CT2 (Sullivan Station – Ruggles Station via Kendall/MIT)
You may remember my Transit Tales post about the time my mother and I had to take a CT2 bus from the MFA to Kendall because a 47 passed us by. I wasn’t a fan of the CT2 then, but I had only taken part of the route. Now I can say that I’ve taken the whole thing, and I don’t feel too much better about it. The CT2 is an “Express-esque” bus (pretty catchy, especially since I just made it up), which basically means that it has a local route, but makes limited stops. It’s a long one, too, stretching from Sullivan all the way down to Ruggles (so you can bet people won’t take this from beginning to end).
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| The back of the bus at Sullivan. |
Leaving Sullivan after a short interrogation about photos, we headed down Cambridge Street, which soon became Washington Street. We were running with the 86 and 91, but again, it was making limited stops. I’m not really a fan of the neighborhood along here (too many auto shops), but it gets nicer…eventually. After passing under Commuter Rail (and soon to be Green Line) tracks, as well as the McGrath Highway (with a hilarious-looking bus shelter right under the elevated structure), we entered Union Square.
Union Square was much nicer, with a lot of businesses. We turned onto Somerville Ave, then Webster Ave, now running alongside the weekday-only 85. The CT2’s limited stops are fairly far apart on this section. Webster Ave was a strange mix of apartments, auto shops, and industrial wasteland (though perhaps the latter two categories can be combined).
We turned onto Cambridge Street for a block, then turned again onto the much nicer Windsor Street. The CT2 doesn’t actually make any stops on Windsor Street, but it was a charming residential neighborhood. We then turned onto Hampshire Street, a mix of apartments and businesses, and then we were among the tall buildings of Kendall Square. Crossing over the single track that will apparently become part of the Indigo Line, we pulled onto the little side street that MBTA buses use to get onto Main Street and stopped at Kendall/MIT Station.
After that we turned onto Vassar Street (pretty much the only unique portion of the route aside from a very short section later), going by the amazing Stata Center, then a more industrial area. We crossed over Mass Ave, then went by a massive sporting complex. Then we turned onto Amesbury Street, then (surprisingly) Memorial Drive. We had a bit of a speedy section here, then we went around a rotary and went over the B.U. Bridge, now running with the 47.
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| A low fog hangs over the Charles River. I love this picture. |
Over the bridge, we crossed Commonwealth Ave, then Beacon Street just before the C surfaces. There was a lovely neighborhood with little three-story apartments along Park Drive, but after going over Fenway Station we turned onto Brookline Ave and entered the Longwood Medical Area. We turned onto Longwood Ave and had a very short unique portion before turning onto Huntington Ave. We then turned onto Ruggles Street and made our way into the Ruggles Busway.
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| Someone appears to be getting off…photobomber! |
Route: CT2 (Sullivan Station – Ruggles Station via Kendall/MIT)
Ridership: There were a fair amount of people who rode this: about 30 people in total, and many of them seemed to be hospital workers (which, I believe – correct me if I’m wrong – the Crosstown buses are primarily meant for).
Pros: “CT” of course stands for Crosstown, and this bus definitely is a good crosstown bus. It’s faster than the local alternatives when going between lines, but much more so in the northern half. More on that in just a sec…
Cons: First of all, it’s weekdays only, which is never good. Every 20 minutes rush hour and every 25 minutes during the day would be a pretty good schedule if it were complemented by weekend service, but…it’s not. And the whole “express” thing really only applies in the northern half of the route. It genuinely travels quickly from Sullivan to Commonwealth Ave, despite the fact that people request every stop – they’re so far away that the bus still makes good time. But once it gets over the B.U. Bridge, it stops at every other stop, sometimes every stop that the local buses take. I know this is because there are so many connections down here, but the bus just slows to a crawl and it ends up feeling like just another local bus.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The section from Sullivan to Union Square isn’t great, but from there it gets better. I would obviously recommend the Museum of Fine Arts.
Final Verdict: 5/10
As a crosstown bus, this is pretty good. And from Sullivan to Commonwealth Ave, the bus actually travels more quickly than a local bus would. But in Boston, it basically makes every stop that the buses it runs along make. Also, the schedule is pretty bad – weekdays only is never good. This bus has potential, but it really needs a better schedule.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Hello, BostInno readers! Yes, I’m very late, I know. Check out the article here. Also, the results of the poll are in! 93% of voters said the Red Line is the best, while one person chimed in for the Green Line. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to put the polls on the sidebar or find something online that lets me put polls into a post. Let me know what you think in the comments!
MBTA Unveils New Teleportation Proposal
In a statement made yesterday, the MBTA announced their plans to replace the entire subway, bus, and Commuter Rail network with teleporters by 2018. This is apparently starting with Government Center.
“Some people are wondering why it’s taking two whole years to renovate the station,” says MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott. “The truth is, this will be the first station on the system with the new teleporters. We will subsequently renovate every station and bus stop on the whole of the network.”
“This was a proposal made way back in the 1890s,” says MBTA Deputy General Manager Jonathan Davis. “They had wanted to build teleporters so that streetcars wouldn’t crowd up Tremont Street, but the technology just didn’t exist yet. They ended up building the subway instead.”
But the MBTA hasn’t forgotten about the original proposal. Since its inception in 1964, it’s had a group of researchers buried deep under Park Street Station, toiling away to try to find a solution. Finally, last year, Fred McFleffington figured it out.
“It’s not really that hard,” said McFleffington, who graduated from numerous Ivy League schools, “It’s just teleportation. Simple.”
The MBTA has gotten funding for this from the U.S. Government itself. President Obama says that this is a “new era in public transportation. And why not start it in Boston, where America’s first subway was?”
Michael Bloomberg, who was mayor of New York at the time, said he “is not amused” at the government’s decision to fund teleportation for Boston rather than New York.
The teleportation promises to “really speed up people’s commutes.” Here are some FAQ’s, soon to be published in a brochure that will be mailed to all MBTA customers:
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| An “artist’s impression” of the entrances. This is an approximation – there will be many more teleporters at each station. |
How does it work?
Fred McFleffington is the only one that knows, so we have no idea.
Is it safe?
Absolutely. 100% of our 0 testers survived the teleportation process.
What lines will this affect?
Every subway, bus, and Commuter Rail stop will be replaced with a teleporter.
How will the subway stations work?
At subway stations, passengers will prepay at fare gates, then go to the teleporter they desire. There will be one teleporter per stop on the line, two for major stops. So the Green Line will have quite a few teleporters at its stops.
What about buses?
Existing bus stops will be converted to roadside teleporters. There will be one teleporter per stop on the bus network at each stop, for maximum convenience. The real reason we eliminated stops along Key Bus Routes is so teleporters don’t just line the road!
And Commuter Rail?
Pretty much the same as buses, one teleporter per station on the whole network.
That’s a lot of teleporters.
Yup. 137 at every Commuter Rail stop, and an incalculable amount at every bus stop.
How much will it cost to use a teleporter?
We want to make rides as cheap as possible for the benefit of our passengers. But it will be expensive to install all these teleporters, so a single ride will cost you $50.
When can I expect these teleporters to enter service?
We expect to get this done by 2018. Regular subway, bus, and Commuter Rail service will run until then.
2018? Really?
Yes.
Is this an April Fool’s joke or something?
Yes, it is.
Random Photos: The View From the Aquarium
Not really transit-related, but there was a fantastic view of the Boston Skyline from the Aquarium that I just had to take a picture of.
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| The Custom House Tower simply dominates the picture. |
Random Photos (Videos): A Trip Through Government Center
I was riding the Blue Line from Aquarium (again, review coming at some point), and I decided to take it to Bowdoin so that I could see what Government Center’s looking like. I was the only one in my car and possibly the whole train after State. But I decided to whip out my camera and take a video of the train passing through the closed station. I also really wanted to go around the Bowdoin loop, but an MBTA employee was on the prowl. Watch the video (sorry for the low quality) below, or on YouTube here (Blogger’s videos have a habit of not working properly, so you may want to choose the second option).
Random Photos: Train to Dubai
I got a ride on the Emirates Air train! It’s basically just a big Emirates Air ad, but it’s still cool.
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| I wonder if I should make this the blog background…leave a comment! |
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| The outside of the train. |
Random Photos: Caution – Wet Floor
At Aquarium Station (review coming at some point or another), I noticed a pretty useless caution sign. Perhaps it would have a purpose if it were on the platform, but…
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| The tracks don’t look very wet… |
Mini Metro
Mini Metro is a little game I found online. It’s currently a free flash game, but it’s been greenlit for Steam (which, for those who don’t know, is essentially an online game store that a lot of people – including myself – use). Basically, you start out with three stations. You can click and drag with the mouse to build a line between them. As soon as you do, commuters will begin to use your line.
The game is currently set in London, but there will be more maps (including New York and Paris), in the full release. The map does look a lot like London, with a geometric Thames running through the middle. You start out each game with three tunnels, used for crossing the river. If you decide to build a circle for the first three stations, you’ll probably end up having to use two of them.
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| A simple circle to start out the game. All of the line colors (you can have up to seven) for this map are based on real Tube lines. The colors will apparently change depending on what map you’re playing on. |
But soon more stations start to pop up. The three main ones are circles, triangles, and squares – the circles appear the most, the squares appear the least – and commuters are represented by these shapes, telling you where they want to go. They’re not picky, so they’ll go to any station so long as it’s the shape they want to go to. As your system grows (the game subtlely zooms out as you go along), new types of stations come up that only appear once – these can be annoying, as it can crowd the line servicing the one station.
You can connect to new stations either by extending lines (by clicking and dragging from their termini), or by building new ones. You start out each game with three railcars (each one holds four commuters), one of which is used for the first line. You can either use railcars to build new lines to connect to more stations, or you can use them to add more trains to existing lines (by default, new lines only have one train). This adds a bit of strategy – new line, or upgrade existing line?
Once you’ve transported 25 passengers safely, which doesn’t take too long, a “Budget Increase” menu comes up. You can choose between three upgrades for your system: an extra railcar, another tunnel, or a station upgrade, which can be dragged onto a station for extra capacity (more on that later). I find railcars to be the most useful, and end up choosing them every time, but that’s just my strategy. Budget increases happen when you reach certain amounts of passengers.
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| You can also hide the menu if you need to. |
So this sounds like a nice, casual game, right? Wrong. Because if a station has more than six people waiting at it, a circle appears around it that starts ticking down. If it gets to nothing, it’s game over, and the number of passengers you transported is your score. Not so easy now, is it? And actually, the game is really hard! My record is 798, but I’ve seen people online with 1500 or 1600.
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| This is my record. You can see that the system’s full of overcrowded stations. The third station on the Blue Line (Piccadilly in London), incidentally, is an upgraded station. |
All of the examples with over a thousand are entirely circle lines. And I know that circles are more efficient, but I feel like in real life the system wouldn’t be all circles. So I personally like to have realism over circles, but circles will get you a higher score (you can see in the above photo that I have three). Another good tip that relies more on luck is to make sure your stations are diverse. For example, let’s say you have a line branching off from another that’s all circles. This means that the line will only pick up people at the stops, then drop them off at the interchange. This will make the interchange overcrowded, and possibly lose you the game, although it’s not like you can choose what kind of stations come up.
And finally, I like to use my last line as a sort of a shuttle bus. If a station is overcrowded, I just draw a line between it and where the people want to go, then get rid of it once they’re dropped off. It’s sort of straddling the line between fair and cheating, but I do it anyway.
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| So close to beating my record! I just wanted to show you the game over screen, as I had hidden it in the last picture. |
Game Link
Pros: This is an amazingly addictive little game that can also be really devious. I absolutely love it!
Cons: My only real issue is that although the little (computer) mouse showing you how to add railcars to lines is nice at first, it can get annoying when you see it for the 3,000th time. Also, when the game gets released on Steam you’ll have to pay for it, but I don’t really care about that.
Final Verdict: 9/10
65 (Brighton Center – Kenmore Station via Washington Street, Brookline Village, and Brookline Ave)
There are, for all intents and purposes, two buses that terminate at Brighton Center (I’m counting the 501/503 as one, since they follow each other for almost the whole route). When I ended up on the 501, I wanted to do the double-whammy. And lo and behold, there was a 65 right there when I got off! “When is this bus leaving?” I asked the driver who was taking a smoke. “About 5 minutes,” said the driver. “You can get on if you like.”
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| The 65 on Chestnut Hill Ave. I took this bus a while ago, as you can tell by the snow. |
One other person got on before we left down Chestnut Hill Ave. Right away, we turned onto Washington Street, heading through the main drag of Brighton Center. At St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington Street made a sharp turn to the right. On the right side of the road there were mostly houses, and on the left there was a big park, then a church and some apartments.
We crossed Commonwealth Ave, with a connection to the B Line. There were some apartments and businesses, but it went back to houses soon after. At Beacon Street, though, Washington was lined with stores and taller apartments. But once again, it went back to houses. There was an interesting stop called “Gardner Path,” which looked like a long staircase, and then it started getting more urban.
We entered Brookline Village, where lots of small businesses lined the road. There was a very short stretch on Route 9, which Washington Street becomes, then we headed up Brookline Ave. Interestingly, whereas the 60 route (which joins up with the 65 at Brookline Village) makes a short detour onto Pearl Street to better serve Brookline Village Station going outbound, the 65 does no such thing. I’m not sure if there are any traffic rules preventing the bus from doing this, but I feel like it would be a no-brainer, really.
We turned onto Brookline Ave and went through a section of the Emerald Necklace, then through the tall buildings and hospitals of the Longwood Medical Area. They got slightly less tall when we crossed over another park and came very close to Fenway Station, but it was still very urban. The businesses lining the street ranged from chic to, well, not so chic. Fenway Park was visible to the right, then we crossed over Route 9. We turned onto Commonwealth Ave after, and pulled into the Kenmore Station busway.
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| The bus at Kenmore Station. |
Route: 65 (Brighton Center – Kenmore Station via Washington Street, Brookline Village, and Brookline Ave)
Ridership: It was pretty quiet for most of the route, but there was a massive spike in ridership at the Longwood Medical Area. There had been about 10 people on the bus until then, but the total ridership ended up being about 30. But I think the people who got on at the LMA were mostly just using it on a “whatever comes first” basis, as most of the buses on Brookline Ave go to Kenmore anyway.
Pros: It’s not a bad crosstown route between the branches of the Green Line. This is also the only bus on Washington Street, too. The weekday schedule is pretty good, running every 15 minutes rush hour and every 25-35 minutes during the day.
Cons: The last bus is at 8:30 PM, though, which is a very early cutoff. The Saturday service is only once an hour, too, with service ending at 5:30 PM, which is very early. Sunday service is nonexistent. I also find it weird that it doesn’t go onto Pearl Street in Brookline Village to better serve the Green Line.
Nearby and Noteworthy: As usual, I don’t have anything specific, but I love Brighton Center, and the bus passed through a lot of nice neighborhoods.
Final Verdict: 6/10
It’s a good crosstown bus, and it serves a lot in between the branches of the Green Line. But the schedule is pretty horrible on nights and weekends. The ridership wasn’t that great, I suppose, as most of the riders were on a “whatever comes first” basis, but no Sunday service seems pretty harsh. And I don’t see why the bus can’t go onto Pearl Street with the 60. That just makes no sense.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Be sure to check out the poll on the right side of the page!
Polls Are Back!
I’ve decided to bring back polls! The reason I got rid of them before was because they were insanely glitchy, bouncing back people’s votes for no reason. It remains to be seen if that will happen again. If this doesn’t work, feel free to suggest a better poll gadget for Blogger – I’m using the default one for this poll. For now, though, attempt to cast your vote on the right of the page.
Random Photos: You Gonna Eat That?
I was on the bus in Lynn, and found this on the seat across from me. Needless to say, nobody sat there during the ride.
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| Pretty gross… |
77 (Arlington Heights – Harvard Station via Massachusetts Ave)
I’ve taken the 77 more times than I can count, but I had never taken it past North Cambridge before. I finally got the chance after taking the 79. The 77 is a big, bunching behemoth, stretching from Arlington Heights all the way down to Harvard Station. Not to mention it often takes a lot longer than advertised, and as I hinted before, this bus is a bad one for bunching.
I made sure to review the 79 first, as most of that route follows the 77, but the 77 has a unique portion south of where the 79 splits off. Anyway, after getting off of the 79, I got on the first 77 that came. It was quite empty at Arlington Heights, as I expected, but more people filed on as we got further into Arlington. But I was surprised that people were getting off already, too. I know this bus is used for local service in Cambridge, but I never really thought people would get off in Arlington.
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| The 77 isn’t usually this serene, trust me. |
Anyway, I’ll skip ahead to where the 79 splits off (see that post to see what the route is like in Arlington). It was fairly residential when the bus first entered Cambridge, but the businesses started popping up quickly. We went by the North Cambridge Carhouse, where trackless trolley short-turns on the route terminate, then a huge church. We were soon joined by the 83 at Rindge Ave, and soon after the 96 at Beech Street (where another massive church is located).
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| It’s coming for me! This was a different bus, obviously. |
Shortly after we stopped at Porter Square. This is always a major stop, where lots of people both enter and exit the bus. The 83 route splits off here, as well. From Porter, there were some taller apartment buildings, but mostly the road was lined with a variety of small businesses. There were even some houses dotted in between, but these were also businesses.
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| A different bus, yet again. That sun is really bright. |
The buildings started getting taller coming into Harvard Square. We went by the Cambridge Common (where I used to get off to go to soccer practice many times), then headed down into the Harvard Bus Tunnel. After a little while, we entered the Harvard Busway. Everyone got out, and filed around the bus to get to the platform (the platform’s on the left, while the bus doors are on the right). I tried to get a picture of the bus, but the driver drove away before I could. Darn.
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| And once again, another bus. You may say this is a horrible picture…and you’d be right, actually. |
Route: 77 (Arlington Heights – Harvard Station via Massachusetts Ave)
Ridership: This particular ride was actually the quietest 77 I’ve ever been on. Only 25 people rode in total, whereas normally the bus is packed to the brim even leaving Harvard. It was a Tuesday, a little before rush hour. But this bus is usually a madhouse, even on Sundays.
Pros: Although the only unique portion of the bus is between Rindge Ave and Alewife Brook Parkway (the rest is shared by the 79, 83, or 96 depending on where you are), it’s still a massive route, running down Mass Ave, the veritable hub of Cambridge and Arlington, the whole time. Also, since it’s a Key Bus Route, the schedule is nothing to sneeze at: every 10 minutes rush hour, every 12 minutes during the day, every 13 minutes at night (and soon, every 15 minutes from midnight to 2 A.M. on Fridays and Saturdays – see “Latest MBTA News” for details), every 10 minutes Saturdays, and about every 15 minutes Sundays. Also, with the recent Key Bus Route Improvement Program, they eliminated some of the stops on the route, making it go much faster than before.
Cons: Of course, this bus is almost always insanely crowded, except for the one bus I took. And the 77 is a really bad bus for bunching – once, for example, there were four 77’s in a row! Alas, this was pre-blog so I didn’t have a camera.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Mass Ave is full of interesting places to go. Here are a few: Greek Corner, which offers fantastic lamb kabob, as well as a great view of the North Cambridge Carhouse; WardMaps, the official MBTA store (where a shirt signed by Adham Fisher and me is hanging up); Made By Me, where you buy something like a bowl or cup, then paint it however you like; and Stone Hearth Pizza, where many kinds of thin-crusted pizza are offered.
Final Verdict: 8/10
Maybe I’m a bit biased, as this is the bus I’ve probably taken the most, but it’s still great. The schedule’s fantastic, the route’s great, and there are a lot of places to go along it. The bunching is probably the worst problem with the route, which caused it to lose some points.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Late night service is starting tomorrow, the 28th! On Fridays and Saturdays, the rapid transit lines and Key Bus Routes will run until about 2:30 AM. Click here for more information. But with good news comes bad news: there will be a 10 cent fare increase in July. Though 10 cents isn’t that much, I feel it will be a bit annoying to get exact change now. Finally, you may remember my post about the MBTA’s online map (it may even be what introduced you to the blog, as Universal Hub made it quite popular). I sarcastically pointed out a bunch of errors I found with it. Well, the MBTA saw the post and fixed the map! Thanks for listening to my (admittedly quite rude) suggestions, MBTA!
Random Photos: Where’s The Next Bus Going?
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| I think I’ve made this joke before… |
79 (Arlington Heights – Alewife Station via Massachusetts Ave)
The 79, like many other buses I’ve reviewed, was a “whatever comes first” situation, and the 79 happened to come first. It’s basically a companion to the 77, except that it leaves from Alewife instead of Harvard. Other than a short bit at the beginning, this runs with the 77 the whole time (although the 77 is much busier at the portion that this bus doesn’t run with). But whereas the 77 is a Key Bus Route, the 79 runs weekdays only. Always a recipe for success.
It boarded from the smaller part of the Alewife busway, the one where the 350 also boards. After a few people got on, we left immediately – no layover or anything. We headed down Alewife Station Access Road, still following the 350’s route. We then went on to Alewife Brook Parkway and sped down to Mass Ave, where we joined the 77. From here on out, the 79 follows the 77 the whole time (but since the 77 has a longer portion down to Harvard, I figured I’d review this one first – review of the 77 coming soon).
Mass Ave was a great mixture of houses, small businesses, and apartments. People were actually getting on the bus, which surprised me somewhat. It continued on like this until Arlington Center, which was more built up. Many of the people on the bus got off in this area. After Arlington Center, it started getting more residential, though there were still small businesses scattered through, as well as the occasional apartment.
There were more businesses, though, at the intersection with Park Ave. Here, a few other bus routes merge onto Mass Ave. A little past Park Ave, we got to the Arlington Heights busway. There were only a few other people on the bus by now, and of course we all got off here (awkwardly, as the driver stopped and opened the doors midway into pulling in). The driver then turned the destination board off, ruining any good pictures I could’ve gotten.
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| The doom and gloom of the Alewife busway will have to suffice. |
Route: 79 (Arlington Heights – Alewife Station via Massachusetts Ave)
Ridership: There were, in total, about 15 people who rode the bus. I was a bit surprised by that, actually, as only about a third of them came from Alewife. No one rode from beginning to end – most people used it for more local service.
Pros: As an alternative to the 77, this bus is pretty good. If you want to get to Arlington from the Red Line and don’t want to be packed in like sardines, this is definitely your bus. And since it leaves from Alewife, you get to ride the train further, which is much faster than the 77 from Harvard. And actually, this bus is faster than the 77 anyway, because there aren’t as many people to request every stop along the route.
Cons: Weekdays only service is never good. This bus runs every 20 minutes rush hour, every half hour midday, and every 45 minutes during the night. It’s a somewhat decent schedule, but the fact that it doesn’t run on weekends makes it much worse.
Nearby amd Noteworthy: Punjab in Arlington Center is a fantastic Indian restaurant, if you like Indian food. I love it, personally. There is also a piece of track from the former Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad (now the Minuteman Bikeway) in Arlington Center that’s worth a look.
Final Verdict: 7/10
If it’s a weekday and you have to get from the Red Line to Arlington, the 79 is possibly your best choice. It’s faster, and way less crowded than the 77 always is. Of course, keep in mind you can only ride it on weekdays. That’s probably the bus’s only problem, but it cost it three points as it’s a pretty big issue.
Latest MBTA News: Government Center’s two year closure is starting tomorrow. Expect your travel plans to be ruined.
Ali Asks…
Random Photos: City Point Beach
You probably know I’m a sucker for a good skyline. And planes that fly low. Well, I saw both when I took the bus to City Point (brace yourself, this post has a lot of pictures)…
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| The neighborhood where the bus dropped me off. It’s really nice… |
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| A nice industrial wasteland. |
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| Appears to be a Delta flight. |
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| There was an American flag I was trying to get in there. I failed. |
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| I’ve been to Spectacle Island way more times than it deserves. |
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| This was my destination – it’s apparently called Head Island. |
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| Fantastic view of an industrial wasteland (with a plane). |
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| This looked a lot nicer in real life. |
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| It looks like a lake in New Hampshire or something. |
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| Deer Island! |
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| The industrial wasteland, without the plane. |
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| A plane flying over Boston! |
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| There’s that familiar skyline. |
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| A plane, silhouetted in the sun. |
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| Another plane. |
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| A silhouetted statue. |
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| There was a weird, snowy park between the two streets. |