Random Photos: A Star is Born
It’s been a while since a Random Photos! I mean, how could I not post this…interesting vandalism of a “Stairs” sign at Quincy Adams?
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| HAHAHAHAHAHAHA |
Needham Heights
And here we are at the end of the Needham Line! Is there a big shiny terminus? Well, unfortunately not. There’s just Needham Heights.
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| The station’s shelter. |
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| So…far…away… |
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| A train coming into the station. |
Ridership: This is the busiest Needham Line station, with 1,104 riders per weekday. In fact, it’s the 14th busiest Commuter Rail station on the system! The majority of those passengers either walk here or are dropped off, because the parking lot can only hold a tenth of that ridership…
Pros: Well, it’s busy. And it has parking and a shelter. So…that’s nice.
Cons: Oh, you know, just the fact that the walk from the waiting area to the boarding area is insanely long! You could just walk back to Boston in the time it takes to get to that stupid boarding area! Well, okay, maybe not, but it’s still a long walk.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Yeah, there are definitely some businesses nearby, but nothing seems to be especially noteworthy.
Final Verdict: 4/10
Am I being harsh? Maybe I’m being harsh. I mean, this is a pretty barebones station to begin with – all it has is the shelter and the boarding area. So maybe the MBTA could make it less barebones by PUTTING A BENCH BETWEEN THE TWO. No, no, I’m not being harsh at all.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Needham Center
Alright, we’re moving north to the middle of the three Needham Commuter Rail stations (or at least the ones with “Needham” in their name – sorry, Hersey). Nestled right in downtown Needham, Needham Center may not be tranquil like its southern counterpart, Needham Junction, but it certainly has a very local feel. Let’s start on the southern end…
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| This was the first thing we came across. |
I was with my friend Noah, and the first thing we saw when we came into the station was a public piano just sitting there. Of course this was our cue to sit down and start playing a Heart and Soul duet. The piano was a little out of tune, but it was really cool that it was there. I’m not here to review musical instruments, though, so let’s keep going.
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| Looking down the platform. |
There are a few businesses right on the platform, which is awesome – a tailor and a cafe, housed in what was apparently the old station building. Along the platform, there are a few pedestrian crossings that lead to a parking lot (apparently not an official MBTA lot, but a lot nonetheless). No shelter is offered along the bulk of the platform, unfortunately.
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| A picture from platform level of the high-level portion. |
Like the other Needham Line stations, you have to board the train at a high-level platform at the end of the station. The nice thing about Needham Center is that there are benches all along the platform, so the walk to the high-level portion really isn’t that bad. Unfortunately, the boarding area is the only place that offers any shelter, and it really isn’t much. Maybe people can wait in the café if it’s raining?
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| A train shrinking into the trees. |
Station: Needham Center
Ridership: With an average of 975 riders per weekday, this is the second most-used station on the Needham Line. I’m not sure if people drive to this station, since I don’t know how the parking here works exactly, but there are some reasonably dense residential neighborhoods in walking distance.
Pros: It’s right in the middle of Needham Center, which is a big plus. Also, there are lots of benches along the platform, meaning you can wait pretty close to the boarding area. Plus, the station has businesses right on its platform, and the piano is a great touch.
Cons: There isn’t any shelter along the platform, so I’m not really sure where people go when it rains. Also, there’s no official MBTA parking, but I assume you can still use the city lot, right?
Nearby and Noteworthy: Needham Center has lots of businesses, but of course, I don’t have any specific places. The Center Cafe is right on the platform if you need a quick bite.
Final Verdict: 8/10
There’s a lot to like here. It’s great that there are benches all along the platform, even if they’re not sheltered. Also, this is the second time I’ve seen businesses right on a Commuter Rail platform, and it’s still amazing. Oh, and the piano? That’s probably the best part of this station, to be honest.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Needham Junction
I’ve been to a few Commuter Rail stations so far with old station buildings. They always look very nice, but have relatively boring uses functionally. I mean, we’ve seen old buildings used as a club, a barbershop, and a closed visitor’s center – nothing too interesting. Needham Junction, on the other hand, decided to turn its old building into an ice cream parlor! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
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| The old building. |
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| The station’s bus shelter. |
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| The platform, with the sheltered building in the background. |
There are some benches and newspaper boxes underneath the shelter of the station building. The station also has an old Commuter Rail map, still showing service to Gardner. In addition, although the high-level boarding area isn’t in the same place as where the benches are, the walk between the two really isn’t that bad here. It’s probably the shortest one out of the four Needham Line stations I’ve been to so far. That alone makes this station great.
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| A train going around the curve after the station. |
Station: Needham Junction
Ridership: This is the least-used station of the Needham Line’s Needham stations, including Hersey. Needham Junction only gets about 400 riders per weekday, which isn’t much at all.
Pros: There’s quite a lot to like about Needham Junction. There’s plentiful parking, a convenient off-street bus shelter, a great old station building, and a short walk from the waiting area to the boarding area. Plus, there’s the ice cream parlor! Can’t beat that.
Cons: The bus shelter’s a bit dingy, but nothing much other than that.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Aside from the ice cream parlor, there are some businesses along Chestnut Street. There doesn’t seem to be much of note down here, though, and Needham Center has much more to offer.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Man, I love this station. I don’t know if it’s because of its tranquility, its amenities, or just the fact that they converted the old building to an ice cream parlor, but Needham Junction is just great. Parts of it are on the dingy side, but other than that, this is probably my favorite Needham Line station I’ve been to.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Bellevue
On the Needham Line between Roslindale Village and West Roxbury, there’s a clump of really close stops serving the West Roxbury neighborhood. Bellevue is the least-used one, and it feels very suburban in nature. But can it be considered suburban when it’s still in Boston? Well, let’s take a look.
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| The station, as seen from Colbert Street. |
Bellevue is pretty hidden – there aren’t any T logos on Center Street or Belgrade Ave, so it’s pretty hard to find. Colbert Street is a residential side street, and doesn’t exactly scream, “Hey! There’s a train station here!” Bellevue has a tiny parking lot with 37 spaces, which is actually more than enough, considering how local it is. There’s even a little off-street “drop-off” area!
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| The station shelter. |
There’s a nice little shelter to wait at. It’s modern and doesn’t have much character, but it does its job well. The addition of a wastebasket is a convenient one. Waiting here is very tranquil, with mostly houses and trees for surroundings.
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| Where you actually board the train. |
The rest of the platform doesn’t have much of note, though there is a pedestrian crossing over to Belgrade Ave, which is nice. Other than that, there’s the place where you actually have to board the trains – a high level platform with a ramp leading up to it. Note the word “have” – you HAVE to board trains here. And it’s not like it has benches or anything. So if you want to sit while you wait for the train, you have to wait at the shelter, then walk over to the boarding area once the train comes. The walk isn’t too bad here, but this is a common annoyance with Needham Line stations – expect it to come up again later on.
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| A train leaving the station. There are some people waiting to cross the tracks to the right. |
Station: Bellevue
Ridership: As I mentioned, this is the least-used station on the Roslindale-West Roxbury cluster, and actually the least-used station on the whole Needham Line. It only gets about 280 inbound boardings per weekday, putting it at rank 99 for Commuter Rail ridership. That’s pretty low.
Pros: It’s a nice, tranquil station. It has plenty of parking, and good connections to main streets on either side. The shelter is a good place to wait, even if it is a bit ugly.
Cons: The walk from the shelter to the boarding area is annoying, but it’s not too bad, especially compared to some other stations on the line (which we’ll get to eventually). Other than that, I wish signage was a bit better on the main streets, and as I said, the shelter isn’t too pleasant to look at.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There are restaurants and stores on Centre Street to the west of the station, but I don’t know anything specific, as usual.
Final Verdict: 7/10
I sort of feel like I’m reviewing a D Line station here. Bellevue has nothing that makes it stand out from the crowd (though that little drop-off area is great), but it’s functional despite having a few bad features. I wish they could at least put a bench on the high-floor area so people could wait there instead.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
36 (Charles River Loop or VA Hospital – Forest Hills Station via Belgrade Ave and Center Street)
There’s a clump of bus routes, numbered 35-37, that basically parallel the Needham Commuter Rail from Forest Hills to West Roxbury. The 36 is the one in the middle, both numerically and geographically. Also, for a short route, it’s incredibly confusing. It can terminate at the Charles River Loop, the V.A. Hospital, or the Rivermoor Industrial Area on weekdays. We (my two friends and I) originally grabbed the bus from Bellevue, and that one terminated at the Charles River. From there, we weren’t able to make it to the Rivermoor Industrial Area in time, so we settled for a trip from the V.A. Hospital.
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| This stop was fairly well-marked, but it took us forever to find it, anyway. |
We headed north on VFW Parkway for a bit before making a u-turn and going south again. It was basically a forest, paralleling the Charles. We reached a massive intersection with the narrower Spring Street, which we turned onto. After passing the Charles River Loop, it became a mix of businesses and houses.
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| A bus laying over at the Loop. |
The 36’s solo section lasted for about three stops before we merged onto Centre Street, joining the 35. And a few blocks later, the 37 joined us, making a trio. We crossed over the Commuter Rail tracks, and it became entirely businesses on Centre Street. Eventually, we turned onto Belgrade Ave, crossing over the Commuter Rail tracks again and going by Bellevue Station.
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| The 36 on Belgrade Ave. |
From there, it became densely-spaced houses and apartments. Eventually we reached Roslindale Village, where we turned onto Corinth Street. This was a lovely, narrow street lined with businesses on both sides. We then headed up Washington Street along with the 50 million other routes up to Forest Hills. It was mostly dense apartments, right up until we reached Forest Hills Station.
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| The bus at the V.A. Hospital. |
Route: 36 (Charles River Loop or VA Hospital – Forest Hills Station via Belgrade Ave and Center Street)
Ridership: The ride I took from Bellevue to the Charles River was fairly crowded, with about 25 people on board – plus, there were probably more people who rode between Forest Hills and where I got on. The ride from the hospital back to the Orange Line was less-used, with only about 15 people who rode. Overall, of the three Belgrade Ave routes, the 36 is the most popular, with 3,323 riders per weekday, 1,759 on Saturdays, and 1,587 on Sundays.
Pros: The Belgrade Ave corridor is clearly a busy one, as this route’s ridership is to judge. I doubt too many people use the route for its independent portion, but it still provides frequent service along Belgrade Ave. The schedule is great – about every 10-15 minutes rush hour, every half hour during the day and at night, every 35 minutes on Saturdays, and every half hour on Sundays.
Cons: Why does the 36 have to be so complicated? It has three different termini on weekdays, and it can get pretty confusing reading the schedule. Plus, they’re all fairly close together, making them even more indistinguishable.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Lots of businesses along Belgrade Ave, but there wasn’t much on the 36’s solo portion.
Final Verdict: 8/10
This is a nice, frequent route that serves the Belgrade Ave corridor. On its own, it’s not too unique, as all the Belgrade Ave routes kind of supplement each other. My one problem with the 36 is that it can be rather confusing on weekdays, but overall, it’s a great route.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
38 (Wren Street – Forest Hills Station via Centre and South Streets)
I have a few Commuter Rail stations to review, but I figured I’d get some more buses out of the way first. The 38 is interesting in that it’s the only West Roxbury bus that avoids Washington Street, opting for a route down Centre Street instead. Let’s take a look at this Forest Hills anomaly.
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| The bus hanging out in the Forest Hills busway. |
Leaving the Forest Hills upper busway, we headed north (unlike every other bus from that busway) on South Street, along with the 39. There were lots of dense three-story houses interspersed with small businesses. Eventually, we reached the Monument in JP, and turned onto Centre Street. After going by a laying-over 41, we went around a rotary and Centre Street headed south.
There was a dramatic change in scenery – the street now had a grassy median, it was much more leafy, and we went by single-family houses. We passed the huge Faulkner Hospital complex, then reached some businesses at Weld Street. The houses got much more dense from there, and it wasn’t quite as leafy as before.
Eventually we reached Bellevue Station. Here, we looped around another rotary onto West Roxbury Parkway, crossed over the Commuter Rail tracks, and turned onto Anawan Ave. This was basically a side street in a nice residential neighborhood. Soon we turned onto Park Street, and then Woodard Road. After looping around a pseudo-rotary, we arrived at the Wren Street bus stop.
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| The bus at Wren Street. |
Route: 38 (Wren Street – Forest Hills Station via Centre and South Streets)
Ridership: There were only 14 people on my ride, all of whom got on at Forest Hills except for one person who boarded at the Monument. Everyone fed off slowly, with Bellevue Station being the only place where more than one person disembarked. The 38’s ridership isn’t the best, with only about 1,000 people per weekday, and 300 per Saturday – making it the 11th worst Saturday bus route for ridership.
Pros: The 38 avoids the crowded Washington Street corridor and serves Centre Street instead. Granted, a lot of it isn’t too densely populated until south of Weld Street, but still. Also, the route’s schedule is pretty good, considering its ridership – every 22 minutes rush hour, every 45 minutes during the day, and every 40 minutes on Saturdays.
Cons: There’s no Sunday service, but I can’t imagine too many people using this route on Sundays. I’ll cut the 38 some slack here.
Nearby and Noteworthy: A few little business clumps, but nothing seemed too noteworthy.
Final Verdict: 7/10
A nice, short, local route. It serves a few neighborhoods that other buses avoid. And assuming there’s no traffic, the 38 travels fast down Centre Street. The schedule is a bit meh, but really, the 38 doesn’t get too many riders overall.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
59 (Needham Junction – Watertown Square via Newtonville)
I was super excited on the 504, because the trip I was on was timed perfectly to arrive at Watertown a few minutes before the departure of a 59. But it turned out I was looking at the 59’s Sunday schedule, and totally missed that bus, as it was actually a Saturday. Now I wanted my revenge, and I sought to take the 59 next chance I got.
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| The bus coming into the Watertown Square busway. |
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| A bad picture of the Charles River. |
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| It’s a bad picture, but come on, that’s pretty cool. |
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| Is that Newton City Hall or a castle hiding in the trees? Honestly, it could go either way. |
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| The second Charles River crossing of the review! |
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| A different 59 heading down Chestnut Street. |
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| The bus stopped at Needham Junction. |
504 (EXPRESS BUS Watertown/Newton Corner – Downtown via Mass Turnpike)
The Federal and Franklin Street stop is always busy on weekdays, particularly at rush hour. This is where all the I-90 express buses go, so during peak periods lots of routes come here to transport commuters along the Pike. On Saturdays, though, the stop is mostly dead…except for one route. This is the 504, the only I-90 express bus that runs on weekends, or at least Saturdays.
After a few passengers got on, we turned onto Franklin Street, making a stop right around the corner from the last one. We then turned onto Otis Street, leaving the Financial District. The street became Kingston Street, and it also became extremely narrow. We barely squeezed through the parked cars on either side of the road. From there, we turned onto Essex Street, then Surface Road, passing the Chinatown gate.
During rush hour, the 504 goes right onto the highway from here, but midday and on Saturdays, it continues locally to Copley Square. Thus, we turned onto Kneeland Street, going by lots of Chinatown restaurants. We then turned onto Charles Street South, and then Park Plaza. This became Saint James Ave, and we went through Copley Square.
Right after the Copley Square stop, we merged onto the I-90 ramp, which went underground. The highway came up eventually, and we went by lots of apartments, then Yawkey and Fenway Park. After going under Commonwealth Ave, we rose up onto a bridge and went through the Allston tolls. We sunk back down to ground level after that, as it steadily got more suburban.
Eventually we took Exit 17 to Newton Corner, and merged onto Washington Street. After making a stop, we looped around the highway where it goes under a hotel, and made another stop on the other side. We then curved back north onto Galen Street, passing mostly businesses and a few houses. And soon after that, we turned into the Watertown Yard, ending a very quick journey.
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| The bus heading down Federal Street. |
Route: 504 (EXPRESS BUS Watertown/Newton Corner – Downtown via Mass Turnpike)
Ridership: On my ride there were about 10 passengers in total. But, I mean, it was a Saturday afternoon, so there wouldn’t be too many people needing an express out to Watertown. The route does get rather high ridership on weekdays, with an average of 1,548 people. This drops to 558 on Saturdays, but again, not too many people would be expected to ride on weekends.
Pros: It’s a very fast express out to Watertown, assuming there’s no traffic. Even if there is traffic, it’s still the fastest way to get there from downtown. I like how the route also serves Copley Square, and how it skips it during rush hour, when it’s supplemented by the 502 (which runs from Copley to Watertown). And for an express bus, the 504 has an amazing schedule – every 10 minutes during rush hour, every half hour during the day, and every 40 minutes on Saturdays. That last one isn’t too frequent, but come on, how many people are using the 504 on Saturdays? The fact that it even has weekend service is amazing.
Cons: I don’t really have any problems with the route itself, but it seems like the 504 may have played a part in the elimination of the Green Line A Branch. Considering the route was initiated two years before the end of the A, and that the express probably went much faster than the streetcar, I wonder if the latter lost ridership because of that.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Watertown Square, I suppose. And downtown, but why would anyone who doesn’t live in Watertown or Newton use the 504 to get there?
Final Verdict: 8/10
For an express bus, this is the creme de la creme. It runs often (including on Saturdays), is quick for the most part, and has a good local routing in Boston. Aside from the fact that it may have killed the A Line, the 504 is great.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
136/137 (Reading Depot – Malden Center Station via Wakefield, Melrose, and Oak Grove Station)
What’s the fastest, most direct way of getting from Wakefield Station back to Boston? Taking the Commuter Rail? Well, yeah, that’s an option. Or you could take the 137 up to Reading, wait an hour, and then get the 136 back to Malden Center! Hey, it works.
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| The bus cruising down Albion Street in Wakefield. |
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| The bus in Reading. |
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| It’s so much darker…and blurrier… |
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| The night bus… |
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| Obviously not the bus I was taking. This is in downtown Wakefield. |
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| Night has pretty much fallen entirely by this point. Looks like there are a few people waiting to get the last 137 of the day. |
Wakefield
I can’t say I was expecting much with the town of Wakefield. I mean, look at its name: Wakefield. I’m sorry, but it just sounds like a boring suburban community. Not so, as it turns out – Wakefield actually has a very active and walkable downtown with lots of restaurants and businesses. And a quarter of a mile to the west is the Commuter Rail station with the same name.
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| Looking down the platforms. |
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| The shelter on the inbound side. |
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| That’s amazing! I love this! |
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| I love it. |
428 (Oaklandvale – Haymarket Station via Kennedy Drive)
All right, it’s time for another installment of Express Buses That Run Incredibly Infrequently and Are Extremely Hard to Find! In today’s episode, we have the 428, a Tobin Bridge express route that heads up to the Wakefield High School, more or less in the middle of nowhere! Let’s get started, right after this message from our sponsors.
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| Okay, I don’t actually have sponsors, so let’s just get started. |
We left Haymarket and headed up North Washington Street, though being an express bus, we didn’t make any stops. We crossed over a bridge, then the street became the incredibly wide New Rutherford Ave. Soon after, we turned onto the Tobin Bridge on-ramp, which sunk down into a tunnel, then sprung up into the air.
Zooming over Charlestown, we crossed the Mystic River, where I saw a massive cargo ship being tugged from the harbor. We came over downtown Chelsea, then Route 1 came back down to ground level. Then we hit traffic. Blech…
We muddled through for a while as the highway went past lots of houses. We took the exit for Route 60 and went around a huge rotary, then headed down Squire Road, going by the huge Showcase Theater. Dropping a few people off in Linden Square, we turned onto Lynn Street, which was residential.
Just before Route 1, we turned onto Salem Street, then onto Kennedy Drive. We climbed up a hill, then went through a gate into the Granada Highlands Complex. Making a loop around the complex, going by apartment buildings, we dropped a few residents off here. After that, we headed back down to Lynn Street the way we came and crossed under Route 1.
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| That’s a big rock… |
We entered Revere and the street became Salem Street. We went by some apartments and curved our way up a hill, and after passing some more houses, we entered Saugus. The street was Lincoln Ave now, and some businesses came up when we reached Cliftondale Square. Here, Lincoln Ave curved to the right and it became residential again, with the occasional small business.
After a while, we turned onto Winter Street, beginning the solo portion of the 428. We went by a cemetery, then turned onto Central Street, joining the 430. There were more businesses, as this was Saugus Center. Going around a rotary with a nice statue in the middle, we turned onto Main Street. It was once again residential, but when we crossed over Route 1, the Square One Mall was visible.
Main Street curved north, and we reached Oaklandvale, which is both a school and technically the terminus of the 428. However, the route does go further, so we continued down Main Street, passing a small plaza. We also went by a baseball field and an auto shop, but it was residential for the most part.
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| The bus in Wakefield. |
From there it became very rural-feeling as we went through some woods. Soon after, Main Street became Farm Street as we entered Wakefield. We passed another baseball field, then turned into the Wakefield High School parking lot. The driver opened the doors here, and I prepared myself for the walk down to Wakefield Square, a mile and a half away.
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| The front of the school. |
Route: 428 (Oaklandvale – Haymarket Station via Granada Highlands)
Ridership: On my ride, there were almost 30 people on the bus, all of whom got on at Haymarket. Aside from the Granada Highlands Complex, most people got off at parts of the route shared with the 426. There were only about three or four people who got off along the 428’s solo portion. Yet there were about seven or eight people who got off at Granada, which makes me wonder if they should extend some 426 trips to go there, too. Overall, the route gets an average of 168 riders per day, and it’s the 10th worst MBTA bus route for ridership.
Pros: This is a good cross-Saugus route, and one of only four MBTA buses that goes through Saugus. Plus, it provides express service to Granada Highlands, and it and the 411 are the only routes that serve the complex.
Cons: Problem is, being a potentially useful route through Saugus isn’t the best if the route only runs three times a day. But that being said, there were very few people who went further than Cliftondale Square, so is it worth running the 428 more often? I’m not sure.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The main business areas seemed to be Cliftondale Square and Saugus Center, but the rest was mostly residential.
Final Verdict: 5/10
As an express bus, the 428 is fine. Three runs during rush hour to supplement the 426 and bring commuters to Granada and Saugus is fine – for an express bus. But I wonder how much ridership an experimental midday 428W would get. It could come from Oaklandvale, serve Granada Highlands, and then follow the 426W to Wonderland. Just an idea…
UPDATE 9/1/19: Not a huge change here, but 428 service will now end at Main Street @ Lynn Fells Parkway instead of Wakefield High School, a slight cutback. Also…midday 428W service? Keep dreaming, Young Miles, keep dreaming…
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
11 (City Point – Downtown BayView Route)
Most of the buses downtown stop at Otis Street and/or Franklin Street. The 11 decides to mix it up by terminating at Bedford Street @ Chauncy Street, south of Downtown Crossing and more or less in Chinatown. Thing is, the 11 technically doesn’t technically terminate there. To be honest, I’m still pretty unsure of where the heck it terminates. But we’ll get to that…
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| The bus making the turn onto Bedford Street. |
There were already about 15 people on the bus when I got on. I was expecting them to get off, since this is, according to the map, the terminus of the route. However, everyone stayed on, and we just continued down the route. We turned onto Kingston Street, then onto Essex Street. Going by the SL4 South Station stop (but without stopping ourselves), we turned onto Atlantic Ave, then onto Summer Street, going around the South Station building. At the South Station stop used for standard buses, a few people left the bus.
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| The view from the Summer Street Bridge. (I love that triangle thing in the water!) |
Summer Street went onto a bridge over the Fort Point Channel, where there was a nice view. Immediately upon entering Fort Point, we turned onto Melcher Street, going by lots of brick buildings. Then we turned onto Necco Street, which curved around to A Street, which we then turned onto. The surroundings were industrial now, with huge parking lots and factories along the road.
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| The view from Necco Street. |
We turned onto West 2nd Street, then onto Dorchester Ave, and right after that onto West Broadway. A few passengers disembarked for Broadway Station, then there were businesses on either side of the street. We crossed over the South Boston Bypass Road, after which we turned onto B Street, going by some apartments. Turning onto West 7th Street, it became entirely residential, with nice three-story houses on either side of the street.
Going by a school, we turned onto the wider Dorchester Street, then onto the nice and narrow East 8th Street. It was so narrow, in fact, that we had to pull over to let another bus go by the other way. There was an apartment complex on one side, then we got some views of the water looking down side streets. We went by a tall, out of place residential building, then it became three-story houses again.
These continued all the way to the end of 8th Street, where we turned onto Columbia Road. There was an okay view of the water, but for a large portion of the short seaside section, there were trees and buildings in the way. We then turned onto Farragut Road, with big houses on one side and a park on the other.
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| The best picture I could get of the view. |
It started to get industrial, then we turned onto East 1st Street. I hit the stop request button and got off at P Street. This was more or less industrial wasteland, but it was more normal walking a bit down P Street, where I waited for an 11 back to Boston. After two 7’s and two 9’s went by, an 11 finally arrived.
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| Oh, no, it’s blurry! |
We headed all the way down P Street, then rejoined the outbound route at Columbia Road. We stayed with it down 8th Street and to the turn onto Dorchester Street. But while the outbound route comes from West 7th Street, the inbound route travels on West 6th Street, for some reason. It had those nice three-story houses again, with some corner stores as well. We turned onto D Street, then once again rejoined the outbound route at West 7th Street.
Again we left the outbound route when we turned onto Dorchester Ave, which was industrial. Going by MBTA Cabot Yard, we reached Broadway, where another 11 was laying over. For some reason a few of its passengers got on our bus, then we did that same dumb route the 9 takes at Broadway – continuing down Dorchester Ave, going around to Foundry Street, turning onto Greenbaum Street, and then back onto Dorchester Ave. I know it offers a nice view of Cabot Yard, but I’m just gonna use the same map I used for the 9 here:
From Broadway, the 11 operates in a loop, so it was all-new territory from here on out. We crossed over the 4th Street Bridge, getting a nice view of Cabot Yard and of Boston. Going by some businesses on East Berkeley Street, we then turned onto Washington Street, joining the Silver Line. Yet for some reason, the driver decided not to use the bus lanes. Is only the Silver Line allowed to use the bus lanes? This happened before with the 170, so that might be the case, but I’m not really sure why that rule would be in place.
We crossed over the Mass Turnpike, then went through the Tufts Medical Center. From there, we came into Chinatown, and started going by lots of Chinese restaurants. At Chinatown Station, we took a right onto Essex Street. We then turned onto Chauncy Street, then back onto Bedford Street, arriving where we started.
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| The bus leaving down Bedford Street. |
Route: 11 (City Point – Downtown BayView Route)
Ridership: There were about 25 people on my ride there, and about 15 coming back. That’s not bad for a Wednesday afternoon before rush hour. And the 11 gets pretty good ridership overall, with about 3,400 riders per weekday, 1,500 per Saturday, and almost 1,000 per Sunday.
Pros: This is the only route to serve the southern part of South Boston, which is where a lot of its ridership comes from, I believe. Its schedule is also pretty good – it runs every 12 minutes during rush hour, every 25 minutes during the day, and every 20 minutes on Saturdays.
Cons: It’s also every 40 minutes on Sundays and at night, which isn’t the best. Also, I cannot for the life of me figure out how the heck this route operates. Okay, so obviously City Point is the terminus, and I’m sure buses lay over there. But what about on the other end? Bedford @ Chauncy is just a normal stop, so it’s not that. So what about that random bus that was laying over at Broadway? Is Broadway the other layover point? Because that would wreak havoc with the 11’s scheduling. It would explain the 11 that came out of nowhere to bunch with us when we were heading to City Point, though.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Touchie’s Shamrock Pub caught my eye when we were travelling down 8th Street. Now, it’s gotten good Yelp reviews, but that’s not the reason it got my attention. The reason is that the name of the bar appeared to be written in all-caps comic sans. I’m sure you guys are good, Touchie’s, but comic sans? Well, it got my attention, that’s for sure.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Hmm…I want to give this route a lower score, but I actually really like the 11. It serves the underserved southern part of Southie, plus it runs often for the most part. My main issue with the route is the strange way it operates, and if someone can shed some light on that, please do in the comments.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
I’m sorry to bring up the MBTA’s past winter again, but this is a good thing. Governor Charlie Baker has an $83 million plan to better prepare the MBTA for harsh winter weather, so hopefully nothing like last winter will occur again.
Oak Grove
Seems like you can’t escape the brutalism on the Orange Line, can you? Down in the Southwest Corridor you’ve got lots of concrete stations – and then up north there are all those other concrete stations. Oak Grove is your typical suburban terminus, and it has plenty of concrete to go around.
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| Oh, it’s that typical Orange Line platform. |
The platform is standard northern Orange Line fare. The main portion is sheltered, with a few wastebaskets and recycling bins scattered about. There are some normal benches with interesting paintings on them, but as this is a northern Orange Line station, you’ve got those pointless bench shelters, too. The lesser-used part of the platform is completely open with nothing but a few lights. Oak Grove also has an elusive third platform for the Commuter Rail, but it’s pretty much never used and is blocked off from the mezzanine.
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| Um…am I supposed to be back here? |
The elevator is really out of the way of the platform. You have to go down this hallway that goes under the mezzanine, and it leads to this dark area that feels kind of foreboding. It does have a great place where you can stand and watch the trains go by, however. As for the elevator itself, it was small and really, really bright. For an MBTA elevator, then, it wasn’t that bad.
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| Not much going on here on a rainy Thursday afternoon. |
Up the stairs, there’s an open area. It doesn’t have any benches for waiting for the train inside, unfortunately, but there is a convenience store. It was closed when I was here, though, as was its flower shop companion. You can also see the stairs that go down to the third platform, which are blocked off.
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| Aw, yeah. I heard the Commuter Rail train zooming in and immediately rushed to the window to get it going past. |
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| The mezzanine. |
The mezzanine is big, especially considering Oak Grove’s ridership. It has six fare gates and four fare machines lined up along the wall. As for the architecture, I’d say it’s a mixed bag. To be honest, this mezzanine is really quite bland, but all your attention is drawn to the many windows in it. Are the windows only there to distract you from the blandness? If so, then well-played, MBTA, well-played.
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| The small bus stop for the 132. |
On the Washington Street side of the station, there’s a bus stop for the 132 up to Stoneham. The stop itself doesn’t have any benches, but there are some just inside Oak Grove for people to wait. Also on this side of the station are some standard bike racks, some newspaper boxes, and a small parking lot. Don’t worry, there’s plenty more parking on the other side.
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| The busway on the other side. |
The other side of the station has a proper busway for the 131, 136, and 137. It has a couple of concrete benches (lots o’ concrete), plus there are more in a sheltered area inside the station. The busway has a wastebasket, as well as a few more newspaper boxes.
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| The view of the station from the parking lot. |
This and Wellington seem to be the Orange Line’s main commuter park and ride stations. Wellington has more spaces, but Oak Grove has a sizeable amount: 788 of them. It also has a Pedal and Park, so presumably it gets a lot of bike traffic as well.
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| One of the station’s pedestrian paths. |
There are a few pedestrian paths around Oak Grove in order to serve neighborhoods to the east. I saw the southern one, which leads to a small residential area. It’s very convenient, except that it closes at 8 every night. That means that if people are coming back from Boston late, they have to go around. There’s a second pedestrian path a little further north that goes to a residential complex. This one is open all the time, I believe.
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| Clearly the ridership here at Oak Grove is astronomical. |
Station: Oak Grove
Ridership: Okay, so I got on the train at Wellington, and it was packed to the brims. After we left Malden Center, the train was near-empty. So yeah, Malden Center certainly dwarfs Oak Grove in terms of ridership. That said, Oak Grove’s ridership isn’t that bad – 6,590 passengers per weekday. It’s better than a lot of other Orange Line stations.
Pros: It’s nice that they decided to extend the Orange Line past Malden Center to almost-Melrose. Oak Grove serves residential areas, and has seen some development over the years (nowhere near the levels of Alewife, but a few apartments have sprung up). It has quite a lot of parking, a Pedal and Park, and some good bus connections for what it’s worth (considering that there’s a massive bus hub one station south).
Cons: It’s that good ol’ Haymarket North brutalism. Yeah, Oak Grove as all the concrete and blandness you’ve come to know and love.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Nah, there’s nothing of note around Oak Grove. It’s mostly residential, but it looks like you can find businesses if you walk far enough.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Okay, so brutalism doesn’t have to be a deal-breaker for all stations. I gotta admit, aside from the architecture, Oak Grove is pretty good. It serves a lot of residential areas, and it’s the closest rapid transit station to Melrose. And even though Wellington is probably the main park-and-ride station on the northern Orange Line, Oak Grove still has a big parking lot that is well-used.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Symphony
Okay, so in my Prudential review (Did I really give that station a 4/10? Gosh, I should retroactively lower that to a -50,000), I mentioned that “it lacks the charm that its sister station, Symphony, has…” Well, I’m pretty sure my eyes had been closed last time I visited Symphony, because this station is ugly. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nowhere near as bad as Prudential in terms of aesthetics, but it’s pretty bad.
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| Two out of the four outbound entrances. |
The outbound side has really cute little entrances. They’re these tiny little staircases with little more than concrete, glass, and the station name. They’re all connected to one mezzanine, but since the mezzanines on either side are more or less the same, I’ll cover that later. It’s also worth noting that one of the outbound entrances is literally right outside the door to Symphony Hall. It took me by surprise when I went to see a Boston Pops concert and was right there when I exited the station.
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| I like the T symbol hiding in the trees. |
The inbound side gets slightly larger entrances, but there are only two on either side of Mass Ave. They’re both in these little brick plazas, and are mostly glass. The plazas also have small businesses in them, which is nice. In addition, one of the entrances has a “Train arriving” sign outside of it. Does that mean it lights up when a train’s arriving? Because I feel like someone would have to run to be able to make a train from here.
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| The mezzanine on the inbound side. |
The entrances lead to these bland passages that have lots of cracking paint and overall dreariness. They lead to the mezzanine, which is small and simple. Again, it’s very bland, and this being an underground Green Line station, it has lots of random pipes. Interestingly, there are more fare gates than fare machines. A nice precaution (?) I guess.
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| Ech. |
The platform, as you can see, isn’t the best. It’s just so bland and ugly. The ceiling is certainly high up, which is cool, I guess, but there are lots of random pipes of all shapes and sizes. I also found this huge cracking mess along the wall separating the inbound and outbound sides. No free crossovers, by the way. And no elevators, either, so people in wheelchairs will have to use Mass Ave Station instead (which is only a few blocks away, admittedly). Symphony’s saving grace is some historical information along the walls about the Boston Pops and Symphony Hall, but that’s about it.
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| A train whizzing in. |
There are also a few bus connections here. Two of them run along Mass Ave, the 1 and the CT1, and I believe there are shelters on both sides. A bit more complicated is the 39 on Huntington Ave, which I don’t necessarily count, to be honest. See, the 39 skips the station by using an underpass that passes below Mass Ave. Since that route runs alongside the whole length of the E, though, I don’t think anyone cares that it misses one stop.
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| Look, it’s Charlie playing the bass! That made my day. |
Station: Symphony
Ridership: Well, it’s the 6th worst MBTA station for ridership, so, um, it doesn’t get that much. There are only 1,711 people per weekday that enter here, most of which are probably just locals. The access to Symphony Hall is convenient, but I’m not sure how many people actually use the train to get there.
Pros: The entrances are cute, and I like the historical information on the platform. Also, Charlie playing the bass in the inbound mezzanine is pretty amazing.
Cons: As for the rest: ewwww. Everything else in this station is really bland and ugly, from the hallways to the mezzanines to the platforms. Oh, and there aren’t any free crossovers and it’s not accessible.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Well, you’ve got Symphony Hall, obviously. This is also the closest station to the Mary Baker Eddy Library and the Christian Science Center.
Final Verdict: 3/10
Is Prudential better than I give it credit for? I mean, at least it’s accessible, and it has free crossovers. But it’s still so, so ugly. Also, so is Symphony. But Symphony lacks the accessibility and the crossovers. I still dislike this station, but for some reason I don’t hate it like I do Prudential. Well, perhaps it’s some sort of psychological thing. Symphony is still terrible regardless.
UPDATE 7/15/17: I think I’m really late on this, but Symphony got a repaint! I have to say, it looks a lot better now.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates