100 (Elm Street – Wellington Station via Fellsway)
Do you ever get those mysterious disappearing buses? The ones that are scheduled to come at a certain time but never do? Yeah, that happened here with the 100. It runs frequently enough so that it wasn’t too much of a burden, but it was still annoying.
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| This is such an odd bus stop… |
This did mean waiting for about 20 minutes at the Elm Street bus stop, which is worth talking about since it’s pretty interesting. Looking across the street, there are some nice houses and a bunch of trees. But then only a chain-link fence and a small clump of trees separate the bus stop from I-93. And the shelter was a complete mess, with litter strewn around it. There was a big contrast between the two sides of the street.
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| Peek-a-boo… |
But there’s a bus to talk about, and the next 100 came eventually. We headed down the leafy Fellsway West, which curved around and crossed over I-93. Coming round Roosevelt Circle, we then turned off and curved under I-93. We rejoined the Fellsway West, which had a tree-lined median and houses on both sides. Crossing Salem Street, we continued along the Fellsway.
The median got much narrower, but it was still lined with trees. The surroundings were still mostly residential, though the occasional auto shop came up. We went by a big storage facility, then onto a bridge over a single railroad track. There were more houses, then we passed a massive mall complex. This basically continued all the way to Revere Beach Parkway, which crossed over the Orange Line tracks, where we turned into the Wellington Station busway.
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| The bus at Wellington. |
Route: 100 (Elm Street – Wellington Station via Fellsway)
Ridership: There were about 15 people on my ride, which seems like a pretty good amount for such a short, local route heading in the off-peak direction. People fed on as we went along, with only one or two people at each stop. Aside from two people who alighted at the big mall, everyone went to Wellington. The route gets really low ridership overall, however – 922 people on weekdays, 522 on Saturdays, and 314 on Sundays. That latter one puts the 100 in the bottom 10 for MBTA Sunday routes.
Pros: As you can probably tell by this review’s length, the 100 is an extremely short route. I think this works out in its favor, since it acts as a really quick link through eastern Medford (and a bit of Malden). The route also has a pretty great schedule, running every 20 minutes rush hour, every 35 minutes during the day, every half hour on Saturdays, and every hour nights and Sundays. That last one may seem a bit infrequent, but based on the ridership it’s justified.
Cons: The 100 doesn’t get very high ridership. However, since it’s so short, it’s actually relatively cheap for the MBTA to run – only $2.31 per passenger. That means that it can basically stay the way it is in terms of scheduling, since it’s not expensive to run at all.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Nothing along the route seemed too enticing. The big mall seemed to have a lot of stores, though.
Final Verdict: 8/10
This is a really nice, short little local route. It provides a link from eastern Medford down to the Orange Line, and does it really quickly. It only takes 12 minutes to get from end to end, and less on weekends! Couple that with a pretty frequent schedule and you’ve got a great route.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Random Photos: A Very Long Detour
Due to Harvard graduation a few days ago, the bus stop at Johnston Gate was closed. However, I think the replacement bus stop might be a bit far away…
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| Um…MBTA, you know that Avenue de Lafayette is in downtown Boston, right? |
325 (Elm Street, Medford – Haymarket Station via Fellsway West, Salem Street, and I-93)
Well, I’ve had a long hiatus, but I’ll make it up to you guys with a weekday-only express bus that was ALSO on the chopping block back in 2012! Yes, we’re taking a trip up I-93 today on the 325. And as usual for I-93 express buses, there was lots and lots of traffic.
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| I’m gonna miss the RTS’s, but from up close, they make for really bad pictures. |
Leaving Haymarket, we headed up Congress Street, but didn’t make any stops before ducking into the I-93 tunnel. Right after we came back into the open air, zooming over the Zakim Bridge on the on-ramp road. Things looked ominous on the highway itself, though, and when we merged on, it got much slower.
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| The view of Charlestown and the Bunker Hill Monument. |
The highway was stacked here, and we went past Bunker Hill Community College. It got industrial north of there, then the highway unstacked and we passed Sullivan Square. After that we went by Assembly Square, then a barrier came up on the right and I couldn’t see anything.
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| I did take that obligatory “skyline view with a bunch of traffic” picture, but I’ve already used that twice, so here’s one of Sullivan. |
We then got a nice view of the Mystic River, and it got pretty woodsey from there. Crossing over the Mystic River, we took Exit 32 and merged onto Salem Street. There was a mixture of houses and businesses, and they were all pretty dense.
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| The view of the Mystic River. |
The businesses continued until we reached an MBTA bus yard, which seemed to have an old waiting room outside. Here the driver honked his horn at another driver who was walking by, then we continued past a mall. After that, we made a sharp left turn onto the Fellsway West.
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| The old waiting room. |
It’s interesting how much different the Fellsway was from Salem Street. Whereas Salem Street was somewhat narrow with a sort of gritty feel to it, the Fellsway was extremely wide with a tree-lined median. It had houses on either side, and was really leafy in general. Funnily enough, this portion of the route was faster than the entire express portion, since there was barely any traffic and no one wanted to get off.
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| I refer you to the first caption. |
After passing a park, the road curved up north, It went along next to I-93, with hilly residential streets on the other side. We made some windy turns, then unexpectedly did a u-turn and arrived at Elm Street. Well, that was sudden…
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| Goodbye! |
Route: 325 (Elm Street, Medford – Haymarket Station via Fellsway West, Salem Street, and I-93)
Ridership: There were only about 15 people on my ride, although it was 4 o’clock, that quiet time just before rush hour. The crowd on the bus was very local, but I assume it gets more suits and ties during peak periods. Most people got off at Salem Street, with very few people continuing on past the turn onto Fellsway West. All in all, this is one of the lowest-ridership routes on the MBTA, with only a little over 300 riders per day. It’s at rank 149, if you were wondering.
Pros: Well, I guess an express to eastern Medford is needed by some people. I feel like the 326 is slightly more useful since it goes through Medford Square, but its ridership is barely higher than the 325. I do like how the 325 runs both ways, even though it skips the Fellsway West and Salem Street portions going in the non-peak direction. But the bus has to return to Boston so it might as well pick up a few riders along the way. That said, I saw a 325 going back, and it was completely empty. But still, it’s nice that you can take it back if you want to.
Cons: Okay, I’ll give the schedule a break, since I doubt this bus would get much ridership if it ran at any time other than weekdays, rush hour only. That said, it doesn’t get much ridership anyway! And it’s worth noting that this route is one of the most expensive for the MBTA to run, costing over $7 per passenger! The 326 is less than $4.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There were businesses on Salem Street, but none of them seemed especially interesting.
Final Verdict: 3/10
Well, it was a nice ride, that’s for sure. But okay, comparing this to the 326, since the two routes are pretty much related, I think the latter is more useful. That’s not to say the 325 isn’t, since some people use it, but just look at how much it costs the MBTA to run! I think there would be local opposition to getting rid of this route, though, so I guess the 325 just has to stick around. What a trooper.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
GUEST POST: Green Line D Shuttle Buses
I’m really sorry for this hiatus – I’ve been really busy, and also really sick, so I haven’t had much time to write. But here’s a guest post from Jordan King!
Savin Hill
I was surprised at how…not bad Savin Hill was. Seriously, every time I went by here (either making a stop when going to Ashmont or zipping by when on a Braintree train), I always thought “Geez, looks like a pit.” I mainly thought this because the station is right next to I-93, and it’s noisy for sure, but the station itself is actually kinda nice.
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| Okay, so the platform isn’t actually that great. |
Right, so the platform itself isn’t the best. It’s all covered, which is good, but it also has some pretty bland architecture. Plus, even though there’s a thick fence between the station and the highway, it’s still pretty noisy. There are plenty of benches on the platform, though, and they don’t have those weird bench shelters like on the Braintree branch. Speaking of the Braintree branch, it’s also fun to watch those trains speed by on the other tracks without stopping.
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| A nice glass hallway. |
From the platform, there are stairs and an upward-bound escalator, as well as an elevator (which was added in Savin Hill’s 2004-2005 renovation). These lead up to a nice hallway that in turn leads to both of the station’s exits. The hallway is made of glass, and it even has some benches for people who may want to wait for the train inside.
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| The main mezzanine. |
I didn’t get to spend too much time in the main mezzanine, since there was an MBTA employee in there and I wanted to “act natural”. But from what I saw, it was a nice mezzanine, with cool green walls and interesting lighting. Lots of natural light gets in, too. As for the fare gates, there are only four, but this station doesn’t get much ridership, so four is probably enough.
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| Oh, yeah, I can totally tell that’s a train station. |
Architecturally, the main entrance to Savin Hill is great. I love how the main part is made out of glass, and the brick walls on the side make for some nice contrast. There’s also a cool old-fashioned street clock outside the entrance. But I would much rather have that clock be replaced with a T logo, because there is no indication at all that this is a train station! The sign just says “121 Savin Hill”, in reference to the station’s address on Savin Hill Ave. How about sticking a “station” after that “Savin Hill”, MBTA?
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| And the second entrance. |
Believe it or not, there aren’t any T logos at the second entrance on Sydney Street, either. It’s more obvious with this one because you can see the platform from the street, but still! There isn’t even any “Savin Hill” signage here, just a set of doors. The entrance itself is again nice, and it’s pretty much entirely made of glass. There’s also a small parking lot here with 20 spaces, which is a nice amenity even for a mostly local station.
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| Well doesn’t that scream structural integrity? |
It may be hard to tell, but that picture above is of a step on the staircase from the second entrance to its mezzanine. It is, however, quite easy to tell that this thing is in dire need of repair. Considering that a few of the other steps are like this, too, is it possible that this staircase isn’t safe? I wouldn’t be surprised.
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| A much smaller mezzanine. |
I assume this is the lesser-used entrance, since the mezzanine is comparatively small. It has two fare machines and two wider “reduced fare” gates. It’s a nice mezzanine, with lots of natural light getting in from all the windows. From here, it leads right into the hallway that goes to the platform.
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| A train coming over the hill south of the station. |
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| A Braintree train zipping past! |
Station: Savin Hill
Ridership: This is the second-worst Red Line station for ridership, with only 2,440 riders per weekday. It narrowly beats out the worst Red Line station, Shawmut, by 29 people. And like Shawmut, Savin Hill is a very local station, which is probably why its ridership is so low.
Pros: Overall, the aesthetics here are great. Aside from the platform (and even that doesn’t look bad, per se, just bland), this station looks fantastic. I love how much natural light gets into the mezzanines, as well.
Cons: This doesn’t bother me too much, but it’s worth noting that there aren’t any official bus connections here (though the 18 is only a few blocks away). What does bother me is the fact that this station has literally zero signage. Seriously, just stick a T logo somewhere in the general vicinity of Savin Hill and that’ll be better than the current situation. Also, we can’t forget about the Rotting Staircase of Despair in the Sidney Street entrance.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Heading west from the station there are a few local restaurants to find, including the Savin Bar and Kitchen, which I thought looked pretty good.
Final Verdict: 6/10
Maybe I take aesthetics too seriously. I mean, functionality is ultimately more important than how a station looks, isn’t it? While I’m gonna keep on hating Prudential, the above statement certainly applies here. I think Savin Hill looks great, but you can’t forget about the lack of signage or the rotting staircase. Seriously, fix that staircase.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Finally, there are proper countdown clocks on the Green Line! Yes, the D Line stops in Brookline now have screens telling you when the next train is arriving.
26 (Ashmont Station – Norfolk and Morton Belt Line)
One of the most annoying things about taking buses from beginning to end is when you get kicked out at the last stop. This is especially annoying if the driver is really mad at you for just wanting to take the route to the end (cough, cough, the 8). But that problem doesn’t exist with the 26, because it’s a loop! Hooray! Seriously, I had no reason for wanting to take the 26 except for the fact that it’s a loop that both starts and ends at Ashmont. I believe this is the only remaining MBTA bus that runs like this ever since the 48 was eliminated back in 2012. But unlike the 48, the 26 actually gets ridership.
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| The bus in the Ashmont busway. |
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| That industrial spire sticking up there is in Milton’s Lower Mills. I thought this was a cool view. |
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| The bus heading up Dorchester Ave back in Ashmont. |
18 (Ashmont Station – Andrew Station via Fields Corner Station)
I’m back! I’m sorry for not posting in about half a million years, but I’ve been quite busy. Also, I went to Bermuda over April vacation, and I rode a few new bus routes over there. I’ll leave it to you guys if you want to see posts about those (here’s one of them from last year if you want to know what to expect), so let me know in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter what you think. Anyway, let’s get into the review.
A little while back, I did a review of the 68 from Harvard Square to Kendall Square, via Broadway. I commented on the fact that the route doesn’t have any points where it’s the only option, and it gets pretty awful ridership. Proclaiming that “I honestly feel like the MBTA could scrap this route, and it wouldn’t affect that many people,” I gave it a 2/10. After that review, a commenter named Ari pointed out that the faithful locals who use the 68 would be up in arms if the MBTA tried to eliminate the route. That’s certainly a valid point, but I still think the 68 is a bad route, and I don’t regret the low score. Basically what I’m getting at is that the 18 is like the Dorchester equivalent of the 68.
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| Off-center, but it’s growing on me. |
The 18 is a mostly straight run up Dorchester Ave, running from Ashmont to Andrew. I got on at Ashmont, and we headed up – what else? – Dorchester Ave. We went through Peabody Square just north of Ashmont Station, then Dot Ave was lined with businesses. Some of them had apartments on top of them, and others were Vietnamese, since there’s a pretty big Vietnamese community down here.
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| So much traffic! Those are the elevated Red Line tracks at Fields Corner up ahead. |
It got more residential after that, We went by a park, and then came into the convoluted mess that is the 18 at Fields Corner. So we turned into the Park Street busway, then onto Geneva Ave, then onto that Fields Corner busway that doesn’t have any stops on it, then onto the actual Fields Corner busway, then back onto Geneva Ave, then back onto the stopless Fields Corner busway, then back onto Dorchester Ave to continue with the route. It took over 5 minutes just to get through all this.
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| This driver must’ve changed the destination board early, because the 18 doesn’t run on this street. This is at Andrew Station. |
After that, the businesses got denser, then we went through an industrial portion with lots of auto shops. On my particular trip, we stayed on Dorchester Ave the whole time from here on out, but normally buses take a strange and seemingly pointless detour. Had we been taken this detour, we would have turned onto Bay Street, then onto Auckland Street (now heading south, away from where we were heading), then onto Dewar Street, and then back onto Dot Ave, doubling back on ourselves. I think skipping it certainly sped up the ride a bit.
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| That same bus heading back up Dorchester Ave. |
After crossing over Savin Hill Ave, the industrial area ended and it was back to dense businesses with apartments on top. We went by an apartment building, then crossed over Columbia Road, connecting with the 8 and 41. Continuing up Dot Ave, we passed through a purely residential area with dense apartments, then onto a bridge over I-93 and the Red Line and Commuter Rail tracks. Soon after that, we turned onto Southampton Street, then Ellery Street, and then into the Andrew Station busway.
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| Look how downtown looms! It looks really close. |
Route: 18 (Ashmont Station – Andrew Station via Fields Corner Station)
Ridership: Being the local route that it is, the 18’s ridership isn’t very high. There were only about 10 people on my Saturday ride. On weekdays, it only gets an average of 619 riders, and on Saturdays, only 175 – the fifth worst Saturday bus route for ridership. Like the 68, most of the riders on this route only went for a few stops.
Pros: But unlike the 68, this route does serve a lot. Sure, it more or less parallels the Red Line and goes pretty close to its stops, but it actually has some sections where it’s the only option. Plus, although Broadway is a major street in Cambridge, it doesn’t come close to the importance of Dot Ave. I mean, this is basically the main throughway of Dorchester, and it makes perfect sense to run a bus down it.
Cons: For one thing, I think a lot of people don’t use this bus just because it comes so close to the Red Line. I mean, it directly serves Ashmont, Fields Corner, and Andrew, and comes within a few blocks of Shawmut and Savin Hill. In addition, parts of this route are just so convoluted! The 18 at Fields Corner is a mess, and it seems like it would be so much easier to just skip the Park Street busway and have it go directly into the Fields Corner busway. Also, does it really need to serve Auckland Street? I don’t know if the Savin Hill Apartments is an old-age home, but if not, I think its residents can walk a block to Dorchester Ave.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Lots of businesses along Dot Ave, but I don’t have anything specific.
Final Verdict: 3/10
I’ve been comparing the 18 to the 68 this whole review, and I do think the 18 is better. It’s longer, serves more, and even runs on Saturdays! The schedule, by the way, is not great, as you’d expect – every half hour during rush hour, and every hour during the day and on Saturdays. The last bus is at about 6 PM, which is also like the 68. But I do think the MBTA should keep the 18 around, although its route is really crazy. Seriously, it’s drawn as a straight line on the map! Just make the route a straight line!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Governor Charlie Baker has appointed five new members to the MassDOT board after pressuring six of its seven previous members to resign. In non-MBTA news, Google Maps officially made the switch over to “The New Google Maps”, and it is the slowest, most frustrating thing ever. This could mean longer wait periods between blog posts, but hopefully nothing along the lines of the horrendously long amount of time I made you guys wait before this post comes out.
Ashmont
Ah, here we go! Let’s review a good-looking station for once! Yes, Ashmont was renovated recently, and it looks amazing. Let’s get right into it and wash out the brutalism from the last review.
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| This platform is awesome! |
I really, really love Ashmont’s platform. It’s at ground level, but completely enclosed, but it also has glass windows so you can still look out! It’s a really, really nice platform. It does have these weird benches that you kind of lean on while standing up, but you have to take the good with the bad. There are normal benches, too.
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| A train leaving the station. |
And something I didn’t fully understand until I last came here was that the outbound platform (where trains go out of service) has no fare gates! You can just leave and get into the busway! And it’s not like people can fare dodge and just walk onto the outbound platform because you can’t get on trains there! But the inbound platform still has fare gates, obviously! Okay, well, it’s a cool layout to me, at least.
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| The northern mezzanine. |
The northern mezzanine is pretty swanky. It has a bunch of fare gates and fare machines, with a very straightforward layout, which is always good. It also has some benches that form a circle, which is pretty cool. And there’s a big window overlooking the platform where you can watch the trains go by. What’s more, the glass was reasonably clean! Woah!
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| And that just looks amazing. |
From the northern mezzanine, there’s a small plaza that leads up to Peabody Square. It’s pretty standard as far as plazas go, but my favorite thing about it is the view of the station it offers. Ashmont’s slanted roof looks really, really cool. Also, there’s a creepy moon-egg-face-sculpture-thing. Just saying…
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| The second mezzanine. |
The second way to enter the station is directly from the busway. Its mezzanine is pretty much the exact same thing as the other one, which isn’t a bad thing. Also, Ashmont has a Pedal and Park facility that’s just out of the way. You have to walk down Dorchester Ave a bit to find it. There should probably be some signage for that…
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| The busway. |
The station’s busway is fairly straightforward. It has two lanes, both of which are sheltered. Ashmont is served by 10 buses, plus route 12 of the BAT to Brockton. Oh, how I really want to take that BAT. I hate it when I’m in the busway and there’s a BAT waiting there and I want to get on so bad but I know I don’t have time to go all the way down to Brockton. Some day…
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| Ah, we can’t forget about the good ol’ Mattapan High Speed Line! |
The Mattapan High Speed Line used to run right into the busway, and there was a free transfer from the train. However, as part of Ashmont’s renovation, they cut off the MHSL to its own elevated platform. It doesn’t have any proper benches, just a set of those weird “leaning” ones. I have to say, though, the elevated loop for the trolleys is fantastic.
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| A trolley ascending into the station. |
Station: Ashmont
Ridership: It’s pretty high, all things considered. The Red Line gets an average of 9,293 riders per weekday, making Ashmont the busiest Red Line station south of South Station. This is also the hub of the Mattapan High Speed Line, so this is the station with the highest ridership on that line – 2,036 people per weekday.
Pros: Well, this is just a beautiful station! It’s really modern, with glass and metal everywhere. It’s also straightforward, including a busway that’s not a total maze. Speaking of buses, there are quite a few bus connections here, as well.
Cons: For one thing, there should be better signage for the Pedal and Park. I didn’t even know it existed until I took a bus from here and saw it out the window. Also, there really ought to be a free transfer to the MHSL from the Red Line. At the very least, add a proper bench to the MHSL’s platform!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Actually, the surroundings of this station are surprisingly residential. There are some businesses in the immediate vicinity, as well as up Dorchester Ave, but it’s mostly just houses.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Okay, so there are a couple of flaws here. The MHSL’s platform could really use an actual bench, and there needs to be signage for the Pedal and Park, but honestly, this is a great station. Extra points for the amazing platform and the really cool slanted roof.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Don’t forget that it’s free fare day this Friday! All MBTA modes of service will be free of charge, including the Commuter Rail.
Community College
Man, North Point Park is really nice! I was coming from the Science Museum and decided to take a detour to the park, which is right across the street. It’s pretty new, having been built in 2007, and it’s a great park. From there, I went over the even more recent pedestrian bridge under the Zakim, which was awesome as well. So yeah, if you haven’t been to the North Point Park yet, I recommend you check it out.
Oh, right, then I went to Community College. That was slightly less awesome.
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| Aw, let’s go back to the park… |
One entrance to the station leads in from the Gilmore Bridge. It’s a really pedestrian unfriendly area, since all the roads around the station are super wide. As for the entrance itself, it’s very…concrete. Yeah, brutalist style isn’t the best. There are also some bike racks here, which is convenient.
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| The walkway to Bunker Hill Community College. |
Luckily, the MBTA accounted for the pedestrian unfriendliness. There’s a system of pedestrian walkways in place which are definitely more frequented than the Gilmore Bridge entrance. The first one leads right from the entrance directly to the Community College itself, Bunker Hill Community College.
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| The second walkway. |
If you navigate through the Community College’s plaza, you get to a second walkway. This one leads over the massive New Rutherford Ave, which, let me tell you, is a pain to cross at ground level. From there, you can get into Charlestown.
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| The mezzanine. |
But back to the station itself. The mezzanine is small, bland, and doesn’t expect a lot of ridership, with only a few fare machines and gates. It also has a bench with a payphone in front of a window. Interestingly, there’s another window-bench combination past the fare gates. I guess this is for people who don’t want to wait for the train outside when it’s cold out.
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| Woah… |
There are stairs and an upward escalator that lead to the platform. They look like any other northern Orange Line station, so there isn’t much to talk about there. More interesting is the elevator, which is accessed by a long glass walkway, seen above. Of course, the elevator itself smelled like urine, as MBTA elevators are prone to do, but the walkway was pretty cool.
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| The platform. |
The platform is typical northern Orange Line, serving both inbound and outbound trains. It’s got concrete everywhere and those little bench-shelter rooms. The “unique” thing here is how noisy it is. Community College is right under I-93, and let me tell you, those cars are loud. However, it is cool that this station has a “ghost platform” which would’ve been used if the Orange Line ever got extended to Reading.
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| A train leaving the station. |
Station: Community College
Ridership: This station has the fourth-worst ridership on the Orange Line overall, and the worst for its northern section. Community College only gets 4,956 riders per day, which could be attributed to its mostly industrial surroundings. Also, it doesn’t have any bus connections, which could contribute to the low amount as well.
Pros: Okay, the pedestrian walkways are an admittedly nice touch. And overall, this station is straightforward for sure. So, um, that’s good.
Cons: Two words: brutalist style. Seriously, why does every northern Orange Line station have to be so concrete and bland and awful? Also, it’s right under a highway, so don’t expect a quiet wait.
Nearby and Noteworthy: This is the closest station to the Bunker Hill Monument, but it’s still a bit of a walk. Other than that…well, there’s a 99 Restaurant across the street…
Final Verdict: 4/10
Yeah, there isn’t much to say about this one. The direct connection to the Bunker Hill Community College and to Charlestown is certainly nice, but the station is so ugly! Brutalist style really doesn’t do it for me, and this station has way too much concrete for my liking. Plus, it’s right under I-93, which makes it extremely noisy.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Tufts Medical Center
Last summer I had a job that required going to Chinatown once a week. I would always use Tufts Medical Center, since it was closer to where I was working (also, Chinatown Station is pretty awful). Being a jaded commuter then, I really didn’t focus too much on the station itself. But I came here for fun recently, so I can give it a proper review now. Huzzah!
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| Gosh, I forgot just how dingy this platform is! |
So yeah, as you can see above, the platform is a bit of a mess. I don’t mind the brick walls, but the rest is horrible. The ceiling is really dirty, the middle portion between the tracks has all this white stuff on it, and the floors are unclean. Like Davis, there is some art at the ends of the platform to try to liven things up. It looks really nice, but is overpowered by the dinginess of the station.
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| It looks really good, though! |
Going up the stairs leading to the Washington Street exit, we came across something really gross (I was with my friends Jason and Michael – this was the same day we explored Back Bay). On the side of the stairs, there was this big blob of…something. It was slightly yellowish, but looked shiny, and it was disgusting. I took a picture of it, but, um, hey, look at the pretty mezzanine!
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| Well, not that pretty, but better than the platform. |
One thing I will say about this station is that it does flow incredibly easily. On either end of the station, there’s a room with stairs leading to each platform which then goes to the mezzanine. And the main one seems like it handle a lot of people. Again, it flows really well, with a bunch of fare gates on one side and a bunch of fare machines on the other. Nice and simple. As for the aesthetics, it’s pretty good compared to the platform. A little boring, but at least it’s not dingy.
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| The main entrance. |
The main entrance leads out to Washington Street and the actual Tufts Medical Center. It’s a fairly simple entrance, with an elevator, a really wide set of stairs, and an upward-bound escalator. There are some Porter-esque vent things as you go down the stairs, and I still don’t know what the heck they’re used for. Also, there are a whole bunch of newspaper boxes on the outside of the entrance, which is nice.
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| The Silver Line bus stop. |
There’s a stop out here for the SL4 and SL5, as well. Alas, there are no fancy shelters, and there aren’t even those countdown clocks they have further down the route (but having used the Silver Line for the aforementioned job, I can tell you those clocks were useless). It’s just kind of a sheltered bus stop with some raised brick areas that act as pseudo-benches. Really, this isn’t the nicest of bus stops.
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| The much smaller second mezzanine. |
Something that took me a little while to wrap my head around is that this station is oriented diagonally. What can I say, it looks straight when you’re down on the platform! But anyway, this means that the second entrance is southwest of the main one, on Tremont Street. Its mezzanine is much smaller, with only two fare gates, and it’s pretty bland. Again, it’s not as bad as the platform, but it’s still pretty awful.
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| An oddly-angled picture of the entrance. |
The entrance, too, is pretty ugly. It has lots of peeling paint and is bland in general. There’s quite a contrast between this one and the main one, too. Over here, it doesn’t feel as busy or built up – just pretty quiet. This definitely seems like the lesser-used entrance.
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| My camera did not like this station, as you can see by the blurriness of that train. |
Station: Tufts Medical Center
Ridership: It’s pretty low – there are a little over 6,100 people who use this station every weekday. Most of these people are probably commuting to the many hospitals around the station, though there are also some residences accessible from the Tremont Street entrance.
Pros: Okay, well, it does flow really well. There’s never a doubt here about where to go because of how straightforward it is. And it really does accommodate for a lot of people, at least at the main entrance.
Cons: Aesthetically, though, this station is terrible. The entrances are meh, the mezzanines are bland, and the platform is horrible. Also, there was that blob thing on the stairs. What the heck was that? The world may never know.
Nearby and Noteworthy: If hospitals aren’t really your thing, Chinatown is close by, as well as the Theatre District.
Final Verdict: 5/10
Well, Tufts Medical Center is functional, for sure. There aren’t too many MBTA stations that are this straightforward, especially on the underground section of the Orange Line (darn you, State, and your endless transfer of death). But I also like my aesthetics, and that’s where this station falls flat. The platform is horrible, and the rest is just bland.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
87 (Arlington Center or Clarendon Hill – Lechmere Station via Somerville Ave)
I originally had this grand plan to take all the Lechmere buses I haven’t taken yet in one day. This plan fell flat because the 87 ran late. Come on, 87! Anyway, this route is a pretty straight run from Lechmere, up through Union Square and Davis Square, to Arlington Center. It’s also incredibly popular, if my ride is to judge!
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| Dinginess, thy name is the Lechmere busway. |
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| Clarendon Hill, with a bus laying over. |
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| The bus heading down Mass Ave. |
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| Okay, this is actually a pretty cool picture, though. |
101 (Malden Center Station – Sullivan Square Station via Salem Street, Main Street, and Broadway)
There are quite a few bus routes that go from Sullivan or Wellington up to Malden Center. They all more or less travel in crescents, in order to serve neighborhoods not served by the Orange Line. Most of these routes serve the eastern side of the tracks, while there are only two on the western side: the 108, which sticks very close to the Orange Line right-of-way, and the 101, which is much more circuitous. Making a huge crescent going as far west as Medford Square, no one would take the 101 from beginning to end. However, many people use it, as you’re about to find out.
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| The bus coming into Malden Center. |
We headed down Pleasant Street, pretty quickly leaving behind the tallish buildings of Malden Center. It was residential until we crossed the Fellsway West, where there was a mall and a bunch of small businesses. We also went by the Fellsway bus yard, which was pretty cool.
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| This is what happens when the awesome bus yard is on the left side of the bus and you’re sitting on the right. You get a bad picture. |
From there, it became a mixture of houses and businesses. Eventually, we reached a big rotary which went under I-93. We were in Medford Square once past that, where the road was lined with shops. Turning onto Main Street, we crossed over a bridge, under the Mystic Valley Parkway, and into an industrial area.
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| Nice view. |
Luckily we left the industrial area almost as quickly as we entered it (the 95 continues through it, and you may remember how – um – scenic that ride was). But we continued down Main Street, which was nice and residential. Soon enough, businesses began to pop up, and it became a mix between those and houses.
Main Street curved eastward a bit, and became entirely residential again, with more closely-spaced houses. There was a great view out of the front of the bus when we reached Winter Hill, but I couldn’t get any pictures. We joined the 89, merging onto Broadway, which had a nice tree-lined median. This was once again a mixture of businesses and houses. After a period of time with an 89 in front of us stealing all our passengers, we reached the Sullivan Square busway.
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| Well, things certainly got gloomier, didn’t they? |
Route: 101 (Malden Center Station – Sullivan Square Station via Salem Street, Main Street, and Broadway)
Ridership: There were about 40 people on my ride, and this was a Saturday! And there were a bunch of people waiting at Sullivan, so it headed back to Malden with a full load, as well. The 101 is in the top 30 bus routes when it comes to ridership: 4,767 riders per weekday, 2,397 on Saturdays, and 1,119 on Sundays. Medford Square seems to act as a halfway point for the route, where most of the people from Malden have gotten off and people start getting on to go to Sullivan, and vice versa.
Pros: The 101 cuts right through Medford, which is great. It serves a lot, and also has a pretty good schedule: every 10-15 minutes rush hour (nice!), every half hour during the day, and every 35 minutes on Saturdays.
Cons: But it’s every hour at night and every 70 minutes on Sundays. The Sunday schedule in particular is pretty awful, especially since the route still gets high ridership on Sundays.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There were lots of small businesses along the route. Medford Square looked nice.
Final Verdict: 6/10
The 101 seems like a really popular route. If that’s the case, then why does it run so infrequently on Sundays? Seriously, every 70 minutes seems really bad. That said, the route still serves large portions of Medford and connects them up to the Orange Line. Routewise, the 101 is a great bus, and it does run frequently a lot of the time, but that Sunday schedule is horrible.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
92 (Sullivan Square Station – Downtown via Main Street and Haymarket Station)
The 93 cuts right through the heart of Charlestown, and it’s a really nice ride that feels like you’re going through a really old neighborhood (which it is). The 92 still has that feeling, but along its route, there are hints of trashiness here and there: a small shopping plaza, a little parking lot, and a suburban-style bank (including a drive-through) are some of the things you see. Also, not nearly as many people use the 92 as they do the 93. Let’s take a closer look.
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| The bus downtown. |
The 92 (and 93) used to go all the way to Downtown Crossing, but they were recently cut back to just south of State. Thus, I got on the bus at Devonshire Street @ Milk Street, the current terminus, along with…one other person. Wow, lots of ridership here.
We turned onto Milk Street, then up Congress Street, in and among the tall buildings of downtown. At Haymarket, the driver opened the doors hopefully, but nobody waiting got on. So, we made our way up to North Washington Street and crossed over a bridge.
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| The view from the bridge. |
We turned onto Chelsea Street, then Warren Street. This was a cute, narrow street with apartments on either side. Soon, we merged with Main Street, this being Thompson Square. We passed a small shopping plaza (blech), then the street became lined with small businesses and apartments.
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| I missed the street that led right to the Bunker Hill Monument, but look! You can kind of see it from this one… |
Passing a school, a playground, and the aforementioned suburban-style bank, we soon left Charlestown, merging into a big rotary. We navigated the maze of roads leading into the Sullivan Square busway, where two people got on the bus. After that, we left the busway and continued north, entering the trashiest part of the 92.
We headed up Mystic Ave, which had industrial buildings on one side and a big highway on the other. We then merged onto Middlesex Ave, which went behind the Assembly Square Mall. Heading onto the Fellsway for a block, we turned onto Grand Union Boulevard, then into the mall proper. The few people riding got off here, and I headed off towards Assembly Row and the Orange Line station.
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| Getting ready to head back. |
Route: 92 (Sullivan Square Station – Downtown via Main Street and Haymarket Station)
Ridership: There were only 5 people in total on my ride. And the last time I took the 92 (it was only from Sullivan to downtown, so I didn’t review it then), there were only 3 people who rode! But then there was a time I saw the route at rush hour and it was packed. However, it would seem the 92 gets pretty subpar ridership overall, with an average 1,321 riders per weekday and 579 on Saturdays.
Pros: This is a good alternative to the 93, serving the whole of Main Street (though the 93 is a nicer ride, in my opinion). This one has the added bonus of going up to Assembly, though I’m surprised people still take it up there even after the new Orange Line station opened. I suppose the station serves Assembly Row, while the 92 is more for people going to the Assembly Square Mall. The route also has a good schedule, running every 25 minutes weekdays and every 35 minutes Saturdays.
Cons: There’s no Sunday service, which is too bad. But actually, I wonder if the 92 even needs to run on Saturdays. The route only has an average of about 10 people per trip on Saturdays, which isn’t very much.
Nearby and Noteworthy: I saw some small businesses along Main Street, but I’ve got nothing specific, as usual.
Final Verdict: 7/10
I mean, this is definitely a good route for what it’s worth. It runs frequently and serves an unserved part of Charlestown. Here’s the thing – on my ride, literally no one got on or off along the entire Main Street portion of the route. This could’ve been specific to just my ride, but if it happens often, here’s a possible way to fix it. Maybe on Saturdays, the MBTA could run a combined 92/93 bus that goes up Bunker Hill Street, over to Assembly, and then back down on Main Street. That said, the 93 gets significantly more Saturday ridership than the 92, so it might overcrowd it. Well, just an idea.
UPDATE 9/1/19: This route now only goes to Sullivan instead of Assembly, a good change.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
245 (Quincy Center Station – Mattapan Station via Quincy Hospital and Pleasant Street)
This is a route I’ve been wanting to take for a while. It’s not quite as elusive as the 217 (though I really want to take that one, too), but it does run weekdays only and not very often at that. It serves quite a few parts of southern Milton, and a large part of Quincy west of the center. Yes, today we’re taking a ride on the 245.
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| The bus coming into Mattapan. |
We turned onto Blue Hills Parkway, which instantly became residential. It had a nice wide median, but we didn’t have too much time to enjoy it, turning onto Brook Road soon after. We passed a park and a middle school, then joined the 240, turning onto Reedsdale Road. There is a variant of the 245 that stays on Brook Road, which seems suburban and even rural at points.
This was the standard route, though, and Reedsdale Road was all residential. We did pass a nice-looking library and a hospital, but it was mostly just houses. There was a church at the intersection with Randolph Ave, where the 240 turned off and we were on our own. We turned onto Pleasant Street a block later.
Pleasant Street was a windy residential road. It eventually became Edge Hill Road, and we passed a big school. Soon, the street got a little tree-lined median, making for a very nice residential neighborhood. After that, we turned onto Adams Street, joining the 215 and 217 and entering East Milton Square.
The street was lined with businesses for a bit, then got residential. The 215 and 217 went their separate ways, and we were alone once more, with some trashy businesses lining Adams Street. Unexpectedly, we turned onto narrow Common Street, which was residential.
Soon after, we turned onto Quarry Street, going by some big apartment complexes. It changed to Granite Street, and we curved north, passing some malls with huge parking lots. We were very close to Quincy Center, but then we turned onto residential Whitwell Street.
We went by the massive Quincy Medical Center, then came down a hill and turned onto Adams Street. This was another residential street, and also had its own “National Historical Park”! It got more urban after we crossed over the Red Line tracks and Adams Street curved south. We merged into Hancock Street and came into the Quincy Center busway soon after.
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| This is the 245 at Quincy Center. Well, it was the 245. |
Route: 245 (Quincy Center Station – Mattapan Station via Quincy Hospital and Pleasant Street)
Ridership: On my ride, there were about 20 passengers in total. This route gets low ridership in general, with only about 561 boardings per day. Indeed, it ranks 137 out of 164 bus routes, so…not great.
Pros: The 245 serves quite a lot, from southern Milton to western Quincy. It’s also the only link from Quincy to Mattapan, should anyone want to go between those places. I don’t believe anyone rode from beginning to end on my ride, though.
Cons: The headways are varied, from as often as every 35 minutes to as infrequent as every 75 minutes. That’s probably good for the ridership this route gets, but I still think limited Saturday service would be nice.
Nearby and Noteworthy: It was mostly residential, but there were some businesses in East Milton Square.
Final Verdict: 6/10
This route certainly serves a lot, and it was a very nice ride. It is weekdays only, however, with pretty limited headways. Saturday service would be nice, even if it’s just in the denser Quincy section of the route. Maybe a shuttle from Quincy Center to East Milton Square?
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
27 (Mattapan Station – Ashmont Station via River Street)
Geographically, the 27 runs very close to the Mattapan High Speed Line along its whole route. Looking at it on a map, I thought it seemed like the most useless bus route ever! But in actuality, it serves quite a lot. See, the Mattapan High Speed Line is separated from River Street by the Neponset River, which doesn’t have any crossings on the western half of the route. Thus, each mode of transportation basically gets its own side of the river. We’re taking a look at the northern part today, along which the 27 runs.
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| A really odd angle at Ashmont. |
We left Ashmont heading down Dot Ave, where things got residential pretty quickly. We passed a big hospital and then entered the Lower Mills historic district. The street became lined with businesses, and there were also some old factories in view. Here we turned onto River Street.
Passing a small mall, River Street then became more residential. We went by a huge assisted living complex, and a playground later on. The Neponset River Reservation then took up one side of the street, with more houses on the other side. Soon, however, there were apartment buildings on either side of the road that signified that we were in Mattapan. We pulled into the Mattapan busway right after that.
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| The bus in Mattapan. |
Route: 27 (Mattapan Station – Ashmont Station via River Street)
Ridership: There were about 15 people on my ride. Weirdly, some of them actually took this bus from beginning to end! I guess it’s because the bus is 50 cents cheaper than the Mattapan High Speed Line. On weekdays, this bus only gets an average of 887 boardings, but when it gets combined with the 24 on weekends, the ridership jumps to 1,319 boardings on Saturdays and 724 on Sundays (it may seem like less, but it’s still good relative to other Sunday buses).
Pros: As you can probably tell, this is a really short route. It’s scheduled to take 10 minutes to get from Ashmont to Mattapan, and it really was that quick. Still, it serves the side of the Neponset River not covered by any public transit lines. Also, combining the 24 and 27 nights and weekends seems to be an efficient way to save money while still keeping both routes.
Cons: I wonder if they could also combine the routes middays. They should leave rush hour alone, for sure, but there were 15 people on my midday 27 bus – not very much. That said, the 24 gets higher ridership than the 27, so perhaps it’s more crowded middays.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The Lower Mills seemed like a pretty cool place. It would be interesting to tour one of those old factories, but I’m not sure if you can.
Final Verdict: 8/10
This is a nice little route! I forgot to mention the schedule, but it runs a consistent every half hour all day. On weekends the 24/27 runs every 40 minutes Saturdays and every 65 minutes Sundays, which both mean healthy amounts of people on each vehicle. So yeah, overall, this is a great little route with a fine schedule and fairly good ridership.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Governor Charlie Baker wants to make some radical changes to the MBTA, but transportation officials are pushing back.