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
Service Change: Florida, Part 3 – Palm Tran’s Route 81 (Delray Beach Crosstown via Atlantic Ave)
Do you like malls? Or how about residential developments where all the houses are the same? If your answer to both of these questions is "no", then...well, you won't be a fan of the 81. Or, indeed, most of South Florida. But I digress. The shelter at Delray Beach. We...
Service Change: Florida, Part 2 – Palm Tran’s Route 1 (Palm Beach Gardens to Boca Raton via US 1)
Palm Tran is the bus system servicing Palm Beach County in Florida - my first notable experience with them was a typo. In the Lake Worth inset on their system map, it says that Route 62 goes to the intracoastal "Sunday's only". "SUNDAY'S"?????? APOSTROPHES ARE NOT...
Service Change: Florida, Part 1 – The WPB 1 Tri-Rail Shuttle
Well, we've just had our first snowfall after some unseasonable warmth. I'm happy to finally see some snow on the ground, but come on, the warm weather was nice! So before I come to terms with the fact that it ain't autumn anymore, let's take a trip to a place where...
Back From Florida!
I was in Florida for the past few days, and I rode some public transportation over there! I'll be doing posts about that in the coming days, so look forward to that.
89 (Clarendon Hill or Davis Square – Sullivan Square Station via Broadway)
Split terminals. Ugh. Yes, I consider it lucky that most of the MBTA's bus routes are linear and only have one terminus. However, there are those unfortunate few that have to deal with two...such as the 89. Much of the route is shared, but on its eastern end, there is...
88 (Clarendon Hill – Lechmere Station via Highland Ave)
This is a pretty hard route to have a catchy intro for. I mean, the 88 is a very simple bus that just gets its job done. It runs mostly through Somerville, with a brief section in Cambridge as it comes into Lechmere. Um...and that's about it. Let's look at the route...
80 (Arlington Center – Lechmere Station via Medford Hillside)
Oh, how I hate the 77 sometimes. After waiting 20 minutes for a bus on a Saturday (when headways should be 10), I ended up just walking from North Cambridge to Arlington Center. And the whole way, I kept checking back to see if a bus was coming, and when one...
14 (Roslindale Square – Heath Street via Dudley Station, Grove Hall, and Jackson Square Station)
The 14 has always struck me as a bit of a weird route. For one thing, its northern terminus is Heath Street, making it the only bus that terminates there (though the 39 goes by that stop, too). For another, the 14's southern terminus is Roslindale, which seems odd....
Roslindale Village
My friend Michael and I had just walked from Central Square, Cambridge all the way down to Roslindale. Sitting in an empty pizza joint eating really bad pizza, we silently looked out the window at Washington Street. Night was falling. Finishing the food, we stepped...
Ruggles
Okay, I certainly had a lot of praise for Mass Ave, going as far as to call it the best station on the Southwest Corridor. I still stand by that, but it has to be said that Mass Ave's southern neighbor, Ruggles, is quite impressive. With an Orange Line station,...
Massachusetts Avenue
Woah, a subway station review! There aren't many of these left... and yes, I know I still have to do a bunch of the downtown transfer stations. I say best for last, my friends, best for last. With that said, here's a station that...well, it's actually pretty...
50 (Cleary Square – Forest Hills Station via Roslindale Square)
Need to get from Cleary Square to Forest Hills? Sick of using the frequent, albeit crowded 32? Well, boy, do I have the bus for you, then - it's pretty much the exact opposite. Cue the 50! (Incidentally, it took me way too long after that 32 post to realize that...
Hyde Park
Since Fairmount and Hyde Park are so close together, passengers essentially get a choice between the two. There are advantages to both. Since Hyde Park is on the busy Providence Line, as well as the Franklin Line, it gets frequent service, while Fairmount does...
Fairmount
Okay, guys, I have another pronunciation problem. So, based on the way Fairmount is spelled, I've always assumed the second syllable is pronounced like "mountain". But according to a local I met on my walk to the station, it's pronounced like "Fairmont". I know I...
24 (Wakefield Ave and Truman Highway – Mattapan or Ashmont Station via River Street)
A little while back, I reviewed the 33, which runs from Mattapan Station to Dedham Line, via River Street. I wasn't a very big fan of that route. Now we'll be looking at the 33's companion along River Street, the 24, which goes to Fairmount. Does it stack up more...