215 (Quincy Center Station – Ashmont Station via West Quincy and East Milton Square)

Feb 14, 2014 | | 4 Comments

“There was a massive crash on 93 – the traffic’s horrible,” said my father over the phone. “Just wanted to let you know if you end up over there.” I didn’t think I’d end up over there, as there are no buses that go on 93 from Quincy Center. But little did I know as I boarded the 215 that the bus would end up paralleling the highway. Yeah – there was a lot of traffic on my ride.

The 215 is the primary link between the two branches of the Red Line. There are three in total, doing completely different routes but all serving East Milton Square. The other two are the 245 to Mattapan, which runs weekdays only, and the 217, also to Ashmont, which was actually on the chopping block and has a terrible schedule. At least the 215 runs seven days a week!
The 215 at Quincy Center.
The 215 started out heading down Hancock Street in urban Quincy Center, along with four other routes. It soon turned onto School Street, heading over the Red Line tracks, and soon turned again onto Pleasant Street. As the bus turned onto Water Street, leaving the other routes behind, it was pretty much entirely residential. It soon went by a school, where the only car in the large parking lot was a cop car, for some reason.
Small businesses started cropping up once Water Street became Copeland Street. The bus turned onto Willard Street right next to I-93, and it did indeed have a lot of traffic. Willard Street headed away from the highway, and it was chock full of gas stations and auto parts stores. And barbed wire fences. The bus soon turned onto Robertson Street (through a residential area), and then again onto Adams Street. This is the point where the 215, 217, and 245 converge in the middle of their routes, but being a Saturday, our bus was the only one serving the area. East Milton Square had some more…refined businesses, and a nice park over the short I-93 tunnel.
Our bus turned onto Granite Ave, paralleling the highway. This was a nice residential area. At Squantum Street, a variant of the 215 that runs once a day at 5 in the morning to North Quincy breaks off. Our bus continued down Granite Ave, running through an area with swampland on the left and a golf course to the right. Soon after an interchange with I-93, we went over a bridge with a surprisingly decent view. This was also where the traffic started.
I wouldn’t have gotten this picture had it not been for the traffic.
Houses and businesses started coming up again after the bridge, but our bus was moving painfully slow in the gridlock. We turned onto Gallivan Boulevard, and it got a little less trafficked. At one point, there was a very short but oh-so-sweet view into the Red Line yard just after Ashmont. Soon after, the bus turned onto Dot Ave, joining up with the multitude of other bus routes to Ashmont. Then we pulled into the Ashmont busway, and the ride was over.
This is at Ashmont, but the destination board says “Ashmont.”
Route: 215 (Quincy Center Station – Ashmont Station via West Quincy and East Milton Square)
Ridership: I counted about 30 people in total which, for a Quincy Center bus on a Saturday, is pretty darn good. Not too many people rode from beginning to end, however, which surprised me. Of course, Ashmont and Quincy are very different areas, so most people probably just use this bus to get to their houses.
Pros: It’s the most frequently running link between the two Red Line branches, and its ridership seems to reflect that. Also, the trip is projected to take a half hour (although of course that can take a little longer, as I found out), which is faster than the train could do. 
Cons: Of course, by “frequently running,” I mean every 25 minutes rush hour, every 35 minutes midday, every hour at night, every 40 minutes Saturdays, and every hour Sundays. Not too great, especially with the ridership I saw on Saturday. And that traffic was brutal, though there’s not much they can do about that. I wish there were a more direct route from Quincy Center to Ashmont, as the 215 takes a rather inefficient one.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Mostly houses, but East Milton Square seemed nice.
Final Verdict: 7/10
In short, not bad but not good. Although it’s the only link between the two Red Line branches to run on weekends, its schedule is still terrible. Although it’s scheduled to take a half hour, the traffic made it take much longer. And although it’s faster than the train, the curvy route it takes means it doesn’t save you that much time.

Latest MBTA News: Government Center’s closure is rapidly approaching: March 22. Its renovation is much-needed, but it will be closed for two years! Click here for more information.

Longwood

Feb 8, 2014 | | 0 Comments

When you have to go to the Longwood Medical Area, you have two options: take the E to Longwood Medical Area Station, or take the D to Longwood Station. You can either wait for a train that never comes, or you can grab a train that runs pretty frequently. You can either ride on a really slow train that runs on the street, or you can ride a really fast train on its own dedicated right-of-way. And, for the ride back, you can either wait at essentially a pimped up bus shelter, or you can wait at a charming shelter with actual CharlieCard machines. Yup, when going to the Longwood Medical Area, I would definitely choose the D as my mode of transportation.

Of course, if an E happens to arrive first, that works, too. Both stations are about the same distance away from the intersection of Brookline Ave and Longwood Ave – about a seven minute walk. Heading to the D Line station requires a short jaunt over the Muddy River and into Brookline. Situated right next to part of the Emerald Necklace park system, Longwood Station is in a nice, tranquil area, unlike the more urban E Line station.

Although the MBTA website says there’s no parking at the station, there is actually a small lot (and I do mean small) right next to the station. I don’t believe it’s an official MBTA lot, as payment is with parking meters, but it’s still a convenient thing to have (especially for a station more or less in the city). Of course, no one was using it when we went there, but…it’s still useful. Something else that’s useful (and that people actually use) are the CharlieCard machines. It’s a standard for D Line stations, but a luxury compared to the stations on the other branches of the Green Line. They are also housed inside a cute little shelter. Yeah, they have the same kind of shelter at almost every other D Line station, but it’s still nice to have.

Incidentally, I went to this station a while ago, a few days after a snow storm, it seems (based on the picture)

The actual waiting area is pretty nice, at least if you’re going inbound. On the inbound side, there’s a charming wooden shelter that seems to do an adequate job of keeping people…sheltered. Unfortunately, the outbound side has no shelter whatsoever, unless you want to wait in the CharlieCard area. People have to go outbound, too! There are also the wheelchair ramps that are completely unnecessary thanks to the newer trains, and there are also clocks. I’ve always felt that the clocks at suburban (in the case of this station, it at least feels suburban) D Line stations feel out of place, but once the MBTA installs countdown clocks they should be more useful.

Nice!

Coming back from the LMA, my mother and I found out that Longwood is what I call a “screw you station.” It’s one of those D Line stations where you have to go on a bridge to get to it (if you’re coming back from the LMA), and you see that the train’s there as you’re going over it and you know you won’t make it but you run for it anyway and you miss it and you have to wait for a really long time. We found this out the hard way.

It was much darker when we came back; the train had already left by this point, so I took this fantastic picture.

While we were waiting, I noticed how deserted the station seemed to be. There were people waiting, but like many other Green Line stations, it didn’t seem to be very well kept-up. It seemed that someone had shoveled the snow, but the excess was an ugly brown/yellow color. In general, too, it was very slushy and wet, and my shoes got really muddy. I suppose this is bound to happen after a snow storm, but still…

After waiting for a very very long time, our train came. It was insanely crowded. As usual. Ugh, why is Park Street so far away?

This has to be one of my favorite pictures to ever appear on this blog. There’s something about it…

Station: Longwood

Ridership: It was fairly light when we went there. I would assume that most people who come here are going to the LMA, although there are some houses and apartments nearby. But according to the MBTA Blue Book, way more people use the E Line stop over this one. Really, people? Really?

Pros: As a D Line station, it’s pretty great. I like how it feels like you’re in the woods here, when actually you’re just a short jaunt from the LMA. And I really like that wooden shelter on the inbound side, as well as the fact that there are CharlieCard machines here (yes, I know they’re at all the other D Line stations, too).

Cons: Of course, it’s a “screw you” station, but they can’t really help that. However, I feel they should install a shelter on the outbound side of the station, seeing as people were actually heading outbound when we got there. The snow was pretty gross, too, although I’m sure that same situation exists at the other stations along the D.

Nearby and Noteworthy: When I think of the LMA, fun places to visit don’t really come to mind. Is there anything noteworthy in the LMA aside from hospitals? Leave a comment!

Final Verdict: 7/10
For a D Line station, not bad. It’s a much more comfortable place to wait than the E Line station, with its lovely wooden shelter. On the inbound side. The fact that there’s none on the outbound side is pretty annoying. Also, that snow was disgusting. But overall, I would definitely come here over the E.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Some people’s CharlieCards have expired, something that not many people knew could happen. Make sure you get a new one… Also, the MBTA plans to install bus countdown clocks to major stations. Although I think this is fantastic news, what about the Green Line?

214 (Quincy Center Station – Germantown via Sea Street and O’Brien Towers) and 216 (Quincy Center Station – Houghs Neck via Sea Street)

Feb 5, 2014 | | 3 Comments

Why do I always make these beach trips when it’s cloudy out? It happened again with the 214/216 (which run as one route on weekends), but at least it wasn’t insanely foggy this time. The 214 and 216 both serve a peninsula to the east of Quincy Center, with the 214 ending at Germantown (a gated community) and the 216 ending at Houghs Neck (the tip of the peninsula).

When the bus came, the destination board was labeled just as 216, and I had no idea I would be getting a two-in-one trip. There weren’t too many people on the bus as it left Quincy Center, only about 10 people or so. Heading through the center, it was pretty urban as we went down Washington Street. It became less so, though, once we turned onto McGrath Highway. There was a “small stores with massive parking lots” area, turning onto the Southern Artery. Right after, there was another turn onto Sea Street, and we went by a cemetery with a stop simply announced as “Cemetery.”

That is awfully small text for an MBTA destination board.

There were some small apartment buildings on the right side of the road and houses on the left following the cemetery. At the intersection of Palmer Street and Sea Street, we turned onto Palmer to follow the 214 route. It was a charming little residential neighborhood, with tiny houses lining the street. Soon, though, the houses cleared and the sea was right there (or the “Town River,” as it’s actually called). It was a decent view, but it was short and there wasn’t much to see.

I took three pictures, anyway.

After the view, we went by a school and then entered “Germantown.” Germantown is a development where all of the houses are exactly the same. We made a loop around here, via the old folk’s home, O’Brien Towers, where someone actually got on the bus. I was one of very few at this point, but heading back the bus started to fill up more.

We went back the way we came, until the intersection of Palmer and Sea, where we took a right on Sea to do the 216 route. Although there was much more swampland along here, it was a similar neighborhood to the one along Palmer Street. Soon, though, the houses stopped on one side and there was a beautiful view across the sea (or “Quincy Bay,” as it’s actually called). It was only about a five second view, as the driver was going fast and it was a short stretch of road in general, but the view of the city was fantastic.

As usual, the picture doesn’t capture it, and I wonder what those strange spots are.

Sea Street soon curved away from the sea (unfortunately), and it was back to the standard (but nice) type of residential area seen earlier. Soon, there was some activity with a baseball field, a church, a school, and a cute firehouse like the one in Marblehead. After that one intersection with all the activity, it got residential again. The street soon widened into a small parking lot, right by the “Quincy Yacht Club.” As the bus did a big u-turn, I noticed the numerous boats within the club. But we were soon heading back to Quincy Center, back through previously charted territory.

Not the nicest neighborhood…
I’m not really sure why the destination board was changed… also, an old man got into the picture.

Routes: 214 (Quincy Center Station – Germantown via Sea Street and O’Brien Towers) and 216 (Quincy Center Station – Houghs Neck via Sea Street)

Ridership: This bus is practically all residential, so its passengers are practically all locals. There weren’t too many people going to Houghs Neck, but there were more on the way back.

Pros: Having two buses to cover this peninsula is great, as they end up serving most of it. And for Quincy Center buses, the schedules are phenomenal: every 20 minutes rush hour, every half hour during the day, and every 20 minutes on Saturdays for both (meaning coordinated service on the portion from Quincy Center to where the two routes split). The night and Sunday schedules aren’t as great, running every 60 minutes and 40 minutes, respectively. But hey, it’s a Quincy Center bus.

Cons: As I said before, the night and Sunday schedules aren’t that good, but that can be forgiven as this is a suburban Quincy Center bus. However, I’m not really sure how the combined route thing works. I mean, I think it’s a good way to reduce the number of buses on the route while still serving the same area, but there’s not a word about this in the online schedule. I looked at both the 214 and 216 schedules on the MBTA website, and it just says they go along their respective routes on Saturdays. What’s the deal with the 214/216, then?

Nearby and Noteworthy: Aside from Quincy Center, this is an almost entirely residential route. Nothing much to see, except for the fantastic views, particularly on the 216.

Final Verdict: 8/10
Obviously, for me at least, the views were the best part of this bus. I thought the 712/713 was a better ride overall, but that’s just because it was interesting riding a non-MBTA bus in Boston. I would say the views are equally good for the two, although keep in mind that there are more on the 712/713. For practical usage, the 214/216 is also very good, providing frequent service to east Quincy (I’m not sure what the peninsula is actually called). The only real problem is the weird combined scheduling. I think it’s a good idea that works, but I’m not sure about the fact that it’s not mentioned at all in the schedule.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Like all storms, the Mattapan High Speed Line is running shuttle buses and many buses have snow routes in effect. More information here.

Random Photos: Some High Speed Amtrak Trains

Jan 26, 2014 | | 0 Comments

I was waiting at Ruggles for a Commuter Rail train to South Station (long story, maybe I’ll tell it at some point). I saw one going the other way, and it was coming in pretty fast. The driver honked the horn, and didn’t seem to be slowing down. As the high-speed Amtrak train sped past at a million miles an hour, I got a picture despite being practically knocked off my feet. Soon after, another high speed train came the other way, and I got another picture. Looking back on it now, I kind of wish I had taken videos. Fun fact: the Acela is the only proper high-speed train in the country. Pretty sad, actually.

Blurry, but you get that feeling of speed when you look at it.
Pretty much the opposite of the other one. I don’t know how I managed to get a picture this clear, as the train was going about a million miles an hour.

Prudential

Jan 22, 2014 | | 2 Comments

Prudential has a pretty grand entrance. Right in the Prudential Center, there’s a nice big “T” sticking out of the wall, telling you there’s a train station. The entrance itself is glass with another “T” on it. When I first saw it, I thought this station would get a pretty good review. Then I went in. It was a much different story inside, with the walls made of white concrete bricks. It was very drab, and it only got worse as I went further.

Looks like a world-class subway station, doesn’t it?

There was an escalator leading down to the main lobby. At the bottom were two random vending machines and a small corridor leading to a set of doors and some fare gates. The area with the fare gates was rather tight, with two entrances feeding into it (the second of which I wasn’t able to visit). I went through the fare gates and of course decided to take the elevator down. It was a dingy, metal box that traveled really really slowly and smelled terrible. I’d hate to get stuck in there…

The bottom of the escalators.
Love the floor!

The station proper was pretty crowded, and I assumed the train was late seeing as this is an E Line station. The platform was ugly as well, with pipes spanning the ceiling and an overall dingy look. The elevator is up on a ramp, for some reason – I don’t see why they couldn’t have just brought it down the extra few feet. I also noticed that for some reason, the only escalator is on the outbound side of the station, and it only goes up. Yeah, I have no idea why, either.

Yup, really pretty.

I decided to go to the other platform to try out the escalator (the train wasn’t coming anytime soon), and noticed some art at the end of the platform. It was hung up pretty high, and it wasn’t that noticeable, but it was actually quite charming. They were fairly simple drawings of children and animals in the forest, but I really liked them. They were pretty big, but hung up above the station name sign – I wonder if anyone ever notices them. Soon I figured I’d go back to the other side to catch my train. It ended up being very crowded, and I was forced to “train-surf” all the way back to Park Street.

It’s nice (this was the one on the inbound side), but how is anyone supposed to notice it?

Station: Prudential

Ridership: As I said, it was pretty heavy when I went there on Martin Luther King Jr. day, which is technically a Saturday. I would assume this is a popular station for tourists, considering the station’s name.

Pros: Having an entrance that goes right into the Prudential Center is nice, and good for tourists who don’t know their way around. And the art is fantastic, it’s just that it’s hard to see, being both on the end of the platform and hung up near the ceiling.

Cons: Aesthetically, this station is terrible. Aside from the fairly grand entrance inside the Center, it gets worse and worse as you go further in. First there’s the bland concrete, then you get to where the floor paint is chipping, and finally the ugly platform, with its numerous pipes and random ramps and escalators. Plus, it’s an E Line station. Ugh.

Nearby and Noteworthy: I think it should be pretty obvious…

Final Verdict: 4/10
This is probably one of the ugliest MBTA stations I’ve ever been in. It lacks the strange charm that its sister station, Symphony, has (I don’t know why I like that station, but I do), and it’s just really ugly. I do like the art, although a) it’s almost at the very end of the platform, and b) it’s very high up. I do have to give the station credit, though, for having a convenient entrance right into the Prudential. Admittedly, that entrance is far too grand for a station like this, but it’s still fantastic to have.

Latest MBTA News: Due to the storm, the Mattapan High Speed Line is operating shuttle buses, and subway lines and the Commuter Rail may experience delays. Some buses may operate with snow routes. Check storm information here.

Random Photos: A Train to Myself

Jan 22, 2014 | | 1 Comment

I was on the train heading for Braintree, but practically everyone got off at Quincy Adams. I had the car to myself, and I took a picture.

No, the bag to the right doesn’t have a bomb – it’s mine.

Random Photos: A Ride on Big Red

Jan 22, 2014 | | 0 Comments

In late 2008, the MBTA took a pair of Red Line cars and removed all the seats. They called them “Big Reds,” and were meant to increase passenger capacity. They later re-installed half the seats, but there are none in much of the train. I got to ride one of these cars for the second time yesterday, and I took some pictures of the car.

My train was about to leave, but I ran out just as the doors were closing to ride Big Red.
A close-up of the sticker on the outside.
The inside.
A better view of the missing seats.

712/713 (Point Shirley – Orient Heights Station via Winthrop Highlands or Winthrop Center)

Jan 20, 2014 | | 17 Comments

There’s no denying that the 439 offers a great ride. The fact that you’re on a isthmus and surrounded by water makes for great views on both sides of the bus. There are some caveats, though – mainly the fact that the bus only runs five times a day, and that most of the time it leaves from Lynn, where there is no subway connections. This makes the 712/713 a great alternative – mainly, it runs more often than five times a day.

In fact, it actually runs quite often. So often that when my father and I were at Orient Heights on a Saturday, we winged it with the schedule, barely missed a bus, and still didn’t have to wait that long for another. That said, it’s still two separate routes. The 712 and 713 have fairly similar routes, splitting up in the middle to serve the north and east sides of Winthrop in the 712’s case, and the south and west sides of Winthrop for the 713. The routes are coordinated, though, meaning buses run fairly often along the shared portions of the route.

There’s a wrinkle to all of this – this route is not operated by the MBTA. The MBTA subsidizes it, but it’s actually run by Paul Revere transportation. This means different prices, different bus stops, and even entirely different buses. This post would be considered a service change if it weren’t for the fact that the numbering technically makes it part of the MBTA (although this post does have a comparable amount of photos to a service change). My father and I found this out the hard way. I knew that the bus wasn’t operated by the MBTA, but I didn’t know you can’t use CharlieCards on it. We had to purchase a CharlieTicket to be able to board. Luckily the fares are only $1.50.

This 713 was about to become a 712 at Orient Heights.
The same bus, only it looped around and changed its number.

The buses operated on the route are painted white and blue and are a little smaller than regular MBTA buses. Inside, they have seats that look comfortable, but actually aren’t. There is an electronic screen up front that flashes names of stops, but there are no automatic announcements. There were about 20 other people on the 712 as we left Orient Heights, heading down Saratoga Street. It was a mostly residential neighborhood, with a small plaza just before entering swampland and crossing over a bridge (which would’ve offered a decent view had it not been so foggy) into Winthrop.

The inside of the bus. Those seats aren’t as comfy as they look.

There were a few gas stations and convenience stores before it got residential again. At Harmon Street, the 713 would turn off, while we stayed on Main Street. There were some businesses at the intersection of Main Street and Revere Street, and they continued as the bus turned onto Revere for a stretch. There was a sharp turn onto Crest Avenue, and the bus went by the shore for a short time before heading back inland on Beach Road.

The bus stops along the route are unique.

The route splits at this point, with inbound buses going on Veterans Road and outbound buses on Shirley Street. We were on Shirley, which was mostly residential with the occasional convenience store dotted in. Once the 712 and 713 joined up again, there was a marina with a lot of boats. There were a few points along here with fantastic views, one of which I took a picture of:

I really like the effect the ice has on the picture.

Shirley Street became a pseudo-isthmus after that, with houses on one side (with water beyond that you can’t see from the bus) and a beach on the other, separated from the street by a wall. Soon after there were houses on both sides, and then the isthmus ended. The bus turned onto Tafts Ave, going through a residential area, which eventually turned to a field on one side and another would-be-fantastic-view had it not been so
foggy. On the day we went, it looked rather eerie, and I took a picture of it.

Like I said, eerie.

After that, the bus came to a small parking lot. This is the parking lot for the Deer Island sewage plant, and I was very surprised that 10 people came down to this point – why would you want to go to a sewage plant on a Saturday afternoon? The bus looped around the parking lot, the driver changed the destination board to read “713,” and we were off in the other direction. And no one got off.

As we were heading back down Shirley Street, I noticed a strange sort of machine on the coast. It didn’t look like it was part of Deer Island, although it was in the same general area. Does anyone know what it is? Leave a comment if you do:

A fairly bad picture, I suppose.
I unfortunately don’t remember where along the route I took this, but it just looks really weird!

Before the bus turned onto Washington Ave, it made a strange loop around a single block that didn’t seem to have a point. The street went over a bridge with a nice view of a small lake, then it turned residential. It turned into Pleasant Street, but the bus soon turned onto Pauline Street. It entered Winthrop Center, and frankly, I was disappointed. I was expecting some more of the lovely small businesses we had been seeing along the 712, but it turned out to be large stores with big parking lots. The area with the town’s municipal buildings was nicer, though. It was here that the bus turned onto Herman Street and the view once again became residential. The bus soon turned onto Main Street, going back into previously charted territory and heading for Orient Heights.

The 713 at Orient Heights.

Route: 712/713 (Point Shirley – Orient Heights Station via Winthrop Highlands or Winthrop Center)

Ridership: With most buses, people get on at the terminus and get off wherever they need to get off, not usually going to the other terminus. There are a few that people do ride from beginning to end – these buses are usually crosstown buses between two train stations. But I have never taken a bus where people get on at one terminus, ride to the end, then go back to the original terminus. Sure, I do that all the time, but I had never seen anyone else do it prior to riding the 712/713. About 10 people went to Deer Island and didn’t get off, doing it just for the view. And I know at least one guy rode from Orient Heights back to Orient Heights.
Pros: The only bus (technically buses, I suppose) to serve Winthrop, and it serves it well. The two routes cover a pretty large amount of the town, although that’s probably due in part to the fact that it’s a small peninsula. This route (routes?) offers fantastic views that, if the day isn’t foggy, rival those of the 439. And this one you can actually take for fun, as the schedule is amazing for a suburban bus like this (and for an MBTA bus in general) – it runs about every 7 minutes during rush hour, about every half hour during the day, about every 25 minutes on Saturdays, and about every 40 minutes on Sundays. The Sunday schedule is admittedly a bit tight, but it’s pretty good for a bus of this ilk. Plus, the fare’s a buck fifty!
Cons: Not much, although I wish you could use a CharlieCard to ride.
Nearby and Noteworthy: We saw a breakfast place called Hi-Tide, that, although we haven’t tried it out, 
looks pretty good. It’s cheap if anything – really, really cheap. Just check out the website. We also passed by a seemingly abandoned school, which was quite interesting.
Final Verdict: 9/10
The fact that this bus offers views to rival the 439 is good enough, but the fact that the schedule is decent is fantastic. The fares are cheaper than a regular MBTA bus, as well, although keep in mind that you should have spare change at the ready if you want to ride. It also covers a lot of Winthrop, but actually a third of the people who rode rode it just for fun.
UPDATE: Now the routes use MBTA buses! Yay!
UPDATE 2: And now the routes have CharlieCard support! Wow!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Although I’m not really sure how the MBTA parking system worked before, they are changing it from Parkmobile to PayByPhone technology. If you use MBTA parking lots, you should probably look at this as it seems pretty important. Also, I got a new computer! This one is much faster and overall better than the one I used before. Having a computer that can actually take pictures right off of an SD card (unlike my late Chromebook) means I’ll be able to upload them much faster, although the minor editing I usually do may not be as good – the photo editor on this computer isn’t great. Hopefully, though, it should mean more frequent posts, although I can’t promise anything.

Transit Tales: Return of the Shuttle Buses

Jan 18, 2014 | | 4 Comments

As you most likely know, the Longfellow Bridge has been closed on the Cambridge-bound side for a while. The work they’re doing on it occasionally requires the Red Line to be closed on weekends. And you know what that means – shuttle buses! My father and I had the privilege of riding these buses between Kendall and Park Street one day, and as expected, it wasn’t very fun.

Kendall was a madhouse full of people trying to get to the buses. Everyone dashed down Main Street towards the line of vehicles waiting to shuttle people over the bridge. As we went by, I noticed that a makeshift yard had been made on Hayward Street. Everyone crammed onto the buses, but ours wasn’t actually that crowded.

The route started out pretty straightforward, and the view from the Longfellow bridge was just as good as it would normally be on the train. Interestingly, though, buses were only using the left side of the bridge. That meant that we were actually driving on the wrong side of the road! At Charles, the driver opened the doors but no one got on or off, then we went on down Cambridge Street, then Tremont. Our bus and all the others stopped a few blocks away from Park Street. Everyone got off, but my father refused. “Whaddaya want?” shouted the driver from up front. My father explained that we were going to Park Street. “This is Pahk Street,” said the driver, and he kicked us out.

We assumed that the buses stopped here so that they wouldn’t have to loop all the way around the Common to get back to Cambridge Street. We figured that made sense, and walking the extra few blocks was a decent trade-off. However, on the trip back, we found the long line of buses waiting right outside the entrance of the station. The result was a long hellish route in the dark with a bunch of traffic going around the Common. It took absolutely forever, and at Kendall it was raining and everyone had to walk in mud…not the best shuttle bus experience ever.

The large stream of people at Kendall.
The MBTA employees were like shepherds, herding us to the buses.
This is not Park Street!

Miles on the MBTA’s First Anniversary!

Jan 18, 2014 | | 2 Comments

I can’t believe it’s been a year. I remember starting out the blog and no one knew it existed. Slowly it increased in popularity, and it started showing up on random Google searches. I would always be proud when I did some random search about the MBTA and my blog would come up. Obviously the highlight of the past year, though, was breaking the record with Adham Fisher. That was an absolutely fantastic day. So thanks to everyone for reading – and here’s hoping for many more years to come!

Nothing like some generic clip art from Google Images to celebrate! Image source

Maverick Station Has a Second Entrance!

Jan 16, 2014 | | 3 Comments

Who knew? One of the cons in my Maverick post was that the station seemingly only had one entrance. That’s what it seems like, anyway – when you’re at a train station, you naturally gravitate towards the area with a bunch of fare gates that everyone else is heading for. Turns out, though, on the other end of the station, there is a tiny area with only two fare gates that also leads outside. It’s quite a sight when you come out; with a big expanse of swampland, and beyond that Boston Harbor and the city. The view is phenomenal from here, although I don’t think anyone would have any use for this exit unless they live in the nearby projects.

As I said, it’s a bit small.
The modern entrance looks a bit out of place to me.
A neat rock sculpture, with the elevator alternative in view.
This is the sort of neighborhood I’m talking about.
A bit of a strange view, but a good one.

Random Photos: Thank You, I Am

Jan 16, 2014 | | 0 Comments

I was riding on the Red Line, and as I was getting out I noticed the stickers on the outside of the train. One of them was an ad for beer, and then there were two tiny stickers that both said “You are beautiful.” I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean.

I’m assuming the MBTA didn’t put these up.

120 (Orient Heights Station – Maverick Station via Bennington Street, Jeffries Point, and Waldemar Loop)

Jan 16, 2014 | | 4 Comments

At a party months ago, my father heard from someone that the 120 was a bus worth riding. He found out that it goes onto a big hill past a giant statue of Mother Mary that offers fantastic views of Boston. Fast forward to a few days ago, when we were finally able to take the route. I can say now that the views are indeed amazing, and that this bus is definitely worth riding.

The route is basically a main trunk portion, and then two loops on either end. On the Maverick side, there’s a loop around Jeffries Point, an interesting little neighborhood surrounded by the airport. On the other end at Orient Heights, there’s the Waldemar Loop, going around a hilly neighborhood where the statue is located. The loops were originally completely separate bus routes, but they were merged into the 120 in 1969.

We decided to start out at Maverick (which, I found out, actually does has two entrances! I’ll post about it at some point) and go around the Jeffries Point loop. We waited there for a while having just missed a bus, but one soon came. The driver, however, completely bypassed the station! We went up to the door and knocked. The driver let us in (“Sorry, I’m so out of it today!”), and we were off with a total of six people in the bus.

A bad picture of the bus at Maverick.

We headed down Sumner Street, going through a quintessential small neighborhood, with small businesses on the first floors and apartments on the upper floors. Once the bus reaches the end of Summer Street and turns onto Jeffries Street, you get a view of the airport which is literally a few yards away. After that, a massive concrete wall sits between the street and the airport beyond.

We had been going up Maverick Street for a bit, my father and I being the only ones on the bus at this point, and soon the driver stopped the bus. “Where are you guys going?” she asked us. “We’re going to see the Mother Mary statue,” replied my father. “See?” the bus driver replied. “This is why I didn’t pick you guys up!” (I thought you were “out of it.”) She went on to say that we should’ve gotten a bus going to Orient Heights and that we would have to pay another fare to keep going. She said she’d let us go “this time,” but apparently one would normally need to pay again. Which makes no sense to me, seeing as it’s still the same bus route, isn’t it?

We went back to Maverick Station and picked a fair amount of people up, then headed up Meridian Street along with all of the other Maverick buses. This one is different, though, because it makes a small loop around a park, stopping at a shopping plaza. We then made our way down to Bennington Street and another nice small neighborhood. At Day Square, where the 112 and, in the morning, the stupid, stupid 121 join up with the 120, there’s a neat little wooden shelter that I actually took a picture of.

Yeah, the window was a bit dirty.

We pulled into the Wood Island busway and picked some people up before heading back up to Bennington Street. We went by some more standard apartments and houses, Bennington Street having gotten wider with nice plants in the median. As we passed a pedestrian bridge over the Blue Line tracks to Constitution Beach (where planes fly really low over, apparently), the Mother Mary statue became visible way up on a hill. Soon after, we came into the Orient Heights busway (the new Orient Heights – review coming at some point, maybe) and dropped most of the riders off with a few coming on.

After Orient Heights, we went up Boardman Street, going past a big baseball field. Then we turned onto McClellan Highway, intersecting with some express buses from Boston. It was a fairly industrial neighborhood, but we soon turned again onto Waldemar Ave, going by some fairly run-down projects. There were just trees on the other side, but by looking on Google Maps it turns out there’s an industrial wasteland beyond there.

We turned onto Crestway Road, and then made a sharp corner onto Faywood Avenue. Faywood Avenue soon loops around and becomes Orient Ave, with a nice if fairly short view of the surrounding area. My father and I soon got off at the Don Orion Home stop, as the Mother Mary is right across the street. The statue is absolutely gigantic, and the view is phenomenal. The day we went, however, was very windy, and we had to duck around walls to be able to take pictures without anything blowing away.

The statue, in all her glory.
See that swampy-looking area in the distance? That’s Logan Airport. The planes are really loud when they take off, even from here.
Fantastic view of Boston! It’s not that great of a picture, but again, the wind was blowing very hard.
The bus coming down the hill. Yeah, I know I did too many pictures bunched up together.

We hung around for about a half hour, and soon the bus came. It wasn’t very crowded at all, and we made the final run down the hill, back onto Bennington Street, and into the Orient Heights busway. After that, we crossed over to the other busway in the station and headed off to Winthrop, but that’s for another post.

A final picture of the bus at Orient Heights.
Route: 120 (Orient Heights Station – Maverick Station via Bennington Street, Jeffries Point, and Waldemar Loop)
Ridership: A pretty good amount of people rode – about 30 in total on a Saturday. Of course, about 5 or 6 kids rode, and they don’t pay fares, but I counted them anyway. This was a pretty local-heavy bus, with a few people doing shopping at that mall off of Meridian Street.
Pros: A nice supplement to the Blue Line (it parallels the tracks almost the whole time). The schedule’s nice as well – the bus runs every 20 minutes weekdays and every half hour Saturdays.
Cons: It seems like with quite a few buses, the Sunday schedule is a deal breaker. This one is no exception, running every 50 minutes on Sundays. Also, this may not be the bus’s fault, but I didn’t like how that driver said we would have to pay another fare from Jeffries Point. What if someone lives there and has to go past Maverick? Do they have to pay again, too?
Nearby and Noteworthy: The Mother Mary statue, obviously. But also, across the street is the Don Orion Home. Yeah, it’s a nursing home, big deal, you may say. However, you can buy candles there for $3, and then they have an area outside where you can light candles for people who have passed on. I actually took a picture of the area:
Final Verdict: 8/10
Again, a nice supplement to the Blue Line that picks up a lot of local traffic. The schedule’s good, except on Sundays when it’s pretty darn terrible. What irked me most about this bus was just the driver at Jeffries Point. Do you actually have to pay another fare there? If anyone knows, leave a comment below. Overall, though, a pretty good bus – I recommend taking it just for the Mother Mary statue.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
The MBTA is trying to figure out who tagged the historic streetcars in Boylston Station. Why anyone would do such an awful thing is beyond me. On the brighter side, MassDOT released a plan for improving the state’s transportation infrastructure. This includes a new Indigo Line as a supplement to the Commuter Rail. Finally, French company Keolis is the new operator of the Commuter Rail system. 

Random Photos (Videos): Destination Kendall

Jan 12, 2014 | | 0 Comments

This isn’t that notable, but this weekend they’re running shuttle buses between Kendall and Park Street on the Red Line. I just really liked how they actually reprogrammed the destination boards and automatic announcements to say “destination Kendall.” There’s a picture of the destination board below, but for some reason the video didn’t work on Blogger. You can see it on YouTube here.

MBTA, Step Up Your Game – an Editorial

Jan 11, 2014 | | 1 Comment

As you have probably noticed, I haven’t been posting as much as I was in the last few days. Basically, school started up again and I’ve been busy and not able to post as often as I was able to over vacation. So yes, I will be going back to my “Supposedly Once a Week But Not Really” posting schedule in the coming days. For now, though, I have this editorial I wrote for school about the MBTA’s debt. I got a 100% on it, so it must be sorta decent, right?


Imagine Boston with no public transportation: Our roads, already unable to handle rush hour traffic, would be even more congested than ever. And getting to and from the airport would be completely impossible.
Parking is hell right now, it would be even worse without a subway. Tourists trying to see the Prudential? Tough luck. Business people getting to meetings downtown? Fat chance. Families trying to see a play? If you leave two hours early you could make it. With only slow, congested buses with severely limited schedules and insanely high fares to ride, it’s impossible to get anywhere quick.
Now admittedly, the MBTA isn’t going to shut down the entire subway system anytime soon; however, service frequency could be reduced if they don’t do anything about their debt. They’ve already taken some steps to try to make some money: they’ve raised fares (and are considering doing it again), cut some lesser-used bus routes, and have requested proposals for corporate station naming. And really, it’s not the MBTA’s fault. After the Big Dig, which cost $22 billion in the end, they dumped the debt onto the MBTA, despite them not really contributing much to the project.
They may not have made some of the best decisions, though. Take the corporate station naming, which I’m all for if it puts some money in the coffers. However, they also sent out requests for proposals for corporate line naming. Aside from the obvious lunacy of the idea (“The next Dunkin’ Donuts Red Line train is now arriving”), it would only cost a company $2 million a year to buy the Green Line, according to the Boston Globe. Considering that buying a station costs $1 million a year, I think the price of the entire Green Line could be raised. As long as it’s inevitably going to have some goofy company name attached to it, and considering that it’s an entire line, I feel $5 million or even $10 million would be more suitable.
There are money-wasters even more apparent that the MBTA just doesn’t seem to notice. Lights, for example. In particular, the fact that every light on the system isn’t energy efficient at all. Let’s just consider the lights in the tunnel: there is about 17 miles of tunnel on the system, or 29,920 yards. Assuming there is a light every three yards, we can divide 29,920 by three to get 9973. However, there are lights on both sides of the tunnel, so we can multiply 9973 by two to get 19,946. It costs $48 a year to run one T12 light, which is the type of light used in the tunnels, so 19,946 times $48 is $957,408 per year. And that’s just for the tunnels!
Now let’s say the MBTA replaces all those lights with T8’s, which cost $13.20 a year. This would bring yearly costs down to only $263,287 per year! Now the MBTA would have to buy all these lights – each T8 costs about $4.00. If we multiply 19,946 (the number of lights needed) by 4, you get $79,784.  Yes, it’s a large amount, but it would pay off so quickly!
Another issue is that somewhat used buses are being eliminated, while there is another bus not being used the MBTA refuses to get rid of: the SL2. It runs from South Station to the Design Center, which is in the middle of an industrial wasteland. Sure, many people use it during rush hour, where it makes sense to run every 5 minutes. On weekends, however, the bus is literally empty. Literally empty, and it runs every 15 minutes. Why is the MBTA operating this bus every 15 minutes with nobody riding while other, better used routes get cut to three trips a day?
The SL2 also uses articulated buses. Again, that makes perfect sense on weekdays when it’s packed to the brim anyway, but on the weekend, it just seems like a total waste of a bus. Admittedly, they have to use the articulated buses because they’re dual-mode (i.e. able to change from electric to diesel power). But couldn’t they just not run the SL2 on the weekends and use the extra buses for the SL1 to the airport (which is a sardine can no matter the time)?
The Pioneer Institute has found another issue with the MBTA: overstaffing bus maintenance. Gregory Sullivan, the research director for the Pioneer Institute, says that the MBTA could save $250 million over the next six years by lowering bus maintenance costs to national standards, hiring less workers to do the maintenance, and paying them less. Apparently, though, it’s not entirely the T’s fault; the “Pacheco Law” restricts privatization at the MBTA (and other government sectors), preventing officials from saving money by letting private companies handle bus maintenance. But still, $250 million is a lot of money.
The state’s trying to do something about the debt problem, luckily. A new bill raises gas taxes by 3%, and gives 32% of the total collected gas taxes to the MBTA. Of course, whether it’s enough to help substantially remains to be seen. The MBTA plans to carry out a lot of transportation projects, such as extending service hours through the night, or in the long term, the Green Line West Medford extension.

But there’s just so much the MBTA can do about the debt! To avoid drastic changes for the worst, such as fare hikes and service cuts, the MBTA needs to start now. The corporate station naming is a good start, although line naming is going way too far. They could save almost $700,000 a year by changing lights in the tunnels alone! And imagine if they did it for all the stations, too. Fairly well-used buses are being eliminated while the SL2 is sending empty buses to an industrial wasteland every 15 minutes on weekends. And they could save $250 million in six years by following Gregory Sullivan’s plan to reduce the amount of bus maintenance workers. You’ve got so many options, MBTA. Why haven’t you done anything with them?