Airport
Being a Red Line user, the Silver Line is the much more efficient way of getting to the airport for me. But for Blue, Orange, and Green Line (before Government Center was closed) users, Airport Station is more direct. And most tourists would probably use the station too. Luckily for them, this place is fantastic.
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| Just look at this platform! It’s beautiful! |
I love the platform – the whole thing is sheltered. Not only that, but the ceiling is really high. It’s very well lit, with lots of natural light getting in (the line is above ground here). There’s lots of historical information lining the walls, and quite a few benches, too. Things seem to end up in the rafters a lot, though.
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| The center of the platform. |
In the center of the platform, the ceilings get very high to accommodate two footbridges. They go between the main mezzanine and the Bremen Street entrance – one within fare control and one outside. This center portion has some really high windows, which have some cool artwork on them. And we can’t forget about how Blue Line trains switch power at Airport!
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| The beautiful main mezzanine. |
The main mezzanine is huge. It has a bunch of fare gates, anticipating huge crowds. Aside from schedules for every bus route on the system, there’s also a handy-dandy board showing departures to and arrivals from the airport. It does have an abundance of airline ads, but there are also these really cool payphones that look like rocket capsules about to take off. Also, there are some really random brochures. Why is there a brochure for Toronto at Boston’s airport?
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| The busway. |
The busway where the airport shuttle buses pick up is pretty simple. It’s a simple shelter running down the length of a sidewalk. There are some benches along it, too. The busway has a second lane, which is unsheltered and only meant for buses dropping people off. Airport Station is also served by the early-morning 171 bus, and once they build the Silver Line to Chelsea, that will be stopping here, too.
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| The much smaller Bremen Street mezzanine. |
The station’s second entrance is on the other side. Its mezzanine is much less grand than the main one, with only two fare gates. That’s not to say it’s dirty or ugly, though. Indeed, this whole station is really modern and clean. The Bremen Street entrance probably doesn’t get as much use, though, so only two fare gates are necessary.
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| It’s so big! |
The station looks really big if you look at it from the Bremen Street side. This entrance leads to a pedestrian path that goes over and under two highways, and into a nice-looking park. This then goes to a residential neighborhood, though unfortunately there’s no T symbol outside the park.
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| You can see the portal in the background. |
UPDATE 4/22/18: The SL3 stops here now, so I figured I would update this review to talk about that part of the station. This is copied and pasted from my SL3 stations review:
Alright, it would appear that Airport Station didn’t get any kind of modernization. So…we’ve still got poles with paint peeling, rusting benches that have been here for years, and maps that don’t even say that the SL3 exists. (UPDATE 4/24/18: the maps have been updated!) Our one indication that a bus stops here is the smallest berth signs ever that hang from the roof of the shelter.
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| Oh…uh…hmm… |
Station: Airport
Ridership: As you might expect, this station gets pretty high ridership for the Blue Line. Its 7,429 daily riders make it the second-busiest non-transfer Blue Line station. And not all these people are going to the airport – there are also residents of nearby neighborhoods who use this station.
Pros: I mean, I just love everything about this station. It’s all sheltered, it’s beautiful, and the mezzanine has some fantastic amenities. It’s annoying that you have to take a shuttle bus to get to the airport itself, but imagine how expensive it would be to give the airport direct train service. The shuttle buses run pretty frequently, anyway, and this is the most direct link for those who use the Blue, Green, and Orange Lines.
Cons: I just wish there was a T logo on Bremen Street. How expensive can it be to put simple signs up?
Nearby and Noteworthy: The airport, I guess. There are some businesses along nearby Bennington Street, too.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Airport Station is beautiful. I love all the station’s aesthetics, and it has some great amenities in the main mezzanine. Something I didn’t mention was the elevator in the mezzanine that was double the size of a normal elevator, which was amazing to discover! I just wish there was a sign on Bremen Street, but I guess you can’t have everything. Even though a sign wouldn’t be too hard to install!
UPDATE 4/22/18: Since the Silver Line station is technically part of Airport, this score should really be dropped to something like a 7/10, so…yeah…
UPDATE 6/23/19: But now the berth signs are bigger! I dunno, a 7 seems unfair, the score should be updated to an 8/10.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
An increase in schoolwork recently means I won’t be able to post nearly as much as I was doing before. I’ll probably be able to one or two posts a week, hopefully. Sorry, everyone.
Random Photos (Videos): Blue Line Train Switching Power
A Blue Line train switching from third rail to pantograph power at Airport Station. It was a lot less exciting than I thought it would be… If the video below doesn’t load, watch it here.
Random Photos: Balloon in the Rafters
Okay, what is it with things getting stuck in the roof at Airport Station? First it was a squirrel, now this:
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| It wasn’t a happy Valentine’s Day for whomever lost the balloon… |
Service Change: Logan Airport Shuttle – Route 33
Massport runs a few free shuttle bus routes within Logan Airport (for the full list, click here). The one I took was the 33, which goes from Terminals C and E to the Blue Line Airport Station. The bus itself was really nice – it was pretty much the same as the Back Bay Logan Express, except articulated. So basically, 2 times cooler.
I took it from Terminal E, and the route was quite simple. Leaving the terminal, we passed a gas station, then headed down Service Road. We went by some industrial buildings, and arrived at the station busway shortly thereafter. So, yeah, there wasn’t much to talk about… review of Airport Station coming soon!
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| Blurry… |
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| The inside. |
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| Looking up towards the front. |
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| I had to get a bus inception picture, but this one is terrible! |
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| The bus, presumably going back to the terminals. |
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| They even have countdown clocks! This one’s at the Blue Line station. |
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| A better picture of one of the buses. |
Service Change: Back Bay Logan Express
Recently, Massport began running a bus route from the Hynes Convention Center and Copley Square to Logan Airport. It’s free if you have a CharlieCard, but if you lack one (presumably like most people who would use this bus), it costs five dollars one way. Is it worth the cost? Well, not if you take it during rush hour…
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| The sign at Hynes. |
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| That sliding front door is amazing! |
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| The front of the bus. |
I got on at the Hynes Convention Center (note that it leaves from the convention center, not the Green Line station). The service runs every 20 minutes, which is a pretty good headway. After waiting on one bus for a few minutes, they transferred everyone to another one (for some reason) and soon we were off.
The inside was very swanky. The seats were mostly sideways-facing (boo!), but there were some forward-facing ones in the back. There was a luggage rack, as well as a screen up front that said the date, time, and next stop. An automatic announcer said the names of the stops, and he sounded really soothing. “Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride” was a nice touch. But if I had actually been trying to catch a flight, this ride would’ve been anything but enjoyable.
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| I love it! |
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| The ads were all airport-related stuff. |
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| No room for an “A” to properly abbreviate “station.” |
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| Not a good time to go to the airport, evidently. |
We headed down Boylston Street, going by lots of businesses and apartments. The Boston Public Library signified that we were in Copley Square, and a few more people got on here. We then turned onto Clarendon Street, and then onto Saint James Ave, now heading westward. After that, we merged onto I-90 – away from the airport!
Yes, the reason the ride took so long is that the bus goes down I-90 all the way out to Allston, then turns around and heads back toward the airport. Although this is more or less the most efficient route coming back from the airport, there are more direct ways to get to the airport from Copley Square. Regardless, this is what the bus does, so we were stuck with it.
Leaving the I-90 tunnel through Copley Square, we passed Fenway Park and B.U., then got a nice view when the highway went elevated. We then used a handy-dandy turnaround road to go back eastward, and headed back the way we came.
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| Assorted buildings. |
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| The Boston skyline! |
This is where we hit traffic. It took forever just to get back to where we started, and we still had to get to the airport! Coming out of the Copley Square tunnel on the eastern side, we soon entered another tunnel, the Ted Williams. After about 50 million hours of sitting in traffic, the eventual spotting of daylight certainly lifted my spirits.
We came out onto an elevated road, which made a tight 180 degree turn around, and we soon entered Terminal A. From there, we went through the Terminal B parking garage, as well as through Terminal C, and I got off at Terminal E. Looking at the bus, it now had nothing on the destination board – perhaps it was going to go around the airport again to pick people up. I do know that the trip is scheduled to take 20 minutes, but for me, it took 50. I’d take the Silver Line anyday (though actually, that would’ve gotten stuck in the same Ted Williams Tunnel traffic jam).
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| I see planes and automobiles, but no trains. |
Landsdowne (Yawkey)
UPDATE 4/8/2019: Yeah, this station’s called Landsdowne now. Nothing else has changed, so I’m just gonna keep the review as is. Carry on.
This station’s kinda weird. Tucked away behind a parking lot on Brookline Ave, Yawkey was originally opened just for ball games. It was even more hidden then, with only a tiny mini-high platform. The station began to be served regularly by peak-hour trains in 2001. Last year, a brand new Yawkey Station was opened with high-level platforms, and now all trains stop there. Does the station seem all that modern, though? Let’s take a look.
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| Looking at the station from the parking lot. |
I think the parking lot next to the station is an all-purpose lot most times and a Fenway Park lot game days. It’s kind of cool in that it has a bunch of big numbers in it – I believe they represent different Red Sox players. There’s a T logo visible from the parking lot, but none on Brookline Ave, for some reason.
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| The second entrance from Beacon Street. |
Does Yawkey want to be a “hidden gem” or something? Because it does not want to let people know it exists. The entrances on Beacon Street are simple staircases leading down to each platform. Their only indication that they lead to a train station is this tiny black sign that says “Yawkey.” Good advertising, MBTA.
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| At least they thought to put some T logos up on the platform. |
The station has an interesting layout, with two side platforms facing the same direction. These are connected by a big overpass, which will also connect to a development once it’s built (the station will also be entirely solar-powered when the development is finished). As for the platform itself, it’s mostly open air, with a sheltered portion near the overpass. The shelter is really stark and bland, though.
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| Ugh. |
Ditto for the overpass. There’s a lot of steel and concrete everywhere that doesn’t do the station any favors aesthetically. There are two elevators for each platform, which is more than enough based on this station’s ridership. That said, the ridership is expected to increase when the development opens up.
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| Nice view from the overpass. No train pictures, unfortunately. |
Station: Yawkey
Ridership: Well, the Blue Book isn’t much use because it only counts inbound riders (21, if you were wondering). Yawkey’s Wikipedia page says the station had 585 daily riders in 2007, but that doesn’t mean much now that it’s 2015. Anyway, regular commuters here are usually headed for Kenmore, B.U., or the Longwood Medical Area.
Pros: It’s nice that there’s a station for commuters to the above locations. And this is a good option for people out west coming into Boston to see a baseball game. Yawkey is fully accessible with the renovation.
Cons: It’s so bland, though! I would never guess that this station is brand new! And while the Beacon Street entrance isn’t so bad since you can clearly see the station from there, Brookline Ave really needs some signage. This station is tucked away otherwise.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Fenway Park, and lots of bars and sports-related restaurants..
Final Verdict: 5/10
This is definitely a useful station, and it’s great that it’s here. But Yawkey has a lot of issues in terms of signage and aesthetics. It’s so hard to find! And so boring and stark! Maybe it’ll look better when they build that development? We’ll see…
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Chestnut Hill
Too much to review, too little time. I have a non-MBTA bus to write about, and that’ll certainly come out at some point, but I figured I’d get a few stations done first. Since I just reviewed the 60, here’s Chestnut Hill, the closest station to that bus. And being a D Line station, it’s pretty nice.
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| That wastebasket is convenient. |
Chestnut Hill has two entrances. The first and more obvious one is on Hammond Street, which is mostly residential (though there are a few malls on Boylston Street to the south). It features a T symbol, a station sign, and a strangely-placed wastebasket.
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| A nice path for sure, but how am I supposed to know there’s a train station here? |
The second entrance is on Middlesex Road. There’s a school and a post office near this entrance, but it’s much less obvious. It’s just a small path with admittedly cool streetlights along it. It doesn’t even have a T symbol on Middlesex Road! How is anyone supposed to know it’s there?
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| Not the best vantage point. |
Chestnut Hill’s parking lot is pretty big for a local station – it has 70 spaces. There’s a big sign with lots of taped over and added sections that explains how the parking works. The system seems pretty old fashioned, with manual coin slots. I believe this is the norm for the D Line, though. The station also has a sheltered bike area, with eight spaces.
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| Lots of snow buildup on the platform. |
The platform is as nice as any other D Line platform. It doesn’t have much on the outbound side, which makes sense this far west. On the inbound side, there’s a classic wooden shelter, painted green. There’s also one of those heated CharlieCard shelters, and an old, gross, glass shelter. It was a really quiet, tranquil wait for the train, another standard of the D.
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| The D Line looks so good in the snow! |
Station: Chestnut Hill
Ridership: Pretty standard ridership for the D – about 1,400 boardings per weekday. These are mostly just local riders from surrounding residential areas, though some people may use the station for access to the malls to the south.
Pros: It’s a standard D Line station, so I really like it. It has a sizeable parking lot, and the platform has that tranquil D Line feel to it.
Cons: The entrance on Middlesex Road could really use some signage. Even a T symbol would be fine. Also, I really wish the yellow line on the platform was a bit clearer. In its current faded state, I couldn’t tell where the platform began and where it ended!
Nearby and Noteworthy: The malls to the south are the most you’ll get around here in terms of retail. The post office looked nice, but you know, it’s a post office.
Final Verdict: 7/10
All these D Line stations seem to be getting short reviews and 7’s across the board. Chestnut Hill has some flaws, namely a lack of signage and an unclear yellow line on the platform (which admittedly could mean the difference between getting run over by a train or not). However, that D Line tranquility always wins me over…
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
60 (Chestnut Hill – Kenmore Station via Brookline Village and Cypress Street)
Man, there are a lot more buses that I rode but didn’t review than I thought. The 60 is yet another one of these – I rode the 60 a few years ago, but didn’t review it because I didn’t have any pictures of it. Well, I’ve got some pictures now, so it’s time to take a trip out to Chestnut Hill.
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| Come on, Foodler! You’ve already monopolized so much MBTA ad space! You had to go and get yourself a bus, didn’t you? |
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| Come on, Foodler! That face looks ridiculous. |
55 (Jersey and Queensberry – Copley Square or Park and Tremont Streets via Ipswich Street)
The 55 is an odd little route. Running between Park Street (or Copley Square nights and weekends) and the quiet West Fens neighborhood south of Kenmore Square, it’s certainly a “locals-only” route. Weirder still is that almost all of the 55 runs along with the Green Line, the only unique portion being a small loop around West Fens. Let’s take a closer look.
It’s hard to tell if there’s a proper bus stop at Park Street Station, so I was waiting at a marked stop further down Tremont Street. The bus was already five minutes late when it stopped back at the station (I guess there is a stop there), but then the driver turned off the vehicle. It sat there for about 10 minutes before finally turning on again and heading down Tremont Street. I have no idea why the driver decided to do an unscheduled layover, but whatever..
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| Hurry up! And fix your destination board! |
There was a lot of traffic, and it took quite a while to get down Tremont Street. We passed Boylston Station, then went a block south of the Boston Common, getting into the Theatre District a bit. Turning onto Stuart Street, we went by some restaurants and a cool-looking glass building. We turned onto Charles Street South a block later, and then after another block we turned onto Park Plaza.
Going inbound, the 55 is right alongside the Public Garden (as well as the Green Line), but the outbound route is a block away. The street became Saint James Ave and we passed both John Hancock Buildings, then entered Copley Square. We turned onto Huntington Ave, then Belvidere Street, going by the Prudential Center.
Turning onto Boylston Street, we went over the Mass Turnpike, and the buildings turned to smaller apartments. We turned onto Ipswich Street, which went right next to the Turnpike and under the Charlesgate bridge. On the other side, we passed by Fenway Park, then came back onto Boylston Street, where some new apartments are being built.
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| See that blurry thing? That’s the Fenway Park parking garage! Wow! |
We turned onto Kilmarnock Street, entering a cute neighborhood with lots of brownstones. We then turned onto Queensberry Street, which was already narrow without massive snowbanks on either side. It was a bit of a challenge getting through here. Jersey and Queensbury is technically the last stop, but I stayed on for one more so I could catch the 60 on Brookline Ave. Review of that coming soon…
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| What a nice neighborhood. |
Route: 55 (Jersey and Queensberry – Copley Square or Park and Tremont Streets via Ipswich Street)
Ridership: Like I said, this is a very local route. There were only about 10 people on my ride, and a lot of them got off in places with easy Green Line access. The route only gets about 900 riders per weekday, 400 per Saturday, and 300 per Sunday.
Pros: Well, it’s a really nice ride, I’ll give it that. You see a lot of Boston landmarks if you take it from Park Street. And this route is mostly frequented by elderly or disabled people who live in West Fens, so it gives them local access to Copley Square and Park Street. Also, the route has a surprisingly good schedule for a small local route – every 17 minutes rush hour, every hour weekdays (admittedly not great), every 40 minutes nights, every 35 minutes Saturdays, and every half hour Sundays.
Cons: First of all, it’s a really slow ride. Even on a midday trip there was lots of traffic, and the bus ended up being a half hour late. My main problem with the route, though, is how much time it spends travelling alongside the Green Line. Does it really need to parallel the Green Line the whole way?
Nearby and Noteworthy: Like I said, this route goes by lots of Boston landmarks. I wouldn’t use it to get to a ball game, though.
Final Verdict: 5/10
The 55 could use some work. I really enjoyed my ride, and it has a good schedule, but it spends so much time paralleling the Green Line! I know it serves Copley Square this way, and it’s probably deliberate, but what if they changed up the route a bit? Here’s my proposal:
It basically converts the 55 into a loop that also serves the northern part of the Back Bay. The inbound route stays the same, so it still serves Copley Square, but the outbound route goes along Beacon to serve a neighborhood with no bus or subway service. I’m not sure if this would get any ridership, but it’s just a fun little idea.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
“B” Asks…
90 (Davis Square – Wellington Station via Sullivan Square Station and Assembly Mall)
I can handle a bus being 15 minutes late. Heck, even a half hour late is tolerable. You know, it happens. But 40 minutes late is just unacceptable! That said, the 5:20 trip of the 90 from Wellington to Davis seemed to be cursed from the beginning: faulty destination boards, excessively beeping fare machines, horrible traffic on narrow roads, and getting stuck in snowbanks were all highlights of my ride. This is gonna be a long one.
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| A bit blurry, but it was getting dark outside. |
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| Oh, for goodness’ sake. |
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| The 90 on Highland Ave – obviously not the same bus I took for this review. |
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| And this one’s even more obviously not my bus! I have to wonder why it looks so high up in the picture, though. |
110 (Wonderland or Broadway and Park Ave – Wellington Station via Park Ave and Woodlawn)
“It’s actually rather uninviting, but there are some businesses quite close to the stop. We didn’t get to try any of them, however, as a 110 came (review coming at some point) and we continued our journey.” – Miles on the MBTA’s review of the 111. Well, if by “some point,” I meant over a year and a half later, then I guess I was telling the truth! Yes, for some reason I never got around to reviewing the 110 then. But now, let’s remedy that, as I got the chance to take the whole route all over again.
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| Excellent timing! The bus was there right when my train arrived. |
Leaving the Wonderland busway, we made our way down North Shore Road, then turned onto Beach Street. This was a residential neighborhood, but there was a small plaza when the street merged into a rotary. From there, it turned back to houses, and continued like that until Broadway.
We were on Broadway for about a half-block before turning onto Park Ave, going solo. Passing a park (the street’s namesake, perhaps?), it then became entirely residential. I was wondering if the 110 was on its snow route, which bypasses a portion of Park Ave, but evidently we weren’t as we floored it over a huge hill. We crossed over Route 1 and stopped at Woodlawn, the quiet terminus of the 111.
This was also where we entered Everett, and Park Ave became Elm Street. It stayed residential all the way until the massive Everett High School. Here, we turned onto Ferry Street, which was a mix of houses and businesses. All of a sudden, we reached a massive traffic jam at the intersection with Chelsea Street. It took a full five minutes to make it through, after which we turned onto Chelsea.
The street was mostly houses, with a few apartments. Eventually, we joined some other routes when we turned onto Broadway (a different Broadway from the one before). It was lined with businesses, but before it got industrial, we turned off onto Revere Beach Parkway. Surprisingly, it was a quick run without any traffic, and we soon pulled into the Wellington busway.
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| Looks pretty bleak… |
Route: 110 (Wonderland or Broadway and Park Ave – Wellington Station via Park Ave and Woodlawn)
Ridership: This route gets very high ridership, all things considered – there were about 35 people on my ride. However, in total, the 110 ranks 38th compared to other MBTA buses on weekdays, with almost 3,500 daily riders! It performs similarly well on weekends, with over 1,600 riders on Saturdays and a little over 1,000 riders on Sundays. On my ride, most people who got on at Wonderland got off along Park Ave, with people starting to get on for Wellington after Woodlawn.
Pros: This is an important crosstown route up north, cutting across both Revere and Everett. It has a good rush hour schedule (every 20 minutes, with additional short-turns from Wellington to Broadway and Park Ave) and a decent Saturday schedule (every 35 minutes). Alas, the rest of the time, the route is a bit… terrible. Read on…
Cons: Yeah, so considering how high this route’s ridership is, it has some terrible headways. It runs every 40 minutes during the day, and every hour nights and Sundays! Come on, 110! That’s awful!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Beats me. We went by some small businesses, but none of the ones I saw seemed especially notable.
Final Verdict: 6/10
I never know how to give a number to clearly important routes with really bad schedules. Do I increase the score because lots of people rely on the route, or do I lower it because the schedule is so bad? I decided to do the latter for this one, though not by too much. An improvement to the 110’s schedule would be great, though.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates (you’ll need ’em!)
Oh, you know, it’ll take 30 days minimum for the MBTA to get back to normal, and that’s without any big blizzards! Also, I’m pretty upset that Beverly Scott resigned as GM. I liked her!
Random Photos: Revere Beach in the Snow
I’m not really a big fan of Revere Beach, but it was actually pretty cool in the snow. Maybe it was because the snow covered up the constant litter that permeates the beach in the summer.
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| “Unguarded Waterfront,” says the sign. I think that goes without saying! |
Random Photos: Squirrel in the Rafters
I’m back! I was finally able to actually get on the T! A lot of crazy stuff has been happening lately what with the blizzards, the shuttle buses, and Beverly Scott’s resignation (which I’m pretty upset about), but I haven’t been able to report on any of it. Instead, here’s a squirrel I found at Airport Station! Fun!
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| I thought it was a rat at first, and was kind of disappointed when it wasn’t. |
Brookline Village
After a trio of southern Red Line stations, let’s take a trip out west to the Green Line. In particular, we’re heading out on the D branch. And even more specific, we’re looking at Brookline Village, where my mother dropped me off from JP so I could take the train home. This is gonna be a quick one…
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| The shady, snowy platforms. |
The station has a pretty urban feel, with tallish buildings on either side. It still has that tranquil D branch feel to it, though, with cool wooden shelters on both platforms (take that, Longwood). The station also has one of those CharlieCard shelters that come up along the D branch. These may not sound like much, but consider that the alternative, Riverway, is literally just a sign with a “T” on it.
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| One of the awesome wooden shelters. |
The bus situation at Brookline Village is a whole other story. It’s only served by three routes, but they go all over the place. Even looking at Google Maps, I can’t tell which bus stops where! I do know that there’s a complete absence of shelters around the station. Now that’s just annoying! But the station itself is still nice.
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| A train coming in. |
Station: Brookline Village
Ridership: With 3,230 riders per day, this is one of the highest-ridership stations on the above-ground portions of the Green Line. This is probably because the station is right in downtown Brookline.
Pros: It’s a nice D branch station. It has a more urban feel than some of the stations further west, but somehow still feels kind of tranquil. It’s that D branch power…
Cons: The buses around here go all over the place, and it’s hard to find some of them. Also, Brookline Village is kind of hidden on a side street. From Route 9, the only indication that a station exists is a small T logo on the side of the road.
Nearby and Noteworthy: When I was in second grade, I think, we took a field trip to the Puppet Showcase Theater right next to the station. I remember enjoying the show…
Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s just a standard D branch station. It’s not really worth seeing or anything, but it’s a nice place to wait. This was a short review for a simple station – a solid 7.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates