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
GUEST POST: West Natick
Here's another one from Mike N. Enjoy!In my recent review-writing spree, I wanted to do some more Worcester line stations. Coming back from my dentist appointment, my mom let me hop out of the car for a few minutes at West Natick and I reviewed the station.Starting...
Four Corners/Geneva
Our final Fairmount Line station is a pretty cool one! Four Corners/Geneva is full of ramps and passageways, and the long staggered station platforms span quite a large distance. Let's dive in. Gazing down the outbound platform. The station has that classic...
RIPTA: 3 (Warwick Ave)/4 (Pawtuxet Village/Warwick Neck)
You have no idea how big of a weight off my shoulders it is to be done with the 3. This route has haunted me ever since I found out about it, because it's really two separate routes. The 3A and the 3B spend less than half their running times together! Look at this...
Kennedy Plaza
I've covered so much of the RIPTA, but I have yet to do a formal review of its main hub, Kennedy Plaza! This changes now. Inside the main building. Kennedy Plaza's indoor waiting area always has a ton of people in it. It gives you all the amenities you could ask for,...
RIPTA: 27 (Broadway/Manton)
We're still going to northwestern Providence, but this one is a little...weird. The 27 has a strange loop thing within North Providence, and I had a master plan to ride the whole thing around in separate chunks. Thus, we're starting this trip at Stop & Shop to...
RIPTA: 55 (Admiral/Providence College)
We've got a theme going on with these 50s routes: direct, frequent lines to the northwestern parts of Providence. Yeah, they're boring, but we gotta do them. The 55 has a few more deviations than the ones we've seen before... The bus at Kennedy Plaza. We headed up...
RIPTA: 57 (Smith Street)
Here's another frequent, direct RIPTA route serving northern Providence. Indeed, this time we're starting in North Providence, a separate town entirely! The 57 is the most direct route into Providence proper, so let's see what it's like. The bus in North Providence....
A Curious MBTA Rider Asks…
I take the Lowell line in everyday. I have never seen or heard of anyone stopping at Mishawum. I am doing research on Mishawum and I have a theory and wanted to hear your input. There is a 4:22 PM train from Lowell to Boston which goes through Mishawum. I...
RIPTA: 56 (Chalkstone Ave)
It's always nice to come back to a system that actually knows what it's doing. The RIPTA runs the 56 every 15 minutes, which really is awesome. Though Josh and I rode it on a Saturday, when its service drops to half-hourly, it was clear that this is a great route....
UMass Lowell Shuttle: Yellow North Line (Inn and Conference Center (ICC), North, University Crossing, Downtown)
Guys, this is a one-off. I am not coming back to this ridiculously planned system that uses gas-guzzling, lung cancer-causing hunks of trash to run its routes! But let me back up. Ahem...the Yellow North Line. After the LRTA 20, Nathan and I decided to try out...
LRTA: 20 (Downtown/UMass North)
The LRTA added the 20 to its network of routes without much fanfare. It has a very slapped-together feel in that there's no schedule. We just get the vague guideline of "service every 20 minutes" from 7:00 AM to 10:40 AM, weekdays only. What strange times! What could...
Harvard Shuttle: Quad Stadium (Quad – River Houses – Harvard Square)
After the Extended Overnight, I can't go around saying that any other Harvard routes are "hard to ride," but this one comes pretty close - the Quad Stadium route runs from 5 AM to 7 AM, and that's it. The early bird gets the worm, I guess. Just gonna creepily take a...
WRTA: 15 (Union Station Hub – Shrewsbury Center via Shrewsbury Street and Route 9)
In preparation for this review, I conducted an "extensive" "interview" with someone at my school who used to live in Shrewsbury. I asked her about the throngs of people that surely use the amazing 15 to get to the booming metropolis of Worcester. "Oh yeah, no one uses...
WRTA: 16 (Union Station Hub – Lincoln Plaza via Hamilton Street and Lake Ave)
Let's just keep on going around the loop we started with the 31! The 16 is the eastern side of the two-route loop, and it's got a few more deviations up its sleeve. Let's take this back into Worcester. The bus at the Lincoln Mall. We headed out from the Lincoln Mall...
WRTA: 31 (Union Station Hub – Lincoln Plaza via Grove Street and West Boylston Street)
Back in Worcester already? Hey, like I said, it's a system I've barely covered. Today we're taking a ride on the 31, which runs up to the north side of Worcester through a variety of different neighborhoods. It also forms part of a loop with the 16, but let's not get...