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
BAT: Brockton Route 8 (Southfield via Warren and Plain Street)
The 8 serves both one of the densest and one of the most suburban sections of Brockton. The former is a straight shot, while the latter is a loop at the end of the route. Since Campello (where I was) is the halfway point between these two, I wanted to take it around...
Government Center
Yes, it's finally here! The moment we've all been waiting for! After 1 year and 364 days, the crucial connection between the Green and Blue Lines is once again open. And let me tell you, it's beautiful. I don't want to leave you hanging any longer, so let's take a...
Campello
Why is it that you sometimes see seagulls in places that aren't even close to the ocean? I know this is a random way to start, but there were two seagulls in the empty Campello parking lot, and I was wondering what the heck they were doing there! Um...anyway, time to...
BAT: Brockton Route 2 (South Plaza/Campello via Main Street)
Wouldn't it be nice if every transit authority had a photo policy like the MBTA's? Or even better, if there was a single policy that applied to all authorities? It would certainly prevent annoying instances like what happened to me on the 2 from occurring. This time,...
Brockton
I think downtown Brockton is pretty widely considered to be...well, let's say a "sketchy neighborhood". And train stations are usually where the sketchiest parts of sketchy neighborhoods happen to be. I have to wonder, then, if it's a coincidence that Brockton Station...
BAT: Stoughton Route 14 (Stoughton via Brockton)
As I stood doing nothing in a little room at the Cobbs Corner Mall meant for dropping off bottles and cans, I got quite a few strange looks from passerby outside. Look, I didn't realize the bus would be this late, okay? About 15 minutes after it was scheduled to...
716 (Contracted Bus: Cobbs Corner – Mattapan Station via Canton Center)
Typically, one expects MBTA buses to have a certain...level of courtesy. For example, you assume the drivers will have a certain level of safety protocol. You also assume that schedules will be reasonably sensible. And you expect the bus radio to be firmly set in the...
45 (Franklin Park Zoo – Ruggles Station via Blue Hill Ave)
I don't really have much to say about the 45. I mean, it's pretty short, exists mainly to serve one corridor, and...I can't even think of a third thing to properly complete the sentence. Umm...yeah, let's just get into this. The bus at Ruggles. The 45 is one of the...
Service Change: Italy, Part 5 – Transportation in Rome
It would be great if I could end this series on Italy with an epic post about Rome's huge public transportation system, but...I didn't actually get to ride it. Hey, at least I have pictures... A bad tram picture taken from our bus. Rome's bus signs were...
Service Change: Italy, Part 4 – Buses in Assisi
Assisi was like the small-town portion of our trip - but though small towns are usually considered uninteresting, Assisi was anything but. I mean, it's not often you get to visit medieval villages on the sides of mountains, is it? With narrow streets, old buildings,...
Service Change: Italy, Part 3 – Buses (and Trouble) in Florence
Hooray! A city where we actually got to take a bus! However, it didn't exactly go as planned. Before we get to that, though, here are some pictures of other buses I saw that I didn't ride. Wow, that's a tight fit. And so is that. That bus is so cute! A full-sized...
Service Change: Italy, Part 2 – (Water) Buses in Venice
I really wanted to take a water bus in Venice. In fact, during a period of free time, a few friends and I were going to take it a single stop, just for the sake of riding one. But when we got to the station, I asked the woman at the ticket booth how much it would cost...
Service Change: Italy, Part 1 – Buses in Verona
Man, Italy is an amazing country. My trip there was awesome, and now I'm sharing the public transportation I got pictures of, and (on a couple of occasions) rode. Unfortunately, I didn't ride any buses in Verona, but here are the photos I took during our brief visit...
Fitchburg
Welcome the MBTA's outermost station in Massachusetts! Yes, we are truly in the wild west right here. Well...the wild west if it had multi-story buildings and a fairly busy downtown. Okay, so Fitchburg might not be a true frontier, but its gateway station is certainly...
MART: 2 and 9 (Intermodal Center – Monument Square – Jytek – Walmart)
A Walmart in the middle of nowhere? Sure, what better place to start a bus? I mean, it has to be said, the Walmart stop does get ridership. And, you know, the route serves a lot between the mall and its terminus in Fitchburg. Anyway, today we're looking at the MART's...