait.
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| Ew… |
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| Also, here’s another shot of the bus coming in. |
From CCRI, the 51 takes the same route as the 73. Thus, we headed down Old Louisquisset Pike, which was lined with houses. Unlike on the 73, the driver took the regular route this time, so we continued down the Pike until Paul Street, where we deviated and served the Twin River Casino. No one got on, so we headed back down Paul Street and returned to the Pike once more.
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| Is this really a street that needs sweeping from these street sweepers? |
After a few businesses, it started to feel pretty rural, with mostly woods and the occasional house coming through. The street eventually went under Route 146, and we entered North Providence. It became an interesting mix of businesses, industrial buildings, and houses. The 73 left us at Mineral Spring Ave, and we were on our own.
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| The intersection with Mineral Spring Ave. |
The scenery was pretty consistent from there. There was a surprising number of auto shops along the street, with a few other businesses. and the rare residential block. Once we entered Providence, though, the proportion of dense houses got larger. The industrial side of things started to go down, and what businesses remained were nicer than the ones that were appearing before.
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| A side street with lots of houses. |
At a small park, we were joined by the 52 from Branch Ave. Charles Street was mostly houses from there, although we also passed a school and a big apartment building. After the apartment, the street became lined with businesses again, including a massive Home Depot. We were joined by the 55 and the 72 around this time, and together we crossed over the Northeast Corridor.
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| Hmm…this intersection doesn’t look too great. |
Charles Street became one-way for a stretch, so we had to merge onto Ashburton Street. It came right up next to the tracks, with industrial buildings on the other side. Alongside a big Marriot, we rejoined Charles Street, which was pretty leafy aside from some big office buildings behind the trees.
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| Man, we’re quite close to those tracks. |
The street became Mill Street, but we merged onto Canal Street right after the name changed. Paralleling the Moshassuck River, there was a rather nice park on the other side of the street. Eventually, we started to go by more buildings before crossing the river into downtown Providence. After a few more turns, we arrived at Kennedy Plaza.
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| The bus at Kennedy Plaza. |
RIPTA Route: 51 (Charles Street)
Ridership: This one is tricky. See, when RIPTA did its ridership counts, the 51 was a very different route, running between Providence and Pawtucket with infrequent service. At that time, it would get a measly 520 riders per weekday and 240 per Saturday, with no Sunday service. But now, with the CCRI routing, my ride got great ridership, with about 25 passengers in total. No one got on at CCRI or Twin River, though, so all of the ridership came from the urban section of the route.
Pros: There’s a lot to like about this route. I love how it’s basically straight all the way up to Twin River, and it serves a busy corridor along the way. It also has a great schedule for the RIPTA, with every half hour service weekdays and Saturdays, and every hour service nights and Sundays. I also really like how service to CCRI is scaled back to every 90 minutes on Saturdays and completely eliminated on Sundays, since it really doesn’t have to go all the way up there on weekends. Trips terminate at Twin River when they don’t go to CCRI.
Cons: However, I wonder if service even needs to go up to CCRI all the time on weekdays. I mean, on our trip, there was no one until Charles Street. Plus, the 54 provides express service from CCRI and Twin River to Providence, making the 51 kind of redundant. I’m wondering if short-turning every other 51 at Mineral Spring Ave would be worthwhile, since it seems like the large majority of ridership comes from south of there.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There were definitely businesses on Charles Street, but none of them were very appealing. I guess this is a fine connection to Twin River, but the 54 is faster.
Final Verdict: 7/10
For a non-key RIPTA route, the 51 has a great schedule. And based on the ridership I saw, that’s definitely worth it. However, short-turning trips at Mineral Spring Ave could be worthwhile, especially during the summer when CCRI isn’t in session. Other than that, though, this route does a good job and serves its corridor well!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
RIPTA: 73 (Fairlawn/CCRI)
The RIPTA doesn’t seem to care at all about the 73. For one thing, it’s a Pawtucket route, which means it instantly gets less priority. Also, its schedule (and ridership) is absolutely abysmal. And just look at the beauty of a vehicle they gave this thing:
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| Oh my gosh, we’re in prehistoric times! |
Well, this bus was simply a relic. It was high-floor, and inside it felt exactly like an RTS bus…except worse! This thing was loud and could hardly make it up the tiniest hill..and yet it was made in 2004! Really?! It was quite the ride.
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| The awful interior (with an interesting expression from my friend Nathan). |
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| Looking up toward the front. |
We left the Pawtucket Transit Center, going up Roosevelt Ave and turning onto Exchange Street. This was downtown Pawtucket, so the street was lined with brick buildings, some of which housed businesses. The street became Goff Ave, and the surroundings got very industrial, with lots of factories and empty plots of land everywhere.
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| Oh, did I mention the windows were caked with dirt? Prepare for some great pictures! |
We turned onto Main Street, then merged onto Mineral Spring Ave, going by a cemetery and starting the unique portion of the route. The street became lined with dense houses and a few businesses. We crossed over the Northeast Corridor and went by a school and some residential developments on the other side.
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| A residential side street. |
We passed a boring-looking shopping plaza and some old factories after. There was a school bus yard on the side of the road, then the bus struggled up a hill lined with more dense houses. Businesses appeared at the intersection with Smithfield Ave, but the scenery was generally residential along here.
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| Some sort of parking area. |
Eventually, we turned onto Charles Street, joining the 51. The street was mostly businesses for a bit until we struggled our way up another hill which went under Route 146. We entered Lincoln on the other side of the underpass, and it got surprisingly rural-feeling. The street (now called Old Louisquisset Pike) had no sidewalks, and the houses were pretty far apart in the forest.
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| Oh look…um…telephone wires! |
Some businesses appeared eventually, and we turned onto Paul Street after that. This led to a huge parking lot, and we went onto a street running through it to get to the Twin River Casino. Here, everyone on the bus got off except for me and Nathan, so we continued with the rest of the route alone. The bus went around a little loop and we headed back onto Paul Street.
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| Mmm…casinos. |
Technically we’re supposed to go back the way we came, but the driver decided to loop around the casino instead. Thus, we headed down Paul Street for a while before merging onto Twin River Road at a rotary. This took us back to Old Louisquisset Pike, which was lined with houses. We soon turned off the road, though, arriving at the final stop: the Community College of Rhode Island, or “CCRY” as the lispy automatic announcement made it sound.
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| Two shots of the bus at CCRI. |
RIPTA Route: 73 (Fairlawn/CCRI)
Ridership: Since I don’t count kids (they don’t pay), the total ridership on the bus was…four people! Including me and Nathan! Okay, but it was the morning, so maybe more people use the route overall. Let’s see, in 2012, the route got…287 passengers per weekday. Wow, and it ran on weekends back then with even lower ridership – 100 passengers on Saturdays and 81 on Sundays. Oh, and what’s this? It ranked “47 out of 54 routes.” 7th-lowest ridership route, huh? Tsk, tsk.
Pros: Just about the only use for this route is that it gives a one-seat ride from Pawtucket to the Twin River Casino and CCRI. I mean, the section on Mineral Spring Ave got no one, and it’s pretty close to the much more frequent 72.
Cons: Gosh, you know it’s a bad route when I start listing off cons in the “pros” section. Let’s see, aside from the fact that the independent section of the route is mostly useless, what else is wrong with it? Oh, the schedule is quite miserable. The route runs every hour, and on weekdays only. Yes, it makes sense, but if the ridership is this low even with every hour service, then why run the route at all outside of rush hour?
Nearby and Noteworthy: Uh…Twin River? If you happen to be into gambling, and you also happen to be in Pawtucket on a weekday, then this bus is for you!
Final Verdict: 4/10
This is definitely one of the more interesting RIPTA routes I’ve been on so far, but it just doesn’t seem very useful. 73 service could probably be cut outside of rush hour, and not too many people would be impacted. The most important thing it does is connect Pawtucket to Twin River, but if only a few people are taking advantage of it, then clearly it must not be very necessary.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
RIPTA: 1 (Eddy/Hope/Benefit)
The 1 is basically omnipresent wherever you go on the RIPTA. It serves the authority’s two biggest transit hubs, as well as two Commuter Rail stations. A merger of three former RIPTA routes, the 1 runs through some incredibly varied neighborhoods, and can be very interesting to take the whole way. Well…except you can’t take it the whole way. I shall explain.
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| This isn’t the 1, but we thought it was the 1, so…yeah. |
The full route is from T.F. Green Airport to South Attleboro Station, but no bus actually does the whole thing. The trips that start at T.F. Green Airport only go as far as Pawtucket, while the trips that start at South Attleboro only go as far as, um, “Shaws.” So in order to take the whole thing, one has to wait for the next bus in the middle of the route.
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| Ah! There‘s the 1! |
My friend Nathan and I were the only people on the bus from T.F. Green, so we headed onto Post Road without any passengers. The scenery? Lots of parking lots and weird airport businesses. We went by a really deserted mall, but that was about it for intriguing views – the rest was just retail with parking lots out front.
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| Mmm…how pretty, |
We went through a highway interchange, and after lots of car dealerships on the other side, it went back to more pitty businesses. Soon we reached Elmwood Ave, where the 20 left and we started a solo portion. There was a bit of a residential section from there, at least in the form of a few developments. The businesses came back for just a bit longer (as well as a school), but it became all houses after that.
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| A residential side street. |
However, once we turned onto Warwick Ave, it was more of the same scenery as Post Road…sigh. Although this time, there were also some industrial and residential buildings thrown in the mix. We went by Shaws, where South Attleboro trips begin, then crossed over the Pawtuxet River.
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| What a great river view… |
On the other side, we passed a Stop and Shop (isn’t that basically the same thing as Shaws?) and then it got residential. There was also the occasional business, and we passed an apartment building at one point. Later, quite a lot happened at a certain intersection: we connected with the 3 for a second, we merged onto Broad Street, and we went by an amazing cathedral.
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| A busy intersection. |
Heading up Broad Street, it was yet another mix of houses, businesses, and a few industrial buildings (as well as a cemetery). However, the sudden influx of (pretty sketchy) businesses signified that we were at the Broad City Line, the terminus of the R-Line. For some reason, this is where Nathan and I decided to get off to wait for a South Attleboro bus.
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| What a strange stop! |
We had about 15 minutes until the next bus was due to arrive, so we decided to walk back down the route a bit just for fun. Along the way, we encountered some really strange-looking stops. I guess the neighborhood commissioned them, because they’re specific to “Edgewood,” but it was rather unclear that they were actual RIPTA signs. I think they were old, because the logo was very different from the current one.
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| Hello, other 1! |
So, continuing from Broad City Line, we merged away from the R-Line pretty quickly onto Eddy Street. For a few blocks it was lined with dense houses, but then the scenery became industrial. We went by some big factories and warehouses before going over I-95. Crossing over, we also saw a Providence and Worcester freight train doing some shunting, but it was on the wrong side of the bus for a picture.
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| Here, have a side street instead. |
Although there were a few houses past the highway, it very quickly shifted back to industrial scenery, along with a few businesses. At Public Street, we were joined by the 3, and then we passed the Rhode Island Hospital. But while the 3 stops outside the building, the 1 actually deviates to serve the front door on this narrow street. It seemed like a pointless and annoying deviation at first, but there ended up being a huge crowd waiting at the hospital that doubled the ridership on board.
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| This all looks rather industrial. |
From the hospital, we went under I-95 and entered the most industrial part of the route so far. There were all these huge abandoned plots of land, and the land that was occupied was made up of abandoned warehouses. However, the street eventually became Dorrance Street, and all of a sudden there were buildings and businesses on either side – we were in downtown Providence.
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| Oh…well this certainly isn’t downtown… |
We soon pulled into Kennedy Plaza, where a big exchange of riders occurred – most of the bus got off while lots of people got on. By this point, Nathan was incredibly excited, since he had never been in the East Side Transit Tunnel before, which the 1 runs through just after Kennedy Plaza. However, at this point, the driver made an announcement: “The tunnel is closed today.” Well, shoot! Oh well, at least we got to take an interesting detour.
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| A street near Kennedy Plaza. |
We still crossed the Providence River on Washington Street as if we were heading into the tunnel. Perhaps we would just take the direct on-street alternative to it? But no, we ended up turning onto North Main Street instead, with some great historic buildings on one side and a park on the other.
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| I love this park! |
Soon, we turned onto Olney Street, which is a street not usually covered by RIPTA bus routes. It was a leafy neighborhood, with houses and apartments lining the street. We went up and over a hill, passing a big field in the process. Turns out it was the field for the Hope High School, where school trips on the 1 operate both in the morning and afternoon.
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| The intersection with Hope Street. |
When we rejoined the regular route at Hope Street, it seemed like we were just going to continue up to Pawtucket. However, we first had to head south to serve the parts of the route we had bypassed. Thus, we turned right onto Hope Street, which became Thayer Street soon after. We were going by some very nice houses along here (being close to Brown, the East Side is the most affluent neighborhood in Providence).
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| A side street from a little further down Thayer. |
Soon the street became lined with lots of businesses, this being the main drag of the East Side. Many of them were hipstery, but that’s to be expected with a college nearby. We went by the closed tunnel (it looked fine to me), then turned onto Waterman Street and back up onto Brook Street. Things were mostly residential, and we soon merged into Hope Street to continue the route north.
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| These are some great-looking houses! |
It continued to be residential on leafy Hope Street, but we also went by a park, a few churches, and a school. The houses went on for quite a while until the intersection with Rochambeau Ave, where the street all of a sudden became lined with businesses. They weren’t as nice as the ones back on Thayer Street, but they certainly weren’t as bad as the ones back on Post Road (man, that feels like a long time ago).
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| Henry Bear’s Park exists outside of Massachusetts? Why was I not aware of this? |
Eventually the street became lined with houses again, and it had kind of an East Arlington feel now – a strange mix between urban and suburban. We went by another park, and then some more industrial-feeling businesses with parking lots came up (including a few auto shops).We were in Pawtucket now and the street became East Ave, but the East Arlington style of housing continued past the short retail section.
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| A gas station with some houses behind it. |
We passed another school, then a small plaza with an office building in it. Next, East Ave merged into George Street, and we went by a cemetery and crossed over I-95 again. After the street got a leafy median, we turned onto East Ave once more. We were in downtown Pawtucket now, with brick buildings lining the street. Were they nice brick buildings? No…not really.
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| Going over I-95. |
We made our way onto Roosevelt Ave in order to serve the Pawtucket Transit Center. This is where buses from T.F. Green Airport terminate, but since we were going all the way to South Attleboro, we picked up a few more passengers and headed off. We turned onto Exchange Street, going over the Blackstone River, and after a few more brick buildings, we turned again onto Broadway.
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| Nice view! |
There were a few industrial buildings, then we crossed I-95 for the fourth and final time on the route. The scenery was incredibly varied on the other side of the highway, with businesses, houses, churches, and a school all making it into the mix. We soon turned onto Benefit Street, that intersection being the terminus of GATRA’s 11 and 24 from Attleboro.
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| Although it’s the same bus, this was from earlier in the day when Nathan and I got off the 11 at Broadway and Benefit. Review of that route coming soon! |
Benefit Street was simply lined with dense houses for a while. A few auto shops and businesses cropped up at the intersection with Mendon Ave, but it was pretty consistently houses. Eventually we turned onto Cottage Street, also lined with houses, then we turned again onto Newport Ave, joining the 35.
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| What a strange median…thing. |
After some pretty sketchy-looking businesses, Newport Ave went onto a bridge over the Commuter Rail tracks and we entered Massachusetts. Right on the other side of the bridge, we turned onto an unnamed loop road, and the driver let us off at a rather unassuming stop that was pretty far from the station itself. As the bus went into a mall to lay over, Nathan and I started walking toward the Commuter Rail.
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| That woman tried to get on, but the driver said she would have to wait at the inbound stop on the other side of a parking lot. |
RIPTA Route: 1 (Eddy/Hope/Benefit)
Ridership: Alright, this is tricky. Since the 1 used to be three separate routes, and since the RIPTA’s ridership information is relatively outdated, I had to get the data from the three former routes of the 1. Bear with me:
- The original 1 route (covering the portion south of Kennedy Plaza) got 1,900 passengers per weekday, 700 passengers per Saturday, and 382 per Sunday. Annoyingly, the 1 used to be completely different, with two branches and a route that covered a lot of what the 3 covers now. Still, one branch went onto Post Road (not all the way to the airport, though), and the data does show that the ridership drastically increases north of Broad City Line.
- The 42 served the section from Providence to Pawtucket along Hope Street. This was RIPTA’s 8th highest ridership route, with 2,000 passengers per weekday, 852 per Saturday, and 465 per Sunday. It basically runs the same route as what the 1 does now.
- The 77 covered the part of the route from Pawtucket to South Attleboro, although the 77 didn’t quite make it to the station – it terminated further east on Benefit. Regardless, the route got decent ridership for such a short distance, with 643 riders on weekdays, 337 on Saturdays, and 120 on Sundays.
Transit Tales: A Rather Troublesome Commute
I was doing my daily commute to my summer job in Central Square. Unfortunately, as I got down to Alewife, I had just missed a train. “Oh well,” I thought. The next one would still get me there on time. OR WOULD IT???
No, it would not. Things seemed fine at first, although we did leave Alewife rather slowly. At first I thought it was because we had to switch tracks, but nope – we were on the right one already. So why were we going so slow? And why was the train making such an ear-piercing screeching noise? A little past the Alewife crossover, the train stopped entirely.
This was where it got weird. The driver’s radio was broadcasting over the entire car: “Train 01735! Train 01735! Can you hear me? Move to another part of the car where we can hear you.” A few minutes later, the driver left her cab. “You guys can hear me, right?” She asked the few people on board. We all said yes, and she pointed to the radio and said “I guess she can’t. I’m out of power!” Well, that didn’t sound good.
The driver moved to some other part of the train, and we sat there in silence for a few minutes. Finally, she came back and disappeared into the cab, coming out with a reflective vest on. She left again, and returned after another few minutes with another worker. They both went into the cab, and the train started making some very interesting noises.
Luckily, whatever they did seemed to help, and we started moving again! Good, perhaps I could still make it. When we arrived at Davis, a huge crowd had amassed as expected, and the train filled up. We moved on to Porter, where more people crowded on the train. But after Porter, it started to get bad again.
You see, the train stopped once more. And this time, it didn’t seem to want to budge. To make matters worse, the AC turned off, making it sweltering hot inside the crowded car. We waited there for about five minutes before finally, after lots more noises from the train, we started moving again. “Attention passengers,” the driver said. “We are experiencing multiple problems with this train. We will be going out of service at Harvard.” This caused many frustrated mutters to come from the crowd.
It took a while for the poor old train to even get to the next stop! When we arrived, the driver refused to open the doors until the antsy crowd on the platform stepped back from the yellow line. The doors opened and the train emptied out, and now I had to get myself to Central. I figured it would be a bad idea to wait for the next Red Line train, but how else would I get there?
Oh, of course! The 1! Because everyone knows the 1 is trustworthy at 9:30 AM! Okay, seriously, what the heck was I thinking? It would’ve been so much faster to walk. Regardless, I got on the 1, and we proceeded to Central travelling achingly slowly and picking people up at every stop. Also, I was standing at the back doors, and a few times the driver randomly opened them for no reason and I got crushed…but no matter. Finally, finally we got to Central Square, where I ran out of the bus and arrived at work 45 minutes late. If I had made it to Alewife just one minute earlier, none of this would’ve happened…
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| Sorry for the low quality, but I took this on my flip phone. Most of the lights went off at one point. |
556 (Waltham Highlands – Downtown Boston via Newton Corner, Central Square, Waltham, and Newtonville)
It’s a shame that my last I-90 express bus had to be so…I dunno, generic. The 556 isn’t a particularly interesting route. I guess we’ll, uh, take a look, then. Enjoy!
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| The picture I took when I actually rode the route was so bad that I came back to Boston the next day to get another! |
I got on the bus at Otis and Summer Streets, and we headed onto Kingston Street from there. We then turned onto Essex Street, then Surface Road, going by the Chinatown gate. From there, we made it onto a highway ramp and headed onto the mercifully traffic-less I-90.
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| Just for kicks, here’s the back of the bus, too! |
After going by mostly apartments, we went through the Copley Square tunnel. On the other side, we passed Fenway Park, then went up onto the bridge and past lots of B.U. buildings and the Charles River. Returning to ground level, we went through the Allston Tolls and went by the New Balance building later on.
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| Nice view! |
It started to get more suburban from there, with car dealerships and fast food restaurants visible from the highway. After the Commuter Rail tracks went under the highway to the other side, we took the next exit, and we were surrounded by offices and businesses. We made the first Newton Corner stop, but then we had to do the other one, too, requiring a loop around the highway to the other side.
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| Here’s a picture of…something. |
We served the stop on the other side, then looped back around past the first stop and onto Washington Street. The highway occupied one side of the road, while the other side had houses, schools, and a church. Businesses started to become more abundant until Newtonville, where there were some nice blocks of ’em.
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| A car dealership. |
Here, we turned onto Walnut Street, joining the 59 for a stretch. However, the 59 turned off onto Watertown Street pretty soon after, and now it was just us on Walnut. We passed a school, then a small common, and from there we merged onto Crafts Street. We went by a field and crossed over…um…”Cheese Cake Brook”, and it was all houses from there.
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| A side street. |
Eventually the street curved north at a common and became Waltham Street. The road came up next to a cemetery, and there were pretty industrial businesses on both sides after that. When we entered Waltham, the street became High Street.
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| A mail truck yard. |
There was one last stretch of houses, then we turned onto Moody Street, the main drag of Waltham. There were businesses on both sides until we crossed the Charles River and the single track of the Fitchburg Line. From there, we looped around Waltham Common and headed out onto Main Street.
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| A convenience store. |
After going by some more businesses on Main Street, we turned onto the amazingly-named Bacon Street. It was mostly lined with houses, but we also went by an industrial section (including a yard for The Ride vehicles!) and an elementary school. Next, we turned onto Dale Street and then Tomlin Street, where the houses were more spread out. This also happened to be the unassuming last stop of the route, so the driver kicked me off and I started walking back to Waltham Central Square.
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| Gotta love that “NOT IN SERVICE” sign. |
Route: 556 (Waltham Highlands – Downtown Boston via Newton Corner, Central Square, Waltham, and Newtonville)
Ridership: This is the second least-used I-90 express (after the 558), with only 515 riders per day. Don’t get me wrong, I can totally see why it gets so few passengers. Its independent section from Newton Corner to Waltham is entirely residential, and the Waltham Highlands loop is tiny and close to Central Square, anyway.
Pros: I definitely see the need for this route during rush hour, when it brings commuters to parts of Waltham not served by other buses. The schedule is also sensible, with 30 minute headways during rush hour and 60 minute headways during the day.
Cons: Do the midday trips really get that many people, though? I mean, they only run from Newton Corner to Waltham Highlands, and I just can’t imagine too many people taking advantage of a service like that.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Well, the independent section is mostly houses. Umm…I mean, I guess you could use this route to get to Moody Street, but there are a bunch of other routes that also run down that corridor.
Final Verdict: 6/10
During rush hour, the 556 carries a fine amount of people and brings them to their neighborhoods in Waltham. But midday? The route gets very few riders. I think they could probably cut midday service altogether, although that could get some outcry… Still, the 556 is definitely a good route at rush hour, at least.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Hersey
Well, I think this is officially my favorite Needham Line station. Yes, Hersey is by far the most isolated one, and the only one without a bus connection, but those only add to its tranquility. Oh, and the station is also in the middle of a golf course. We are most definitely in the suburbs…
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| Woah… |
The mini-high at Hersey is amazing, especially for the Needham Line. It’s big! It’s sheltered! And it has two whole benches! Oh man, it’s absolutely wonderful. I’m so happy there’s at least one Needham Line station with some common sense. Beyond the mini-high, there’s a small level crossing meant for golf carts, which is pretty funny.
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| The station shelter. |
Most of the rest of the platform is bare aside from some good ol’ fashioned wastebaskets, but eventually you do reach this shelter. It’s a pretty typical Needham Line shelter, but it gets the job done fine. However, it has to be said that there is actually more shelter and more seating offered at the mini-high! This is so unlike the Needham Line!
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| One of the staircases out of the station. |
I absolutely love the staircases that lead up to the station parking lots. They all have these shelters along them that just add so much character! I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about those staircase shelters that I really like. The accessible entrance is down near the mini-high, where a pedestrian crossing leads across the track.
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| The main entrance. |
The station’s main entrance has quite a lot of “stuff” around it. You’ve got some bike spaces, some newspaper boxes, and a weird bus shelter. Perhaps the shelter is meant for waiting for pick-ups? Or maybe a bus used to come here long ago.
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| The station’s main parking lot. |
Hersey seemed to have a lot of parking, so it was a bit surprising to find out that it’s only 360 spaces. Still, that’s very good for the Needham Line, and it more than covers the station’s weekday needs. There is also a lot of bike space here, not only with the rack near the entrance, but also a sheltered area at the edge of the parking lot.
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| The trees obscure the train a bit as it leaves. |
Station: Hersey
Ridership: This is the third-busiest station on the Needham Line? Wow…I wasn’t expecting that. With 540 riders per weekday, I guess Hersey gets most of its ridership from the fact that it doesn’t have any other stations close to it.
Pros: I mean, it’s the best Needham Line station, plain and simple. It has an amazing mini-high, lots of parking, and feels incredibly tranquil. Adding on to that, did I mention how great the trees are here? They just add so much to the station in terms of character, of which there’s already so much!
Cons: I’m really stretching here, but Hersey is definitely pretty isolated compared to the rest of the Needham Line. If anything, though, that adds to its tranquility.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Um…anyone here like golf? There are also a few businesses outside the station, but they’re nothing special.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Unless West Roxbury proves to be the greatest place ever (which I kinda doubt), Hersey is my favorite Needham Line station. It’s the only one with a proper mini-high, and it feels so tranquil and nice. I’m not sure why anyone would get off here if they didn’t live in the area, but you can walk to Needham Center from here or just get a train going back if you really want to see Hersey. I think it’s worth it.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Highland
Ah, it’s good to be back on the Needham Line! It’s been too long since I’ve seen those tiny mini-highs with no benches. Well…okay, maybe not that part of it. But Needham Line stations are always very tranquil, and Highland is certainly no exception.
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| The station parking lot. |
The station is located on Corey Street, a block away from busy Centre Street. You can get into the station via the parking lot, which has a great amount of spaces for such a local station: 175. Sure, it only gets about 68% full on weekdays, but it’s good to have the extra space.
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| That guy on the tracks was also taking pictures of the station! Sir, if you’re reading this…hi! |
Most of the platform is low-level and bare, but the station still has a lot of character. There are lots of lovely trees everywhere, and though single-tracked stations are inefficient, it really gives the station a tranquil feel. But yeah, the platform is mostly bare aside from a wastebasket and a great sheltered bike area.
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| The station…from above. Well, from on the mini-high, anyway. |
Of course, I must mention the shelter! It’s a typical Needham Line shelter to be honest, looking like it was built in the 90s. But, you know, it has a bench and a few wastebaskets. That’s all you really need in a shelter, right? It’s nice, it’s nice.
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| The mini-high (this one is courtesy of my friend Nathan’s phone again). |
What can I say? It’s a typical Needham Line mini-high. Sure, there’s a bit of shelter and a wastebasket, but as usual, I must complain about the lack of a bench. It seriously can’t be that hard to stick a small one up there, can it?
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| This station is so picturesque! |
Station: Highland
Ridership: It’s a local Needham Line station, so you can’t really expect much. Highland gets 290 inbound riders per weekday, making it the second least-used station on the line after Bellevue. The ridership it does get must come from pretty close by, considering how close Highland is to its neighboring stations.
Pros: Oh man, it’s just a beautiful station. It feels incredibly tranquil, and it also offers a great amount of parking. The shelter is generic, but it ultimately gets the job done without the station losing too much character.
Cons: As usual, the mini-high really needs a bench on it. Other than that, I think the Needham Line could definitely implement some flag stops middays and weekends. This station doesn’t get too much ridership, and it seems like a waste of time to stop if no one’s waiting.
Nearby and Noteworthy: You’ll find lots o’ businesses if you walk the one block to Centre Street, although I have no idea how “noteworthy” they actually are.
Final Verdict: 8/10
That 8 is mainly for the sheer tranquility and character of Highland. Yes, it’s a typical Needham Line station, but man, it’s just so nice here! Plus the station offers a good amount of parking, and it’s good functionally; the walk from the shelter to the mini-high isn’t terrible. And yes, the mini-high may be the standard, but it does its job fine, I guess.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
37 (Baker and Vermont Streets – Forest Hills Station via Belgrade Ave and Center Street)
Being on an almost-empty bus during rush hour is an interesting experience. However, this seems to happen a lot with the Belgrade Ave routes from Forest Hills. Since the crowds for them are timed with train arrivals, the buses operate on a first-come, first-serve basis. The 37 happened to come after a few other Belgrade routes that came after a train arrival, so as you can imagine, it was rather quiet inside.
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| “Via” Baker and Vermont? What madness is this? |
But I wasn’t satisfied with taking a regular 37 trip. No, I had to do one of the rare, six-times-per-day weekday runs that gets extended to Corey and LaGrange! What madness awaited at the end of the route? My pal Nathan and I had to find out! But, uh, first we had to travel down Washington Street like every other Upper Busway route from Forest Hills…
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| I had forgotten my camera SD card on my trip, so most pictures had to be taken with Nathan’s phone. This is one such picture, taken of the practically empty bus. |
You know the drill here. It was a industrial for a bit, but then the street became lined with apartments and the occasional business. We went by a field, and then there was retail everywhere, for we had arrived at Roslindale Village. Turning onto South Street and then Belgrade Ave, we went by the Roslindale Village Commuter Rail station.
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| Gotta love them auto shops. This is another phone picture |
The street was mostly residential, aside from businesses at major intersections. There was a particularly noteworthy retail block at Bellevue Station, and it continued as we turned onto Center Street. The street was lined with businesses as we went by Highland Station, and they went on all the way until when we turned onto LaGrange Street, starting the independent section.
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| Another phone picture of a stop outside of a CVS. |
We went under West Roxbury Station, and LaGrange Street was all residential from there. Eventually, we turned onto Vermont Street. There were a few businesses at the end, where we turned onto Baker Street, joining the 52 for a bit. However, we turned onto Lasell Street soon after, which was once again lined with houses.
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| The intersection of Lagrange and Vermont (and Addington), taken from Nathan’s phone. |
But now it was time for the extended portion of the route! Instead of looping back around, we turned north on Lagrange, crossing VFW Parkway. From there, the street had a cemetery on one side and houses on the other. And then, uh…then it became woods. Like, just woods. And then we reached the intersection of Corey and LaGrange, where the bus made this really sharp curve onto Corey Street – it was practically a u-turn! And just like that, we were at the final stop, and the bus took off.
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| Wait…where the heck are we? |
This stop…this stop was essentially the middle of nowhere. I mean, it was on this little scrap of sidewalk in the middle of the woods, with some random substation buzzing away behind it. And while Nathan and I were walking back to Highland Station, a caterpillar landed on my bag and got stuck! I mean, clearly we were way out in the boondocks. But anyway…stay tuned for Highland!
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| What the heck is this stop?! (picture courtesy of Nathan’s phone) |
Route: 37 (Baker and Vermont Streets – Forest Hills Station via Belgrade Ave and Center Street)
Ridership: The 37 has the lowest ridership of the Belgrade Ave routes, probably due to its short independent section. It gets 1,593 riders per weekday and exactly 1,000 riders per Saturday, both of which are about average for the MBTA. Of course, my ride had a total of four people, including me and Nathan. This was at rush hour, people!
Pros: The best thing I can say about the 37 is that it provides extra service to Belgrade Ave. Its schedule is inconsistent in the morning (about every 20 minutes or so), but in the evening, it’s a solid 15 minute headway, which is great. As for the rest of the schedule, it makes sense based on the ridership, with the route running every 40 minutes midday and every 35 minutes Saturdays, with no Sunday service.
Cons: The problem is that the route doesn’t have much to offer on its own. I mean, the 35 offers a sizeable independent section, while the 36 has reverse commuters going to the Rivermoor Industrial Park. The 37, on the other hand? I mean, it’s got a little residential loop and that’s it. Also, the Corey and LaGrange extension seems pretty pointless. No one went out there, and it only runs six trips per day, anyway.
Nearby and Noteworthy: On the independent section, all you’ll find is houses. I mean…yeah, that’s about it.
Final Verdict: 4/10
Yes, the 37 definitely serves its purpose along Belgrade Ave, and if a trip is timed right, it can get a bunch of people. But how many of them actually go to the route’s independent section? Let’s face it, most of the 37’s ridership is purely for the Belgrade Ave section and nothing else. And the Corey and LaGrange trips? I mean, they’re basically the middle of nowhere! I think they’re meant to serve a few housing developments that are sort of nearby, but if no one uses the trips, then there’s not much point in running them.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates