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
44 (Jackson Square Station – Ruggles Station via Seaver Street and Humboldt Ave)
Okay, important note: don't take this route from beginning to end. It is incredibly circuitous, taking 20 minutes to get two stops down the Orange Line. Of course, the route is meant to serve the portions in between, particularly Humboldt Ave, its unique section....
29 (Mattapan Station – Jackson Square Station via Seaver Street and Columbus Ave)
Of the four routes from Mattapan to the Orange Line, the 29 is probably the weirdest. It runs alongside other routes for almost its entire run, and has an odd scheduling quirk that I'll get to later. I guess it's just meant to supplement other routes, but my...
33 (Dedham Line – Mattapan Station via River Street)
I get the feeling the MBTA doesn't like Dedham too much. Quite a few bus routes terminate either just before Dedham or just after crossing the border - the 34E is really the only route that serves it substantially. The town does have its own local bus run by our good...
Readville
Okay, will someone please tell how "Readville" is pronounced? Because I've been pronouncing it the same way someone would pronounce the town "Reading" - "Red-ville". The automatic announcements on the 32, however, pronounced it as "Read-ville", which doesn't roll off...
32 (Wolcott Square or Cleary Square – Forest Hills Station via Hyde Park Ave)
This is it. The last Key Bus Route I have to review. And honestly, the fact that it's used so much baffles me a bit. I mean, it's the most isolated one, for sure. Also, the places it serves are largely residential, and not exceptionally dense, either. But they're...
42 (Forest Hills Station – Dudley Station via Washington Street)
When the Orange Line EL was demolished, it left many people in need of an alternate form of transportation. The section of the former line from Dudley to downtown got the Silver Line, which although not perfect, is certainly better than an average bus. So what about...
CT1 (Central Square, Cambridge – BU Medical Center/Boston Medical Center via MIT)
Ah, the crosstown routes. Famous for advertising themselves as "Limited stops", when in fact, they're not really all that limited. The CT1 epitomizes this by basically being the 1, except it doesn't go all the way to Harvard and it doesn't go all the way to Dudley....
67 (Turkey Hill – Alewife Station via Arlington Center)
I have a friend who once had to use the 67 for some reason or another. He told me that the bus only had a few old people on it. After that, I was sort of interested in taking this seemingly odd little route. Well, I did, and though the people who rode it weren't...
94 (Medford Square – Davis Square Station via West Medford and Medford Hillside)
There was one time, a while ago, when I almost took the 94. It was a Sunday, and I was at Davis, all ready to go. Then I found out that the Red Line was running shuttle buses - crap. Then I found out there was a road race going on - double crap. Then I found out that...
96 (Medford Square – Harvard Station via George Street and Davis Square Station)
I've used the 77 many times, and would consider myself quite familiar with that route. But from around Porter Square down to Harvard, there's this other mysterious bus that shows up sometimes: the 96. It doesn't come around too often, but it used to almost threaten me...
78 (Arlmont Village – Harvard Station via Park Circle)
I've never thought about if "Arlmont" had a meaning to it or not. It's always just seemed like an odd name for a neighborhood to me. Then I realized that it's actually a combination of Arlington and Belmont! Because it straddles both towns! I love that! ... Anyway,...
84 (Arlmont Village – Alewife Station)
I get that when taking a route in the non-peak direction on the day before July 4th, you wouldn't see much ridership. But I was expecting at least, you know, other people to ride with me on the 84. But nope, there was no such thing. Maybe there were riders on the...
Quincy Adams
Hoo boy, we are going deep into Park-and-Ride Land today, people. After Alewife, Quincy Adams has the largest park-and-ride garage on the entire system. And unlike Alewife, which has seen lots and lots of development, Quincy Adams is still kind of in the middle...
Hingham, Hull – Long Wharf, Boston via Logan Airport (Ferry)
All right, a ferry! And a ferry with some excellent views at that. The Hingham/Hull ferry used to be two separate routes, but after ferries stopped running to Quincy (the Hull ferry was part of that route), the MBTA combined the Hull and Hingham routes. The ferry is...
714 (Contracted Bus: Pemberton Point, Hull – Station Street, Hingham)
This has to be the most isolated route on the MBTA. It has no subway connections and only a Commuter Rail connection - barely. This is the 714, which runs from downtown Hingham all the way up the Hull peninsula to Pemberton Point, on the tip of Hull. Having just...