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
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...
MART: 1 Counterclockwise and 3 Clockwise (Intermodal Center – Kmart – Monument Square – The Mall at Whitney Field – Kings Corner)
Well, that's a long post name. Yeah, the MART likes to put every single major destination into its route names, so they can be a bit...lengthy. It doesn't help that I'm reviewing two different routes here. But even though the particular bus I rode was the 3, it...
North Leominster
Usually when a station name has "north" (or any other direction) in it, you expect there to be a station in the center of town, as well. Unfortunately for Leominster, it's stuck with this northern park-and-ride station. Luckily, North Leominster is a pretty good...
RIPTA: 6 (Prairie/Roger Williams Zoo)
Having just eaten the worst pizza ever, my friend Michael and I were trudging through the snowy Roger Williams Park. Every time the wind blew, our numb hands got even number. We were trying to get to the Roger Williams Zoo in order to pick up the 6 to get back to...
RIPTA: R-Line (Broad/North Main)
I've talked about a couple of RIPTA routes before under the "Service Change" moniker, but this is the first time I'll be doing a proper review of one of their routes - and it's a good one. The R-Line is kind of like RIPTA's "main route", taking its two most popular...
GATRA: 24 (Attleboro/Pawtucket, RI)
A bus route from Attleboro to Rhode Island? Sign me up! I'm always looking for creative ways of getting places, and being able to ride the GATRA for the first time was certainly creative enough for me. Plus, this route is weekdays-only! The bus at Attleboro Station....
35 (Dedham Mall/Stimson Street – Forest Hills Station via Belgrade Ave and Center Street)
Well, as long as I reviewed the 16, I might as well cover the other route I took that day, the 35. I'm not sure why I didn't review these two buses earlier, but...well, what's almost months late, am I right? Pshhhh. Okay, well, here's the 35. The bus at the roofless...
16 (Forest Hills Station – Andrew Station or UMASS via Columbia Road)
You know, I was gonna do a review of a GATRA route. But then I realized this was my 500th post, and I can't go talkin' about regional transportation systems for such an occasion! Thus, here's a review of the 16. It's been over a month since I rode it, but I never got...
Attleboro
You know, I could always just stay in Gloucester. Gloucester's real nice. I mean, how about I review West Gloucester? Or perhaps Gloucester's neighboring town, Rockport. I hear that's even more beautiful! Sigh...or I could take a look at Attleboro. That is...a lot of...
Gloucester
Yes! It's been way too long since I've reviewed a Commuter Rail station with some character! Serving throngs of beachgoers in the summer and hardy commuters in the winter, Gloucester Station is right where the action is (almost) in a beautiful North Shore city. Don't...
CATA: Yellow Line (Gloucester – Danvers – Peabody)
As you may know, the blog's jurisdiction has expanded to non-MBTA systems, which I will now be doing proper reviews of! And what better way to start doing this than with a review of a Saturday-only express bus from Danvers to Gloucester? Okay, there are probably...
435 (Liberty Tree Mall – Central Square, Lynn via Peabody Square)
Okay, I really wish I was doing a review of the 431 right now. When the 435 reaches Lynn, it does a tiny separate loop route, the 431, and then returns outbound. I was planning to take the 431, do the loop, and then take the 435 up to the mall. Unfortunately, things...
Transit Tales: A Rant About Photos, Fun, and Deportation
I was originally going to use this as an intro to my upcoming review of the 435, but no. This needs its own post, because this is ridiculous. So I was in the Lynn Busway, taking pictures of a 431 (previously 435) bus coming in. The driver beckoned me in and started...
Service Change: Florida, Part 5 – The Tri-Rail
The last time I took the Tri-Rail was going south from Delray Beach, all the way down to Fort Lauderdale. This time I took it the other way, as we were using it to get to the West Palm Beach Airport. I've talked about Delray Beach Station in the previous Tri-Rail...