The blog that started it all! Check out reviews of every bus route and train station in Boston, as well as ongoing reviews of the regional bus systems in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Recent Posts from Miles on the MBTA
FRTA: 32 (Orange/Greenfield)
Our FRTA saga begins! For those who don't know, the FRTA covers Franklin County, the least dense county in Massachusetts, with a hub in Greenfield. It is a very rural system, and that makes it a really interesting one to review. We begin with its route that runs the...
MART: Boston Shuttle
The Boston Shuttle. This thing is a beast. You may remember my angry review of the Worcester Shuttle, which boasted an insane boarding procedure requiring passengers to give the driver their names, a minibus with absolutely no signage, and a schedule that was...
MART: Littleton – Westford Commuter Rail Shuttle
The route that's furthest back in my backlog is one that I wanted to save to be the last MART route I review. I was all set to write it up, and then...they added this. So before I can talk about that route, I have to talk about the Littleton - Westford Commuter Rail...
The Unofficial MBTA Bathroom Map!
I was with my friend on the Red Line leaving Ashmont. "I have to use the bathroom," they said. And I...had no idea where any bathrooms were. I knew there was one at South Station, but were there any before that? "If only someone had made a map showing all of the...
Guide to the RTAs’ Fall 2019 Service Changes
Time to tackle the Massachusetts RTAs! Not every system is incorporating changes, and not all of those changes are groundbreaking, but there's some cool stuff in here. If you're short on time, head down to RIPTA, which is doing the coolest thing. BATNothing. BRTAThey...
Guide to the MBTA’s Fall 2019 Service Changes (Better Bus!)
Better Bus is here, my friends, and I am so excited to have a generally positive service change post for once! Even aside from the changes branded as "Better Bus," there are a number of others that are great as well. It's not like we don't have a few stinkers in here,...
Wollaston
There have been too many openings this week! First the new Orange Line cars, and now, after a year and a half of Yankee shuttles, Wollaston has finally reopened. If you don't feel like reading the whole post, I'll just say that it's a great station and a huge...
New MBTA Orange Line Cars!
They're here. They're in service. Yes, they're delayed by who knows how many months, but that's not what we're here to talk about! I took the inaugural ride on these new trains, taking photos and many pedantic notes, and now it's time to present my findings. How do...
Seaport/North Station Ferry
Um, what? Has anyone else heard of this? I only discovered it by reading a recent CTPS report that gave it a passing reference on page 28. It said that the "Massachusetts Convention Center Authority" contracted Bay State Cruises to lease a few boats from New York and...
Service Change: Scotland, Part 1 – Edinburgh and Glasgow
Let's talk about some Scottish transit! I took a bunch of pictures of all the stuff we rode, so I figured they shouldn't go to waste. We begin with Scotland's two largest cities and their respective transit systems... Two trams at Edinburgh Airport. There are two main...
Riding the Entire Lexpress in a Morning
Well, we've done Burlington, now it's time to do Lexington. Lexpress is a system that I felt a little more familiar with going in, not only because I had been on it once before, but also because the system is just a heck of a lot more intuitive than B-Line. First of...
Canton Junction
I've gotten a few social media comments on my critical look at Canton Center telling me that Canton Junction is the worse of the two. I guess the answer to which one is worse comes down to one question: do you prefer a tiny little nothing station, or do you prefer a...
Canton Center
The Stoughton Line has terrible stations, apparently. Stoughton was awful, and Canton Center isn't much better. Yeah...this is kind of it. A small platform with almost nothing but a single shelter and a few benches underneath. A parking lot with 215 spaces, as well as...
Stoughton
The poor Stoughton Line has been having a rough couple of weeks. No one has given it much thought in the wake of the crippling Red Line derailment, but it seems like there are delayed trains on the weekday-only line on a daily basis. Riders have even started a...
Sharon
I always get amazed at how busy these Providence Line stations get. As a small town sandwiched by much bigger ones that also get Commuter Rail service, it feels like Sharon has no right to get the amount of ridership that it does. And yet here we are: the power of the...