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
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...
PVTA: R10S (Westfield Center/Westfield State University)
When I reviewed the R10 over the summer, it was on its school vacation routing, where it runs all the way to Westfield State University. During the school year, however, the R10 terminates at Westfield Center and they run a shuttle route, the R10S, from there to the...
PVTA: P11 (Holyoke Community College/Springfield Express)
What, you thought I was done with the PVTA? Nope, I still have to do the school year routes! Sam and I took Peter Pan out there recently so that I could truly complete the system. Let's start things off with the P11, an express route from Springfield to the...
Update
Full disclosure: I have not started writing the Downtown Crossing review. The reason for this is that I'm in the pit band for my school's production of West Side Story, and next week is Tech Week. That means I'm going to be getting home at 10:30 every night with...
PVTA: 36 (Olympia Drive/Atkins Farm)
A little over 3 months after I left Amherst, we're finally finishing my summer tenure with the PVTA! And what better way to end that summer with a summer-only UMass route? Yes, today we'll be looking at none other than the 36, a route which kinda defies logical...
PVTA: R14E (Springfield/Agawam Industrial Park)
Here's another lost PVTA bus! The R14E was a rush hour-only (mostly) express route from Springfield to, as the name suggests, the Agawam Industrial Park. It's gone now, but I rode it over the summer before it was cut, so we can see what it was like. The bus at Union...
PVTA: WS (Ware Shuttle)
Oh no oh no oh no OH NO OH NO OH NO! NOT ANOTHER ONE! NOT ANOTHER DEVIATORY MINIBUS SHUTTLE THING! All I can say about the Ware Shuttle is...beWare!!! Ha! OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?? This was quite possibly the worst minibus, and indeed the worst BUS, I've ever been on...
PVTA: PV (Palmer Village)
We go from Park Street, one of the busiest and most iconic stations on the entire MBTA, to the PVTA Palmer Village Bus, a stupid minibus route with half a million deviations? Sigh...alright, then... NO! Having gotten off our R27 just before the Eastfield Mall...
Park Street
Oh yeah. I'm doing it. You guys have been requesting this for months and months and months, and now it's finally here. We're checking a big one off the list today - it's time to look at what is quite possibly the most iconic station on the MBTA, Park Street! Here's...
Airport Terminals
The last Silver Line reviews! It's time to head up to the airport and see what kinds of "stations" the SL1 has to offer. A bus leaving Terminal A. Station: Terminal A Ridership: The stop gets 484 riders per weekday. Nearby and Noteworthy: "This is...
Harbor Street, Tide Street, 23 Drydock Avenue, 27 Drydock Avenue, 88 Black Falcon Avenue, and Design Center
The SL2 now, huh? We're really gonna review SL2 stops? We're gonna walk around an industrial area to review shelters and signs? Sigh...duty calls, I guess... I think the SL2's been drinking some of the Harpoon Brewery's exports, am I right?? Ahem...this is Harbor...
Worcester Square, Massachusetts Avenue, Lenox Street, and Melnea Cass Boulevard
What's on the ballot today? Oh, more Silver Line stations? Cool, cool...let's just get Washington Street done with, then. What the heck is this?? Well, it's Worcester Square. Station: Worcester Square Ridership: It's pretty low - only 817 people per weekday....
Herald Street, East Berkeley Street, Union Park Street, and Newton Street
This is painful, but in order to say I've truly reviewed every MBTA rapid transit stop, I kinda-sorta have to do the Silver Line ones too. Yup, I've stooped down to reviewing literal, actual bus stops. This should be interesting... A bus leaving Herald Street....