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
Ashland
Another boring Worcester Line infill station? Well, at least Ashland is the last one... Holy moly, that's a lotta commuters! The majority of the Ashland platform is low-level, with everything you would expect at a modern Commuter Rail station: a typical shelter, some...
Southborough
Southborough...I dunno, it's Southborough. Not much to say here. The platform. Southborough's platform is a long low-level affair, with bike racks and shelters on both sides (featuring a bit of historical information) and benches and wastebaskets spread around. There...
West Natick
The Worcester Line is interesting because past Boston Landing, it's basically half accessible and half non-accessible stations. What's more, the line is split halfway between them, with all of the non-accessible stations in a clump; ditto for accessible ones. West...
SRTA: NB 1 (Fort Rodman)
During my brief stay in New Bedford, how could I not resist riding at least one SRTA route? I only had about an hour until my bus back to Boston was departing, so I had to do something quick. The 1 caught my eye: it runs every 20 minutes to a peninsula in southern New...
GATRA: Wareham – New Bedford Connection
What the heck is this route and where did it come from? The Wareham - New Bedford Connection sprung up on the GATRA website with this announcement page, featuring two maps saying exactly the same thing, some points of interest at each terminus of the route, and the...
GATRA: Link 2 (Cranberry Plaza to Buzzards Bay)
Wareham is considered by some to be part of the Cape. I personally would disagree - to me, you're only on the Cape if you go over the canal. Well...today we're actually visiting the Cape, because the 2 heads into Bourne, canal and all! I didn't have time to get...
GATRA: Link 3 (Shangri-La to Cranberry Plaza)
Cool, a complete stinker that's also really short. Let's get the 3 out of the way. NOT THIS STUPID TRUCK MINIBUS AGAIN! We headed out from Cranberry Plaza onto Cranberry Highway, which split into two one-way sections. Along this bit, we turned onto Glen Charlie Road,...
GATRA: Link 4 (Cranberry Plaza to West Wareham)
Argh, I'm getting deja vu! The truck minibus...the double-deviation...this is literally the same thing as the Wareham Middleborough/Lakeville MBTA Connector. The only difference is that the Link 4 only goes about halfway. YOU AGAIN! We left Cranberry Plaza on...
GATRA: Link 1 (Wareham/Onset/Wareham)
Is this...a useful GATRA route? That people...use? What?? Wow!!! Apparently the Link 1 is a halfway-decent bus! Okay, the vehicle itself is terrible, but the route is good! This is at Cranberry Plaza. I'm starting this review at the southern terminus of...
GATRA: Wareham/Middleborough/Lakeville MBTA Connector
GATRA! GATRA GATRA GATRA GATRA GATRA! I MISSED YOU, MY FRIEND! IT'S BEEN TOO LONG! LET'S HEAD DOWN TO WAREHAM ON THE...UH..."Wareham/Middleborough/Lakeville MBTA Connector." Really slips off the tongue, GATRA. Wait, that says "OWL Link 4"... Ah, so it turns out that...
Middleborough/Lakeville
This is one of the biggest jumps I could possibly make - we're going from the PVTA in western Mass to an MBTA station just a few towns away from Cape Cod. And just like the Cape itself, Middleborough/Lakeville is a boring place. Boom, roasted! Sorry, I just don't like...
PVTA: 39 (Smith/Hampshire/Mount Holyoke)
Well, here we are. The last PVTA route. This took way longer than I thought it would, but we've finished the second-busiest RTA in Massachusetts. Our final route is quite possibly the most scenic one on the whole system: the 39, the one Amherst route that doesn't...
PVTA: 38 (Mount Holyoke/Hampshire/Amherst/UMass)
One of the great things about the Amherst area is the Five-College Consortium, allowing students to take classes in five great colleges, all in relatively close proximity to each other. One of the most important connectors between them is the 38, which serves four of...
PVTA: 34 (Campus Shuttle/Northbound) and 35 (Campus Shuttle/Southbound)
It's so weird imagining a deviatory loop getting busy, and yet here we are! The 34 and 35 run a crazy figure-8 loop around the UMass campus in opposite directions, and we're about to see how many deviations are possible within it! The 34 coming into Southwest. We...
PVTA: OWL (Westfield State University Shuttle)
You thought Harvard's shuttle system was confusing? Well, yeah, you're right, but here's a college shuttle that may be able to give Harvard a run for its money. I'm talking about the OWL, the PVTA's shuttle within Westfield State University! Why's it stopping all the...