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
Harvard Shuttle: Evening Van Service
Nathan was working at Harvard for a while, and one of the perks of that position was access to their Evening Van Service, an Uber-like minibus that runs around the Harvard area from 7 PM to 3 AM. We were looking at its service area on the app to try to find the...
WRTA: 33 (Union Station Hub – Spencer – Brookfield via Main Street and Route 9)
Welcome to one of the longest and most rural routes in my jurisdiction. The 33 is a sprawling bus heading straight west from Worcester, terminating at various points, but Nathan and I took it at its very longest: for two trips in each peak period, the route is...
WRTA: 40 (Union Station Hub – Downtown Loop)
Remember the 80? That free little downtown loop that didn't exist anywhere? Well, the WRTA has scrapped that and replaced it with a larger and not-free loop, the 40. They really pushed this one, going as far as to give it...an actual schedule online. Well, it has to...
WRTA: 7 (Union Station Hub – Washington Heights Apartments)
Did you know that the intersection of Mill Street and Park Ave is the most dangerous intersection in the entire whole wide universe? Yes, who knew it would be in lil' ol' Worcester? Well, anyway, after taking 10 minutes to cross this abomination of suburban city...
WRTA: 27 (Union Station Hub – Auburn Mall via Main Street)
Man, I really have not covered a lot of the WRTA, have I? This is a system I've done very little of, and most of the ones I have done are their weird minibus shuttles. Well, the 27 is a decidedly normal WRTA route, and in fact, it is one of the busiest on...
MVRTA: 16 (Washington Street/Westgate Plaza)
This will be our last time taking a local bus out of Washington Square, and I am totally okay with that. These Haverhill routes have all been pretty...well, mediocre and boring. The 16 continues that trend. Our final picture here! We went down Washington Street,...
MVRTA: 18 (Riverside)
Oh boy, another twisty one! Alright, 18, do your worst. Washington Square once again. We went down Merrimack Street in the opposite direction of downtown Haverhill, so there were far fewer businesses along the road. It eventually became Water Street as we went by an...
GUEST POST: Windsor Gardens
Windsor Gardens is a station that I've visited but the review for it has yet to be published. In the meantime, let's see what Ryan Norton thinks of it! For my first guest post, I decided to take a look at Windsor Gardens! Located on the Franklin Line, Windsor Gardens...
MVRTA: 13 (Main Street/North Avenue)
Alright, time to take a trip up to our neighbor state to the north, New Hampshire! I've actually ridden this route before as part of an old Service Change post, but now it's time to review it. We're going to find out what the 13 is really like! The bus at...
MVRTA: 15 (Hilldale Avenue/Haverhill Commons)
The next route on our Haverhill list is the 15, a twisty one serving the western neighborhoods of Haverhill. Let's see how it is. Getting on at Washington Square. From the Washington Square Transit Station, we headed straight up Essex Street, more or less avoiding the...
Jules Asks…
With the T trying once again for late-night service, what are your general thoughts about the service area and scope of it? Well, this came out of left field, didn't it? Just so everyone's caught up, the T is planning on contracting out a route for late-night...
MVRTA: 14 (Bradford/Ward Hill)
Okay, the MVRTA's Haverhill weekend routes are insanely annoying to plan around. Sam, Nathan, and I literally had the schedules of each one spread out across a counter at the Washington Square Transit Station trying to figure out what our order had to be to do...
CATA: Green Line (SEASONAL: Blue Gate Meadows Parking Lot – Rockport Loop)
Welp, here we are. Our last CATA route. And luckily, this summer-only "Green Line" Rockport Shuttle is a great one. And of course, the last trip is on one of these buses. I boarded the bus at Rockport Market and we headed up Broadway before turning onto Mount...
CATA: Green Line (Gloucester – Rockport via Eastern Avenue)
For such a low-ridership, inefficient, and primitive system, it's kind of amazing to see how intricately-scheduled the Gloucester to Rockport routes are. They interline the Red and Blue Lines perfectly into the Green Line to allow for hourly service on the latter,...
CATA: Stage Fort Park Trolley (SEASONAL: Stage Fort Park – Downtown Gloucester – Good Harbor Beach – Rocky Neck)
Apparently the Stage Fort Park Trolley has been running for eight years. You would think that would be enough time for people to actually, you know...use it. Oh no... Yes, this thing uses a fake trolley, and it is soooooo much worse than the ones RIPTA uses....