Transit Tales: The Worst Shuttle Bus Ever
It’s no secret that I, or indeed anyone, dislikes shuttle buses. When I’m trying to get somewhere for fun, planned weekend shuttles can be a minor annoyance. But when I’m trying to get to school during rush hour, it can be devastating. When my friend Leo and I reached the smaller entrance at Alewife, the doors were locked. Annoyed, we assumed that entrance was locked for one reason or another so we headed to the main entrance. This was open, and there were people in the mezzanine. Good.
As soon as we walked in, we heard one of the employees below mention shuttle buses. Oh, no. We didn’t even know why they were running buses (turns out a maintenance vehicle got stuck on the tracks), but we had to walk into the busway. Upon getting there, there was another surprise: they were running the buses from Cambridge Park Drive. And what’s more, there were a few CNG buses in the mix, something you never see at Alewife. Still, they can’t fit in the busway, so I guess that’s why they weren’t using it. But the other buses could’ve still boarded from it.
We were the first people to get onto the second bus (the one ahead was too crowded), and the driver asked where we were going. “Harvard,” I replied. “Hmm,” the driver replied, “Is that what it says on the outside? I don’t know where I’m going.” Pause. “But get on.” Well, this driver certainly knew what he was doing.
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| Typical shuttle bus crowd (photo credits to Leo and his iPad). |
The whole line of buses then proceeded down Cambridge Park Drive (away from Harvard, mind), going by a bunch of offices. We went all the way down until the end, when we turned around and headed back the way we came. This involved some reversing, and it took about five minutes to get back to where we started.
So we finally made our way up Route 16, which was moving at a pace a snail would scoff at. After what seemed like forever, we turned onto Broadway, then Holland Street at Teele Square. Coming into Davis, the buses slowed to a crawl. A massive crowd was denied entrance onto our bus for some reason, and so we headed on towards Porter. We moved pretty quickly through downtown Davis Square, and Mass Ave was fast, too.
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| Massive crowd at Davis. |
During the ride, I could see how the MBTA was throwing anything and everything it had at this service. There were regular diesels, CNGs, articulated buses, and even Silver Line dual modes! It was pretty cool seeing all these different buses in neighborhoods that usually just see the diesels. Anyway, we ended up not going into the Harvard Square bus tunnel, opting for the square instead. This meant a few more minutes of heavy traffic, then we finally got let off. Looking at the long line of buses behind us, I knew that this was certainly the most haphazard shuttle bus service I’ve ever taken. Yet surprisingly, we were only 15 minutes late for school!
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| A line of shuttle buses at Harvard. |
Random Photos: The Old Government Center
There are often stations that I visit and take pictures of, but ultimately end up not reviewing. Turns out this happened with Government Center before its closure! I found some pictures from about a year and a half ago, and though the station’s not getting its review, at least these old photos will finally get released to the public.
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| On the end of the Blue Line platform they had a remnant from the original original station. |
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| I always wondered why this Green Line loop was so well-lit. |
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| On the Green Line platform. |
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| A blurry picture of the entrance. |
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| I love these murals! |
116/117 (Wonderland Station – Maverick Station via Revere Street or Beach Street)
In my review of the 31 about a year and a half ago, I remarked upon how good the bus’s schedule is for a non-Key Bus Route. One of the things I said was that it’s “better than the 116 and 117, and those are both Key Bus Routes!” Something I don’t think I realized at the time was that the 116 and 117 may have subpar schedules individually, but as a combined, coordinated unit they’re as good as any other Key Bus Route. With that said, let’s take a ride on both the 116 and 117 routes! (Oh, and as long as we’re giving confessions from early blog posts, I’d like to apologize for saying that the sharp turn after Harvard is only on the inbound side. Not sure what I was thinking…)
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| The 116 in Bellingham Square. That destination board seems a bit askew… |
I got on the 116 in Bellingham Square heading towards Wonderland. I’m going to save this part of the route for the ride back, and skip ahead to the 116’s unique portion. After the 117 turns off onto Central Ave up in Revere, the 116 continues up Broadway, going by a mixture of apartments and businesses. Eventually, we turned onto Revere Street, joining the 411’s route.
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| Sunset falls over some parking lots near Wonderland. |
Revere Street was much more residential, though there were a few dodgy-looking businesses when we crossed American Legion Highway (upon which a plethora of 400-series buses toward Lynn and Salem go). The street curved north for a bit, and we went by the “Friendly Garden Co-op” – how I love names of residential developments. It then curved east again, where there were apartments and some businesses, as well as a school. Crossing over the Commuter Rail tracks, we turned onto North Shore Road (along with another bunch of 400s), went around a rotary, and came into the Wonderland busway.
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| The 117 in the well-lit busway. |
Unfortunately, the 116 was a few minutes late, and I had just missed the 117 going back to Maverick. I had to wait 20 minutes for the next one, and though I could’ve gotten the 116 that arrived in half that time, I wanted to do both buses for one review. So after the wait that felt much too long, we headed down North Shore Road, following the 110 route.
We came pretty close to Revere Beach Station, but rather than directly serving it, we turned onto Beach Street. There were some nice apartments along here, then we went over the Commuter Rail tracks, past a plaza, and around Bell Circle. Continuing down Beach Street, the apartments became houses until we turned onto Broadway, rejoining the 116.
Broadway had a bunch of small businesses, and was well-lit thanks to some fantastic old-fashioned streetlights (night had fallen by this point). We passed Revere City Hall, then went under Revere Beach Parkway and over a small creek. It then became more residential, with apartments lining the street.
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| Nice view. |
After crossing the Commuter Rail tracks yet again, the buildings got more dense as we entered Bellingham Square. We turned onto City Hall Ave, then Washington Ave, and then Broadway again. We stayed on it for about three blocks before turning onto Cross Street, which had a very back-alley feel to it. Almost immediately after, we turned again onto Pearl Street, which went on a bridge over the Chelsea River. The view was pretty nice, even at night, with Boston partly visible and the massively high Tobin Bridge dominating the scene. Unfortunately, pictures from lit-up buses don’t come out well at night, so…no pictures. Sorry.
Now on Meridian Street in East Boston, we went by a bunch of cute apartments. These soon turned to businesses as we went through Central Square, then we crossed over the Callahan Tunnel portal. We turned onto Chelsea Street, and were let out right outside Maverick Station. The bus then looped around the entrance, changed its destination board to 116, and shut off, presumably for a short layover.
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| A nice night shot at Maverick. |
Routes: 116/117 (Wonderland Station – Maverick Station via Revere Street or Beach Street)
Ridership: It’s a Key Bus Route, so heavy. The 116 from Bellingham Square to Wonderland only saw about 25 passengers, but the 117 back to Maverick had almost 50. Bellingham Square was a major stop, but for the most part people got on at local stops and fed into Maverick. There were surprisingly few people that got on at Wonderland.
Pros: These buses serve a lot, including transit-starved Chelsea. And the schedule, with both buses coordinated, is great. It’s every 10 minutes during rush hour with additional short-turn service from Bellingham to Maverick, about every 10 minutes during the day, every 20 minutes at night (with service running until 2:30 on Fridays and Saturdays), about every 15 minutes Saturdays, and about every 20 minutes Sundays.
Cons: First of all, I noticed some bunching with buses going the other way – there was a 117 running right behind a 116. Also, you may have noticed that I said “about” a lot in the schedule description above. That’s because 116 and 117 buses seem to leave at totally random times rather than following consistent headways. It can make following the schedule very hard. And finally, I’m not sure if we need two separate routes here. Based on the ridership I saw, the MBTA could probably combine them into one.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There were lots of small businesses along the route, with Bellingham Square being the largest commercial area. Bellingham isn’t very nice, though…
Final Verdict: 7/10
I wasn’t sure whether to do a six or a seven, but thinking about it, these buses do serve a lot. Chelsea may not have a subway service (they’re getting a Silver Line, though), but at least the bus routes that run through it are frequent. That said, I feel like the 116 and 117 don’t have to be two different routes. Turning all the buses into 116’s would make things much less confusing for passengers. Still, they could also just run buses at consistent headways instead of the current craziness to cut down on confusion.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
State
Okay, whose bright idea was it to put a subway entrance into the Old State House? Seriously, imagine if the MBTA tried to do that now! I’m sure there’d be a heck of a lot of opposition! But for some reason it was okay back in 1904, and the entrance is still there. On that note, let’s take a look at State, the first transfer station to be reviewed on Miles on the MBTA!
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| It’s not technically the station, but I love this picture. |
Annoyingly, the Old State House entrance has no signage at all. There are just some orange doors that lead into a mezzanine. And they’re pretty well hidden, too. To a tourist, they just look like random doors, and you’d have to take a good look inside to realize it’s a subway station.
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| The Old State House Entrance |
The mezzanine has character, though it’s kind of dingy. There are a few fare machines and a few fare gates, and though it’s kind of small it does its job. I like the brick walls, but the ceiling is pretty low and contrasts with the bricks. There are a few random pipes, but it’s not as bad as in other stations (cough, Prudential, cough). Annoyingly, there are only countdown clocks for the Blue Line on this level, so if you want to know when your Orange Line train is coming, you’re out of luck.
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| I feel like I can’t escape these stupid Foodler ads. |
There’s also a second entrance, which is more like a standard subway entrance and has much better signage. Right next to a Bank of America, I’d imagine this is the one most people use since there’s actually a “State” sign above the doors. How convenient.
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| The second entrance, as seen in a terrible picture. |
With this entrance, you go underground before paying your fare. This mezzanine was much more modern and sleek. Perhaps it has less character than the other one (and it lacks the novelty of going into the Old State House to take the subway), but it feels much less dingy.
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| The second mezzanine. |
Before talking about the platforms, I just want to mention the bus connections. For downtown, they’re not bad. You’ve got the 4, 92, and 93 stopping on Congress Street and the 352, 354, and (sigh) 608 stopping on State Street. The 92 and 93 actually terminate here now, having previously gone to Park Street. But unfortunately there are no shelters for any of the bus stops.
The Orange Line platforms for this station are…weird. They built the downtown Orange Line stations diagonal to each other, for some reason, but State is the oddest because they’re also stacked. This means that to get from one Orange Line platform to the other, you have to climb up some stairs and walk down a big, long walkway. It’s especially annoying if you know the train’s arriving so you have to run down the walkway. I learned that the hard way. I like how the wall is painted in a whole bunch of different colors as you get further down the walkway.
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| It starts out dingy… |
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| …but gets much nicer. |
The Orange Line platforms are really ugly. The walls are really grimy, the ceiling feels very low, and it’s overall just not a nice place to wait for a train. And let’s not even get started on the woman who was yelling at someone at the phone extremely loudly, causing half the platform to be vacated. Also of note is that when you’re waiting at Downtown Crossing for an outbound train, you can look down the tunnel and see it stopped at State. They say it’s approaching before it’s even left State!
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| Ew… |
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| I couldn’t get a picture of the train coming in, so this is the best I could do. |
The Blue Line platforms, on the other hand, are really, really nice! They’re modern, well-lit, and clean. And they’re even right next to each other! How convenient…I wonder who thought that up? However, they used to be even more dingy than the Orange Line platforms, but were renovated in 2011. My question, then, is why didn’t they also renovate the Orange Line ones during this time? They certainly couldn’t do it now, since one closed downtown station is bad enough (Government Center).
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| Much better! |
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| I don’t know why there are spots all over the camera… |
Station: State
Ridership: Being a transfer station, of course it’s going to be busy. It gets about 13,000 passengers per weekday according to the 2014 Blue Book. (I finally got with the times!) I think this station probably gets a lot of ridership from Blue to Red Line passengers, especially with the closure of Government Center.
Pros: For one thing, one of the entrances is in the Old State House! That’s worth noting just for the novelty. The mezzanine for the non-Old State House entrance is nice, as is the walkway between Orange Line platforms. And the Blue Line platforms are, as seems to be the norm for the line, really good.
Cons: Well, the mezzanine for the Old State House entrance is kinda dingy, but not terrible. It would be nice if there was a shelter for the 92/93 stop, though I think most of those passengers just use Haymarket. No, the real problem with State is the Orange Line platforms. For one thing, they’re so far away from each other, which both makes things confusing and lengthens travel times. And for another, they’re just really ugly and dirty.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Um, how about the Old State House? This station is also close to Faneuil Hall, where there’s an exhibit I really want to see.
Final Verdict: 7/10
I tried to think about this score as averaging everything out. If we were just talking about the platforms, then the Orange Line ones would drag the score down to a five. But there are also the two entrances, both of which are pretty good overall. So those would bring it back up to an 8. But the lack of a bus shelter or even a bench takes the score down again. So, it’s a 7. Seems fair.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The MBTA operations center has gotten a $6 million upgrade! This will improve the “brain” behind the system quite a lot.
Bonus Review: 608 (Government Center Loop)
This bus does not need to exist. There is no reason why it should exist. The 608 is a shuttle that runs from Haymarket to State, Government Center, and Bowdoin, before heading back up to Haymarket. It’s totally free to ride, and runs every 20 minutes. But…why? It’s a five minute walk from Haymarket to Government Center! Do we really need a bus that does the trip in eight? Sigh.
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| A sign at Haymarket. |
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| The 608 on a standard bus sign. |
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| The bus at Haymarket. |
Random Photos: State to Aquarium
I didn’t realize how close these two stations actually were, but it turns out you can see Aquarium from State. You learn something new every day…
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| You can see how much deeper Aquarium is than State. |
Random Photos: The Wonderland Parking Lot
I’ve been up on the roof of the Wonderland parking lot once before, but that time I only took a picture of the view of the beach. Yesterday I went up there again, and took a few more pictures, because it’s a really awesome view.
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| Panorama! |
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| Looking down a curvy road. |
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| The view of the skyline wasn’t actually that good. |
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| These were all over the station. I don’t even know what they were! |
Random Photos: View From the 111
I remarked in my 111 post that there’s probably a really nice view of Boston from the Tobin Bridge. I managed to snap a picture of it on my hybrid bus ride, and it is indeed a fantastic view.
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| Not a great picture, but it was the best I could do. |
Random Photos: Could Use a Paint Job
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| It couldn’t hurt… |
A Ride on a New Hybrid Bus!
These new buses are so cool! They’re all big and round! They’re so quiet! Some of the LED lights turn off whenever the doors close! The seats are amazingly comfortable! The automatic announcements are so clear! It’s amazing! You should ride one! They run on the 111! Which is also a route worth riding! Score!
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| I didn’t get on this bus because it seemed too crowded. Little did I know that it was the only one running that day, so I had to wait for it to come back to Haymarket. |
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| A comparison shot. If there’s one thing I don’t like about the new buses, it’s the fact that the destination boards can be hard to read because of the sun reflecting off of them. |
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| Pretty futuristic! |
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| I love these new stop request buttons! There’s also tape, as seen in the background. |
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| All the new buses have security cameras like those on some of the existing fleet. |
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| The windows were already really scuffed up. |
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| The chairs are really, really comfortable. And single seats are back!!! |
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| I got off at Bellingham Square. |
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| Bye! |
86 (Sullivan Square Station – Reservoir (Cleveland Circle) via Harvard/Johnston Gate)
Pre-blog, there were a few buses that my father and I took for fun. Some of these were used for the first posts (459, 30), but many ended up being forgotten. The 86 was one of those original buses, and I’ve actually used it a few times since then on the Sullivan-Harvard portion. Finally, in August, I took the whole thing, and yet I still kept putting the review off. But now, for the 250th post, let’s finally take a look at the 86. This is probably one of the most diverse routes on the MBTA, running from posh Cleveland Circle to Harvard University to industrial Sullivan Square. It makes for quite an interesting ride.
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| That guy in the bottom left looks pretty goofy. |
We went by the massive Harvard Stadium as well as some university buildings, then crossed over the Charles River. The North Harvard Street bridge is being worked on, so there’s usually quite a bit of traffic. Luckily, the 86 made it over without a hitch, and we turned onto Eliot Street. There were quite a lot of businesses here, being Harvard Square.
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| A nice view from the bridge. |
Now, Cleveland Circle-bound 86 buses go right through the heart of the square, but Sullivan Square-bound trips go through the bus tunnel instead. So, we turned onto Bennett Street, University Street, and Mount Auburn Street before heading into the tunnel. I would imagine that this is a much faster route than what Cleveland Circle-bound riders have to deal with, since they go right through the traffic-ridden square.
Leaving the tunnel, we bypassed the Dawes Island stop (which only Cleveland Circle-bound buses use), looped around the busway portal, and headed into the Cambridge Street tunnel. Coming out, we turned onto Quincy Street and went by a massive cathedral-esque building of which tourists love to take pictures.
We then turned onto Kirkland Street, passing a really out of place apartment building, and then some beautiful houses in a leafy neighborhood. There were some businesses at the intersection with Beacon Street, then Kirkland became Washington. This was where the atmosphere changed from a more suburban feel to closely-spaced Somerville apartments. Not that I don’t love the latter kind of neighborhood.
There was a school, and immediately after we crossed over the Commuter Rail tracks and entered Union Square. There were, of course, a lot of businesses here, and a few bus connections. Washington Street merged into Somerville Ave and then made a left turn, where we were joined by the 91. Going under the McGrath Highway and some more tracks, it started to feel kind of industrial. Washington Street became Cambridge Street as we entered into Boston, and then we pulled into the Sullivan Square busway.
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| Since the first picture was so bad and my bus flashed NOT IN SERVICE immediately upon coming into Sullivan, I decided to wait for the next bus to get a decent picture. |
Route: 86 (Sullivan Square Station – Reservoir (Cleveland Circle) via Harvard/Johnston Gate)
Ridership: Very high – 52 people! And it was a Saturday! Some people used it for crosstown connections, and others used it just for local service, but nobody went from beginning to end…except me.
Pros: This is a fantastic crosstown route, connecting to three out of four subway lines. It seems to get very high ridership, which is also good. The route is about half-and-half in terms of unique portions, which means that there are plenty of bus connections, but also parts that just the 86 serves. This bus also has a pretty good schedule: every 10 minutes rush hour, every 20 minutes during the day, every half hour Saturdays, and every 35 minutes nights and Sundays.
Cons: I wish the bus was consistent about its route through Harvard, preferably going via the bus tunnel. It can be really confusing for those who haven’t taken the bus before.
Nearby and Noteworthy: This bus goes by many businesses, none of which I know anything about. As usual.
Final Verdict: 8/10
This is a great crosstown route with a pretty good schedule (especially for a non-Key Bus Route). My only problem is the route it takes in Harvard Square. My personal opinion is that they could route all trips through the busway to improve speed. The problem with this, though, is that it seems like buses can’t get into the busway from the Cambridge Street tunnel, so the intersection would have to be reconfigured. That would be a lot of work, so maybe just improving signage for Cleveland Circle-bound buses would be fine…
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The Fairmount Line is finally getting weekend service in a week’s time! Check the new schedule here. But more importantly, to me, anyway, is that this is the 250th post! The blog’s been experiencing a lot of growth, both in terms of followers, and evidently in content. These posts have just flown by, and I look forward to writing many more to come…
51 (Cleveland Circle – Forest Hills Station via Hancock Village)
If I were to ask you if Brookline has good public transit access, you would probably say yes. After all, it has three Green Line branches serving it, providing frequent service to some pretty dense apartments. Yes, the northern part of Brookline gets pretty good coverage. But what about the part south of the D? The part with the grand estates, the huge yards, and the many forests and golf courses? This barren part of Brookline has only one single bus to serve its entirety: the 51.
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| This was back when the trees were green. |
It all started at Forest Hills, way back in August (it took me a while to get around to reviewing this). After picking people up there, we headed down Washington Street along with a multitude of other routes. There were some nice apartments along here, with a few businesses. At Roslindale Square, we turned onto South Street, going by the Commuter Rail station, as well as a lot of commercial buildings.
We then left the other buses by going down Robert Street, and then turning onto Walter Street. which was residential. Eventually it became sort of a rural feel, as we were right next to the Arnold Arboretum. We turned onto Weld Street, which also felt rural until the intersection with Center Street, where there were some businesses.
Weld Street was residential again after that, as well as curvy. We were on it for quite a while until finally, we turned onto Corey Street and then the wide, tree lined VFW Parkway. It was a pretty beautiful street, but we soon turned onto Independence Drive at a small mall. We then went through (shudder) Hancock Village, a (groan) development where all the houses are the same. This is also where we entered Brookline.
Independence Drive became Grove Street, and luckily the houses became normal again. There was a line of businesses at Putterham Circle, then Grove Street became Newton Street and it felt rural again. We turned onto Clyde Street, which became Lee Street, and we went by some pretty impressive mansions.
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| An obstructed view of the Brookline Reservoir. |
Lee Street then curved to the left and we went by the Brookline Reservoir. We were on Route 9 for only a block before we turned onto Chestnut Hill Ave. The houses were much smaller and closer along here, a big contrast from the huge mansions from earlier. But we never made it to the apartments of Beacon Street, for we had to pull into the Reservoir busway.
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| There are a few people going back to Forest Hills. |
Route: 51 (Cleveland Circle – Forest Hills Station via Hancock Village)
Ridership: There were a little over 20 people who used this bus on a Saturday. That’s not that bad, honestly. Everyone who got on at Forest Hills got off at certain points along the route and everyone who got on at certain points went all the way to Cleveland Circle.
Pros: It serves a massive swath of Brookline that has no other public transit options. That said, I’m sure many of those mansion dwellers have cars, but over 20 people on a Saturday isn’t bad.
Cons: The schedule is pretty poor: every 25 minutes rush hour, every hour during the day and night, every hour and five minutes on Saturdays, and no service on Sundays. The route could also stand to be a little less circuitous. It makes a rather inefficient U shape near Forest Hills and Roslindale.
Nearby and Noteworthy: If you like gawking at mansions, then this is your bus! It does go through Roslindale, though, which has a lot of businesses.
Final Verdict: 5/10
This is really the only public transit available for much of Brookline, so I can’t lower its score too much. But the schedule is pretty awful, and I don’t like the U shape the route makes. Considering that no one got on or off in Roslindale on my ride (and the fact that there are a plethora of other buses that go there), perhaps the route could bypass it entirely by going through the Arnold Arboretum…
You can see how buses would travel faster with this new route. The question is if it’s necessary or not. Much of the current route is served by other buses, but there’s a short section on Walter Street that’s just the 51. So rerouting this bus might not bode well for the folks in that neighborhood. Seems like a mixed bag, I suppose.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The MBTA has given Keolis (the new operator of the Commuter Rail) a fine of $434,000 for late trains alone, and $804,000 in total! Apparently Keolis isn’t doing the best job at keeping the Commuter Rail on schedule.88
Sneak-Peek of the 211
When I hopped on the 211, I didn’t realize that the bus takes a different route on Sundays. Instead of taking its normal way south of North Quincy, it replaces the 212 on Billings Road. Thus, I decided not to give the 211 a proper review, since A) I haven’t been on a part unique to that bus, so the review would be incomplete, and B) Reviewing the 211 now would make riding the 212 obsolete. So, I decided to hold off. But there were still some very nice views on the ride to Squantum, so consider this a “sneak-peek” for when I get around to riding this bus on a weekday.
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| Fall foliage. |
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| Some marshland. |
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| And some more. |
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| The Boston skyline! You can also see the JFK Library in the foreground. |
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| The sea is visible in the distance. |
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| The skyline, with Back Bay. |
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| Dorchester. |
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| A close-up of downtown. |
201/202 (Fields Corner or North Quincy Station – Fields Corner via Neponset Ave and Adams Street)
Perhaps the MBTA needs to hire some new map makers, because even after riding the 201 and 202, I still can’t make heads or tails of the routes’ map. To me at least, it just looks like a mess of arrows pointing in random directions. And there are some really misleading bits, like how it shows the 201 bypassing the Keystone Apartments when it actually serves them, at least sometimes. Certain trips. But the 202 bypasses them sometimes, too. Okay, maybe it’s the routes that are insanely confusing, not just the map.
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| Yup, makes perfect sense. |
On weekdays, the 201 and 202 form clockwise and counterclockwise loops (respectively) to and from Fields Corner. But on weekends, they form a direct link from North Quincy to Fields Corner, with the route they take corresponding to the direction the bus would normally go around the loop…it’s pretty confusing.
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| There’s some nice fall foliage in the background. |
Anyway, a 201 arrived at North Quincy, and we made our way to Hancock Street. There was a bridge over the Neponset River, then we went around Neponset Circle and down Gallivan Boulevard. The street had a lot of ugly businesses with massive parking lots, then we turned onto Hallet Street, which felt more industrial. We went into the Keystone Apartments parking lot slowly (stupid speed bumps), but nobody got off or on. Then we headed back towards Neponset Circle and onto Neponset Ave.
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| Nice view from the Hancock Street bridge. |
There were some businesses along here, then it got more residential. Some trips go up Freeport Street to serve the Puritan Mall. but we just continued down Neponset Ave, where there were some closely-spaced houses. Occasionally there would be a few businesses but it was mostly residential. Neponset Ave became Adams Street, but right after that we turned onto Gibson Street, which had some nice apartments (and a not-so-nice public works department).
We then turned onto Dorchester Ave, and then again into the Park Street busway. I’m surprised that they actually put a busway here, considering how close to Fields Corner it is. There were some businesses here, as well as a mall. We went up Geneva Ave, then onto another busway that for some reason went right next to Fields Corner without any stops. The busway made a u-turn around the station, and the actual stop was on the other side.
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| No Quincy Station? What happened to it? |
Now we were a 202, but we headed back the same way as before, via Geneva Ave, the Park Street busway, and Gibson Street. But instead of going down Neponset Ave like before, we used Adams Street, which had some apartments that eventually became houses. It continued like this for a while until near Gallivan Boulevard, when it suddenly became all businesses.
We continued onto Granite Ave, which was residential. I could see the bridge that the 215 uses to get over the Neponset River, but we turned off just before it onto Hill Top Street. There was a nice park on one side of the street with a playground and houses on the other. Soon we went back into the Keystone Apartments parking lot, actually picking someone up this time, then went back up Hallet Street.
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| Interesting view in the Keystone Apartments parking lot. |
We made our way over the bridge again, then turned onto Newport Ave Extension. We went through the massive office park, as mentioned in the North Quincy review, and then past a marsh. Turning onto West Squantum Street, we drove over the Red Line tracks and into the North Quincy busway. Mission accomplished.
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| Nice view! |
Routes: 201/202 (Fields Corner or North Quincy Station – Fields Corner via Neponset Ave and Adams Street)
Ridership: It was pretty quiet, being a Sunday. There were exactly eight people who rode in each direction, many using the route for local service. Fields Corner and North Quincy, the two subway connections, weren’t that busy, with only a few people getting on and off at each.
Pros: The two routes serve that awkward area in between the Ashmont and Braintree branches. It’s nice that buses go in both directions on the loop, so people don’t have to take really circuitous trips like they might if the loop was one way. The 201 provides most morning rush hour service, while the 202 covers the evening rush; both go about every 15 minutes during those periods, which is pretty good. Midday is about every 20 minutes between the routes, and night service is every half hour, provided exclusively by the 201, until 1 in the morning. On Saturdays, the routes run about every 25 minutes together. So overall, not a bad schedule. I also had a really nice driver, whom I was talking to throughout the entire ride, but that doesn’t affect the score of these routes.
Cons: Sunday service is every 45 minutes, which isn’t great, but there wasn’t enough ridership to justify higher frequencies. I also wish the routes were more decisive about whether they want to serve North Quincy or not. It would be nice if it was more consistent, and I think it’s a decision that wouldn’t affect ridership too much. My main issue is that these routes seem way more confusing than they have to be. I don’t know whether it’s the routes themselves or just the way they’re drawn on the map, but something has to be done about this. Perhaps a map redesign is in order…
Nearby and Noteworthy: There were a few businesses along the route, the most prominent of which being at the intersection of Adams Street and Gallivan Boulevard.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Honestly, I thought I would be giving these a much lower score when I started this review. But it turns out that these buses are pretty good after all. They serve what they need to serve, and get the job done with fairly frequent service. But really, someone has to take a stab at making that map less confusing.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
GUEST POST: 64 (Oak Square – University Park, Cambridge or Kendall/MIT via North Beacon Street)
Ever since I first saw the 64, I’ve always wanted to ride it. Why? I don’t know, but I heard that this bus takes the craziest streets. So I decided to ride down to Kendall/MIT to see how crazy this route is.
The Ride: In order for me to go all the way to Kendall/MIT, I had to wake up at around 7 on a Friday morning. This is because during midday, evenings, and all day on the weekends, the 64 ends at University Park located about a mile away from Central Square in Cambridge, even though the destination display states that it ends at Central Square. (Kind of misleading, don’t you think?)
this the craziest route!)
The route started to get interesting when the bus started picking up speed down Birmingham Parkway which then becomes North Beacon Street. Now we headed down past Market Street where passengers can connect to the 86 and from Market Street the bus is supposed to turn on Life Street according to the map I looked at. But when I asked the driver he said that there was construction and so he couldn’t turn down Life Street making angry customers who wanted the stop by Stop & Shop even angrier. We then headed on Cambridge Street in Union Square (Not the one in Somerville!) where we picked up and dropped off several people. After we left Union Square the trip was pretty quiet as we crossed the Mass Pike and the Charles River into Cambridge. We then made a series of turns onto some more crazy side streets. Finally after a very long 20 minutes of sitting in traffic the bus finally pulled up to Central Square.
Now from here the bus would make a right on Mass. Ave to continue to University Park, but like I said earlier the bus continues to Kendall/MIT on weekdays. So we followed a 83 and a 91 bus down Prospect Street then made a right on Broadway following a 68 bus, and after an additional 10 minutes of traffic we finally arrived at our final destination: Kendall/MIT.
Fleet: Well, I know the 64 is dispatched from Charlestown so expect to see some RTS’s, New Flyer D40LF, and on some rare occasions a Neoplan AN440LF, but in the future I hope that I will see some XDE40’s on this route.
Final Verdict: After re-reading this entire review I figure that I give this route a 7.5/10 because I think although the ridership can be crazy and the route itself can be even crazier, I think in my opinion this route is a very fun route and I would recommend it.