Random Photos: Driver Change?
I forgot to post this one earlier. At Green Street, when our train came in, it stopped at the end of the platform. The driver then opened the front door, got out, and was replaced by someone else. Is this regular protocol? Do train drivers just do this randomly? Oh, well, it made for a cool picture.
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| It must be so scary jumping that gap… |
Transit Tales: I Just Wanna Go Home!
It all started at South Station. The driver announced over the loudspeaker that we would be standing by due to some issue with the train doors (or something). After about a 10 minute wait with constant reassuring announcements of “It’ll just be a little, little, little, little bit longer”, we finally left for Downtown Crossing. Once we got there, the driver announced that we would be standing by again. And a few minutes later, they made the announcement that the Red Line was experiencing moderate delays. But it wasn’t because of our train – no, there was apparently a medical emergency.
This was about the last straw for me, so I left the train and walked to Park Street via the Winter Street Concourse. I then went to the Green Line and took that up to Lechmere, from which I got a 69 to Harvard (review on that coming at some point). Once I got there, I figured the train might be running fine now, so I headed down into the station. The countdown clock said there was a four minute wait until the next Alewife train. “Okay,” I thought, “I can handle four minutes.” So I went to the platform.
Then all of a sudden, that four minutes turned to eight minutes for no reason. They then made the announcement that the Red Line was still experiencing moderate delays…because of a disabled train at Kendall. What?! When did the reason for the delays change? This was when I left the platform fed up, and decided to just take the 77 instead. It dropped me off on time (unlike some transport modes I know), and I made it home 70 minutes later than expected. Ugh.
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| Park Street was a bit of a mess… |
Green Street
After taking the 41, we had two options: take the 39 down to Forest Hills, or make the 10 minute walk to Green Street. I figured I’d have plenty more chances to go to the former, whereas the latter is no longer served by any buses. So after a walk through a nice residential neighborhood, we ended up at Green Street Station.
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| The station’s headhouse. |
The station’s entrance is, unsurprisingly, on Green Street. Outside there are a few sheltered bike spaces, as well as an essay and poem about the neighborhood on a plaque. The headhouse is pretty nice, made of brick and glass.
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| The mezzanine. |
The station’s mezzanine is very big and spacious. There’s a big area even before the fare gates with a few benches and fare machines. Speaking of the fare gates, five of ’em is definitely more than needed here, which is great. Also, there’s weird art spread throughout the station – you have to look around to notice it, but it’s basically colored shapes suspended from various places. Pretty cool stuff.
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| The platform, looking down the middle. |
After the fare gates, the station becomes pretty much the exact same thing as Roxbury Crossing (and the other Southwest Corridor stations in general). There’s a staircase, an upward escalator, and an elevator that all lead down to the platform. And aside from a cool light fixture at the northern end of the platform, it’s the same thing as Roxbury Crossing. You can still hear – but not see – Commuter Rail and Amtrak trains going by (it happened here with an Acela), there are still pointless shelters in an already sheltered area of the platform, and the place is still tranquil, even more so than Roxbury Crossing. So even though we had to wait 10 minutes, it wasn’t that bad in the almost empty station.
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| A train coming in. |
Station: Green Street
Ridership: This station’s tranquility can probably be credited to the fact that it has the lowest ridership on the entire Orange Line, with about 3,600 riders per weekday. Most of these riders are probably locals from the surrounding area – large houses to the west, and smaller apartments to the east.
Pros: This is a really nice, quiet station. I love little neighborhood stations like this, with mostly small side streets around them. It’s busier than, say, Shawmut, but certainly still has that quiet element to it. The station is clean, and I like the art installations throughout.
Cons: Of course, this station suffers from the same problem as the rest of the Southwest Corridor: bland, 80’s architecture. And once again, those weird bench shelters are pointless.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There are some businesses to the immediate east of the station, including a café right across the street. And about a half mile to the west is Jamaica Plain Center, with lots of retail and a few bus connections (Green Street itself has none, though the 42 is three blocks to the east).
Final Verdict: 8/10
Having seen two Southwest Corridor stations, I think I like this one more. I can’t say I’m too sure why I’m more of a Green Street fan over Roxbury Crossing, but perhaps it’s because of how relaxed it is. It feels even more tranquil than the latter, though they’re about the same in most other regards.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
41 (Centre and Eliot Streets – JFK/UMASS Station via Dudley Station, Centre Street, and Jackson Square Station)
Okay, so even if I made fun of the angry driver of the 8, he did help us out a lot. If he hadn’t dropped us off back at JFK/UMASS, we wouldn’t have been able to catch the 41 to Jamaica Plain Center. I still don’t understand the driver’s “book writing” analogy, though…
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| Looking at the bus straight on. |
Leaving JFK’s busway, we made our way up to Columbia Road, which went over the Red Line tracks. There were a few gas stations and a church at the intersection with Dorchester Ave, then a short residential stretch. At the intersection with Mass Ave, there were some more businesses, which turned back to houses as we followed Columbia Road to the left.
Soon after we reached Uphams Corner, where the first proper businesses came up, lining the road as we turned onto Dudley Street. We were running with the 15 now as we passed Uphams Corner Station. After that, the road became lined with apartments with a few businesses scattered here and there.
This continued until we reached Dudley Square, then continued down Malcolm X Boulevard. We passed one of a few schools on that street, then unexpectedly made a sharp uphill turn onto Roxbury Street. Going by a middle school, Roxbury Street became Centre Street, which had a mix of houses and apartments – these phased into just houses.
Centre Street merged into the very wide Columbus Ave, from which we entered the Jackson Square busway. We continued down Centre Street from there, passing an apartment complex and then closely-spaced triple-decker houses. As we approached South Huntington Ave, these turned to retail buildings, and we were soon joined by the 39.
There was yet another school, but Centre Street mostly consisted of apartments. The businesses got denser and denser as we got closer to JP Center – eventually they lined the road. The last stop of the route is at Centre and Eliot Streets, right next to the Soldier’s Monument. However, we accidentally got off one stop earlier, at 775 Centre Street! That’s seven seconds of the route that we missed! I’ve failed you all.
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| The bus laying over. |
Route: 41 (Centre and Eliot Streets – JFK/UMASS Station via Dudley Station, Centre Street, and Jackson Square Station)
Ridership: There were about 25 people on our trip in total – not bad for a Sunday. This route goes through areas where lots of people use the bus, so it gets fairly high amounts of passengers overall – almost 2,250 riders per day on weekdays. That number drops to about 1,000 on Saturdays and about 550 on Sundays, but the 41 ranks pretty well overall.
Pros: The fact that it goes to JFK/UMASS is a definite plus. This route forms a direct link from JP to the Red Line – indeed, it’s one of the only bus routes to serve JP anyway. The 41 also has a few parts all to its own, most notably the section on Centre Street from Jackson Square to South Huntington Ave.
Cons: The schedule is all-around pretty bad. Every half hour during the day is decent, but having those same headways during rush hour is pushing it. It gets worse on weekends, with buses running every 50 minutes Saturdays and every 45 minutes Sundays. The route also suffers from bad service spans – the last bus is at 9 PM on weekdays, 8 on Saturdays, and 6 on Sundays.
Nearby and Noteworthy: One stop along the route was announced as a “mansion.” No mansions could be found.
Final Verdict: 5/10
I would call the 41 a pretty mediocre route. The ridership is decent, but the schedule is pretty terrible. Even the ride itself is mediocre – it’s interesting enough, but there’s nothing noteworthy about it. That said, it does provide a link from JFK/UMASS to JP, so it does have some use.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
MBTA trains have been…smoky lately, with two smoke-related incidents occurring in two days.
Random Photos: Alewife in the Snow (With Diamonds)
My friend Lucy (who took the photos) and I were taking a little walk in the snow, and ended up at Alewife Station. Surprisingly, a few of the doors were open, but the station was deserted, there being no T service at the time. When we were on the balcony over the mezzanine, for some reason the departure bell started ringing and we could hear a train leaving! I assume it was non-revenue, but why would they be running a non-revenue train in the first place? Oh, well, the pictures were cool.
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| The huge building. |
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| The busway was deserted, of course. |
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| The fare machines were still on. |
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| The totally empty mezzanine. |
Random Photos: Don’t Go Looking For the 48
The 48 bus went to Green Street station before it was brutally cut from the system. Of course, instead of replacing the sign at the station, the MBTA just took out their roll of duct tape…
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| Why didn’t they just tape up the whole thing? |
Random Photos: Low-Flying Plane at Beachmont
Logan Airport’s influence spreads quite far. All the way up in Revere and one can still see the planes flying low overhead.
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| The plane. |
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| Looking out over the station. |
Random Photos: View From Lynn Parking Garage
I found a batch of random photos that were never published, so I’ll be putting them out. The first one is the decent view from Lynn Station’s parking garage.
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| Looking over downtown. |
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| And towards Nahant. |
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| The birds circle above an interesting-looking tower on a hill. |
8 (Harbor Point/UMASS – Kenmore Station via BU Medical Center and Dudley Station)
It’s not often you miss the last stop on a bus. But once we reached the last stop of the 8, the driver decided to drive away before yelling at us. Thus, for all intents and purposes, my friend Jason and I missed the final stop of a bus route. What an accomplishment…?
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| This came out surprisingly well, considering the amount of salt on the bus window. |
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| This one at Kenmore will have to suffice. |
64 (Oak Square – University Park, Cambridge or Kendall/MIT via North Beacon Street)
I never really gave the 64 much thought until I read Jordan King’s guest post about it. The route sounded interesting, and I figured I’d have to give it a try at some point in time. Then a few of my friends, with no interest in buses at all, told me I should ride the route. Well, now I had to do it!
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| The bus on Green Street in Central Square. |
The 64 starts at University Park, a little east of Central Square. We (my friend Jason came along “for moral support” – his quote) didn’t get on all the way over there, and like everyone else boarded at the Magazine Street @ Green Street stop. After everyone got on, we headed down Western Ave, going by lots of houses. There were a few apartments and industrial-looking buildings at the intersection with Memorial Drive, then we crossed over the Charles.
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| Nice view. |
After the bridge, we turned onto a road paralleling Storrow Drive, We then turned onto Cambridge Street, heading over an exit of the Mass Turnpike. There was a view of…really just industrial wasteland. There wasn’t even a skyline view on the other side!
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| Still, industrial wasteland looks kind of pretty in the snow. Kind of. |
There were some apartments on the other side of the bridge, but also a few auto shops and gas stations. We were joined by the 66 as we went over the Mass Pike again, and then after an industrial area, we stopped at Union Square, Allston. Here we went solo again, turning onto North Beacon Street.
The route would normally take a short detour from North Beacon Street via Arthur Street, Guest Street, and Life Street, but there was construction. So, we stayed on North Beacon, which was pretty darn industrial. We went by Market Street, as well as that really cool TV station, and soon after it got more residential.
Crossing under the Turnpike again, we were greeted by some fast food restaurants with huge parking lots. It got more parky, luckily, and there was a nice view of the Charles from North Beacon Street. We soon turned onto Brooks Street, crossing the Pike for the last time, and then the fun part of the route started.
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| I guess the river wasn’t frozen out here. |
Unexpectedly, we turned onto Hobart Street, going through a nice-looking residential neighborhood. But this street was tiny, and we could barely fit between the parked cars. I would’ve loved to have seen a car try to go the other way, but unfortunately the road was quiet. We turned onto Falkland Street, and then the much wider Faneuil Street.
There were a few businesses at Faneuil Square (where the last 64 terminates on weekdays and Saturdays), then more houses. These eventually turned into apartments, and after passing a park, we arrived at Oak Square. The driver kicked us off and the bus looped around to head back to Central Square.
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| Huh. It says “no Beacon Street,” yet I’d swear the route went on Beacon Street! |
Route: 64 (Oak Square – University Park, Cambridge or Kendall/MIT via North Beacon Street)
Ridership: On our ride, there were about 25 passengers in total. For a Sunday, that’s not bad. There were about 10 people who got on at Central, and the others fed on at various stops. In terms of rankings, it’s about halfway down the ridership list at places 70, 77, and 83 for weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, respectively.
Pros: This route has a good chunk of northern Brighton all to itself. Also, a person sitting in front of us vouched for the fact that the route provides a speedy link from Central to Union Square, which it does indeed. During rush hour, the 64 is extended to Kendall, presumably for commuters to the area, which is great. The route runs pretty often during that time, too, every 15-20 minutes.
Cons: That’s raised to every 35 minutes during the day, and every hour at night and on weekends. The Sunday schedule is particularly brutal as the last trip that day is at 6:35 from Oak Square. Those are horrible service hours! A nitpick is that the University Park routing is annoying, but it’s not that bad.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Aside from Oak Square, which seemed nice, the 64 goes by the very first Staples store, in Brighton! I’m gonna be honest, it looked like just a regular Staples, but it’s still kinda cool.
Final Verdict: 7/10
This is overall a pretty good route, in that it serves a lot. It also provides a speedy link from northern Brighton and Union Square to Central Square. The schedule is the only real con for this route – every hour on weekends is bad enough, but the service span on Sunday is terrible. Still, for folks in Brighton, it’s better than nothing.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The MBTA isn’t running today because of the blizzard. Yes, I know I’m really late.
75 (Belmont Center – Harvard Station via Concord Ave)
I think buses look amazing in the snow. It’s a shame, then, that on a snowy day I had to wait for the 75 in the underground Harvard busway. That said, I’d much rather wait for the bus in a tunnel rather than a sign out in the middle of nowhere, especially if it’s snowing. So it’s a mixed bag, I suppose.
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| The dark, wet busway. |
Leaving the tunnel, we headed up Garden Street, going by the Cambridge Common. We then turned onto Concord Ave, passing houses and apartments, then a big laboratory. There were some businesses after that, and then closely spaced houses. We passed the Tobin School, and after that we left the 74 and 78 by turning onto Fresh Pond Parkway.
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| Fresh Pond can barely be seen between the trees. |
The bus runs express along this section. Fresh Pond Parkway has Fresh Pond and parkland on one side (looks like they gave the road a fitting name), while car dealerships and gas stations linger on the other. We went by the Cambridge water works, and turned onto Huron Ave soon after. Running with the 72 for a few blocks before it turned onto Aberdeen Ave, we were solo once again.
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| Another snowy view. |
Huron Ave had houses on one side and more parkland on the other. We went by a big apartment tower (“700 Huron Ave”, which appears on the route’s destination boards, too), and then a cemetery. On the other side was a scenic view of the Fresh Pond Golf Course, of which I failed to get a picture. It got fully residential when we turned onto Grove Street, eventually rejoining the 74.
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| And yet another snowy view. |
We headed up Bright Road, then turned onto Concord Ave. Once again, there were houses on one side and parkland on the other. We then passed the massive Belmont High School complex, and I got off the bus at the Commuter Rail station. From there, the route makes the same loop that the 74 does through Belmont Center.
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| Ugh, what an awful angle! |
Route: 75 (Belmont Center – Harvard Station via Concord Ave)
Ridership: Although it was a snowy Saturday afternoon, 11 people still isn’t very much. They all got on at Harvard and fed out at various points along the route. There were two other people who went all the way to Belmont Center. Looking at the charts, the 75 performs consistently badly ridership-wise no matter what day of the week it is.
Pros: This route is a fine alternative to the 74 if you’re going to Belmont Center. They’re coordinated most of the time, though most people got off along the 75’s independent portion. It’s also a surprisingly scenic ride, especially in the snow.
Cons: On its own, the 75 is every hour all through weekdays and Saturdays. Saturday evenings and Sundays it gets replaced by the 72/75, which runs every 40 minutes. I still believe that all service should be taken over by the latter, since neither the 72 nor the 75 get very high ridership alone.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Belmont Center again. See the 74 post for more information on that.
Final Verdict: 4/10
I will say that the 75 is slightly more useful than the 72, since it covers a much larger distance. Still, though, I feel that they should be merged full-time, which would be more efficient. Neither of the routes get especially high amounts of ridership, even on weekdays, so the MBTA could perhaps save some money by merging the routes.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Davis
There are four folders on my computer that have pictures of Davis in them. The problem is, there aren’t too many non-blurry ones. Why? Because this station is too darn dark! I don’t know what it is – there are lots of lights at Davis, but they don’t seem to have much of an effect on the brightness. When I’m on the train and we arrive at Davis, it often feels like we’re still in the tunnel. Still, this station is clearly important, based on what it’s done for Somerville since it opened in the 80’s. Let’s take a look.
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| The station, looking bright for some reason. |
Aside from its darkness, the platform is passable. The diagonal benches with art on them are pretty cool and unique. Unfortunately, ceilings get pretty low in parts of the platform, and it can feel a bit dingy. The coolest part of the platform, though, is the massive abstract art piece beside one of the staircases. It adds some much-needed color to the station (a lot of the station is gray), and really catches your attention.
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| Wow! |
The mezzanine is, like the platform, passable. There’s a fair amount of fare gates (if you’ll pardon the pun) and fare machines, though the machines are a bit scattered. When you enter the station past the gates, there’s a massive picture of a CharlieCard to greet you. Interesting, since you can’t actually get CharlieCards at Davis.
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| Who doesn’t love these statues? |
From the mezzanine, there are staircases to two entrances. The first is on Holland Street, and is pretty nice. This is where you catch the 87 and 88 buses towards Lechmere, which is pointed out back in the mezzanine. Heading out behind Holland Street, there are a whole bunch of bike spaces (which are always packed), and the Somerville Community Path towards Alewife.
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| Inside the other entryway. |
The other entrance is accessed by a long-ish hallway that overlooks the platform. Along it are a bunch of tiles painted by kids (at the time) that are really interesting to look at as you walk by. Heading out, there’s a nice entryway with a little convenience store and even some payphones. What are those again?
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| The busway, looking slightly askew. By the way, see how it’s winter in the picture? This was taken last winter. |
This entrance leads out to the station’s main busway. Davis isn’t a huge hub, but it’s served by six routes serving Somerville, Medford, Arlington, and Cambridge. The busway has the same dated architecture as the rest of the station, but it does have one redeeming quality: a countdown clock. I love how there’s one right at the busway, so when you get off you can instantly see if you should be running for your train or not. I’ve only seen this setup here and at North Quincy, but it really needs to be at more stations.
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| Even with a stationary train, it was still too dark for the camera to take a non-blurry picture. |
Station: Davis
Ridership: This is actually the 12th busiest station on the system, with nearly 13,000 boardings per day! The fact that it was the only station in Somerville for 30 years (until Assembly opened recently) is probably some explanation. Also, this station gets student traffic as Tufts University is about a 15 minute walk away (they even announce it on the 01800 trains).
Pros: For now, it’s the closest station to a very large part of Somerville (but we’ll see how the Green Line extension changes that). And this station completely changed the area – Davis Square was a pit before the Red Line came along, and now it’s one of the most happening places in Greater Boston. As for the station itself, there’s lots of art scattered through, and I particularly like the huge piece next to the stairs. The numerous bike spaces are a plus, too.
Cons: The architecture is so very dated all around the station. Plus, the platform is really quite dark.
Nearby and Noteworthy: I love Davis Square! The Somerville Theatre is a great movie theater, and really cheap, too. There are also countless restaurants in the area.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Okay, Davis as a station is pretty bad. The architecture is very dated and boring, and the platform is very dimly lit. But I do like the many art projects scattered around, and more importantly, how much this station changed the area. Davis is a perfect example of how public transportation revitalizes neighborhoods. For that alone, I had to raise its score up to a seven (though the station itself is more like a five).
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The MBTA’s late-night service could be coming to an end, as they haven’t gotten enough sponsors to keep it open. Jetblue was willing to buy out the entire Blue Line, why is nobody offering money now?
Lynn
I said in my post about Lowell that the station was pretty depressing. It was very functional and all, but just didn’t feel…right. Honestly, though, Lowell doesn’t even come close to how foreboding Lynn is. Really, this place is a dump.
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| The tall, tall entrance. |
The main entrance is very tall and imposing. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, because it definitely lets people know that there’s a train station here. It leads out to the North Shore Community College campus on Broad Street, as well as the waterfront.
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| And the other entrance. |
The second entrance is closer to Central Square. It gets its own pseudo-plaza that goes to both sides of the station. When I say pseudo-plaza, I mean a bit of pavement that has nothing of note on it. Inside, there’s a mosaic mezzanine that tried to look nice but sort of failed. A staircase leads up to the platform.
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| The main busway. |
The bus situation at Lynn is pretty confusing. The station is a huge hub for sure, with many 400-series buses going all over the place. But they also go all over the place in downtown Lynn, and maps always make it seem more confusing than it is. Case in point…
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| Makes perfect sense! |
As you can see in the “Downtown Lynn Area Bus Finder” above, finding a bus in Lynn is extremely easy! Just find one of the stops on the map – ignoring the two that are off it – and look at the lengthy list of bus routes that corresponds to each one. Also, make sure you do it in September 2003, since that’s when the map is valid. Seriously, just go to the main busway and grab the bus from there!
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| The dinginess of this area isn’t captured at all. |
The busway leads to the main entrance. Your first sight upon entering is a whole bunch of rusty green staircases. It’s sort of reminiscent of what the Central Artery used to look like before the Big Dig. The staircases here lead to different floors of the parking garage. If five floors is too much of a climb, you can just take the smelly elevators up. The garage actually has more spaces than the station does ridership, so it’s literally more than enough.
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| The entrance to the platform. |
Further past the green stairs is the entrance to the platform. Again, the mosaic tiles try to make the area look nice, but ultimately fail. Mosaics cannot compete with the rusting ceiling, water damage, and dark, grim atmosphere of the entrance.
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| The platform, taken from my personal helicopter. Or the top of the parking garage. |
The platform gets some respect from me because it’s elevated, which is fantastic. But other than that, it’s not the best. There’s a thin shelter that runs along it that doesn’t seem like it would be much use against the elements. Indeed, it’s only there for about half the platform. The view is nice, at least.
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| A train from down below. |
Station: Lynn
Ridership: Surprisingly low – this station only gets 662 inbound riders per weekday (keep in mind that the parking garage has three hundred more spaces than that). I daresay the busway gets more ridership! Indeed, some of those Lynn buses can be pretty popular on weekdays.
Pros: It’s right smack in the center of Lynn, and a huge bus hub. The parking garage is huge, and the station’s elevated. It makes an attempt to look nice, but…
Cons: It doesn’t. This is a dingy, dumpy station. I suppose that can be said for its surroundings, too (sorry, Lynn), though Fields Corner isn’t the best neighborhood either, but I felt safe there. Is it because of its modern, well-kept station? Could be.
Nearby and Noteworthy: I’m gonna be honest, I’ve never been a fan of Lynn. Perhaps there’s a hidden gem somewhere, but the downtown area has never been appealing to me.
Final Verdict: 5/10
As a Commuter Rail station, it’s functional. It’s nice that it’s fully accessible, with a high-level platform. The garage is massive, there are lots of bus connections, and the station is elevated right in downtown Lynn. In fact, there are probably more good things about Lynn Station than bad. But it has such a foreboding feel – I didn’t really feel safe exploring the station. Imagine what the coveted Blue Line extension out here would do for the city – if they ever built it.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The MBTA is fining Keolis (operator of the Commuter Rail) $1.6 million because of late and dirty trains.
Beachmont
I love small neighborhood stations. I also love modern, recently renovated stations. And I really love elevated stations. Beachmont manages to embody all three of these things. And so, I love it!
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| The station from across the street. |
Beachmont wants to let everyone know that it’s there. You’d think an elevated station is eye catching enough, but the MBTA went one step further. They took one of the elevator shafts and raised it to twice the height of the station itself, then put a T logo and lights on it. I’m not sure why they felt the need to do that, but I really like it.
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| The entrance. |
The station’s single entrance is under the elevated line. It’s well-lit and modern, with a cool floor pattern and bright blue pillars. There are also a few bike spaces here, though I think there are more than the six that the website says it has. Something I didn’t realize is that there’s even a 430-space parking lot for this station on Winthrop Ave!
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| The mezzanine. |
The station’s mezzanine is beautiful. There’s a reflective ceiling, and that cool floor pattern again. It’s also very spacious, with lots of fare gates. There are two countdown clocks in here, one for each platform. There’s a set of stairs, an escalator, and an elevator each for the two platforms.
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| Long-time readers of the blog may remember my weird hat… |
This station has the best elevator on the MBTA. It has very shiny glass walls, not that there’s much to see. But still, glass elevators are awesome anyway. Beachmont takes that extra step, though, and throws in a mirrored ceiling! It allows you to take pseudo-selfies like the one above. I don’t often rave about MBTA elevators, but this one is just fantastic.
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| The platform. |
The platform is pretty standard, but nice. Most of it is sheltered, with a short open part to the north. There are a few benches, and quite a few wastebaskets, for some reason. Something unique to this station and Revere Beach further north are the tiles lining it. They show the station’s name, some abstract landscapes, and images of historic trains. It’s all very colorful, and just another awesome thing among many at Beachmont.
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| A train leaving the station, with Suffolk Downs visible in the distance. |
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| A train going the other way. I like this one more, but felt the need to do both. |
Station: Beachmont
Ridership: The station may have fairly low ridership, with only about 3,050 riders per weekday, but that’s a fair amount for a local station like this. Aside from the northern part of Suffolk Downs and a few businesses in the general vicinity, the surroundings of this station are entirely residential. I did the math, too, and this station is only slightly lower than the average ridership of the Blue Line north of Airport.
Pros: I love this station. Everything from the awesome “T” spire to the spacious mezzanine to the amazing elevators to the functional platform is great. And it’s elevated, which is a rare sight in Boston nowadays. Though there’s only one bus connection (the 119), that’s all you need for a somewhat geographically isolated station like this.
Cons: Um…gee, I honestly can’t think of anything. Oh, what about how the escalator on the outbound side goes downward? That’s ridiculous! Wait, it’s because most people arrive from Boston and there’s no point in going outbound from Beachmont. Okay, then, I got nothing.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There are a few businesses around the station that look pretty nice. Also, grabbing the 119 from here and taking a jaunt around the Beachmont Loop gives you a great view.
Final Verdict: 10/10
I really can’t think of anything I don’t like about Beachmont! It’s a beautiful station, and very functional, with a larger-than-needed parking lot. Plus, it’s elevated! Perhaps this isn’t my favorite station on the Blue Line (Maverick is very cool), but it has no glaring problems that I can think of. And it’s definitely my second-favorite, or perhaps it even gets the number-one spot. Thus, Beachmont gets the elusive 10/10 score.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
119 (Northgate – Beachmont Station via Revere Center and Cooledge Housing)
Well, I was very surprised at the view on this route. Honestly, I never suspected that there would even be one, but it was there, and actually pretty nice. But before we can get to the view, we have to start in pitland, the Northgate Shopping Center. Right when I got off the 429, there was a 119 waiting to head to Beachmont…
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| The bus at Northgate. |
Leaving Northgate, we went around a big rotary, part of an interchange with Route 1. We then continued down Squire Road, and made a little loop around Linden Square. From there, we headed back in the direction we came, then turned onto Washington Ave.
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| The view from the rotary. |
After a few industrial buildings, Washington Ave became more residential, with closely-spaced houses. We then turned onto Malden Street, going under Route 1, Passing a large school, we turned onto Cushman Ave, heading into the Cooledge Housing development, where all the houses were the same. We navigated our way through, via Adams Street, Cooledge Street, and Constitution Ave.
We then turned onto Broadway, joining the 116. This street was mostly businesses, initially with parking lots, then just blocks of them lining the road. After passing Revere City Hall, we turned onto Beach Street, which was once again residential. We then turned onto Winthrop Ave, which, aside from a small school and a park, was all houses.
There was an intersection with Revere Beach Parkway, a bridge over the Commuter Rail tracks (with a skyline view that I couldn’t get a picture of), and an underpass under Route 1A. Then the road widened into a parkway, still lined with houses but with a big, grassy median. As we were passing the northern part of Suffolk Downs, the street narrowed back to two lanes.
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| Those stables were really run-down. |
At Beachmont Station, almost everyone on the bus got off. From there, we entered the second part of the route, the Beachmont Loop – the most scenic part of the 119. We continued down Winthrop Ave, then turned onto Crescent Ave in a cute little square. Going by lots of nice houses, we descended down to the coast and Winthrop Parkway.
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| The best picture I could get of the view. |
Instead of going onto the parkway, though, we turned onto Endicott Ave, which rose above it. The view only lasted for a few blocks, but it was great. Definitely one of the lesser-known ones on the system. But alas, Endicott curved back inland, we turned onto State Road, and arrived back at Beachmont.
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| The spire of Beachmont Station is poking up just above the “119” on the destination board. |
Route: 119 (Northgate – Beachmont Station via Revere Center and Cooledge Housing)
Ridership: On my trip, there were almost 40 people who rode – on a Sunday! I’m not sure if I rode during some sort of “Sunday rush hour” or something, because this route is worse than the 429 on ridership charts – yet for me it had double the passengers. Many of them came from Northgate, with a few more people getting on at Beachmont for the loop.
Pros: It makes a nice crosstown route through Revere, cutting across lots of north-south buses. Plus, the view from the Beachmont loop is great. The 119 runs about every 30 minutes during rush hour and on weekdays, which is pretty good.
Cons: But then it’s every hour all other times. I don’t know if my crowded trip was a fluke or not, but if the route’s getting that much ridership on Sundays, the schedule should definitely be improved.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The view is fantastic, and that’s pretty noteworthy, right?
Final Verdict: 7/10
This seems to be an important route. 40 people on a Sunday is the sort of ridership you see on a Key Bus Route, so the 119 must be doing something right. That said, it also doesn’t run often enough if it’s getting that much ridership. But you gotta give it credit for that view.
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