Charlie on the MBTA

Yes Virginia - The A Line DID exist

2010-08-04T19:48:00.000-05:00

I would say this paicture is circa 1965 - The Pru is completed by the CITGO sign is still with the old brand name. The A WATERTOWN line was suspended in 1969...

Type rest of the post here

MBTA expanding its driver's license requirement - Boston.com

2010-06-25T14:58:00.000-05:00

MBTA expanding its driver's license requirement - Boston.com

Blaming BC students? Not so fast - The Boston Globe

2010-06-25T14:56:00.001-05:00

Blaming BC students? Not so fast - The Boston Globe

WOOHOO - NEXTBUS has added new routes

2010-06-24T13:04:00.001-05:00

GREAT NEWS - The T has added more routes to the Next Bus system. Routes now available are #1,#4,#15,#22,#23,#28,#32,#39,#57,#66,#71,#73,#77,#111,#114,#116 and #117 I tested it on the #66 and it is working perfectly on my cellphone.

LINK TO WEBSITE

CELLPHONE INFO

Hopefully we will soon see this in the subway on the signs at each station.

MBTA sacks five more managers in alleged mileage scheme - Local News Updates - MetroDesk - The Boston Globe

2010-05-25T21:40:00.001-05:00

MBTA sacks five more managers in alleged mileage scheme - Local News Updates - MetroDesk - The Boston Globe

Posted using ShareThis

Can't anybody build a new subway car anymore?

2010-05-24T15:01:00.000-05:00

Can't anyone build a new subway car anymore? As we have seen with the new Blue Line cars in Boston it seems that nobody really knows how to build a new subway car.

Chicago has new cars on order and the reviews are not good.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/commute/ct-met-getting-around-0524-20100523,0,5331068,full.column

Some T stations to be unstaffed at night?

2007-03-21T22:18:00.000-05:00

A customer service agent told me that some T stations, including Davis and the outbound side of Central Square, will be unstaffed every night starting this Saturday. She wasn't sure whether the last station agent would leave at 7 pm or 10 pm.

Needless to say, she doesn't think this is a good idea, and neither do I. Anyone know more?

saying goodbye to the Boeing Green Line cars

2007-03-16T09:42:00.000-05:00

(Globe Photo / Jodi Hilton)

From Mac Daniel in Friday's Globe

Now, after years of being cannibalized for spare parts, the Boeings -- which first hit the rails on Dec. 29, 1976 -- are making just one trip a day on the D branch of the Green Line. Only two are used on any given day.

"If we get one good trip out of it, we feel good," said Peter Messina, chief inspector at Riverside. "It's like having an old person around, you know? They can only walk so much. They can only go so far. I came on the job before they were here, and they're going to retire before me."

The last trips were scheduled for today, but snow could cancel them.

Most of the remaining trolleys will be disassembled by backhoe for scrap metal. One car may go to a trolley museum in Maine, and about six could find new life scraping slush off overhead trolley lines.

originally written in January

There are only a few left in service and as Breda finally delivers the last cars in an order than has been a saga in itself for over 9 years, the infamous Boeing cars will soon be retired. The Green Line cars numbered in the 34-3500's were supposed to be the future when they were introduced in late 1976. They were the first new streetcars bought by the T since 1951 and they were a disaster. But in this case the T wasn't at fault.

The Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation decided that the MBTA and the San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) should work together in producing a new generation of streetcar. What wound up happening was that both the T and MUNI were forced to accept things they didn't want in the new cars so it would be able to run on both systems. The contract was put out to bid and was awarded to a helicopter manufacturer Boeing-Vertol and the order would be for 250 cars (150 for Boston). The one major difference in the order was that Boston would have air conditioning something not needed in San Francisco.

In Boston there were problems with derailments, power failures and doors (which had over 1300 parts) closing unexpectedly on passengers. In San Francisco they found that only 2 of the 3 doors could function in the Market Street Subway. The T sued Boeing-Vertol for the repairs and won $34 million dollars in damages.and Boeing in turn was able to convince San Francisco to buy 40 of the cars that the T no longer wanted. The T tested a Canadian made LRV for 3 months in 1980 but in the end decided to build their next cars from scratch. Eventually the new design would become the Type 7 cars manufactured by Kinki-Sharyo of Japan (numbered in the 36-3700's) starting in 1986 and for the most part the T only ran the remaining Boeing cars during rush hour. The Kinki cars proved to be very reliable and the T bought 20 more 10 years later. San Francisco decided to replace their Boeings with cars manufactured by an Italian company named Breda. Boston then decided that instead of ordering the new Type 8 cars 10 years ago from Kinki-Sharyo that they as well would use Breda which has proven to be a disaster equal to the Boeings. The Breda cars were supposed to be fully delivered in 1998 but the T will take final delivery sometime in 2007 on the remaining cars.

Still there is a certain nostalgia concerning the Boeing cars though they will never be as beloved as the old PCC cars they replaced. They were a part of Boston for 30 years but it is time to say goodbye to them. Those interested can read more on the MBTA's problems with streetcars in an article written some 9 years ago by Scott Moore. The last words in the article proved to be incorrect and we the riders continue to suffer.

The new cars are expected to arrive sometime in 1997 or 1998. With the MBTA planning on keeping the LRVs until 1999, it is possible that the system has learned from the mistakes of the past, and will be much more careful when purchasing rail-cars in the future.

Charlie's Mailbag - March 15th

2007-03-15T13:29:00.000-05:00

trying to catch up on the mail at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Stephanie writes about Charlie refunds

In November, I bought a Charlie Ticket for use on the Green line so I would not have to use tokens. Unfortunately, no one had told me that tickets were not accepted on the green line. By advise of a T agent, I sent a charlie ticket in for a refund in November so that I could buy tokens. After numerous calls (and rude responses including "too bad, people who sent their tickets in June are still waiting for refunds"), I reached the "proper" person. Someone named Barbara? She said that tickets were non-refundable and that T agents were making things up by telling people that they could get refunds. After that, it was announced that Charlie Cards were soon to be released. I found out that Charlie tickets could be changed into Charlie cards. After numerous tries, I reached her again and requested by Charlie Ticket back so I could turn it into a Charlie Card. She told me to call her back on January 31 if I still had not received my charlie ticket. I also tried the MBTA "write to the top". After an apology letter for not returning my email for several months, I get a response saying that my email has been forwarded. Since then, I have not heard anything from the "write to the top" and I have not been able to reach Barbara. She never returns phone calls and she never picks up. Sometimes her answering machine is completely full. It is now March 14 and still nothing. I was wondering if anyone might be able to give me the contact information of someone who might be able to help me get my refund or my charlie ticket back. It seems that other people on the website are more successful than I am at getting refunds. I am owed $16.25.

Since this fiasco started the T has opened a new Customer Service Department so you might want to contact them and see if they can figure out what is going on. I know the T watches the blog so maybe that will help as well. Let us know what happens

Paul writes

tried to search for these answers on your site, as an FYI.

I was wondering if anyone has posted in regards to the new CHARLIE gates not opening very well or quickly when people come up to them.

and...

has anyone ever commented on the escalator etiquette (stand on the right, unless you are passing) and how the MBTA subways cars could actually fit more people on them, if passengers removed their bags and backpacks from their backs/shoulders?

cheers

The slow faregates have been mentioned several times. There doesn't seem to be a uniform standard on how they open.

Your other points are common sense which sadly is lost on many riders.

Mike wants to pass on a link

Saw your recent posts about SF, Chicago, and Boston… and thought I would send this link along.

http://www.publicroutes.com

Think of it as mapquest for public transit.

Thanks Mike. I am sure many will find it useful.

and David has some concerns about the blog

Charlie,

I like your Charlie on the MBTA blog, but lately the entire tone has just become nothing but complaints. When I first started reading it I was compelled by the fact that it wasn't just the classic Boston/MBTA blog where people write in and relentlessly complain about their commutes, etc. If people are so fired up about issues that they think should be fixed on the T they should write the T and if that doesn't work, their elected representatives, the governor, etc. Get results oriented, or quit complaining.

I liked your piece on the trolley cars you saw in San Fran, and some of the other pieces you have done on the history of the T, how the T runs, etc. Those tend to get responses from people who want to discuss transit, rather than just complain. I know a blog is just somewhere people can post their opinions, but maybe there is something that can be done to set the tone. Alternatively, if the blog is designed to solicit opinions for public action, perhaps you could incorporate an element to actually facilitate that happening, such as on-line petitions, that could actually be conveyed to a public official. Again, I like your blog and appreciate the hard work you put into it. I just hope it does not deteriorate into a message board of complaints that no one follows up on.

Thanks David for the note.

Obviously people tend to write more when something goes wrong but we have encouraged people to tell GOOD T stories as well.

I hope as we evolve that some of your ideas will start to happen. One reason I have been reporting on other cities is to show the MBTA is not alone with problems but perhaps they can learn from how other cities cope with moving people around.

Charlie sees America the Amtrak way.....

2007-03-15T09:24:00.000-05:00

One forgets just how big the USA is until you go coast to coast in one trip on Amtrak.

I left San Francisco at 8:20 AM on Sunday morning and arrived at South Station Wednesday evening at 7 PM.

The first day of the trip was enjoyable as the train went thru the Sierra Nevada mountain range on a perfect day and a California railroad museum had a narrator between Sacremento and Reno.

Then a long trip thru the Nevada desert as the train was forced to travel no faster than 30 because of track work being done by the Union Pacific. Monday brought Utah and Western Colorado on another perfect day but we were running 5 hours late.

Tuesday we awoke in Omaha and then spent the rest of the day traveling through Iowa and Illinois arriving in Chicago at 7:35 PM giving me 20 minutes to make the Boston train.

Wednesday at 7 AM we were forced to leave the train in Buffalo and take a shuttle bus to Albany as the tracks were closed because of a major accident near Syracuse. Trust me riding a bus after being on a train for 3 days is not fun.

My bags decided to stay in Chicago and hopefully will arrive today.....

Still I would highly recommend that everybody do the cross country trip ONCE....

Last Boeing LRV run will be on Friday March 16th

2007-03-15T08:31:00.000-05:00

Charlie is back in Boston exhausted after almost 4 days on Amtrak (more on that later)..... and can report that Iowa is boring

2 months ago we wrote about the end coming for the Boeing LRV's on the Green Line and that day has arrived.

WEATHER PERMITTING the final Boeing revenue run will leave Riverside at 11 AM on Friday with the return trip scheduled to leave Government Center at 11:40 AM.

MBCR replies to Worcester Line service complaint

2007-03-15T08:20:00.000-05:00

Kelly Crosby complained to MBCR about consistently late trains on the Worcester Line:

Greetings,
I have been very happy with the results I have received from this form in the past, and hope to get an answer now.

I understand why the Framingham / Worcester line has so many problems; I knew its situation when I started riding it. Most of the time, service is acceptable.

However, I have one question. I take the 7:07am train out of Worcester daily (boarding at Ashland and riding to South Station.) I take the 4:58pm Worcester express home (exiting at Ashland.) I have been riding these trains for many moons now, and they are consistently 10 to 15 minutes late. I have come to accept that this is just the way it is, but my question is this: why does the MBTA not update the schedules to allow for these extra daily delays? Are the schedules posted for the Worcester line just goals? Why not just say that the 7:07am train will arrive in South Station at 8:35 (as it consistently does) rather than aim for 8:23am, which is, frankly, impossible?

I am not trying to be rude or complain about a certain incident. My fellow passengers and I discuss this often and would truly like a valid response. We would be a lot less frustrated if the schedules were updated and followed accurately, even if it meant admitting that the trains would be arriving later.

Linda Dillon of MBCR Customer Service replied:

I have read your email concerning the scheduling of trains on the Worcester Line.

Please allow me to attempt to explain the rather unique situation we encounter on this line.

Scheduling trains is a difficult process, and with each review that is done prior to a change, a number of factors are taken into consideration. With some trains, or train times, crew and equipment availability is a problem. In other areas, we have to balance our schedules with other companies, whether passenger rail or freight. Of course in this instance, on the Worcester Line, I am sure you are well aware that we are at the mercy of CSX, the owner/operator of this line; whether it is a matter of imposed speed restrictions, the times that they are running their freight trains, or the ongoing track work along the Worcester main line. There is also the impact that changing the time of one train will have to not only other trains on the line, but along the system as well. Many lines share stops as they come closer to Boston, so there must be some balance between the trains.

I have forwarded your comments about the Worcester Line trains to personnel in the Operations and Planning Department, to be considered in future discussions.

While I realize that I have not provided a solution, I do apologize for the frequent inconveniences and hope that this information is helpful.

A reader writes: Disappointed in Mac Daniel's column today

2007-03-11T20:27:00.000-05:00

[Until Charlie returns from the West Coast, I'll be occasionally fillling in for him. -- Ron Newman]

From today's mailbag:

Hi Charlie on the M(B)TA,

Below is a copy of a letter I sent to the Globe today. Nothing new
in it, but I was really dumbfounded by the silly Starts & Stops
column this morning.

BTW, I'm a native SF-er who's lived in Boston for the past three
years. Glad you liked "my" city and its transit system. BART is far
better than commuter rail (hey -- it may be dirty, but at least the
lights work!), and I think is a good model for an commuter-friendly,
region-wide system.

MUNI has gotten a lot better over the last 10 years; former mayor
Willie Brown set out to fix it, and I think he did a pretty good
job. Shows that maybe even the stodgy ol' MBTA could be given a
shaking-up.

Jon Roberts
Boston, MA

Date: March 11, 2007 9:32:05 AM PDT
To: starts@globe.com
Cc: ombud@globe.com, letter@globe.com
Subject: Disappointed in reporting

Dear Mr. Daniel,

I enjoy your column and the "transport beat" that you have at the
Globe. But I'm starting to wonder where the teeth are in your
articles. In today's Starts & Stops, you mention three people who
complained to the T, but whose complaints the T has no record of.
A new customer service system "may" be the issue for having, it
would seem, systematically tossed complaint letters in the trash?
Why let it go at that? Why not ask the next five or ten questions
that naturally follow on?

It seems that of all the local travesties, the T is handled with
the "kiddest" of gloves. Massport, the Turnpike Authority, and
others all get a good grilling, but the T is let off with their
spokespeople saying "oh, good point, we'll look into it.".

I think the Globe really needs to turn its eye to some of the
fundamental issues at the T. A few that pop right to mind:

* Why is customer service responsiveness so poor? Why does the T
feel so unaccountable to its customers and to the media?

* Why are projects so delayed? Kenmore Station? Charles Street?

* Why is service so spotty? The boarding delays with Charlie on
the Green line? Commuter rail cars with no heat or lights?

* Are funds being spent properly?

These are important local issues that deserve strong investigative
reporting. The T isn't the Kremlin; it's a taxpayer-funded,
service-providing, fully accountable agency. I would hope Globe
would treat it as such.

Best,
Jon Roberts
Boston, MA

Charlie is on the way home ( but it may take awhile)

2007-03-10T21:33:00.000-05:00

I have no idea on when the blog will next update as I head home on Amtrak starting at 9 AM out of Emeryville, CA and start the long trip east.

The train is "supposed" to arrive in Chicago at 3 PM on Tuesday and then I connect to the train to Boston 5 hours later.....but

Amtrak concedes that Train #6 from California does not make it back in time to connect to the Eastern trains so I may not be back at South Station until THURSDAY!!! If things go well with the connection in Chicago I will be back in Boston Wednesday evening.

However please continue to email us at charlieonthembta@gmail.com and if something major develops will will somehow find a way to update the blog.

Thanks all for your support and may everyone have good commutes next week.

last words from San Francisco

2007-03-10T21:09:00.000-05:00

This is my last night in San Francisco and will be on the long trip home by Amtrak starting tomorrow (Sunday)

While the locals may complain about it for the most part public transportation in the Bay Area is quite good. The only drawback I can see is that you have many separate transportation agencies and transferring between them can be a little complicated. The systems have been working on a unified smartcard system but now it appears BART is going off on their own and it is unclear if the BART card will work on the other systems.

BART is showing its age ( now over 30 years old ) and the system is showing wear and tear especially on the rail cars. I did find the vending machines easy to use and trains came quickly when the real time signs said they would.

The MUNI system in San Francisco uses streetcars, trackless trolleys, buses and of course the famous cable cars. The buses on average are older than Boston but I never had to wait too long for one and they can climb the hills in this city. They also have real time info on some routes in the bus shelters which was quite helpful.

Overall I found getting around the area easy by public transportation.

SF Mayor considers making transit free

2007-03-10T16:25:00.000-05:00

As I wrap up my time in California I saw this story in the San Francisco Chronicle

Mayor tells Muni to investigate eliminating fares

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has asked transit officials to study eliminating fares on city buses, streetcars and cable cars -- a plan that if enacted would be the largest such experiment in the nation.

"If it could happen anywhere, it could happen in San Francisco," said Newsom, who said free transit could lure people out of their cars and cut traffic.

No major transit agency in America has a systemwide free-fare policy. But more than a dozen cities -- including Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake City -- offer free rides in their downtown business corridors. The small East Bay city of Emeryville provides free bus shuttle service around town and to and from an Oakland BART station.

I hope to have more on transit in the Bay Area later but it is obvious that fare evasion is a HUGE problem in San Francisco.

Meanwhile BART has a fare evasion problem as well
BART losing revenue through ticket scams - Recent fraud find: Manipulation of magnetic strip

He and others on the BART management team are banking on new technology, so-called smart cards. The cards, which resemble credit cards, are embedded with microprocessor chips that can be used for various transactions, such as adding and deducting value on a transit ticket. Officials believe they are more secure than magnetic strips.

BART hopes to have the new system in place within two years. People would be able to use the smart cards to pay for parking at station lots and for BART rides. The chips could be expanded beyond cards and made even more user-friendly by embedding them in cell phones and watches.

and BART riders grumble that their trains are dirty

The dirty little secret about BART is out: Trains aren't as clean as passengers want them to be.

A new customer satisfaction survey commissioned by BART found increasing dissatisfaction over the trains' grimy interiors.

"It's not at all a surprise to us,'' said BART spokesman Linton Johnson.

Past budget cuts, he said, meant less money for cleaning crews. The decision was made to sacrifice cleanliness to focus resources on making the trains run on time, Johnson said. He said the agency is moving to replenish the work force of 77 car-cleaning positions, which had been down 10 workers at one point.

Charlie's Mailbag - March 9th

2007-03-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

checking the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

I have been having some problems with my wireless card in California so that is the reason the blog has been updating later in the day back East as I have been forced to use the San Francisco Public Library ( which is quite nice and modern )

Andy thinks the "new" North Station could be better

I know this is ungrateful, especially after the T worked so hard to improve the plight of space-constrained North Station commuters...but I have a question/complaint about the cosmetics of the new and improved station.

What's with the black and tan ceiling and walls? The gray columns? Why the stygian darkness? Perhaps it complements the outer decor of the platforms and provides an optical transition as one hustles to or from the brightly lit inner hallway. It will hide the dirt. Maybe the T doesn't want people hanging around, clogging up the waiting area. I doubt there's much potential for that. But I don't think it would have hurt to use brighter hues, even a little white to turn a gloomy space into a less gloomy space.

The North Station do-over had a lot of potential for dulling my South Station envy, but so far I'm not sure we made much progress here.

I'd be happy to volunteer on the paint detail if the T should change its mind. I also know a real 'fab' interior decorator who can work miracles. One is needed here.

Andy from Ipswich

The T is not responsible for North Station. The new improvements were done by the Delaware North Company of Buffalo who owns the Garden. Hopefully it will be a bit brighter when the new retail shops that are promised open.

Amy wonders what is causing slowdowns on the Orange Line

Hi Charlie,
I've been riding the orange line ever since I can remember, and
recently I've noticed that, going inbound and outbound between
Sullivan Square and Community College, the train slows down
considerably. At this part in the track, the train is on a bridge and
its leaning quite a bit to one side. It's always leaned like that but
never gone so slow over that one part as it has in the past few
months. Any reason for this?
Love your blog!
-Amy

I don't have the answer but I am pretty certain somebody will let us know in short order.

Ian writes in about the T's trip planner

I'm a huge fan of your blog, and especially of the Boston Transit Camp idea, which I think would be a lot of fun. I wanted to write you with a quick comment about the T's new web site.
It's obvious that the T (or TransitWorks; whoever is in charge of the site) wanted to give the new MBTA.com that "Web 2.0" look and feel, so they went ahead and built a new trip planner that uses Google Maps to show routes and station/stop locations. It's a great idea, and I'm sure it looked great on paper, but as we all know their implementation leaves much to be desired.
Earlier today I was reading the official Google Blog and I almost jumped out of my seat. There was a post about the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festival (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/music-movies-mayhem-and-metro.html) wherein the author mentioned that they've added Austin, TX to the Google Transit Trip Planner. (!?!?!)
Yes, that's right, Google built their own Public Transit trip planner. It's been around for a while, too -- here's the official launch announcement from December 2005 (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/public-transit-via-google.html).
Currently it only contains information for transit agencies in 10 cities, but if you read the FAQ (http://www.google.com/help/faq_transit.html) they very clearly outline the process by which agencies can make their own data available to Google:
"4. My agency has public transportation data for my city; how can I get it included in the Google Transit Trip Planner?"If you're at a public agency that oversees public transportation for your city and would like your data to be included, please contact us at labs-transit_content@google.com.
The Google Transit Feed Specification http://code.google.com/transit/spec/transit_feed_specification.htm describes how to provide transit data in a format that Google Transit Trip Planner can use."So while they were busy attempting to reinvent the wheel, the T could easily have just handed their data over to Google and let the search company do all the work for them. I'm willing to bet this wouldn't have cost them a penny, and when all was said and done they would've had a system that, in addition to properly calculating routes, would even compare the cost of the trip with the approximate cost of making the same trip in a car. Instead we have a poorly-coded, poorly-tested clunk-factory that hates Fridays and wants to route every Red Line rider through JFK.
Harumph

I have no doubt that the smart people in Mountain View, CA could have devised a first class trip planner.

TransitWorks needs E Line riders to help

2007-03-08T16:48:00.000-05:00

from Mac Daniels blog at Boston.com

http://www.boston.com/news/local/startsandstops/blog/2007/03/e_branch_travel.html

E branch Travel Diaries
TransitWorks is recruiting volunteers who ride the Green Line's E branch and take notes. Volunteers will record the quality of trips on the E branch during the week of April 1 to 7.

Kate Lowe at TransitWorks wrote that participants may even be able to win a real, live Breda car (smiley face thing inserted here). To participate, you must sign-up for a brief training session on Tuesday, March 27th at 3:30 OR 5:30 p.m. in the Longwood Medical Area.

For more information or to sign-up, contact TransitWorks at 617-557-7349 or klowe@transitworks.org.

You can also visit their website at
http://www.transitworks.org/

Charlie's Mailbag - March 8th

2007-03-08T14:18:00.000-05:00

A warm welcome to CTA Tattler readers who might be visiting after reading about us there. Our post on Chicago can be found here Charlie on the CTA

Checking the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Molly writes about the Orange Line

My name is Molly, and this is a copy of the e-mail I just sent "to the
top" of the Orange Line, as the customer comment page will not submit
(which may have more to do with this computer than the T).

Good morning,

The customer comment submission page is either not working or my
browser will not support the submission, so I am writing to you.

This morning, my partner and I were at the Roxbury Crossing T stop to
head to work. The elevator was apparently having some work done, but
there was neither a sign on the elevator nor an update on the
accessibility hotline.

My partner currently has a broken foot, and even without that, she has
mobility issues; she can walk, but stairs are difficult and dangerous
for her. When we asked the T employee on duty, we were told the
elevator wouldn't be working for an hour and were asked if we actually
needed it, which I believe is not something that is supposed to be
asked.

Fortunately, the man who was working on the elevator got it to work
for us, but we missed two trains while we were waiting and we were
both late to work because of this. I would request that employees be
reminded that just because people are not in wheelchairs does not mean
that they can take stairs and that if an elevator or escalator is out
of service, for any reason, that it be clearly marked and that the
hotline be kept current.

Thank you.

It does seem that with the frigid weather both escalators and elevators are breaking down at an alarming rate. I still can't believe the T gave the new contract to repair them to the same Finnish company that failed to provide good service in the past.

You might try contacting KONE direct at their US HQs in Illinois

Kelly grumbles about the Framingham-Worcester line.....AGAIN!!!!

I guess I shouldn't even bothering writing in about the 707am inbound Worcester train this morning that was 15 minutes late and had no heat and no lights? The conductor actually made an announcement as we proceeded into the tunnel at Back Bay to “grab your stuff now, because it’s about to be really dark in here!” Um, shouldn’t all train at least have emergency track lighting? And, did I mention it was 13 degrees out this morning?

Thank you for letting me vent. I have also sent this in to the MBTA, but I don’t expect much. At least you are listening.

Kelly hopefully somebody at the T is reading this.

MBCR and the T can blame CSX for the delays on the line but MBCR is responsible for the heat and lights. The service was never this bad when Amtrak ran the Commuter Rail but they no longer wanted to do business with the T.

Susan froze waiting for an E train last night

Some trains on the E line were running "express" last night around 9pm,
driving past all the above ground stops near Longwood and the MFA. It
was in the single digits with below zero windchills, while people
waited for over 15, 20 minutes for a train..... The best part was
seeing the train skip my stop, leaving people out in the cold, and then
STOP AT THE NEXT STOPLIGHT LESS THAN 30 FEET AWAY.

If the purpose of these express trains is to make up time when they are
running late, I fail to see how doing this on above ground stops helps.
There are still stop lights every block. If you're going to stop at
those, you might as well pick up some frostbitten passengers while
you're at it. Seeing an EMPTY train go by without stopping when you are
freezing to death outside should qualify as reckless endangerment on
the T's part. Of course the response is always "there's another train
right behind us", but "right behind us" means another 5 minutes in the
cold tacked onto the 15 you've already waited. This is more than just
an inconvenience when you are waiting outside. It is dangerous. In this
kind of frigid weather you can easily get frostbite in less than 30
minutes.

Thanks for posting these stories on your blog. We can only hope that
the T reads them and actually cares.

Yes Susan, we can only hope.....

A lost trolley?????

2007-03-08T14:07:00.000-05:00

I just happened to run into this trolley this morning on Market Street in San Francisco.

The City of San Francisco runs a vintage streetcar line down Market Street that then continues to Fisherman's Wharf and each car is painted with another city's transit colors. Car 1059 is painted to look like a car from the mid 1940's when the Boston system was known as the Boston Elevated Railway.

A dreamer like myself would love to see a vintage streetcar line connecting North and South Stations with stops along Atlantic Avenue but I doubt we will ever see anything like this in Boston.

For more info on the San Francisco vintage streetcar line CLICK HERE

MBTA retiree accused of skimming $40,700

2007-03-06T19:35:00.000-05:00

MBTA video allegedly shows a retired employee who came regularly to turn in stolen coins and tokens for CharlieCards. (Jodi Hilton for the Boston Globe)

One of the reasons that the T decided to install the Charlie system was because under the old token method the system was being robbed blind over the past 25 years.

Still this story amazes me that a retired T employee would risk his pension ( and possibly his freedom ) .

MBTA retiree accused of skimming $40,700

I actually first saw the story last night on the 11 PM news in San Francisco (KPIX)

Charlie's Mailbag - March 6th

2007-03-06T19:02:00.000-05:00

Greetings from San Francisco where the Commuter Rail info signs work ( and they are from the same company that made the T's )

Catching up on reader email at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Glenn from Cambridge is fed up with Davis Station

Are we powerless to deal with the MBTA - a truly underperforming public transit system? Is it because, here in the "regulation and punishment" capital of America, things can't be made too convenient for the sinning public?

I'm fed up with the MBTA and Davis Square especially. It's not only the average of 1-2 dysfunctional escalators on any given day at Davis; it's not even the function of problemmatic gates that don't always open - again, at Davis; it isn't even my anger that the $50 I put into a paper Charlie Card can't be converted to my plastic card except at one station - and how does one get a plastic card if you weren't lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time to obtain one; it isn't even that apparently smoking is allowed on the platforms in the morning as long as you're at the extreme end of the platform (at least at Davis and Downtown Crossing).

It's the MBTA attitude - you have a problem and mention it to the maitre 'd at the station (formerly the toll booth monitor) and you get an explanation of "Here's why it's not my fault." or even better "Call your state legislator." Or, it's made clear that you should mind your own business while "I'll look into it" is the blah reply.

Why in hell can't we have a decent subway system where the escalators work, the stations are well built and maintained and don't reek of some stench, and people actually look like they're working?

By the way, my daily commute includes the Red Line to Downtown Crossing, Orange Line to State, and Blue Line from there. On average, during any given day, there's an average of two broken escalators. Who the hell maintains these things? Who makes sure they deliver? And what's with the Orange Line timetables. Are trains on this line much fewer than on other lines for a particular reason: like why should the MBTA care about Roxbury? Could it be more obvious?

My work takes me to Washington where the stations are clean and the trains are well maintained (and, so, the riders respect them). We can go right to the National Airport terminal quickly instead of lengthy subway rides to Logan. Trains run on time and predictably, including electronic notices of how far away the train is. Staff are courteous.

If only the Romney people had gone after the MBTA employee unions the way they persecuted teachers, and held the MBTA to 14 layers of regulation and oversight like they do with schools, we might have seen improvements.

And, finally, can't someone a) fix the train and station sound systems so people can hear what's being currently mumbled to them, and b) give some public speaking lessons to whomever broadcasts the stuff so they're polite, clear, and helpful?

And it's $1.70 to $2.00 for a ride depending on whether you're lucky enough to have a card? Enjoy Canada.

Actually it is California where I am and I won't tell you how warm it is in San Francisco today . The escalators systemwide are a mess and have been for a few years and yet the T gave the new contract to the same Illinois company that couldn't do it right in the first place. Real time train announcements is an issue I have harped on and the T has refused to answer any requests I have made for updates.

I'll have a report on San Francisco transit in a couple of days.

Daniel like many was very cold waiting on the D Line Tuesday morning

Making passengers wait 30-plus minutes in single-digit weather, only to then subject many of them to trains too full to board, is absolutely inexcusable, yet that was my experience this morning on the D line inbound at Beaconsfield. When I arrived at the platform at approximately 8:20, there were 30 or so people waiting, which I took to be a good sign. It meant that I didn't just miss the train.

By 8:35 the platform had probably accumulated 75 very cold people, and by 8:45 the number was easily over 100, not counting the many who gave up and walked to the C-line.

We watched three outbound trains come and go before an inbound train arrived at around 8:55, already very full. I was one of the fortunate ones, able to board the second car. As we pulled out of the station there were still a couple dozen people who were not as lucky, and I can only hope that another train was close behind.

At each subsequent station, the story was the same. The train arrived and sometimes fewer than half the wating passengers were able to squeeze on.

I have no doubt that the same cold that made waiting unbearable was also responsible for the delay. But leaving people waiting in dangerously cold weather with no word on the status of the delay is irresponsible. It would have been more than simple for one of the outbound conductors to yell to the platform that inbound service had been delayed, and then we could have all walked to the C line or made other arrangements.

Doing nothing should not have been an option.

I also had reports that riders were waiting 20 minutes at Newton Center.

Brad comments on Sunday's Globe column by Mac Daniel

Charlie,

Mac Daniel caves into the T again with his report on Kenmore being 10 months behind. This is unbelievable! Of course, he allows Joe Pesaturo to place blame on the city for permit problems. Why did it take 10 months to figure out that this project is clearly behind? I guarantee it won't be done on time for the new completion date. It was also mentioned in the article that the contractor would recieve more $$$ to get the project done. Not shocking at all that another project goes overbudget and more friends of the T (contractors) get more money.

-Brad
Watertown

Kenmore is going to be a mess on Red Sox Opening Day and it will only get worse when the D Line has the shutdown later in the summer. I would love to know why the City of Boston and the T seem to have problems with subway projects as permit problems have also delayed construction at State Street on the Blue Line.

Frank has a question about his Senior smartcard

My wife and I have updated our senior passes. On an on-going basis how can we determine how much money is left on each card?

Frank

Frank you can always check the remaining value at any fare vending machine and the amount remaining on the card will display on the upper right hand corner of the screen after you tap your card. To check on a monthly pass simply hit the card information button from the menu.

FYI: blog will next update on Tuesday

2007-03-03T12:28:00.000-05:00

Charlie continues his vacation and will be without a computer the next 48 hours or so as I will be on Amtrak's California Zephyr. I have always wanted to see the Rockies by train and I have the time to do so. I am supposed to arrive in Emeryville, CA on Monday evening around 6 PM but I have been told this train has not been on time once in the last year.

Please continue to send your commuter reports to charlieonthembta@gmail.com. If anything major develops I will try to have someone update the blog. I will have email access on the trip via my cell phone ( I hope )

Have a good weekend.

T Tales: The T's trip planner strikes again

2007-03-03T12:09:00.000-05:00

Jared writes us at charlieonthembta@gmail.com. All he wanted to do was go from Brookline to South Station.

As if you don't already get this enough, you've got a great blog going. I'm originally from the San Francisco Bay Area so witnessing all the ridiculousness that goes on with the MBTA has been pretty eye-opening.

At any rate, I have a story to share. A friend of mine was arriving in Boston at the Greyhound station in Chinatown and I was supposed to go pick her up. No problem, I thought. I punched in my station (Brookline Village) and the address of the bus station (700 Atlantic Ave) and let the trip planner do its thing. Since the trip planner defaults to "Minimize transfers," this is what it gave me:

Itinerary 1 - Approx. 31 mins.

* Take Green- D Line - Government Ctr To Boylston Station
Approx. 1:41 PM Depart from Brookline Village Station - Inbound
Approx. 1:56 PM Arrive at Boylston Station - Inbound
*Walk For 16 Mins. To 700 Atlantic Ave, Boston, Ma

Alright, fair enough. That seems pretty simple. Except I didn't like the "Walk For 16 Mins." thing. That seemed like kind of a drag, especially since I'm not from Boston and have no idea how to get around. So I tried it again, this time selected "Minimize walking," and hit submit. Well, I got some fairly different results the second time.

Itinerary 1 - Approx. 52 mins.

* Take Green- D Line - Government Ctr To Park St Station
Approx. 1:41 PM Depart from Brookline Village Station - Inbound
Approx. 1:57 PM Arrive at Park St Station - Green Line Eastbound
* Take Red Line - Braintree Sta To Jfk/umass Braintree - Outbound
Approx. 2:06 PM Depart from Park St Station - to Ashmont/Braintree
Approx. 2:16 PM Arrive at JFK/UMASS Braintree - Outbound
* Take Red Line - Alewife Sta To South Station
Approx. 2:23 PM Depart from JFK/UMASS Braintree - Inbound
Approx. 2:30 PM Arrive at South Station - Inbound
* Walk For 3 Mins. To 700 Atlantic Ave, Boston, Ma

This struck me as a little bit odd - why would I have to take the Red Line to JFK/UMass only to turn around and get on a train going the other way to get off at South Station? Well, I wasn't familiar with the Red Line; in fact, the only time I've ever taken the Red Line was later that night on my way back home again. At that point, I assumed you couldn't get off going outbound at South Station. So, I went with what I thought would be simpler - taking the Green Line to Boylston and walking. Well, it wasn't.

See, the Trip Planner doesn't give you walking directions unless you select "Print Itinerary," which I didn't know. And guess what? Instead of walking east on Boylston and then Essex, I walked north on Tremont, thinking I was actually walking EAST on Tremont. I got hopelessly lost, and after I finally found Atlantic Avenue (at the corner of Atlantic and Richmond), I managed to lose it again about five minutes later without realizing I'd changed streets.

There's a point to this rambling story, and the point is that the trip planner is total garbage. I'm not mad for the planner telling me to get off at Boylston and walk; that met the parameters I set, and it's my own fault for not walking the right direction to begin with. I'm pissed because, when I tried to make it so that I didn't have to walk, it made me go all the way to JFK/UMass and then get off and back on going the other way. Now that I actually know how the Red Line works (yes, you CAN stop at South Station in both directions), I have to ask: why even bother? If you can't do it right, maybe you shouldn't do it at all. That sentiment seems to be echoed throughout your blog.

Jared

PS - I got an itinerary from Park St to South Station on the Red Line. I wonder why it works when you don't change trains?

Take Red Line - Ashmont Sta To South Station
Approx. 1:45 PM Depart from Park St Station - to Ashmont/Braintree
Approx. 1:49 PM Arrive at South Station - Outbound

Welcome to Boston Jared. I actually will be in the Bay Area as of Monday evening.

The trip planner has way too many quirks about it to be considered reliable.

I just tried it and used the landmarks option and it did have an option for the Greyhound Station but guess what????? Here is what it just spit out

Take Green- D Line - Government Ctr To Boylston Station view route
Approx. 12:21 PM Depart from Brookline Village Station - Inbound Approx. 12:36 PM Arrive at Boylston Station - Inbound
Walk For 15 Mins. To Bus - Greyhound Terminal (boston)
Walk approx. 1 block E on Boylston St.Bear right on Boyleston Sq.Walk a short distance SE on Boyleston Sq.Turn right on Washington St.Walk a short distance S on Washington St.Turn left on Beach St.Walk approx. 3 blocks E on Beach St.

Again this used the default option of "minimize transfers" and "use all services". I pity the poor tourist with bags wandering around Chinatown looking for the bus station.

It really is time to take this planner off-line and go back to the old one until they can work these bugs out. It has been almost THREE months now.

Charlie's Mailbag - March 2nd - fare vending machine snafu

2007-03-02T15:52:00.000-05:00

From the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

all Shelby wanted to do was buy a monthly pass

You would think that by now that the MBTA would realize they are going to have increased use of their kiosks on the 1st of each month as users purchase monthly passes. Why then does it seem that the kiosks will never link to the credit card or debit card system on the first morning of each month. Shouldn't the MBTA increase their bandwidth to the system at this time each month? I spent 20 minutes in line yesterday only to go through the system,wait for it to authorize my account, for it to say it couldn't connect. So I asked the guard what I should do and his only response to me and everyone around me was to use cash.
Like most people I don't carry wads of cash around with me anymore. So I put 2 dollars in, enough to get me to work and left very frustrated. Many people didn't have any cash on them at all and it took the guard 5-10 minutes before he realized he would have to start letting people through. If he knew all this was going on, why didn't he make anannouncement to the crowd that the credit/debit card system was down?This would have helped alleviate the confusion and frustration.To add to my frustration I checked my bank balance today and sure enough I was charged $59 for a T-Link pass which I do not have on my Charlie Card. I then had to spend 30 minutes on the phone with my bank to get the charges reversed. I encourage anyone who experience the same issue I did yesterday to check their bank balance just in case. I wish I could bill my lost time to the MBTA.

-Shelby

Shelby you are not alone with this problem as I have heard from three other commuters who were charged for a pass that wasn't issued either.

This logjam at the machines "should" improve when the T finally allows people to update their card on the T's website but given what has happened the past 2 months with the new website you have to wonder if it will be able to handle the traffic. I am looking forward to just having the T automatically charge my bankcard every month but last I heard that is "sometime in the spring"

David ponders one of the T's great mysteries

The sight of three number 1 buses traveling together down Mass Ave in Cambridge (or on virtually any other bus line for that matter) has become such a common sight that many people might just dismiss it and not ask, how can three buses possibly be backed up together? Rumor has it that, surprise, it is not just mere coincidence but, rather, the result of bus drivers who park their buses together to have a coffee break! What with camera phones and all, have you seen any pictures offered by riders of these bus driver tea parties?

I have always thought they have a card game going.

The worst route for this might well be the #66. Since they added buses at rush hour in late December I have regularly seen 3 and sometimes FOUR buses bunched together. One thing I noticed in Chicago is the CTA does have inspectors standing along the route and will hold a bus to prevent bunching. The T said they WERE going to do this starting with the December 30th schedule change but I have yet to see an inspector on the #66.

T Tales: Friday woes reported all over the system

2007-03-02T15:12:00.000-05:00

We received several reports at charlieonthembta@gmail.com that Friday morning didn't go very well for some commuters.

Adam reports of a major snafu at Natick

Several months ago, I wrote in to MBCR customer service expressing my concern for the horrendous track and platform conditions at Natick Station (inbound track 2). I was given some lip service about being aware of these issues but despite the fact that the tracks have not stopped flooding for FOUR months, of course nothing was done about it.

Today, March 2, the steady rain caused high water and the track became impassible. Somehow, no one notified the engineer of train P514 who stopped the train just short of the station, reversed direction, and showed up on the opposite track 60 minutes later (having had to back up all the way to Framingham to switch tracks!).

To make matters worse, none of the passengers waiting at Natick or other inbound stations had any information about the delay, as the SmartTraveler line and LED boards did not report any delays to the line, and the MBTA customer support representative I spoke with told me there were "no problems" on the line.

How can any of this be considered acceptable? All of these delays COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED while simple communication, which is frequently promised but NEVER delivered, failed miserably.

Is it any wonder that the Framingham/Worcester line has suffered the largest decline in ridership? This sounds like another classic CSX horror story as they dispatch the commuter rail trains on that line from Albany, NY.

Sue from Newton writes about the D Line Friday morning

It was (as forecast) raining hard and very windy in
Greater Boston, pouring rain onto slush, so I wasn’t
surprised when I came down to the Newton Centre T this
morning to find a crew of T representatives zooming
about. Some of them with road cones. Uh-oh.

According to one rep there were wires down on the
line. They were running trains inbound and shuttle
buses out to Riverside.

The train went inbound OK, except that instead of
switching tracks before the Reservoir platform, for
some reason the train passed the platform; the driver
shut the train down and switched to the other end;
drove the train back to the right past the platform;
changed ends again; and drove out to Government
Center. Weird, inefficient and unexplained, but no
problem for the passengers other than a few minutes’
delay.

A friend of mine who also lives on the D / Riverside
line did not have my luck. When he came to the
station the T was not only running shuttle buses both
ways, but making people wait down Langley Road, in the
driving cold rain far from the station and shelter,
for the buses. (Obviously this was a different crew
from the one a couple weeks ago that offered to let
passengers get on the buses to get out of the weather.
What, did they get in trouble for accommodating
passenger comfort? Or did the bus drivers just not
feel like going through the turn-around on Union
Street in front of the station?) There was a long
wait for the buses and also a long wait for a train at
Reservoir, where many, many people were waiting. The
train had to be packed like a sardine can when it
finally arrived.

They never seem to anticipate these problems.

Incidents like this will become especially fun when
they start running the new Breda cars (which seat
about half as many people and have an upper and lower
level connected by steps -- increasing the chances
people can fall) on the Riverside line.

I also heard from John, Kathie and Bill with similar stories.

Zachary reports the trackless trolleys on Mt Auburn St were having a bad day as well

Hiya, Charlie,

This morning at about 9:15, the 71 and 73 buses, which run from Harvard Square to Watertown Square and Waverly Square, respectively, stopped running. At first we all thought it was our own individual bus. Then I noticed another bus about 100 yards ahead, had also stopped. The driver said that they had lost power to the overhead trolley lines. She said there was no word on whether a 'relief' bus would come to pick up stranded passengers, saying, "they wouldn't tell me that, anyway."

I was able to call my boss, who came to pick me up. I was going outbound, which means you pay as you disembark, but either the power to the Charlie boxes was out, or the driver didn't care, because everyone who left did so without paying. As my boss and I drove down Mt. Auburn St, we saw dozens of buses that were simply sitting there with nowhere to go, the passengers either stubbornly remaining on board or running to the nearby Shaw's. This was about 20 minutes after the buses stopped initially.

There never was a travel advisory on the T website. Nothing indicating that any delay had occurred. Of course, things may have got rolling soon afterwards, but those buses may still be out there - I'm trying to figure it out before I sit out in the rain for a bus that won't come! Tried calling the MBTA switchboard, but apparently Friday afternoon is their "heavy call volume" time - is that some sort of joke?

Anyway, another T Tale. Thanks for your great blog!

It does appear that the T doesn't have a fluid system in place to get delay information from the High Street operations center posted onto the web. We have seen the same delays in updating info ( when they even bother ) on the Commuter Rail. The T promises that soon we will have SMS updates and real time tracking of buses on the website. I'm not holding my breath given the failure the T has had on the Silver Line doing so.

Charlie's First 30 Days - official MBTA report

2007-03-01T20:38:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to the T's report to the MBTA Board of Directors on how the new Charlie system performed in January.

CHARLIE'S FIRST 30 DAYS

When this report first came out we discussed it and linked to the news coverage at the time. At first we thought the 86% figure seemed high but there was some confusion in the initial Globe story and later in the day the Metro had a better read on it.

If nothing else the report is making it clear people are using the card ( especially bus riders ) to get the lower fares and transfers.

HERALD:T acts to speed up gripe resolutions

2007-03-01T09:44:00.000-05:00

The Herald writes that the T's new Customer Support Center is now open.

The MBTA has opened a new Customer Support Center to handle a two-fold increase in the number of complaints it has received over the past five years.

The new center at 10 Park Plaza in Boston marks the T’s attempt to centralize customer-service staff at headquarters to respond to riders’ issues more quickly.

“It should be incumbent on us to do the legwork, to get the answers to people’s questions, so that they don’t have to hunt around a bureaucracy,” General Manager Daniel Grabauskas said.

GLOBE:With software glitch, it was 'Sorry, Charlie'

2007-03-01T09:34:00.000-05:00

The T admits there was a major problem with the faregates at CHARLES-MGH

Hundreds of passengers who passed through the Red Line's Charles/MGH station had their monthly passes rejected over the past two days due to a software glitch at the station's new fare collection gates, T officials said yesterday.

Officials said the problem was fixed before rush hour last night.

Charlie's Mailbag - February 28th new LED signs at Park and another T map option

2007-02-28T17:11:00.000-05:00

from the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Ben noticed a new addition at Park Street

Charlie,
Not sure if anyone has told about this but this morning when I got
off the D Line at Park St. (heading inbound) I noticed a taped off
portion to the left of the exit. Right above it was what appeared to
be a brand-new electronic signboard that looks like it would support
2 lines of text. Perhaps the T is going to give us signboards for
when the next train will arrive? Now it was near the entrance to the
Red Line stairs so maybe its for that.
I'll try to snap a picture on my way home, assuming I don't get
arrested for it!

We can only hope. The T can not be oblivious to the positive coverage NYC Transit has been getting as they slowly introduce arrival boards in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Riders WANT that information even if Daniel Grabauskas doesn't think we need the info as he told the Globe last May.

As he outlined the new, $35 million system in comments at Back Bay station, the announcements for inbound and outbound trains were coming in loud and clear on the platforms and in the upstairs lobby, giving about 1 minute advance notice on inbound trains and 2 minutes on outbound train.

That should help riders rushing to catch a train from a lobby and passengers who have been waiting for more than several minutes, T officials said.

The system can count down the minutes until a train arrives, but Grabauskas said that isn't necessary.

''You don't need 15 minutes lead time for a rapid transit train," he said. ''If you know you have enough time to get down the stairs, that may be all the information our customers need."

But then in October of 2006 Grabauskas said the following during a chat on Boston.com

Daniel_Grabauskas: Similar to the activity in subway to update the sound system and add sign boards we are working to make the commuter rail sign boards give better information. The new system which we are working on will make next train announcements and count down for the next train as well as delay information. I share your frustration that the old system gives very limited information and sometimes not accurate. This project to upgrade is out for public bid right now and should be constructed within the next two years.

So maybe he has changed his mind and does plan to offer this info in the subway. In that chat he offered an email address for riders to write into him.

please contact me directly at gm@mbta.com

Perhaps if enough of us write into him asking about real time announcements in the subway will will get an answer.

Lou passes on another map option for T riders and it is pretty good.

I saw the mention of Google beginning to include T stations on their maps on your blog and figured I would pass this along.

Sometime my freshman year of school at Northeastern, I went searching for a map of the T system that was laid out on an actual street map, because while I was getting accustomed to Boston itself, I found the T’s maps to be of very little use. Also, I am a bit of a map enthusiast in general. I found one especially good candidate for use and it proved to be very helpful in my exploration of the city:

This is laid out on a google maps image anyway and retains the total functionality, as well as listing station info when you click on a stop:
http://www.thrall.net/maps/mbta.html

I don’t know if you knew about that map or even if you have posted about it previously, but I take every chance I get to let those who know surprisingly little about the T in relation to Boston street layout know about this.

Thanks for the tip and if we haven't mentioned this link before we are happy to do so now.

Mayor wants Copley Station renamed to Copley-BPL - T may not be happy about it

2007-02-28T16:36:00.000-05:00

Jake wrote the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com concerning a turf battle between Mayor Menino and the T

Big fan of your blog.

Anyways, I'm an Emerson student and was looking for
help writing a paper on the current BPL/Copley naming
debate in the Mayor's 2007 agenda. Are there reasons
why the MBTA has put up such resistance to such an
idea? Is there an economic impact to such a
renaming...that type of stuff.

I have to admit this is the first I had heard of this so I did a little searching. The Mayor has indeed filed a bill with the legislature to rename Copley to Copley/BPL ( Boston Public Library )

Mayor Menino’s Legislative Initiatives
for the 2007-2008 Legislative Session
An Act Relative to the MBTA’s Copley Station – This legislation would change the name of Copley MBTA Station to “Copley/BPL Station” to reflect the influence and
contributions of the Boston Public Library in the Back Bay area.

The only reason the T might be against this is the cost of reprinting maps and putting up new signs in the station, but since the station is currently being remodeled the signs shouldn't be an issue. Renaming stations has been done in the past at Kendall, Charles and Hynes ( and much earlier when Mechanics was renamed Prudential, Massachusetts was renamed Auditorium and then Hynes and Atlantic being renamed Aquarium )

If anyone has a little more background on this we would love to hear from you and help out Jake. Adding BPL (Boston Public Library) to the Copley name shouldn't be an issue.

Charlie on the CTA (Chicago) - UPDATED 2/28

2007-02-28T15:00:00.000-05:00

As I have noted earlier I have been visiting Chicago the past few days ( I used to live here as well ) and have been using the Chicago Transit Authority to get around. The system to be kind is a mess.

Wednesday Update:

Wednesday morning I had a dreadful commute into the Loop as a trip that should have taken close to 30 minutes wound up being over an hour. I waited at the Granville Station for nearly 20 minutes and then a Purple Line train stopped to pick up passengers which is unusual as the Purple Line is supposed to run express from Howard Street to Belmont Avenue. The Purple Line train ran local along the Red Line until Belmont where passengers were then told to wait for a Red Line train headed south on the other track. It was another 20 minutes before a train appeared and it was packed.

Just in the past few days the local media has had numerous stories about transit problems in the area. A sample

Audit: Overhaul the RTA

Oversight of mass transit in the Chicago region is deeply flawed, hobbled by weak leadership, competition instead of cooperation between the transit agencies, wasteful duplication of services and skewed priorities, according to a state audit report.

Slow zones lead to Blue Line blues

Nearly 2 miles of slow zones have been eliminated on the CTA Blue Line in the last six months, yet riders complain their travel times are growing longer.

That's because track conditions on the O'Hare and Dearborn Street subway sections of the Blue Line are deteriorating faster than the Chicago Transit Authority can fix them, officials say.

The reason? There's no money.

On the northside of the city there is major track work being done that is causing long delays on the Red, Brown and Purple lines. Riders are of course upset and you can sense the frustration of the blog CTATattler.com which was the inspiration of our Charlie blog. I had a nice meeting with Kevin O'Neil who is the author of the CTA Tattler on Saturday as we solved the transit problems in both cities.

Chicago has major infrastructure problems that Boston doesn't have yet but it is something to keep an eye on. Boston at least never allowed the subway system to deteriorate the way it has in Chicago. The subway stations on the Blue Line which opened in 1951 look like they haven't been cleaned in 30 years. The subway stations on the Red Line which opened 10 years earlier are now being rehabbed and the completed stations look good. However the Red Line 'L on the northside is crumbling and needs to be addressed ASAP before a disaster happens. The northside elevated does not run over streets but as a separate concrete viaduct and it is obvious that much repair work needs to be done.

Chicago went to "automatic fare collection" about 10 years ago and has also in the past few years started a "smartcard" system similar to CharlieCard called Chicago Card. It does offer discounted fares like Charlie ($1.75 for rail instead of $2) and it costs $5 to purchase ( similar to Washington ) and offers a reloading bonus similar to New York where if you put $20 on the card you get credit for $22 in fares. However my biggest gripe with the Chicago FVM's is they do not accept credit or debit cards for payment as is done in Boston, New York, Washington and other major cities. Chicago installed their equipment from Cubic at the same time New York was upgrading their system for MetroCard so it appears the CTA didn't want to pay the fees associated with bank cards. The faregates themselves are the same as those used in New York City.

The Chicago "rail cars" are the same size (about 48 feet long) as those you will find on the Blue Line in Boston or PATH between New Jersey and Manhattan. An eight car train in Chicago is equal to a six car train on the Red or Orange Lines where cars are about 20 feet longer. The cars are much older than Boston but new vehicles have been ordered and they will feature "New York" style bench seating ( which we have on our subway lines ) which has some riders in Chicago upset. Overall I have found the service to be "ok" with the exception of Saturday night after waiting 40 minutes for a train at the Morse station I went looking for a cab. Chicago was having a minor snow-ice storm at the time and it was causing problems on the Red Line. The CTA kept announcing delays for "defective equipment and weather problems" but never said when a train might arrive. I have also experienced slow moving trains but this is a problem the CTA admits will continue into 2009 as major track work must be done.

Concerning the buses in Chicago the CTA needs new buses fast. They haven't upgraded the fleet in quite a few years and many routes still have the workhorse RTS buses now being retired in Boston. However I have found the bus service more than adequate and it generally runs on schedule. The CTA does have inspectors stationed along major routes to make changes as needed.

I also have found the drivers to be MUCH FRIENDLIER overall from Boston. Check out this clip I made Sunday on the #36 Broadway bus. Notice how the driver says "Good Evening" to everyone that boards.

One thing Chicago is light years ahead of Boston are with the computer announcements on buses and trains. The CTA decided to use an actor known for "voice over work" instead of a computer voice the T currently uses on buses and the Green Line. In Chicago he is known as "Happy CTA Guy" and he gave an interview to the Chicago Tribune a few years back.

"Belmont is next! Standing passengers -- please do not lean against the doors!"

It just sounds so much better than the T's computer voice that on some trains and buses still can not pronounce Lechmere correctly. The CTA has also started real time bus tracking on select routes which is something the T has failed miserably on.

Chicago is a world class city that needs a world class public transportation system. Hopefully they can solve their problems. Sadly they have a mayor who is more interested in the 2016 Olympics than people getting to and from work.

Charlie's Mailbag - February 27th

2007-02-27T14:57:00.000-05:00

checking the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Kelly gets another "free ride" on the Framingham-Worcester line

Greetings Charlie,

This morning was the second time this week (and it’s only Tuesday!) that my ticket was not checked and fares were not collected on the 707AM train out of Worcester bound for South Station. Now, I am always happy to get a free ride, but isn’t the MBTA in major debt? Doesn’t every $7 fare help? Just food for thought…

I take it you don't have a monthly pass.

I only take Commuter Rail occasionally and I know the train leaving Providence at 8:10 PM they NEVER check for tickets which is surprising since the ticket window in Providence is closed for that train. What is odd is that the conductors do sell tickets for passengers getting on in South Attleboro, Attleboro etc (The T has to use the coffee shop there to sell tickets as Amtrak will not sell MBCR tickets.) I am actually surprised a fare vending machine hasn't shown up in Providence yet. I have also asked comductors when they will accept CharlieCards on the train and they shrug.

David is having problems with his LinkPass

I’ve been having problems with my LinkPass since entering at Charles/MGH on Sunday. The customer service person I spoke with this morning told me that the gates at Charles/MGH caused the problem and that for the next two days, I have to have an agent let me through. I’ve been told the problem should be fixed March 1st . I wonder how many people using a corporate purchased LinkPass are having the same problem?

It sounds like the fare gates are rewriting info on the chip. ( I assume you have a CharlieCard? ) I'll see if I can find out anything more.

Bram passes on a link of what Virgin Vacations ranks as the best 11 subway systems in the world.
I'm shocked that Boston didn't make the list :)

We're (meaning Boston) definitely not on this listTop 11 Underground transit systems in the world (as ranked by "Virgin Vacations")
http://www.virgin-vacations.com/site_vv/11-top-underground-transit-systems-in-the-world.asp

finally Steve writes about "Student Charlie Card" problems

Ever since my father left for another state, I've had to rely on public transportation to get to and from my school. I am a student who uses carpooling to my local commuter rail station, then bus to my school. The afternoons are the reverse, with the exception that I must find a way from the station or nearby restaurant to my house -- another few miles away.

I originally planned for my use of the bus systems with the acquisition of a Student Charlie Card from my school. I thought it would be a great idea, but the confusion it has caused among MBTA workers has made it a nightmare.

I originally tried to put money on my Student CharlieCard on that Monday, having the usual $20 big bills I get for lunch money and transportation for the rest of the week. I found out that you can't add $20 onto a Student CharlieCard at once for some reason, and had to add the value to a CharlieTicket instead. This turned into future problems when I found out my bus operator has to press the "Student" button, and I have to provide identification every time I use the bus.

I've used my ticket for a while now, and its been OK, but I took the opportunity when I was in North Station to add value to my Student CharlieCard. My plaguing question for every MBTA worker has been whether or not the Student CharlieCard requires student ID to be used, and whether the operator needs to press the reduced fare button, or will the card automatically give the reduced fare.

The bus driver for my route that day told me that I need to do identification, even if I use the Student CharlieCard, in order to get the student rate. People on the phone line told conflicting information, and expressed confusion. Workers at North Station also expressed confusion.

I decided to try it myself, and found out that the Student CharlieCard automatically gives the reduced rate at the appropriate times, and does not require a student ID. This led me to another problem with the system.

I now have two cards for the MBTA system, a CharlieTicket, which is hard to use because of bus drivers who don't press the student fare button for you, and a really convenient Student CharlieCard. I want to move my value from the ticket to the card, but I was told on the phone that I need to do this in Downtown Crossing, far out of the way from my neighborhood near Salem and Beverly.

Another related problem is that I cannot find any nearby automated machines to add value to my Student CharlieCard without using the systems on busses. I read an article about some busses who have the white "Add Value" button disabled for interest of smaller wait times. If my bus was disabled, and it was my only way to add value, I would be out of luck.

Overall, I really like the CharlieCard system, but there are certain flaws that could have been taken care of better. There needs to be more convenient ways for people to manage their card values, including merging tickets to the card. It's great how all of these services are available in metro-Boston, but for people stuck in the North Shore and outlying areas, we really have the short end of the stick on this new system. Besides the waiting in the freezing cold for a taxi for 20 minutes because of the poor design of Salem Station, and CharlieCard troubles and mass-confusions, the system is somewhat OK for the average commuter. Besides, what's cooler than waving your wallet next to a machine and watching doors magically open in front of you?

Does the student CharlieCard have your photo on it similar to the Senior/Disabled smart card?

I am also hearing that indeed some buses HAVE disabled the adding value to a CharlieCard because too many boxes have been simply eating the fare and the T doesn't want to go to the bother of fixing the machines. If anyone has more info on the fareboxes please share it with us.

Charlie's Mailbag - February 26th - bus complaints

2007-02-26T18:23:00.000-05:00

Charlie is still riding the CTA in Chicago and if you think Boston has problems.....I'll post more on that later but the situation in the Windy City concerning transit is not good.

from the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Umer is not happy with the 503 bus

For almost as long as I have been riding the 503 express bus (2 years), it
has always had an issue with being on-time. Recently, it has gotten to the
point where the scheduled bus doesn't even show up which means I have to
wait for another half-hour for the next one. Even then, sometimes that one
is late 15 minutes and this reflects heavily on my tardiness to class. I go
to BU Medical School and I rely on this bus to be punctual since it serves
an area of Boston that is mostly employed by professionals (Copley area).

One of my major problems with the 503 is that it has an even shorter route
than the 501 yet the 501 comes (exactly as written on schedule) every 5
minutes during the morning. I do not see any reason for the 503 which runs
EVERY 20 MINUTES to not be on time.

I am really disappointed in this service.

I am not familiar with the 503 but one look at the inbound/outbound schedule shows that the T has no margin for error on that route. That maybe the root cause of your problems.
503 - EXPRESS BUS Brighton Center - Copley Sq. via Oak Sq. & Mass. Turnpike

Anne grumbles about the #39 bus

Does anybody know if the T has cut back on the number of buses on the #39 route inbound from Jamaica Plain? Many mornings I have waited 15-20 minutes for a bus that is scheduled to arrive every 5 minutes.

I was under the impression that the T added buses to that route on December 30th. Perhaps one of our bus gurus has the scoop.

A horrific T story reported in the Sunday Globe

2007-02-25T02:40:00.000-05:00

Mac Daniel writes about a situation that will make anyone shudder

The following story made us cringe.

"I am reporting a traumatic incident that occurred on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 10:30 a.m.," wrote Sharon of Melrose.

"My 7-year-old, 5-year-old, and 8-month-old daughters, 74-year-old mother, and I were preparing to board a Green Line trolley leaving Government Center heading toward North Station. Since we and many other families were traveling at this time to attend Disney on Ice, we were following other families boarding the trolley.

"My 7-year-old boarded, and I was immediately behind her bending down to lift my 8-month-old [who was in a stroller] onto the trolley. To my horror, the driver closed the door on me and my 8-month-old. [My 5-year-old daughter and my mother were immediately behind me].

"Being in a state of shock that a door was closing on me, and not wanting my 8-month-old to be hurt by the closing door, I backed up. The door then closed with my 7-year-old on the train. I panicked. I banged on the door and screamed that my daughter was on the train -- but to no avail. The train proceeded on.

"Thanks to an off-duty police officer from Maine who was on the trolley with my daughter, as well as the MBTA inspector at Government Center who alerted the driver to wait at Haymarket, I was reunited with my daughter in a relatively short amount of time.

"According to the MBTA's Customer Bill of Rights, 'safety is [its] top priority.' Safety was not on this employee's mind," Sharon wrote. "The drivers of buses and trolleys are the T's customer service representatives. If this person was not paying attention to the people boarding the trolley, or felt that he or she was there long enough and wanted to go, then this person should not have this job. Either way, he or she was negligent. Since this is not the first incident that I've seen of doors closing on a person with a child, I'm starting to wonder if safety really is the T's 'top priority.' "

The T responded quickly when told of this late Friday and promised to investigate. The inspector who helped reunite the family talked with Green Line managers about the incident, and they were tracking down the trolley's operator, who will be disciplined if it is determined that rules were violated.

T policy is that drivers are to close train doors only if they are clear of anyone. "This woman's report is very troubling," T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said. "We're thankful that the mother and daughter were safely reunited."

"The MBTA does not condone the operator's actions as you described in your e-mail, and I can offer no excuse for the operator's performance," Alfred A. Ricko, supervisor of the Green Line, wrote to Sharon in an e-mail sent Friday afternoon. "I am also a father and can understand the anxiety you surely experienced as a result of being separated from your child."

We called Sharon last week and asked about her daughter. "She was horrified at the time, but now she can't wait to tell all her friends," she said. But on the return trip home, given a choice between the Orange and Green lines, she said her daughter chose the Orange.

This is a story that has to be followed up.

I have never seen anything like this happen but I have seen drivers closing the doors at Government Center when passengers are still trying to board the train. Perhaps the T should install a closed circuit monitor so drivers can see exactly what is happening on the platform so something like this can not happen again.

T in the media - February 24th edition

2007-02-24T15:18:00.000-05:00

scanning the newswires to find how local media is covering the T the past few days

MBTA Police Discover MySpace, Criminals Bostonist, MA -
The Globe brings us a story of crime fighting success by the MBTA police. The T has installed a number of cameras in subway and bus stations over the last ...

Sinkhole on Newton bridge affects MBTA service
WHDH-TV, MA - Feb 23, 2007 An MBTA spokesman says the T will bus passengers between the Reservoir and Riverside trolley stops on the Green Line's D branch this morning because of the ...

Finding the new Charles/MGH Station
Bostonist, MA - Feb 22, 2007 The MBTA opened up the new Charles/MGH stop last weekend. Among the changes to the station the most notable is pedestrian and handicapped access to the ...

BC plans stress unifying campus, improving traffic
Allston-Brighton TAB, MA - Feb 22, 2007 Dumont presented artist’s renderings of the plan, which includes a 400-foot-long MBTA stop in the middle of the road, and an elevated pedestrian walkway ...

A breakdown of train, and communication
Boston Globe, MA - Feb 22, 2007... was still obstinately insisting that train service was 'on or near schedule,' " he wrote in an e-mail he sent to MBTA management and shared with us. ...

Train crushes commuter's foot at Concord Depot
Concord Journal, MA - Feb 21, 2007 A Leominster man sustained serious non-life threatening injuries from a MBTA train when he slipped at the Concord Depot on Wednesday morning, according to ...

Attempted Suicide at Harvard T Station
Harvard Crimson, MA - Feb 21, 2007 According to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) police Lieutenant Salvatore L. Venturelli, the man—whom he described as a Caucasian male in ...

Man accused of exposing self
Daily News Transcript, MA - Feb 20, 2007 WESTWOOD - A Norwood man is being held on $5000 cash bail after police said he was caught exposing himself to a woman on an MBTA bus Thursday afternoon. ...

GLOBE: Commuter rail plan is met with protests

2007-02-24T14:53:00.000-05:00

Mac Daniel writes on Saturday how residents of the Town of Easton are not happy with a proposed Commuter Rail extension through their town.

The final route will largely determine if and when it gets built. Murray and Governor Deval Patrick promised during their campaign to extend rail service to the South Coast, but the administration has released few details about the timing or financing. On April 4, the state is scheduled to release its plan for the project, which is estimated to cost more than $800 million.

Is this going to become another Greenbush fiasco?

800 million is a lot of money for a system that says it is broke. Certainly it would be nice to have rail service to New Bedford and Fall River and for that matter Cape Cod as well but the reality is the South Coast has bus service now that seems to meet the demand from those cities. That 800 million could be put to far better use on the existing system.

Maybe it is time for the Commonwealth to consider running the Commuter Rail as a separate entity from the MBTA. To this observer it seems as though Commuter Rail gets far more attention than the core subway and bus in the city when you consider the number of passengers served. Keep in mind the reason the MBTA was created in the first place in 1964 was to help save the existing Commuter Rail service into Boston. That is no longer an issue but the reality is T service inside 128 is the worst it has been in decades.

problems at Newton Centre (D-Line) Friday morning????

2007-02-23T13:58:00.000-05:00

Sue sends a report to charlieonthembta@gmail.com about service disruptions at Newton Centre on the D Line Friday morning.

Here are some photos of the MBTA work at Newton Centre
this morning.

Shuttle bus. The one I took a photo of had a Metro ad
on it saying "Know and go." The bus also had "out of
service" on it and was one of three at the platform.

Fortunately the T workers were there to inform people
that there was still one train left going inbound
before they started putting people on the shuttle
buses to Reservoir.

The chief T worker explained that one of the bridges
was dropping pieces of concrete onto the tracks, so
the T wisely stopped T traffic and got a work train
out there. (If you look closely at the second and
third pictures you can see the work train as an unlit
dark rectangle on the inbound tracks near that
bridge.) The bridge is the second one from the
station going towards Newton Highlands. I walk over
that bridge a lot. The concrete work on it is only a
few years old; 1999, I think. (The one closer to the
platform says "2001.")

The chief T person there said the work train was
"shoring up" the bridge and they hoped train traffic
would only be stopped for a few hours. He didn't
sound very confident.

The T people were very quick and helpful to inform
people and to let them know the train was coming in on
the outbound track.

He was in radio contact with a dispatcher to let him
know when the last inbound train cleared into Newton
Centre.

The second T person there asked him, "How come your
radio works and mine doesn't?" The chief replied, "I
use the old ones." Translation: The T bought new
equipment that doesn't work as well as the old.
Remind you of anything else on the T?

The inbound train came in on the outbound tracks and I
was able to get on without problems. (Sorry I missed
the cool shot of the inbound train coming in on the
outbound tracks.) The train stopped normally at
Chestnut Hill, went towards Reservoir, switched to the
inbound track smoothly and went in like a normal
train.

I don't know how it went for Shuttle Bus passengers.

Anyway, from my experience this morning, kudos to the
T people handling the problem. Dubious honors to the
people who did the work on the bridge a few years ago;
unless the concrete was dislodged by a very clumsy
plow driver or something.

Sue then send a second message

Here's an additional note on the T's performance this
morning.

I had been waiting on the platform probably five
minutes when the ranking T officer asked the other guy
to see if the shuttle buses would allow some
passengers on in case they were cold and didn't want
to wait. However, he also informed the passengers
that probably the bus would get there in time to meet
the very same train and there would be a better chance
of getting on if you waited for the train right there
at Newton Centre. Very good to know. The T people
were obviously thinking about the comfort and
convenience of passengers -- just for those of you who
think none of them do. It wasn't that cold out but
they were willing to give us the option. Very
thoughtful. I wish I'd taken down their names. They
deserve kudos, even though they'd probably say they
were just doing their jobs.

Including the poor woman near the shuttle buses who
had to shout calmly over the bus roar.

Because of their patience and calmness, the passengers
were calmer, too.

All very helpful.

I am assuming this has been fixed as there is nothing on the T website about it but we would like to hear from other Green Line passengers. It does appear that the T did handle the situation well.

State Auditor Report on Breda Green Line cars

2007-02-22T21:55:00.000-05:00

Auditor of the Commonwealth, Joe DeNucci has released a report on
The Purchase of Green Line Cars by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 recognized, among other rights, that people with disabilities should have equal access to transit services and facilities that are available to the non-disabled public.
In response to this need to ensure equal access for all patrons, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commissioned a feasibility study to review impediments to the disabled from accessing its transit system. The results of this study, issued by the MBTA in September, 1990, centered on feasibility investigations for full accessibility for persons in wheelchairs on the MBTA’s Green Line. In response to this study, on September 5, 1990, the MBTA Board authorized the General Manager to implement the recommendations of the study, which included utilizing elevators, escalators, ramps, and most importantly the use of low-floor, wheelchair accessible, light-rail vehicles as a means of providing accessibility on the Green Line.

To accomplish the low-floor light-rail vehicle concept, the MBTA Board of Directors voted on February 8, 1995 to award a contract for $215 million to Breda Costruzioni Ferroviarie (AnsaldoBreda) of Pistoia, Italy. Under the terms of the contract, Breda agreed to furnish 100 wheelchair-accessible low-floor No. 8 Green Line cars, provide spare parts, and modify the 115 existing No. 7 Kinkisharyo cars for operational compatibility with these new No. 8 cars.

Our review, which is a follow-up of a prior audit of this contract (Audit No. 2002-0583-3A1) was conducted to determine the overall effectiveness of the MBTA procurement process and oversight over the delivery of these 100 low-floor accessible Green Line cars and the current status of this contract.

AUDIT RESULTS
1. THE MBTA’S INABILITY TO ENSURE THAT THE NO. 8 LOW-FLOOR GREEN LINE CARS WERE PROPERLY DESIGNED FOR THE GREEN LINE INFRASTRUCTURE WILL COST THE AUTHORITY APPROXIMATELY $101 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL CONTRACT AND TRACK MAINTENANCE COSTS
The MBTA did not properly oversee the activities of its design and consultant engineers for the purchase of 100 Breda No. 8 Low-Floor Green Line cars initially projected to cost the Authority approximately $215 million dollars in February, 1995. Subsequently, due to design errors, change orders, consultant fees, car derailment problems requiring wheel modification costs, and increased track maintenance expenses, the projected costs to purchase these cars and also ensure against future derailments, will cost the Authority an additional $101 million over the expected 20 year life of these cars.

2. THE MBTA DID NOT ADEQUATELY PLAN AND TEST THE NO. 8 LOW-FLOOR CARS, THEREBY CONTRIBUTING TO A DERAILMENT FLAW THAT CAUSED A SIGNIFICANT DELAY SERVICING ITS DISABLED PATRONS
At the inception of the Breda No. 8 Low-Floor Green Line cars contract, the MBTA could not provide detailed track standards and conditions data necessary for Breda to properly design these low-floor cars to operate on the existing Green Line track infrastructure. This lack of detailed track information played a significant role in the dispute between the MBTA and Breda over whether the derailment issue was caused by car design or track conditions. Moreover, because of design delays at the outset of the contract, the MBTA improperly allowed Breda to combine and accelerate the testing and debugging of the prototype cars prior to authorizing full production of these vehicles by the contractor. These ill-advised decisions by the MBTA directly contributed to the faulty accepted design of these vehicles and their propensity to derail, and ultimately delayed providing their disabled patrons access to these vehicles.

CLICK HERE for the entire report

odds and ends February 22nd

2007-02-22T18:47:00.000-05:00

The recent comments on the left sidebar is now working again.

Those getting comments in a reader please use this feed instead....Google still hasn't fixed the problem this is simply a workaround

http://charlieonthembta.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default?start-index=2

A San Francisco transit blog has some nice words to say about us.

Charlie on the MBTA: A Brother in Solidarity Fighting for Mass Transit

Wasn't it Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy who said something about bureaucracy being the one constant in the universe?

The N-Judah Chronicles lights its lighter in honor of Charlie on the MBTA because...they rock.

Charlie's Mailbag - February 22nd

2007-02-22T16:50:00.000-05:00

trying to catch up with the mail at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

we will start off with Jeff who has some observations

Hi,
I love your site, http://charlieonthembta.blogspot.com/ and I first saw stuff about it in the Metro newspaper!

As someone who lives in the North Shore but works in the Hancock Tower near Back Bay, I find it horribly long and arduous just to get to work in the morning. I don't really have a problem with time itself, but somehow that extra work involved with taking the train and then the T just gets to me in a special way that only Boston's daily grind can. We all sort of accept the suffering much in the same way we used to just KNOW the Red Sox could never win the World Series!

Well, they did it, and they could do it again (unless of course, we allow our "collective" but sometimes "downer" 'consciousness' overpower the vibe!) and now I think the T has a chance to power through all that crap as well!

What this city needs for me is this:

Thing One:

Connect the North Station to Back Bay and South Station with a 3 way Mono Rail or something--dedicated to ONLY service those 3 stops frequently and with haste! Something designed for both the in city traveler and daily commuter, as well as the out of towner who flies into Logan (oh that's another story of horror--don't get me started, but do start a blog) and has no freakin' idea WHICH station to go to! (My in-laws from Europe recently surprised us with a short visit only to get hung up with T's trains and which station served our little town in to the north.

Thing two:

PLEASE increase the length of a line to the north and stop making it so commuter rail trains don't always go to all the little towns right around rush hour when you need them most! I have to run to a train that i always miss when leaving work, and if I miss it, the next one is over an hour later, getting my home way past all life has to offer with family! (roll eyes icon inserted here)

Thing Three?

Connect the Green and Orange lines TO the inside of North Station, not cramming everyone up a couple sets of stairs and doorways that, since they were newly built, probably means this will never happen. But seriously, that station needs better access and MORE BATHROOMS TOO!

Well, that's my rant for now. See? I didn't even talk about those way too high ticket prices, non-healthy & dirty trains that give me the flu or colds after multiple uses, and how crammed up the Orange line is in the morning--every morning. Hope some of it gets posted somewhere... People can send me resumes in the meantime
JEFF

Jeff when the designers of the downtown transit system put everything together 100 years ago there WAS train service between North and South Station. There was an elevated line that ran along Atlantic Avenue.

The Atlantic Avenue Elevated was an elevated railway around the east side of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, providing a second route for the Boston Elevated Railway's Main Line (now the Orange Line) around the Washington Street Tunnel. It was in use from 1901 to 1938, and was demolished due to low ridership.

The line was doomed by a couple of factors. In 1919, the Boston molasses disaster resulted in damage to the El in the area north of Battery Street and because Boston was in an economic slump BEFORE the depression ridership was low to begin with.

Certainly when the Big Dig was designed there SHOULD have been a provision for a rail tunnel between North and South Station but like so many things in Boston it fell between the cracks. Right now I would be happy if there was regular bus service between the 2 points.

As far as why the Green, Orange and Commuter Rail stations are not connected as of yet the blame goes to Delaware North the owner of the Garden who is responsible for the commuter rail station. When the new superstation was designed Delaware North could not tell the T for certain where the train station would wind up. It appears they are doing something now to improve access between the 2 stations.

Ines wonders what happened Tuesday night at Harvard Station

Hi,

I (and about 100 other passenger) witnessed an accident on the red line last Tuesday. A man slipped or fell on the tracks and the first car of the train ran over him. The driver stopped immidiately, jumped out, ran along the wall and looked under the train. He saw the man and called the ambulance. The man somehow got up and walked along the tracks towards the first car. One of the people waiting was asked to jump over the third rail to prevent him from falling on it. The man was covered in blood, still holding onto his book. The ambulance, fire brigade and police rushed in from all directions.

I was really shocked and couldn't sleep that night due to the pictures in my head of the man crawling up from under the train and tried to find information about it that same evening, the next morning and today. There is nothing to find so far. I looked it up on Boston.com, the News/Events section on MBTA.com, I even called the customer service yesterday - the woman laughed about me. I am wondering if this is right to keep information from the public and why the MBTA doesn't give any news to the public. I believe that an accident like this can happen to anyone - the man didn't look as if he jumped (the outbound train is extremely slow when it comes into Harvard Square from Central Square) - it looked as if he slipped from the plattform.

Maybe there were more reports on this?

The only reports I am aware of were posted on UniversalHub.com and at railroad.net

Conscious Male Patient with Multi Trauma Removed from the pit by Cambrdge Fire, Professional Ambulance ALS to Beth Israel Deconess Medical Center with members of Cambrdge Fire Squad 4 on Board

It appears that it was a suicide attempt.
Compare that to this story on the CTA Tattler blog from Chicago

May he rest in peace eternally
Anytime I write about awful odors on the CTA, I get emails and comments from readers who want to share their foul stories. This one takes the cake for being among the saddest and most disturbing:
I once got on the Red Line with a friend and we were immediately assaulted by the most foul, rank odor I've ever smelled in my life. Everyone on the train had their shirts over their noses and looked like they were going to be sick. We tried to move to the other side of the train but the smell was just as strong.
At the next stop (Grand, I believe), the doors opened and a couple of cops entered our car, carrying a body bag. They walked straight to the Hobo Corner and left a few minutes later, having filled the bag.
Later that night, while watching the news, I discovered that a hobo had died in the Hobo Corner. It was a little disturbing and very ironic.

Miriam wonders about the old exit gates at Braintree

When the new Charlie system was installed last summer, the T put two rows of new fare gates in the Braintree station: one row of gates to enter, and one to exit. Up until January 1, there was still an exit fare at Braintree and Quincy Adams. Now that the exit fare has been eliminated, the exit gates are sitting idle. Moreover, it seems the T intends to put a fence in front of them, rendering them useless. The T knew that the exit fare was ending January 1--why not simply reprogram those very expensive gates so that they can be used to enter and exit, just like the ones on the other side of the station? This seems to me another example of the poor planning and financial carelessness the T exhibits on a regular basis. It took many months, and many millions of dollars, to install all those new gates. Now they're just going to mothball an entire row of gates in a very busy station simply because the exit fare no longer exists. It is certainly possible to put those gates into use--why not do it?

Given that the new fare system has been in place for almost 2 months I don't have a clue what they are going to do at both Braintree and Quincy Adams and from the looks of things the T doesn't have a clue either. However you ask a great question? Why did the T put in Charlie EXIT gates at those stations knowing that in a few months they would be useless??? Seems to me maybe those should have been the last stations converted to Charlie, not Fields Corner or Government Center.

Coco does a good dead at Harvard Square

Today I got off the T at Harvard Square, and as usual exited via the Church Street exit. As I passed through the turnstile, I saw an older woman with a German/Slavic accent arguing with a T employee. It didn't take much to get the gist of the dispute; she'd used a CharlieTicket to get in, then realised she'd forgotten something and went out to get it, and when she tried to go back in with the same ticket, it wouldn't let her because it was the same station she'd just entered. She was very agitated, and to be fair, the T employee was being kind of a jerk about it. "Hey, not my problem - you went out. You can buy another ticket, or, you can wait 20 minutes..." I mean, all he had to do was let her back in; she had a ticket, and she was so upset I doubt she was lying.

Finally, I broke in. "Excuse me, Ma'am? Here." I turned and used my CharlieCard - fortified with a Monthly Pass and valid for Harvard since I hadn't entered there - to open the gate. "There you are; go ahead." She went through in a flash, and with barely a glance to the T employee, I turned and disappeared into the crowd heading up the stairs.

So, not only a good deed done, but a chance to show the T employees what sympathy and kindness actually looks like in action.

I'll just add that the rudest CSA's I have come across on the system just happens to be at Church St as well. It was a pleasure watching the Washington CSA's yesterday. They know what the job entails.

Ben passes on the info that Google Maps now has Boston ( and other major cities) subway stations marked.

I love that Google Maps now shows T stops, that is so handy. Odd
though that the T stops are indicated with a blue 'M' - New York's
hegemony I guess. Also odd, the silver line stops aren't shown.

Here's a screenshot I took

I am in Chicago writing this and I am at an internet cafe right under the M at Thorndale Station
Google Maps Chicago example

Brian wonders why Mass Ave in the Back Bay was so tied up on Wednesday

Got off at Mass Avenue on the Orange Line at around 7:50am. Notice that Mass Ave traffic is moving at a crawl from Boston City Hospital to my stop, along with several tractor trailer trucks dragging along what seems to be either large AC units or temporary houses. Waited a couple of minutes, and two Route 1 buses come. First one (2143?) is crowded, but not to the famous sardine-like consistency other buses have. Second bus (2268?) I figure I'd get on, since it is quite empty. Wouldn't you know it...the empty bus pulls away, and following it is the fuller bus.

Waited another six or seven minutes for a CT1. Got on bus (fine), traffic was still at a major crawl - not just to the Mass Ave bridge at Beacon Street, but through MIT and University Park, too. The only time we clear traffic is right at Central Square. (When I usually get there at around 7:30am, there's hardly a car there, the buses show up on time, and it's excellent, as you avoid all of downtown and the Charles Street, and there are very few if any Boston School buses. I can get to Central Square in 15 minutes and Harvard in 20.)

Cambridge and Boston residents use Mass Ave as a shortcut to I-93 to Quincy and the South Shore, as do tractor-trailer trucks and heavy vehicles, but if there was ever a place where congestion pricing (unpopular as it is) would work like magic, Mass Ave would be a prime candidate, and just the thought of forking over $2-$5 for a shortcut would cause the I-93 shortcut drivers to seek an alternate route, and let the buses and other drivers through. I know when I-93 is backed up when it takes 30 minutes to go from Hynes Convention Center to Mass Ave Station!

Brian that has always been one of the touchiest areas of Boston traffic and when it backs up it seems like the entire grid is affected. It has been like that as long as I have lived in Boston and was one of the reasons they wanted to build the so called "Inner Belt" in the 1960's connecting Roxbury with Sullivan Sq through Cambridge and Somerville. Since it doesn't get like that daily I think we should count our blessings that the "Inner Belt" was never built as it would have destroyed much of the city we love.

Have a good commute everyone

Charlie does Amtrak and lives to tell about it

2007-02-22T16:02:00.000-05:00

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

All I wanted to do was to go from Boston to Chicago via Amtrak, a trip that usually takes 22 hours from Boston. However this odyssey took close to 40 hours as I was routed through Washington and then West Virginia and Kentucky. I left South Station at 9:45 Tuesday evening and arrived in Chicago at Noontime today. I didn't know about the West Virginia routing until they changed my train yesterday morning in DC.
I did learn one thing. If you want to be in an area with no cellphone service West Virginia is the place to go to as I couldn't even get a roaming signal with my carrier and I have in the past gotten service in Eastern Montana.

The absolute clincher came early this morning when the locomotive ran out of fuel outside of Indianapolis. That made passengers forget the fact that the coaches had no heat during the middle of the night.

I'll be updating the mailbag later but also I want to share my experience in riding the Washington Metro Wednesday morning.

The Washington Metro opened in 1976 and is now the second busiest subway in the US after New York with about 700,000 trips taken on a typical weekday. It is for the most part a pleasure to take. Each station has signs that tell you not only when the next train is coming but how many cars so you know where to stand for your train. Washington has had this service now for about 5 years but as we have discussed before the T has decided against doing it in Boston ( even though they now have the equipment to do so)

One thing I noticed is how clean passengers leave the trains. Washington has two subway papers and nobody simply discards it on the train like Boston. Washington still has human announcements calling out the train stops and they were clear and concise. My only gripe about the Metro was the fare vending machines are not very passenger friendly.

The Washington FVM's seem to come in different versions. Some simply spit out a fare ticket similar to the CharlieTicket, others allow you to use their SmarTrip card which is similar to CharlieCard. Some but not all machines take credit cards. The machine I used had a $20.00 fareticket purchase as default and you have to toggle it down to the amount you want, there is no keyboard option like the T. Still overall I found them easier to use than the T's ticket machines. One thing of note the Washington SmarTrip card does not offer discount fares, and it cost $5.00 to purchase one. However those that park at a Metro station have no choice but to buy the SmarTrip card as it is the only way one can pay for parking.

T Tales: A fun night on the 426

2007-02-20T14:19:00.000-05:00

Matt sends in his T Tale from last Friday night to charlieonthembta@gmail.com

On Friday night I took the 426 home from Haymarket. There were three
people waiting at the Linden Sq. stop, one of whom walked out into
the middle of the street, anticipating that the bus would stop in
such a way as to allow the prospective passengers to board without
climbing over an ice sheet.

The driver waved her away and then drove around near, coming very
close to hitting her.

When the three passengers came into the bus they began verbally
accosting the bus driver. He retorted with some colorful language
while defending his act of stopping at the designated stop instead of
a slightly more convenient location. This continued until all the
passengers got off at their stops. I also got off with the last of
those passengers, and I was the only one on the bus not screaming.

That sounds like it was a memorable trip.

I maybe wrong on this but I believe it is the CITY and not the T that is responsible for clearing out bus stops. I say this because both Boston and Cambridge have contracted with companies to provide bus shelters.

Sadly I have seen this play out on other bus routes the past few days as most bus stops were in sorry, sorry shape in the Cambridge area.

T Tales - a rider leaves a rant

2007-02-20T10:37:00.000-05:00

I will be traveling until Thursday noontime and I may not be able to update the blog until then as my wireless card is not working as it should. However please continue to e-mail us.

Also the recent comments summary is currently not working showing the last comments as of February 6th. This is a system wide issue with blogspot and google is aware of the problem and it should be fixed shortly.

from the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com Andreas is fed up

Hey,
So i put five dollers in the farebox, and it takes all my money without
giving me a charlieticket. I get some complaint form which i need to mail
in to get my money which will probably never come.

I'm riding the D Line a few days ago and I hit the stop request button and
it skips my stop!

At another time, I cross the tracks in front of a boarding train, in plain
sight and the train moves on as soon as I'm off the tracks and about to get
on, making me wait another 10 minutes in the cold.

The train waits 10 minutes at Fenway with no announcements, and after 5
minutes the conductor of the train(car #2) gets out of the train and onto
the platform, people file on for free and then the train makes some loud
noises and gets on its way.

From a person who now bikes instead of riding the T.

We are hearing about ( and have seen first hand ) problems with the fareboxes adding value to CharlieCards. I can tell you that the T has been good in issuing refunds quickly to customers this has happened.

There seems to be a problem with people hitting the stop request on a second car of a Breda trolley and the driver in the first car not knowing about it. A Green Line motorman confirmed to me this is an issue and just said "it is yet another bug in these Bredas".

Teenager stabbed multiple times at Back Bay T station

2007-02-20T10:30:00.000-05:00

from the Herald

An 18-year-old man was in critical condition at Boston Medical Center yesterday after being stabbed multiple times at the Back Bay MBTA station, leaving commuters stunned and police looking for witnesses.

An MBTA security guard said he saw a group of about seven youths running past the scene and thought, “They’re up to something.” The guard said the victim was conscious when found.

MBTA spokeswoman Lydia Rivera said police haven’t determined whether the victim knew his assailants. Shortly after the stabbing, a pool of blood remained on the outbound side of the station’s lower deck, as detectives surveyed the scene and stunned T riders looked on.

from the Globe

The stabbing occurred around 4 p.m. at the Orange Line station, and the attackers fled afterward, said Lydia Rivera, MBTA spokeswoman. She added that police may get clues of the suspects' identities after they review tapes from the station's surveillance cameras.

"This is unusual," Rivera said of the group nature of the attack.

The victim was taken to Boston Medical Center and was in critical condition last night, she said.

T service on President's Day and ice removal T style

2007-02-19T13:18:00.000-05:00

Rob wrote us this morning at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Good luck trying to find out what schedule the MBTA is running today on that fancy new website. At least the old site would have said up top.

Took awhile for me to find it, it was in the news section

http://mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news_events/?id=10936&month=&year=

Presidents' Day Service Schedule - Monday, February 19

Start Date: 02/12/2007 End Date: 02/20/2007 Email: lrivera@mbta.com

Today, the MBTA announced its service schedule for Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 19, 2007. The operations schedule is as follows:

· Blue, Orange, and red Line trains, Green Line streetcars will operate on a Saturday schedule.

· Buses and trackless trolleys will operate on a Saturday schedule. Please Note: Express bus service on the following routes will operate on a modified schedule: 325, 326, 352, 354, 355, 501, 502, 504.

· Commuter rail trains will operate on a Saturday schedule.

· Hingham, Quincy and Hull commuter boat service will operate on a regular weekday schedule.

· Inner Harbor Ferry Service – Charlestown to Long Wharf will operate on a regular weekday schedule.

· THE RIDE will operate on a Saturday schedule.

For more information on routes, schedules, and fares, please call the MBTA Customer Service Center at 617-222-3200 or 1-800-392-6100 (hearing impaired TDD 617-222-5146). Also, you can visit us on-line at www.mbta.com

Adam over at universalhub.com has a link showing how well the T removed snow and ice in Roslindale Square

http://www.universalhub.com/node/7694

Boston requires property owners to clear the sidewalks in front of their property. Naturally, the law doesn't apply to public authorities, such as the MBTA, which maybe is why one entire side of Belgrade Avenue in Roslindale Square (from South Street to Corinth Street) is covered in ice - it's next to the T's Roslindale Village commuter-rail stop. They couldn't even be bothered to clear away the ice at the bus stop where seven different lines are supposed to pick up and discharge passengers (that's the retaining wall for the train station parking lot next to the sidewalk). Picture taken Sunday afternoon, several days after the nor'icester.

NYC Transit screws up bigtime

2007-02-18T15:06:00.000-05:00

Transit riders in Queens are not having a fun weekend and NYC Transit made matters even worse by giving riders bad information on alternate routes as the 7 Flushing line is shutdown for repairs every weekend for the next 5 weeks. Even the T would be hard pressed to screw things up this badly.

Daily News Editorial - Stranding straphangers

Brochures placed in stations advised riders heading to Grand Central station today to take the E train to 53rd St./Lexington Ave. - and then an uptown No. 6 train to the historic hub. Grand Central is to the south, on 42nd St.
Posters placed in stations featured an abridged map showing the R train stopping at Grand Central. Not in this world.

The bad advice also could be found on the MTA's Web site

Freezing No. 7 riders say th-th-thanks, MTA After a long day of busing tables at a Manhattan restaurant, Gabriel Cambos could hardly wait early yesterday to hop onto the No. 7 train and head back to his Full Story

more on CharlieCards, Fare Vending Machines and the Framingham-Worcester line

2007-02-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

other items of note from Mac Daniel's weekly commuter column in the Globe

Registration plan
"When CharlieCards first came out, [this column] reported that we would be able to register our card with the T so if we lost the card, it could be canceled," wrote Joan of Jamaica Plain. "I didn't find a place to do that on the MBTA website and e - mailed the T, got a standard reply e - mail and haven't heard from them since. Do you have any news on this?"

We do. As part of the second phase of the CharlieCard rollout this spring (T folks were vague on the exact month), registration of CharlieCards will begin, along with the ability to store value on a CharlieCard via the Internet.

In addition, T officials said this week that based on customer complaints, they also plan to clarify the language on the screens of fare vending machines this spring.

We took the T to task a while back about the screen term "Stored Value," prodding them to add the words "Bus/Subway" to make it clear to customers what button they need to press to buy a bus or subway ticket.

It is good to see the T now plans to improve the start menu on the FVM's which has been talked about often here. We also noted a couple of days ago they now have fare charts on the machines. So it appears the T is listening to us at least a little.

As far as the registration of CharlieCards I personally don't expect to see that available until the Commuter Rail is converted but this is simply a guess from me.

Daniel also had news for the Framingham-Worcester passengers

The CSX zone
There's good news for commuter rail riders on the bad news Framingham-Worcester line.

Currently, from Back Bay to Worcester, Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad trains are under the control of dispatchers in Selkirk, N.Y., because freight giant CSX controls the rails not only for its trains, but also for the commuter trains.

Train crews are required to maintain radio contact with CSX dispatchers, not commuter rail dispatchers. This means that between Back Bay and Worcester, the trains are off the local grid.

Dispatchers for Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, the company that runs commuter trains for the MBTA, have had no idea where the trains were.

That changed Jan. 25, when the commuter rail dispatchers finally got a CSX computer display of train positions on the line.

"For the very first time ever -- ever! -- we can see where our trains go," said Steve Jones, deputy director of railroad operations for the MBTA, whose job is to oversee commuter rail service.

Jones said the new display isn't a cure-all for the line, which is the most delayed commuter line, but it will help.

"This is significant only in that we can see the train and its location," Jones said. "We can't do anything about it, we may not know why it's late but we can tell how it's operating."

Now it appears we know the answer on why the T never updated passengers on the Framingham-Worcester line about late trains as they admit they didn't know where they were. The harsh reality of that line is if the T misses a slot that is assigned CSX will put a freight train on the tracks and couldn't care less about the MBTA's passengers. Strange things happen on the tracks west of Framingham and the T is powerless to do anything about it once they miss their slot. Of course WHY the T's misses their assigned slot is another matter entirely.

Charlie's Mailbag - February 18th

2007-02-18T13:20:00.000-05:00

catching up on reader mail at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

I was sent a link where you can view the new Blue Line cars being tested on the Orange Line

Bruce from Cambridge has a GOOD customer service story

Last Thursday I tried to add $5.00 to my senior card on the #1 bus and the driver was very helpful but the farebox did not add the value to the card. The driver gave me his route number, badge number and the farebox number and a phone number to call the T. He was very nice and was sorry it happened.

I called the T and the person on the phone says "We owe you $5.00. If you were here I could add the $5 to your card but I will send you a check. They cut the checks on Friday and with luck this will get to them on time."

I am happy to report that in Saturday's mail a check for $5 from the MBTA arrived in my mailbox

Thanks Bruce for letting us know. Tip of the hat to the T on making things right quickly.

Wendy has a couple of gripes

Hey, I really like your blog!

I have a general complaint. It's basically about the employees of the MBTA.
I'm sure all they hear day in and day out are complaints and whining, but I
really can't stand it when they show absolutely no sympathy, or even
contempt, when you ask them a legitimate question. It's like they can't be
bothered, or "hey, I'm underpaid and overworked, don't bother me!". Well,
we are all underpaid and overworked.

My very specific complaint is this: I work at the Garden for all the Bruins
games. I get out of the place about 15 minutes after the game is over and
walk over to the North Station T stop to take the trolley two stops to
Lechmere. I can't tell you how many times I've waited 10-15 minutes for a
trolley that's going all the way through to Lechmere. There's plenty of
trolleys coming by, but North Station is their last stop. Why can't they go
two more stops? Especially when it's after 10pm. Don't they plan for events
at the Garden and the extra riders? I'm a woman and I'd like to get to my
car as early as possible so late at night. I don't understand the reasoning
of stopping two stops short of the end, letting everyone off and turning
around, when they can just go two more stops.

Wendy

I am showing my age here but when I was a kid I used to leave Bruins games for Lechmere and you never had to wait more than 3-5 minutes for a trolley. The T always put extra cars on duty to handle the post game crowd.

The T has never adjusted to the fact that far more people use the Lechmere branch than ever before in the history of the line. On weekends the line is heavily used by riders going to the Museum of Science and the CambridgeSide Galleria Mall. In the late 1990's when the T closed the lower level Green Line stop at Canal Street they then did route 2 lines to Lechmere and service was much improved, but when they opened the new Superstation at North Station routing went back to the way it was in 1997. Truth is the T spent a small fortune in building new crossover tracks under Causeway Street and thus feel compelled to use them.

As far as rudeness by T employees? I don't know why but they certainly have more than any other transit system I have been on. In Seattle for example bus drivers are always smiling and cheerful. Even in Philadelphia you don't see the rudeness that SOME T employees have towards customers.

I think we can agree that the vast majority of T workers are good but there are some bad ones out there that the T seems powerless to get rid of.

Matty from Cambridge is not a regular T user

Because of the ice storm and my car being frozen solid to the street I took the T into work on Thursday. I usually drive to work. I almost fell down the stairs at Central because of the ice on the steps. What amazed me was the T had workers there sanding from the bottom up.

Then I had 2 Charlie Tickets each with $1 on them and found there was no way to combine the 2 cards. I was told I had to go to Downtown Crossing to do so. I did so and now have a Charlie Card with $20 on it but there has to be an easier way.

I understand your frustration. At the very least you should be able to put any remaining stored value from a CharlieTicket onto a CharlieCard at a machine.

KMP writes about the faregates

I was thinking to myself that it would likely be only when the fairly
complicated mechanical "Charlie Ticket" handler was broken...

This morning(Friday), I noticed a faregate with the "Smart Cards Only" message.
I looked a bit closer, and saw in small type below that message another
one reading "Terminal 1 Card Reader Jam".

So, in this case (Central, Outbound, center entrance, right-most gate)
it was just the ticket reader was jammed. I only looked, though,
because I was wondering if there might be a clue.

I finally saw a "smart card only" message at Harvard on Saturday evening. There does seem to be a lot of ticket readers out of service the past few weeks.

Oddjob60 has an idea

Since the T can't seem to post service alerts to its website quickly,
it sounds like a job for Web 2.0, specifically a wiki where any user
can post an update (maybe even by email? not sure what a wiki can do
easily, or how susceptible that would then make it to spam).

Do you know of anything out there that already does this?

Not that I know of but it is something worth exploring.

I suspect the T itself maybe having trouble accessing the website during heavy demand times to update information. The server appears to be located off-site from the T in Cambridge. The website issues are a main reason we suggested a "transit camp" to the T and I hope to know more this week.

GLOBE: Arlington Station renovations

2007-02-18T13:15:00.000-05:00

Mac Daniel in the Sunday Globe writes about history being found at the Arlington subway stop on the Green Line something we wrote about 2 months ago

New find sheds light on an old T stop

Many riders were excited about the mosaics being found but enjoy them while you can.

Arlington station on the Green Line is undergoing its fourth renovation since its tunnel was first dug in 1913. In the current construction chaos, a piece of the past was recently uncovered. A tip of the hat to Jonathan of Back Bay, who pointed this out via e-mail.

"Sections of paneling on the platform were recently removed," he wrote, "revealing mosaic tiles that spell out the station name and seem to frame slots for old ads in a couple of places. It looks like workers are just running pipes and plan to cover the whole thing back up. Do you know if that's the case? It seems a shame to erase a piece of history like that at one of the T's oldest stations."

It's true. Lining the station walls between Berkeley and Arlington streets, the original black and white mosaic tiles have reappeared, harking back to simpler days before CharlieCards and heck, even Charlie on the MTA.

"We had no idea it was back there," project manager Winifred A. Stopps of the architectural firm Leers Weinzapfel Associates , said of the mosaic.

The tunnel at Arlington was built in 1913, but the station stop was not constructed until 1920. When it debuted, the walls were lined with the tiles, with advertising panels spread throughout the station and beautifully lettered station names. No old ads were found in the now-blank spaces, Stopps said.

Still, "They had even more advertising then than they do now," she said.

There's no anti-Warren Harding graffiti, and some of the tiles have been badly damaged by prior renovations.

Despite the find, once the station project is done, the old mosaic tiles will be covered up again, as Jonathan suspected, replaced by some of the enamel-on-porcelain pictures that lined the walls before the project began.

"We're trying to bring up some of the layers of history in Arlington station," Stopps said, adding that one of the old mosaic signs near the Arlington Street entrance might be saved.

MIGHT BE SAVED?????????? This should be a no brainer but.........

I can remember the mosaic tiles at many stations years ago. They included Harvard, Central, Kendall, Park St Under, Downtown Crossing as Washington - Summer - Winter, South Station Under, Broadway, Andrew, Symphony, Mechanics (now Prudential) and I'm sure there were others. A few have been restored and I would *hope* the same happens to Arlington.

New Charles station opened Saturday 2/17 (updated)

2007-02-17T22:45:00.000-05:00

UPDATE 10:45 PM elevators and escalators are working at Charles/MGH

The new Charles/MGH station opened on Saturday, February 17. When I passed through it around 11:45 this morning, the new lobby was open. Plywood boards blocked off the old temporary stairs to the platforms.

I did not get on or off at this station today, so i can't yet report whether all the Charlie gates have been installed, or whether all of the elevators and escalators were operating.

Where is my train......(updated)

2007-02-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I posted a long entry on WHERE IS MY TRAIN? and in the article T management is quoted as saying riders don't need this kind of information.

The Saturday New York Times looks at NYC Transit which is working very hard to provide this information in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Subways future and subways past seemed to collide on a recent morning at the Jefferson Street station on the L line in Bushwick, Brooklyn. New electronic signs on the platforms showed how many minutes a person would have to wait until the next train: at this moment it was eight minutes for a Canarsie-bound train and four minutes for a Manhattan-bound train.

But the recorded female voice on the public address system that was supposed to work in tandem with the signs was showing signs of a breakdown: “Ladies and gentlemen, the next L, the next L ——,” it said over and over, like a scratchy recording.

I am bothered by the fact the T has the ability to do this but flat out refuses to implement it in Boston.

Finally!!!! fare vending machines have fare charts

2007-02-16T21:04:00.000-05:00

The T has finally put up fare charts on the FVM's (fare vending machines) so customers can now figure out how much to add to their CharlieCards or when buying a CharlieTicket.

Why it wasn't done on January 1st when the new fare structure was introduced I don't have an answer but better late than never.

Charlie's Mailbag - February 16th ( a very full mailbag )

2007-02-16T10:29:00.000-05:00

A warm welcome to the new readers who are visiting after reading about us in Metro today.

from the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Oddjob reports at 7:15 Friday morning

Hi, Charlie,
I and my fellow travellers are sitting at the rt. 128 CR station. The train in front of us broke down at the station, and inbound trains are backing up behind it. We've been stopped for about 10 min. So far, and they say we will have to push the other train into Boston.

Be curious on how that saga ended, please let us know.

We haven't heard much from Orange Line commuters but Isabel gives us a report

Good morning,

let me start by saying that the Orange Line one of the best lines I used to think has been lately a nightmare...everyday allways the same delays with signal problems and some other poor excuses, well this morning it took the cake.

If you expect to raise fares and have the same type of equipment as the well run systems like NYC and other countries, maybe you should try to do a little more research on how things run and the best equipment to have, the Charlie card machines have been the worst experience and the service and assistance is next to null, and when you do ask a T person to assist you they give you the third degree and treat you like you are cheating the system, if the machines don't operate correctly but meanwhile show on the monitors as accepting my TPass but not opening the door for me then I should not be looked upon as not being believed or trying to cheat/manipulate the system, most of those turnstyles/new doors don't work half the time and it takes forever to get into the station and catch your train when it is never on time and running like crap.

This morning it took us all orange line patrons trying to get to work on time or try to make connections over a half hour to get from Community College to North Station, and that is after the guy froze us at the station by keeping the doors opened and just sitting at the station, then when we finally got to North Station they told us all to get off the train they were having power problems, have no idea what that had to do with the train we were in and then not a word of whether they was going to be any service as usual communication is null and limited....when finally they said there would be another train directly behind and as we crossed back from the green line to the orange line they were announcing that they were busing from North Station to Back Bay.....not that the announcement was very clear and loud enough for everyone to hear, I asked an inspector a question and he just walked by me like I said nothing and just totally ignored me....needless to say no one made their connections today and thanks to the T again we are left out on the cold and the dark, we are all getting very tired of the lack of service and the terrible treatment.

We expect better service and treatment not just fares to go up all the time.

I expect an answer from someone and don't copy from JetBlue try to follow the ones that have close to perfect service........

We should all be compensated for our troubles on a daily basis.

If I don't hear from you I will send a copy to this email to the proper hands and the news media.

Hope you have a better day than the people of the first train on the orange line.

Not much I can add to that Isabel but you can be sure somebody at the T will see what you posted.

Erin writes about a pass snafu from 2 months ago that still hasn't been resolved

I believe it was around November 30st that the MBTA converted to
automated fare/Charlie Ticket kiosks at all stations. The last and
first days of any month are, of course, the busiest days for
purchasing passes for the upcoming month. For many people, debit or
credit cards have become the established method of payment for pass
purchases.

Beginning sometime Thursday, November 30th 2006, riders were unable to
make purchases using debit or credit cards at these new kiosks
because, as I understand it, the kiosks were temporarily unable to
connect to banks, etc. At first, I thought this issue was specific to
the Oak Grove station, where many riders were allowed to pass through
without paying on Friday, December 1st.

At the end of the day on Friday, I attempted again to purchase my
December pass at the State Street station, but the connections were
still down. Lacking the cash for a pass, I was required to purchase a
$1.50 ticket for my ride home. I was handed a complaint form by an
MBTA worker standing by, which I promptly filled out and mailed to
MBTA customer service. Why should anyone pay $1.50 (or more) in
addition to fees for a subway pass during the same month?

I believe it was not until December 2nd that connections were
reestablished, and I was able to purchase my December pass. In
mid-February, I have yet to receive a response from MBTA customer
service.

My company pays for my monthly MBTA pass, and so this email is not
about $1.50. I am writing about the thousands of dollars the MBTA must
have "earned" during this three-day span from riders forced to pay for
individual fares in addition to their monthly pass fees.

I have been wanting to pursue this issue for quite some time, but keep
forgetting about it. I have to think that this "forgetting" is exactly
what the MBTA planned on.

Sigh.... I really hope the new customer service department the T announced this week will help prevent stories like this. What astounds me is that the T really thinks they are doing a good job with customer service NOW...I simply have to point to the comment the T made about my blog on Friday morning

When asked to comment on the blog, T spokesman Joe Pesaturo responded:

“While blogs come and go, people will always be able to present comments

and concerns directly to the T’s Customer Support Services.”

I think the T REALLY believes that. Last week I saw the movie "The Queen" which tells the story of how out of touch Buckingham Palace was after the death of Princess Diana. The Queen honestly thought her subjects were pleased at the way she was handling things and Tony Blair had to go to great lengths to tell her that wasn't the case. Sadly the T is as clueless as "The Queen". Again MAYBE things will improve with the new customer service department. It is something we will watch closely.

Roni writes about Bowdoin Station

Weekdays - Monday thru Friday - 5:00 p.m. Bowdoin Station
I've been taking the Blue line from Wonderland to Bowdoin for years.
The 5:00 o'clock "T" conductors at Bowdoin - don't have the courtesy to let passengers on and will approach Bowdoin - stop open the doors- and within less than 10 seconds slam the doors right in our faces - and lo and behold people are running down the ramp hoping to make it -
And it never fails, they wait for no one and why the doors are slammed so quickly is beyond my comprehension - It's rude- and almost deliberatlely mean -
They do it at no other station but, Bowdoin - - the train pauses and waits everywhere else and in between but, will always speed away and quicker that you can say :Jack Flash" the doors are closing right in your face- at Bowdoin only - try it - go there - see for yourself - it's demeaning!
Also, they will toot the horn and when we hear that we know they will not be stopping for us at Bowdoin - Thank you very much - how insignificant are we? -
but,- that's another issue ~

Bowdoin is the forgotten subway station downtown. During the budget cuts of the early 1980's they made it into a part time station and it remains that way today. It really seems that they just want to turn around the trains there as quickly as possible and then load at Government Center. With the new Charlie equipment there is no good reason not to have the station open more hours than it is now.

Finally Lou comments on many things he read on the blog this morning

I just found your blog today and, as many have said, I like it a lot. A few confirmations, comments, etc on things currently on the main page:

The headlights on heavy rail cars: Some drivers turn them off when coming in to the station, but I have actually seen some turn them on while coming in. These observations come mostly from Sullivan square (inbound), ruggles (outbound), and back bay (both).

The arborway line: I wasn’t even alive when the service stopped to arborway, but I would love to see it open. It isn’t even of any use to me really, but I just like the idea of it. One question about this portion of the E line though:

What would delays be like on this line if service were to be restored? Both Wednesday and Thursday I saw ridiculous morning delays on inbound service at Mission Park, bad enough that when I was standing there waiting for an inbound train, I saw an outbound pass 15 minutes after I arrived, and came to realize that that car would be the one I would be boarding… after it made its way around the heath st. loop (which, during heavy traffic and bad weather can take extraordinarily large amounts of time). The policy seems to be either short turn the second outbound train (if its close to the first of the delay) at Brigham circle, or to split the first train and short turn on of the cars. If service were to be restored to arborway, would there be any way to short turn a train or car between heath and arborway? In bad weather, it seems the traffic on the street can cause significant problems on this portion of the E, and I only see it being worse for those who live further outbound from heath if trains went to arborway.

Also, having read up on the T and its history extensively since moving to Boston for school about a year and a half ago, I have become interested in different Green Line cars: do you, or does anyone else, know when the best time and place to spot a type 6 car is? I had read that they still run at high traffic times on the D branch, but wasn’t sure if this info is outdated (or even if they have stopped running type 6 cars altogether, although I think I saw one at park last month when I was sitting on an E)

Regarding fare gates that accept only “smart cards” (Charlie cards), I have seen this happen at Ruggles, Sullivan Square, and I think downtown crossing as well. Sometimes all but one of the gates is for the cards only, and they change from day to day (probably hour to hour even). I haven’t ever seen a case where gates are only accepting one or the other but aren’t labeled as such, when the have no indication usually both seem to work. I also am curious as to what causes this.
-Lou

Welcome aboard Lou and thank you for your observations and I am sure someone will comment on them.

blogs come and go ( well this one isn't going anywhere )

2007-02-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

The Friday edition of Boston Metro does a feature on our humble little blog.

One blogger making tracks on the T
by christina wallace / metro boston

I want to thank Christina Wallace for the positive tone of the article. I am quoted on the agenda of the blog

“The agenda is to try to make the T as good a public transit as it can be. If they screw up, of course I’m going to call them on it, but I’ve also tried to be complimentary as well.

“Honestly, I think people want to vent their frustration, send it out there — even if it’s not to the T — and get a response. So many people say they complain to the T and get an automated response back.”

The T was asked their reaction to the blog

When asked to comment on the blog, T spokesman Joe Pesaturo responded:

“While blogs come and go, people will always be able to present comments

and concerns directly to the T’s Customer Support Services.”

Well I am here to tell the T that this blog will be around for as long as readers continue to make it viable.

BTW it is very weird to be on a subway car and have Metro readers looking at their paper and then have them stare at you, and look back at their paper.

Bloggers on the T February 15th edition

2007-02-15T23:13:00.000-05:00

quick scan of the Boston blogging community to see what is being said out there about the T

Despite its failings, I’m still an MBTA defender. Consider this: the entire transit system in the city of Pittsburgh — ironically also nicknamed the T — closed down yesterday. Including the fancy, all-new $1 billion Light Rail Transit. ...
Idea Critic - http://www.jesselegg.com

Apparently that had something to do with the T not running on schedule. When I left work yesterday, I had to wait over an hour and a half to get on a train. At the Aquarium stop. I cannot remember a time where I’ve been so angry.
I can understand if there’s something that causes a delay. But the trains were still running…they were just so packed that no one could get on. And they were saving one car on each train for T employees. You’d have completely packed cars, and one car with five guys on it. So annoying.
tellhimfred.com Winter Weather Rage

Give me a brake
by Christie MBTA's technology failed and everyone had to revert to the best-kept secret in public transportation, the 57 bus. With the T blocking an intersection for most of the day, students and cars couldn't reach their destination and the bus ...Rants Above the Radar - http://rantsabovetheradar.blogspot.com/index.html

Winter Blunderland
7 hours ago by DavidColeman222 A MBTA official (T cop) drives by in his SUV while I'm frantically trying to dig my car out from being stuck and says "You're going to have to move sir."
The Adventures of Funkyman - http://davidfcoleman.blogspot.com

I waited for the shuttle bus from the parking garage near my apartment to the station (which is owned and operated by the MBTA), and waited, and waited. Forty-five minutes later, a bus arrives, but apparently since the driver doesn't ...
Colin the Bold - http://wisefool.livejournal.com/

MBTA Commuter: “I’m done!”
by editor@badtransit.com Daniel R. writes:. So low now that I’m on the verge of paying the additional expenses of driving into the city every day. It just couldn’t get any worse. Over 2 hours to travel from Copley to Watertown! Problem 1. No Express buses. ...
BadTransit - http://badtransit.com/index.php/site/index/

As reported in the Metro and regurgitated by the MBTA, the new department will, on paper, prevent people from being bounced around different offices and representatives who, from experience, weren't always knowledgeable, ...
CharlieBlog - http://thecharlieblog.blogspot.com/index.html

But she was upset, and I told her that when she got home, she could look up the customer service number on the MBTA website and to call them and ask for the number for the garage for the 73 lines, and that she could then call *that* ...
Boring stuff here - http://gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com/

Nobody at the MBTA listened because the Washington Square T stop was buried under two inches of ice. Nobody on my walk to the train listened as I nearly fell on a patch of smooth glare ice. I was stuck behind a kid walking to school who ...
pasquinade - http://pasquinader.blogspot.com/index.html

My Very Own Free, Plastic CharlieCard
we have added a true Boston layer on this process. We have the nation's oldest subway (sure looks and acts like it too), and we have made using it as convoluted as possible. Tags: massmarrier, Massachusetts, Boston, MBTA, CharlieCard.
Marry in Massachusetts - http://massmarrier.blogspot.com/index.html

To the MBTA.com! Sure enough, Swampscott is the third busiest station on the ... Granted it is a distant third, Salem and Beverly are the 2nd and 5th busiest commuter rail stations in the entire MBTA commuter rail system. ...
Landed in Swampscott - http://landedinswampscott.blogspot.com/index.html

Latest MBTA statistics indicate that since 1997, daily ridership has fallen by 5000, ... This loss of public transit ridership has a negative impact both on the health of Jamaica Plain residents and on the health of MBTA revenues. ...
The Arborway Committee Blog - http://arborwaycommittee.blogspot.com/index.html

You can add the MBTA messing up in a storm to death and taxes as the only sure things in life. Trying to get down the staircase on the inbound side at Kenmore proved a challenge with about 30 people trying to cram in. ...
Massachusetts Liberal - http://baystateliberal.blogspot.com/index.html

Transit Camp Goes Global
14 Feb 2007 by Mark Kuznicki Charlie on the MBTA wants to bring the Transit Camp event format to Boston: An open invitation to Dan Grabauskas. Will was saying that Vancouver’s interested as well. Toronto Transit Camp is designed to propagate just as BarCamp did. ...Remarkk! - http://remarkk.com

And if the pass had in fact "not worked," why was the reader recognizing the thing as an MBTA pass at all? Maybe it's because my card holder is just fine, and your Charlie Crud is screwed up.
One Smoot Short of a Bridge - http://1smootshort.blogspot.com/index.html

A comprehensive list of how to locate and glimpse abandoned stations and tunnels of the MBTA helpfully broken out by T line.Metaboston - http://metaboston.typepad.com/metaboston/

Two stops later, MBTA police came onto the train and made sure she was okay. When she said she was fine, the T police told the conductor to warn people it was slippery on all the platforms and on the train. ...
tellhimfred.com - http://tellhimfred.com

Universal Hub, Charlie on the MBTA and, of course, Bad Transit are filled (pretty much daily) with complaints from T riders about poor service and surly employees. Do you read these posts? How often? And what do you do about them? ...
Universal Hub - http://www.universalhub.com

Charlie's Mailbag - February 15th - where is the salt? and T refund change?

2007-02-15T10:19:00.000-05:00

from the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Heidi says things were a little slippery at Chestnut Hill this morning

Hi,

Just an FYI - there was no sand or salt anywhere at this stop. There
was some in the parking lot and a tiny amount on the stairs. Nothing on
the area where you cross the tracks or on the platform.

Thank You,
Heidi

Sue also reported the same thing at Newton Centre this morning saying the platform was like a skating rink and even sent pics. There is no excuse for this since it was going to be obvious that everything froze over last night.

Adam writes about "T supplementary refund letters"

Dear CharlieontheMBTA,

The Boston Globe recently printed an article about MBTA riders being
shortchanged on refunds that were for delays before the fare increase but
issued after the fare increase. I was one such patron, who had a 1-hour
delay on the D branch of the Green Line inbound at around 2pm on New Year's
Eve due to the tremendous number of people boarding unfamiliar with the
cash-only (machines not active yet) new fareboxes on the train.

Last week I received a letter that containined two $1.25 stored value
CharlieTickets. The letter was pretty much the same as the old letters I
used to receive when I received tokens in the mail. Nevermind that I have a
Zone4 Commuter Rail Pass so tokens and CharlieTickets are of little use to
me, especially since the letters said that "Stored Value
CharlieTicket/Tokens are not redeemable for cash."

Today I received a letter that said the following:

"

Recently you received a complementary [sic] stored value CharlieTicket in
the amount of $2.50 for submitting your "On-time Service Guarantee Claim" on
January 1, 2007 [sic] the MBTA Board of director's [sic] voted to accept a
proposed fare increase, [sic] this increased the round trip subway ride from
$2.50 to $4.00 on a stored value ticket.

Consequently we are supplementing your original $2.50 refund with an
additional complimentary stored value Charlie Ticket [sic] for $1.50. You
may use these tickets for travel on the MBTA service. Stored value refund
CharlieTickets are redeemable at the Downtown Crossing Customer Service
Office with the presentation of this letter and a valid photo ID during
regular business hours. You will be asked to sign the letter below and
deliver this letter at that time [sic]

We apologize for any inconvenience and frustration you may have experienced.
We are committed to customer service excellence and to the delivery of
quality public transportation. You are a valued customer and your continued
patronage is greatly appreciated.

"

In a major departure from previous "complimentary round-trip fares" I am
actually receiving a refund here. This is done commonly on the commuter
rail, but I have never seen it before for the subway/bus guarantee claims. I
wonder if this is a new development with all claims, exclusive to this
mess-up here, or something in place for passholders who make claims (as
opposed to cash-payers who could actually derive some benefit from a
non-redeemable stored-value ticket).

The ticket looks the same as the others used to, but as opposed to the other
two, which I moved onto a CharlieCard during my last trip through DTX, these
I'll be redeeming.

Best,
Adam in Natick

Just a thought I have on the refund procedure. Would the T consider sending TOKENS as refunds since they are still worth $1.25 in the fareboxes and fare vending machines? I think that would solve a lot of the problems as you could use the token along with an existing CharlieTicket.

An open invitation to Dan Grabauskas

2007-02-14T18:45:00.000-05:00

The mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com planted the seed

from Nancy

I love your blog and I think you do a great job of maintaining a fair and objective forum. Given that you are probably the most "fair and balanced" critic (and believe me I mean no slight by that) I would think that the customer service people over at the MBTA might be inclined to take note. Your site is not a hate site although we MBTA users often hate what we have to deal with in order to get to and from work everyday.

Do you get any sense that they follow or care about what's discussed on your site? It just astounds me that Dan G. is constantly spewing PR when I think most people would respect him if he admitted that there were problems to deal with such as those documented on your site. We get the sense that he's insulated himself from criticism (a predictible defence mechanism).

Does Dan G. dimiss your blog as gliby as he does the rest of us?

Nancy

and then came this comment to the blog

Paul Levy said...
Charlie,May I suggest an experiment? Why don't you make a post explicitly asking any T executives, managers, or workers to let you know (1) if they read your blog, and how often, and (2) what they do with the information they learn from it?I am curious. Aren't you?

Yes I am curious and last night I stumbled across something that that was done in Toronto last week that would be perfect for Boston.

From the Toronto Star

These ideas emerged during last Sunday's Transit Camp, a day of out-of-the-tunnel thinking on how to improve the Toronto Transit Commission, specifically, its clunky website, its shelters, its subway cars and the way it communicates with its riders.

The 100 or so campers were young, in their 20s and early 30s, mostly people who work in the communications and tech industries and university students, all madly in love with transit. The TTC is symbolic of their relationship with the city – but more about that later.

They wore toques and scarves, and some stayed in their parkas because the ballroom at the Gladstone Hotel on Queen St. W. was frigid. Peering over their shoulders, watching as the younger people moved images around on their white Mac laptops, were the 50-somethings, the people who run the TTC, listening and learning. And politicians were hovering, too. Adam Giambrone, the TTC Chair, spent the day there. Vice-chair Joe Mihevc was also present.

Gary Webster, 55, interim general manager of the TTC, took notes. "Several years ago this is not a group I would likely spend time with on a Sunday," said Webster. "But if we don't show up we send them a message we don't care ... we have to think of it more from their point of view than we usually do."

Many saw this as an important turning point, if not a history-making event: here were the TTC brass and politicians listening to their riders, the people who use the beleaguered system, and young people at that.

Webster came away with at least one idea he'll consider: maps for each streetcar line showing where it intersects with other routes, so passengers on the Dundas car, for example, know where they can get onto the Yonge subway.

"The TTC is, for once, turning to its users," said Bob Brent, former chief marketing officer for the system. Traditionally when the TTC consults, it calls the meeting, usually to tell riders about a route change. "It's an organization that has tended to be xenophobic and claustrophobic."

Brent, 56, started the TTC's first website in 1997. "And it hasn't changed in 10 years."

This became a major news story in Toronto

CityNews – coverage on TransitCamp
World Changing – Unconferences and the Toronto Transit Camp
BoingBoing’s “an unconvention to improve The Better Way”:
NowToronto – Camp out with TTC Geeks
Toronto Star – Minding the gaps on the The Better Way
Toronto Transit’s Toronto Transit Camp wrap-up
Treehugger.com – Taking back the city: Toronto Transit Camp
BlogTO.com – Toronto Transit Camp betters the Better Way

The camp laid out ground rules

What is Toronto Transit Camp?
Come ready to share, contribute and collaborate! Transit Camp is inspired by BarCamp. Bar Camp events are powered by participation. The event will be well-documented in the form of blog posts, wiki content, photos, and video for everyone who is unable to attend. (Please use the tag: transitcamp.) If you would like to be part of the event, please keep in mind that we are limited to 100 people and so everyone there must be interested and involved.

Bar Camp: A BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from participants.
We will hold simultaneous small-group sessions on a self-organized basis around topics of interest to the community: redesigning the TTC's website, creating and selling user-generated media and articles (music, buttons, t-shirts), photography, illustration and music inspired by the TTC.

This celebration and workshop-oriented event is intended to inspire a fresh approach at the TTC in how it serves users and engages with community in order to achieve its organizational goals.
See the tentative (and evolving!) schedule to understand the format.
What This is Not!
Toronto Transit Camp is not a complaints department, it is a solution playground.
We will not be changing bus schedules, talking about stop locations, complaining about creaky infrastructure or otherwise telling the TTC how to do its core business. The organizers respect that there are many hard-working, dedicated and experienced professionals in the TTC who have been able to accomplish remarkable things for this city's transit infrastructure over the years under very difficult resource constraints.

Bar Camp Principles Apply:
We are equal individuals in an open community.
Leadership can emerge from anywhere.
We are all participants. More on that here.

A complete overview can be found at http://transitcamp.org/about

Toronto perhaps has the most similar transit system in North America to ours in Boston. The officials of the Toronto Transit Commission accepted the invitation of the Toronto blogging community. I feel we should do the same.

I ask MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas to consider doing a similar event here in Boston.

If you agree I will contact the Toronto people and your staff for help in setting this up. It is pointless to procede any further with this idea without a response from the T. I would ask that you would contact transit officials in the City of Toronto to find out what the experience was like for them.

The only thing I ask from you is a response of some kind.

Thank you for your consideration.

To our readers - how do you feel about this idea? Would you like to take part?
Please let us know.

T is having some problems Wednesday afternoon

2007-02-14T15:36:00.000-05:00

Mac Daniel is reporting delays on the Blue and Green Line (Boston College line)

I have tried to get updates at www.mbta.com and the site is not loading as of 3:45 PM

and the Fung Wah has another accident at the Allston tolls

I would like to know if others are having problems with accessing the T website

METRO: MBTA launches new customer service department

2007-02-14T12:58:00.000-05:00

This is very encouraging news from the T
From Christina Wallace in the February 14th Boston Metro

In an effort to appease cranky riders and streamline the complaint process, the MBTA this month will open a centralized customer service department that will include bilingual employees, more manpower and speedier response times, according to T officials.

The initiative has been in the works for the past several months and training for the new department began this week, according to Carla Howze, director of the new customer support department, during a recent presentation to the MBTA Board of Directors.

“The myriad customer service functions will be located within one office, rather than spread across multiple offices and buildings across the city,” Howze said. “Responses to customer concerns will be timely, accurate and consistent.”

Before this initiative, customer concerns were bounced to different areas of the T, causing at times frustration among riders who never received a response or received different answers from different departments.

“It has led to some confusion and certainly some aggravation on the part of some of our customers,” said MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas. “They sometimes felt they were being thrown from department to department, or in some cases not given the right answer.”

This new department will change that, he said.
The T will continue the long-standing “Write to the Top,” complaint system but, according to Grabauskas, customers will get a better, more timely response.

“We are still going to have ‘Write to the Top,’ but we never really followed it as closely as we should have to make sure concerns were answered,” he said. “We want to make sure that a person who writes or calls in gets the right information and in a timely fashion, and that they get it once.”

This sounds very promising and a candid admission the previous system was not working.

Chicago transit had a brutal Tuesday

2007-02-14T00:22:00.000-05:00

Chicago had their first snow of the season on Tuesday and they did not have a good transit day...

The Pink Line ( yes Pink Line) derailed during the morning rush hour

Pink Line service has been restored in both directions between the 54th/Cermak and Pulaski stations. All trains are moving. Service had been interrupted earlier due to an equipment problem.

Thank you for your patience as we worked to correct this problem.

Meanwhile the Blue Line that connects the Loop with O'Hare Field gets hit with this

Due to track work on the Blue Line between Division/Milwaukee and Grand/Milwaukee, a slow zone has been added in both directions through which trains must operate at 6 miles per hour. Please allow for extra travel time.

and then during the evening rush hour

Normal service has now resumed on the Yellow Line. However, we are currently working to restore normal service intervals.

Red Line and Purple Line trains are moving but are currently experiencing service delays. Please allow additional travel time.

buses were not doing any better

Due to the inclement weather, Lake Shore Drive is temporarily closed in both directions between 57th Street and Roosevelt Road. The following buses are being temporarily rerouted:

#6 Jackson Park Express – via Michigan, Cermak, King Drive, 35th Street, Cottage Grove, 47th Street, and Lake Park over the regular route.

#14 Jeffrey Express -- via Michigan, Cermak, King Drive, 35th Street, Cottage Grove, 47th Street, Lake Park, Stony Island, 67th Street, and Jeffery Blvd. over the regular route.

Please allow extra travel time. Due to drifting snow at 54th/Shore Drive, eastbound #171 U. of Chicago/Hyde Park buses are temporarily rerouted via 55th, Hyde Park, 53rd and Cornell back to 55th.

Their Commuter Rail COMPLETLY collapsed

Union Pacific/West Line - Train Annulled
Union Pacific/West Line Train #71, departing Ogilvie Transportation Center at 10:40 p.m., arriving Elburn at 12:06 a.m., has been annulled due to weather related problem out of downtown Chicago.

ROCK ISLAND TRAIN DELAYS
ROCK ISLAND DISTRICT TRAINS TRAVELING INBOUND TO CHICAGO LASALLE STREET STATION AND OUTBOUND TRAINS TRAVELING TO JOLIET MAY BE OPERATING 20-75 MINUTES LATE DUE TO EARLIER SWITCH PROBLEMS AT GRESHAM AND SEVERE WEATHER.

NORTH CENTRAL SERVICE
NORTH CENTRAL SERVICE TRAIN #121 SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE ANTIOCH AT 10:04P.M. IS OPERATING APPROXIMATELY 20 MINUTES BEHIND SCHEDULE DUE TO SWITCH PROBLEMS AND SEVERE WEATHER.

METRA UNION PACIFIC WEST LINE
METRA UNION PACIFIC WEST LINE TRAIN #66 SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE AT OGILVIE TRANSPORTATION CENTER AT 9:46P.M. IS OPERATING 20-25 MINUTES BEHIND SCHEDULE DUE TO SWITCH PROBLEMS AND SEVERE WEATHER.

METRA UNION PACIFIC WEST LINE TRAIN #67 SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE AT ELBURN AT 10:06P.M. IS OPERATING APPROXIMATELY 20-25 MINUTES BEHIND SCHEDULE DUE TO SWITCH PROBLEMS AND SEVERE WEATHER.

METRA UNION PACIFIC NORTHWEST LINE UPDATED 9:40P.M.
METRA UNION PACIFIC NORTHWEST LINE TRAIN #659 SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE HARVARD AT 10:20P.M. IS OPERATING APPROXIMATELY 15-20 MINUTES BEHIND SCHEDULE DUE TO EARLIER SWITCH PROBLEMS AND SEVERE WEATHER.

METRA UNION PACIFIC NORTHWEST LINE TRAIN #662 SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE AT OGILVIE TRANSPORTATION CENTER AT 10:23P.M. IS OPERATING APPROXIMATELY 40 MINUTES BEHIND SCHEDULE DUE TO EARLIER SWITCH PROBLEMS AND SEVERE WEATHER. THIS TRAIN WILL RUN EXPRESS
FROM THE CRYSTAL LAKE STATION TO CHICAGO.

So you must be thinking how much snow did they get??? 8.1 inches

Here is hoping we handle our first storm better than Chicago did on Tuesday

E - ARBORWAY The fight continues

2007-02-13T23:03:00.000-05:00

photo NETransit
The last train to Arborway

The last train to Arborway left Park St on December 28, 1985. The City of Boston and the MBTA wanted to do construction on Huntington Avenue which would require the line to be closed for up to 2 years. In an essay published in 1996 Scott Moore details what happened and why the trolley service didn't return in 1987 as promised.

In 1990 the Commonwealth promised to restore the E line to Arborway as part of the 'Big Dig' to to offset the air pollution and other environmental impact of the downtown project. The project was stalled for 16 years and was finally killed in December by the Romney administration. On Tuesday (Feb 13, 2007) The Arborway Committee sued the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to restore the E-branch of the Green Line to Forest Hills-Arborway.

Click here to view press release below as .pdf
Click here to view text of complaint as .pdf

Ridership figures cited by The Arborway Commitee indicate that residents of Jamaica Plain have rejected the bus service the T has provided as a replacement.

From a transit perspective, the current #39 bus service, which was substituted for the Green Line in 1986, has experienced significant erosion in ridership. Latest MBTA statistics indicate that since 1997, daily ridership has fallen by 5000, from approximately 19,000 a day to 14,000. Since the inception of the substitute service in 1986, the #39 bus has lost 50% of its ridership.

John Kyper, Transportation Chair of the Massachusetts Sierra Club, said, "The remarkable fact is that while #39 ridership has fallen precipitously, during the same period combined Orange Line daily ridership at Jamaica Plain's four stations has remained flat at approximately 23,000.

The residents of Jamaica Plain have been fighting the T and the Commonwealth now for over 20 years to restore service. Promises were made 17 years ago and contracts signed. I wish The Arborway Committee the best in this court fight. Of course if they should be victorious in the courts the project will cost the state far more than $58 million that was originally estimated. I would love to know who approved the paving over of the tracks on Centre Street that will make it that much harder to restore service.

How do you feel about the restoration of service to Arborway-Forest Hills? Please leave a comment or send an email to charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Discarded CharlieTickets will find a good home tomorrow

2007-02-13T20:28:00.000-05:00

For those of you following the saga of my discarded CharlieTicket project:

Yesterday, I brought 50 CharlieTickets worth $67.85 to the Charlie office in Downtown Crossing station. In return, I got a CharlieCard with all of that value on it -- but it took 45 minutes for them to do it. I then added 15 cents to it so that it has an even number of subway rides (40).

Tomorrow morning, I'll donate this card to the Somerville Homeless Coalition. They have assured me that they will find a client who can use the card.

Below the break: A guide to finding discarded CharlieTickets with value.

- If the ticket says "ADULT Stored Value" in big letters, it was bought in 2006 or even 2005, before the fare increase. These very likely have value remaining. For instance, if someone bought a $5 ticket and took three $1.25 subway rides last year, the ticket still has $1.25 on it. If he took one $1.25 ride last year and one $2.00 ride this year, it still has $1.75 on it.

- If the ticket's initial value was $5, it is likely to still have $1 on it, after being used for two $2 subway rides. Unfortunately, the fare machines make it very easy to buy a $5 ticket.

- If the ticket was bought with an initial value less than $2, or for a strange amount like $3.40, the buyer probably didn't understand the fare system properly and left some or all of the value unused.

- If the initial value was exactly $2, it isn't worth looking at because it was probably used for a single subway ride.

Charlie's Mailbag - February 13th ( a full mailbag )

2007-02-13T17:56:00.000-05:00

Charlie has been a little slow answering the mail the past few days ( foolish thing like work gets in the way) but will try and get caught up here. Chances are if you have a question somebody reading has the answer or can point you in the right direction. The mailbag can be reached at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Two quick notes. Readers have mentioned how much this miss the train announcer at South Station ( AUBBBBBBURNDALE) and truth be known he misses doing it. He is an Amtrak employee and still does the Amtrak announcements. When MBCR took over the Commuter Rail, Amtrak no longer would provide the station announcements for local service. The same thing is true in Manhattan at Penn Station where Amtrak does the announcements for NJ Transit but not for the LIRR.

Also if anyone is interested in contributing to the blog please email me. All you need is a google account (gmail or blogger) and we can go from there. The more eyes out there the better.

Joel gives us a North Station update

Joel from HubArts.com here -- A followup on North Station with two
developments.

One is, they still haven't solved the train-information situation. The
giant screen still shows a Garden animation or a Charlie Card ad, but
not the platform and train numbers. And the only TVs that do show them
are outside the new waiting room. This how long after the "grand
opening?" Sheesh.

Secondly, it appears they are building some sort of connection between
the east doors of the North Station lobby and the entrance to the subway
station. A large metal pipe frame has been built that is shaped like
walls and a roof. Looks like it will be finished just in time for spring,
too.

I was over at North Station Monday for the Beanpot and noticed the same thing so I asked about it. The MBCR employee who handles the train announcements and runs the B&W video boards said "Don't blame us, it is the Bruins problem." He said the board has never been operational but at least the clock works.

I didn't notice the new construction between the subway and the train station but this is a good sign. The T couldn't build a direct connection into the rail station as the Bruins couldn't make up their mind where it would finally be located. Still everyone will agree that the larger waiting area is a 1000% improvement over the past 12 years.

Andrew is considering getting earplugs

What is it with Green Line drivers using the trains horns on passengers waiting at stops? I realize the need for safety, but isn't that what the bell's for? Twice now I've been in a crowd of people waiting for B Line service and had the driver make liberal use of the airhorn. Isn't that supposed to be reserved for telling Massholes to get their cars out of the way of the tracks? Someones gonna go deaf or something - sheesh!
Oh, and the latest instance of this was this morning, when an inbound train simply bypassed a crowd of shivering commuters at Packard's Corner - only to have the next train not arrive till 7 minutes later. Seven minutes may not seem like a lot, but we're talking 20º and windy here!

Andrew I couldn't agree more with you. The past few months there are T operators who just love to blow that horn including one that uses the airhorn coming into Copley. I assume the T has a policy on horn use but I don't know the particulars.

One thing I have wondered about myself is why the T shuts off the headlights of trains coming into a station. I know trains in New York, Chicago, Montreal and San Francisco keep the headlights on at all time. I would think turning them on and off constantly would cause them to have a shorter life span. I would also thing having the headlights on would improve safety as passengers would be more aware a train is pulling into the station. Anybody have a clue on why the T does this as they seem to be one of the few systems that does this.

Devin is curious about a T "school bus"

Hey Charlie,

This morning around 715 I was waiting for the #93 bus on Bunker Hill Street
in Charlestown. A bus approached our stop, with 9208 Powderhouse something
on the info strip on the front of the bus, and stopped. We went to get on,
but were told it was a school bus.

Do you have any idea what that's about? I'd love to find out.

Thanks,

Devin

The T does contract with some cities and towns for "school buses" and this sounds like one of those cases. There are a number of route numbers that the T maintains that are not public schedules.

Joshua wonders about the faregates at South Station

Love the blog - I am a recently new commuter, since I have recently taken a job in downtown Boston. I take the purple line in every day from Framingham all the way to South Station. When I get to South Station, I transfer to the red line to go to Park Street. I noticed today that at the fare collectors in South Station, they do not say which machines take both the charlie card and the charlie ticket. Since I have a monthly pass for the Commuter rail, I obviously have a ticket. I had to go through 4 machines before I found one that took the card. I remember reading on your site that they were doing this in Porter Square, but I thought up their they were putting up signs.

This is causing unneeded backup. I do not understand why they just would not accept both at all of them. Any thoughts on this matter?

Keep up the good work on the site.

This has been happening at North Station and Porter as well. Honestly I don't know if this is a case of the fare gates being out of order or if the T is really installing CharlieCard only gates. Certainly a CharlieCard only gate has merit but it shouldn't be implemented until the Commuter Rail is converted to Charlie 'sometime' in 2007. The conductors I have talked to say they have heard nothing as of yet except there are concerns about the battery life of the validators the conductors will use. Please let us know what the situation is out there and I will try and find out what I can.

Lee sent this observation in a week ago and I completely overlooked it

So, I spotted an interesting thing today. After arriving at Reservoir, heading outbound, at about 3:05 this afternoon, I heard a familiar, yet unusual whine coming from the other direction. I paused for a moment, and did a take, then a double take. Lo-and-behold, it was a Breda Type-8 train heading inbound on the D-Branch. Now, the train said either "No Service" or "Test Train," so it wasn't in revenue service, but I was very, very surprised to see a Type-8 on the D-Branch. Does anyone know if this was a new delivery perhaps, maybe going to the Reservoir yard? Or was it maybe some sort of test? I know that the heavy rail work this Summer on the D-Branch is partially so that the Breda cars can run on it without (hopefully) derailing.

Anyway, interesting sight I thought I'd pass along.

I suspect they were just testing the car or perhaps moving it from Riverside to another location. My understanding is the Bredas can use the D line tracks but are restricted to 25 MPH which is why they are not used in revenue service on the D until the tracks are fixed. We have readers that monitor train movements closely and perhaps they know more.

G10musica took issue with something I wrote about CSA's being replaced

where did u get that info from?? HIGHLY UNLIKELY!!!!

What I said was that in a few weeks the CSA's on the D Line would no longer be there. They were only put in place during the transition phase and many of the workers are retired T workers who were called back. Nobody is losing their jobs.

Kelly has a bad Commuter Rail experience on Monday morning

feel like it’s almost pointless to write this tale, because nothing will change. This morning, the Framingham/Worcester line trains were delayed…first 5 minutes, then 8 minutes, then 30 minutes (according to the board at Ashland.) My 7:37 train was more like 40 minutes late while we were standing outside in the cold morning (albeit, not as cold as it could have been, but still.) We got onto a single-level, small train with no announcement as to what stops it would be making (by this time, 3 loads of people were waiting and we had no idea what train that was supposed to be.) We all crowded in. This train proceeded to make 5 more stops where it was physically impossible for anyone to enter because it was so packed before the (oh-so-informative announcer) made one (one!) very garbled call that this train was “running express to Back Bay.” OK. We finally make it to South Station, more than an hour late, without an apology or explanation. Par for the course, I suppose. I wonder if they will send me my refund in Charlie tickets that I can’t use?

I can’t wait for this evening’s commute!

Kelly

The Framingham/Worcester line probably has more complaints than any other CR route. The T is really at the mercy of CSX Railroad on that line and if the T misses the slot it is assigned CSX will throw a freight train on it. Amtrak has the same problem with the eastbound Lake Shore Limited that is always 2-4 hours late coming from Chicago. The word is the T is close to buying those tracks and that 'should' help but the T has lost many commuters on that line. The Framingham/Worcester line dropped from 9990 inbound passengers a day in 2003 to 8248 a year ago and I suspect the chronic delays are the reason.

UPDATE: This angry T rider has clout

2007-02-12T15:32:00.000-05:00

Paul Levy was interviewed by badtransit.com this afternoon

Between 1983 and 1987, Levy served with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, and was involved with safety regulation of the MBTA. When asked about the current state of the MBTA compared to years past he told us that the T has suffered a “slow, gradual deterioration”. “It hasn’t been since Dukakis that we had a governor that cared about the T. He put into place really good managers and who believed in making the investments to keep it running well. Since then we’ve had a series of administrations that didn’t care.”.

That said Levy’s positivism showed through. “I don’t blame the employees. They’re put in an awful situation and truly do the best they can. It has to be difficult for them, especially once people get riled up, to maintain good humor and a sense of what’s important.”

Most T riders when they have a bad commute can only complain to friends, co-workers, blog about it or perhaps take the time to e-mail the T. Very few of us can call the upper levels at 10 Park Plaza and actually talk to top management.

Our friends at universalhub.com alerted me to a comment left this morning by Paul Levy. Mr. Levy is the President and Chief Executive Officer, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The BI is one of the T's largest corporate partners in the sale of T passes to employees. He is not happy this morning.

Express to Fenway
Submitted by Paul Levy on Mon, 02/12/2007 - 8:17am.

This morning: A packed carload of people on the Green Line because service has been slow out on the Riverside line ... and more get on at Reservoir. The doors close, and the LCD sign all of sudden says, "Express to Fenway." Half the car is filled with people going to Longwood. I make my way up from the rear and ask the driver, nicely, "Would you mind stopping at Longwood? We weren't told this was express to Fenway till after the doors closed."

"I can't do that."

"But, you have 100 people who want to go to Longwood who didn't know that this was express to Fenway till after the doors closed at Reservoir."

"I am not allowed to do that."

"Would you please call your dispatcher and ask permission?"

We sit at Brookline Hills for five minutes -- backing up still more cars behind us -- while the driver waits for Central to respond. He does, and she is told to open her doors to let people out. Next announcement,

"Get out of the train if you don't want to go to Fenway, and take the next train."

Even before people get off the train, the platform outside is packed. At least two trainloads of people are waiting.

I decide to stay on and go to Fenway and walk back to Longwood. After all, who knows I would have been stranded in Brookline?

---

I really like Dan Grabauskas, and I know he is trying hard to improve the T. But can I offer a suggestion? Take down those really big pictures of yourself at the T stations -- you know, the ones of you standing in front of the American flag -- because I fear for the personal abuse you will take if people get to know what you look like and recognize you on the street.

Well Paul I wouldn't worry about that as Dan Grabauskas doesn't take the T into work like you and I do.

That's the commuter whom the rail system relies on - the one who recognizes its value and embraces it as a part of his or her life. But winning over the car commuter has always been the challenge. Even Grabauskas, the MBTA's general manager who lives in Ipswich, a town served by commuter rail, usually drives to work. "Where I live in town is right off the highway," he says, "and my schedule is erratic enough that it tends not to be convenient for me."

The Green Line has been a disaster since the first of the year. 70% of the complaints to this blog come from D and B line passengers. It has to be addressed now. It really is time for the T to go out and hire a transit professional to be General Manager and not a political hack.

Luckily for the rest of us a passenger like Paul Levy can make the phone calls we can't.

Back to the Future on T bus #502

2007-02-11T23:12:00.000-05:00

Teddy blogs about being advanced in time by the T to the year 2026

After a mad sprint over the Charles River Bridge and across Nonantum Road, I made it onto the 502 bus just before it was time for it to pull away from the Bus Stop. Little did I know that by catching that bus I was going to be traveling nineteen years into the future as the display on the front of the bus promptly informed me that the year was 2026. I am happy to report that in the year 2026 the Moonites have yet to destroy Boston.

meanwhile "Single Girl in the City" had a Charlie like experience where she couldn't get off of her train

I'm not sure what angers me more. The fact that the train so arbitrarily decided not to stop at my stop, or the fact that "driver" of the second car made no attempt to apologize or offer explanation. Instead, we were told "Ain't my problem, I'm not the one drivin' the train."

Tonight I was on a #66 bus that blew through Coolidge Corner without stopping because the driver said "I'm running late, there is another bus behind me." When I got off just before Harvard Square I grabbed a coffee at Dunkin Donuts on JFK St and watched to see how soon the next bus would arrive. It was 24 minutes.

The reality of the T's on-time guarantee policy

2007-02-11T18:45:00.000-05:00

In the Sunday Globe Mac Daniel writes about "David" who received refunds for poor service on the #502 bus.

David, who rides the 502 express bus from Watertown to Copley, received refunds for two buses that failed to show last year.

He said he not only didn't receive enough money, he was given four Charlie Tickets, each with a value of $1.25, and found he couldn't combine them when taking his next trip.

When the fare box rejected his second ticket, the driver said he'd have to pay the difference in cash.

This afternoon I received an email at charlieonthembta@gmail.com from "David" who is actually Daniel......

MBTA Mac can't even keep his names straight. I was the sender of the
letter.... But the point of the complaint was more than the useless
tickets.

Issue 1. The fare of an Inner Express on a Charlie Ticket (which is
what they issue refunds with) is $3.50. Not $1.25, and not $2.50. I
expect to receive a total refund of $7 instead of $5.

Issue 2. There are NO fare vending machines anywhere in Watertown.
Redeeming these worthless cards into something useful requires someone
to take a trip to a location where there is a vending machine.

The on time guarantee makes no mention anywhere of guaranteeing me a
cash value of any type. It simply and directly states they guarantee
me a valid complimentary fare. Which they basically disregard. How
is a non-valid stack of Charlie Tickets a complimentary fare?

I really question what Mac's job is over at the Globe. I think a fax
machine would be able to quite handily do his job as all I saw in
today's article was more quotations from the mismanaged MBTA. Quite
honestly, it's far far FAR slower for these fare boxes to accept coins
or cash. Many drivers tell cash paying riders to forget about it
after the first bill it rejects.

I'm not holding my breath for a "letter" from the MBTA but should it
miraculously arrive, I'll let you know.

On the T website the wording is quite clear

T riders expect timely service and we promise to meet your expectations. If your service is delayed more than 30 minutes, we'll give you a complimentary fare.

The T then tells you how to "activate" your claim and then warn you about making a false claim

False claims for reimbursement are a crime under the Massachusetts General Law and the Federal Mail Statute. Please read the applicable laws below. False claims will be investigated and prosecuted by the MBTA. The MBTA reserves the right to deny any claim.
M.G.L Chapter 266, Section 30. Larceny; general provisions and penalties
18 USC 1341. Chapter 63. Federal Mail Fraud Statute

Then you wait for the T to resolve the problem.

Mac Daniel talked to the T and this is what he wrote on Sunday

T officials pledge to right the wrong.

The last batch of refunds were for December delays when it cost $1.25 to ride the subway and 90 cents for the bus.

But T officials forgot about the fare increase, as well as the Customer Bill of Rights, which states riders who are delayed are entitled to a free ride, not just a refund of their fare.

"We will make good on the free-ride guarantee," John McLaughlin, the T's director of systemwide modernization, said in an e - mail.

Late last week, T officials planned to send letters to the 220 people affected by the supplementary tickets to make up the fare difference.

As for David's inability to use multiple CharlieTickets on the Watertown express bus, those are the rules, says the T. The new system does not allow multiple CharlieTickets to be used on buses, which the T says slow s loading times.

Note to the T: inserting cash into the fareboxes will take even longer as any rider will testify.

Also give the number of passengers that use the Watertown Yard to begin their commute every morning it would seem to be a prime candidate for a fare vending machine.

We would like to hear from other passengers about their "On-time Service Guarantee" experiences.

RED LINE DIVERSIONS February 17-19

2007-02-11T15:04:00.000-05:00

They were passing out flyers on the Red Line this afternoon.

I went to link the info from the T website and it isn't there.

Start of service SATURDAY February 17th through the end of service MONDAY February 19th...

SOUTH SHORE BRANCH bus shuttle between BROADWAY and JFK-UMASS

DORCHESTER BRANCH bus shuttle between BROADWAY and ASHMONT

Bus service will be available at Broadway, Andrew, JFK-UMass, Savin Hill, Fields Corner, Shawmut and Ashmont.

Normal service will resume Tuesday, February 20th

T in the media - February 10th edition

2007-02-10T16:10:00.000-05:00

scanning the wires to see what is being reported about the T in the past few days

Police on alert as graffiti artists gather in city
Boston Globe - They were five men with 39 cans of spray paint, speeding away from the Braintree MBTA Station early yesterday, police said

Network boss quits, apologizes for stunt
Boston Globe - Turner Broadcasting apologized for the campaign last week and announced it would pay $2 million in restitution to the MBTA and local governments

Is Framingham getting its fair share of the dollars?
Framingham TAB - Feb 9, 2007... a handful of MetroWest towns recently dumped some T of their own — the MBTA, that is — in favor of a regional transportation authority.

New Charlie Cards has less people skipping out on fares
WHDH-TV- Feb 9, 2007 -- MBTA officials credit the new Charlie Cards with cutting down on the number of people skipping out on paying fares. ...

'T' Riders Complain About Charlie Cards
Boston Channel.com - Feb 9, 2007 There are troubles with the MBTA's Charlie Cards and they've only been out for a month. The cards promise discounted rates on the "T," but some ...

Waban residents lobby to halt meters in square
Daily News Tribune, MA - Feb 8, 2007 Solomon said two weeks ago that a major reason for the meters is to ensure consistent parking turnover for the square's businesses by preventing MBTA ...

Selectmen to discuss MBTA request Monday
Abington Mariner, MA - Feb 8, 2007 At their meeting on Monday night, Abington Selectmen are expected to discuss a proposal from the MBTA that requests the addition of a later train

OUR VIEW: The last spike
The Patriot Ledger, MA - Feb 8, 2007 Timothy Murray, and MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas had the honors of using a long-handed maul to drive three ceremonial spikes into the wooden ties. ...

Trial To Start For Men Accused Of Shooting Pregnant Woman On 'T'
Boston Channel.com, MA - Feb 8, 2007... both charged with first-degree murder and related charges for allegedly killing an infant and wounding his mother on an Orange Line MBTA car in February ...

OUR VIEW: Too many hands?
The Patriot Ledger, MA - Feb 7, 2007 A 75-year-old MBTA electrical engineer says she was assigned just five hours of work a month. She filed an age discrimination complaint, which was rejected ...

Middleboro selectmen approve later train service
Brockton Enterprise, MA - Feb 6, 2007 Selectmen took the vote following a public hearing, at the request of Daniel A. Grabauskas, General Manager of the MBTA, who is seeking community input on ...

The destination of this train is . . .TECHNOLOGY
Daily Free Press (subscription), MA - Feb 6, 2007 When Boston's MBTA launched the CharlieCard in December 2006, thousands of area residents were introduced to "touchless" smartcard technology, which allows ...

bloggers on the T ( February 10th edition )

2007-02-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

The T continues to be a popular subject with Boston bloggers..... a sample

Kathy from Cambridgeport has a lovely story

Returning home on Thursday Feb 8, as I entered bus #2272, at Central Sq bus stop on Mass Ave at Pearl, route 47, in Cambridge MA at 10:50pm, the bus driver hit me with a stream of verbal abuse. She demanded I tell her is the elderly gentlemen, who had been sitting in the freezing cold wailting over 1/2 hour for the bus, was "drunk." How would I know? I responded. I'm not gonna let him on the bus, look at him, he's been drinking!

from MBTA Watch
CharlieCard a Success or Failure?

A snafu of sorts occurred yesterday when Mac Daniel of The Boston Globe wrote a story citing CharlieCard usage statistics that were questionable at best.

from Alexx Kay

Recently, I needed to buy a new ticket at the Quincy Center T stop. There are 5 automated machines there. One of these was being serviced by a technician, and was unusable.

I went to the second machine. After going through the multi-step process of telling it what kind of ticket I wanted, it asked me to insert my credit card. I did so, but the machine did not respond in any way. I tried again several times, fast, slow, leaving it in for a few seconds before pulling it out – every variation I could think of. No response.

I went to the third machine. Exactly the same thing happened.

TJICistan on the Mac Daniel article

crazy statements that only a unionized MBTA worker, a journalist, or an idiot could believe

Sean on changes on the #60 bus in Chestnut Hill

I'm not a transit-junkie and don't pretend to have a grasp on the nuances of individual bus routes. It appears to me that the change corresponds to the Bloomingdale's women's store move. It used to stop near Bloomingdale's. Bloomingdale's moved. Now it stops near Bloomingdale's new location. Maybe it's just coincidence.

johnsu01 on the Jewel concert

Dear MBTA,

Quit breaking the transportation system with stupid stunts. Focus on doing your damn job. I understand that you need money. I can see that from the fact that you increased the price of my monthly pass by 30%. While that is frustrating, it is a lot less frustrating to see you doing things to try to make the system stable and self-sufficient by its own revenues than it is to see you renting out the space the public is paying for in ways that cause tremendous inconvenience to the public in order to raise a few extra dollars on the side. Note that nobody was paying to see this concert. If you need to promote yourselves, try doing it in a way that doesn't damage your reputation at the same time.

John A. Keith may lose sleep over Jewel

Someone, please, fill in the missing part of the story.

For some reason, I won’t be able to sleep tonight unless I know … how did Jewel get from Boston College to South Station via the MBTA? Did she take the Green Line to Park Street, then switch to the Red Line to South Station?

Outraged Liberal is fed up with the T........again

OK, now I'm really fed up. Attempting to board the B Line outbound at BU Central tonight, I was told I needed to go the front door by a "customer service agent" without any validation equipment while people next to me were allowed to get on the train.

Does my CharlieCard (pre-paid corporate pass account) somehow give off an aura that allowed this person to determine that my hard plastic card was somehow inferior to someone else's card or CharlieTicket (or nothing for all I know). Does my card have cooties?

sanny pants says "I love the MBTA. No wait. No I don't"

Insanity Runs Amok isn't happy about the T or the people that ride it

People on the T -- If they aren't having loud, very personal conversations on their cell phone, they are pushing you around with the big ass backpack. Or they are shouting about how the Yankees suck after they watch a game in which the Red Sox have been playing the ******* ORIOLES. Fun times, let me tell you.

and that is just from Friday.............. In case anyone thinks I didn't link a positive T blog, do a search on google blogs.

There weren't any.....hey I found a couple

Thanks to stories appearing on The Somerville News Web site, MBTA workers cleaned up the trash near Davis Square.

menegay writes 'It’s cool to ride the bus'

I used to be a subway snob, I admit it. The bus seemed weird and random and automatically inferior to the subway. (It needs roads?!) And it’s fun to complain about Boston’s transit system, I also admit. But today, I have two glowing endorsements.

Jewel on a Breda

2007-02-09T23:30:00.000-05:00

Jewel concert on the fast track

WBZ-TV has video of Jewel singing on a Breda Green Line car during rush hour on Friday

Jewel Serenades Boston 'T' Riders

Anybody make it to South Station for the concert? Hope to have video of that later.

South Station photos
from shersteve at flickr.com

from rbaladiang at flickr.com

T police arrest 5 graffiti artists in Braintree

2007-02-09T13:39:00.000-05:00

from WCVB

Five Alleged Graffiti Artists Arrested

Graffiti vandals may be planning to gather in Boston during the weekend to target Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority trains, officials said.NewsCenter 5's Todd Kazakiewich reported that five alleged taggers were arrested and faced charges in Quincy District Court Friday, accused of planning to spray paint MBTA property. They pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to tag."There was an MBTA officer who saw them coming from an access road that is typically used by people who spread graffiti on trains and train property," a prosecutor said.

UPDATE: 11:50 AM Metro may have the figures correct

2007-02-09T11:50:00.000-05:00

UPDATE 11:50 AM

Christina Wallace in the Friday METRO may have a more accurate read on the numbers released by the T yesterday.

Since the beginning of January, 1.2 million CharlieCards have been distributed and approximately 86 percent of boardings during that month have been with the card or a monthly pass as opposed to the Charlie Ticket. That means, out of 22 million boardings in January, 19 million were made with CharlieCards or passes. “To get this result in 30 days is pretty remarkable,” said MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas, during yesterday’s board meeting.

Ok that is a big difference in what the Globe reported as it does account for the CharlieTicket monthly passes. Wallace however came up with a much higher number of CharlieCards being in circulation saying the number is 1,200,000 over the Globe's number of 575,000. This would indicate that over 50% of the cards that have been handed out since December 4th are not being used.

However I still find the 86% boarding number cited by the T as being high simply from the number of passengers using the vending machines on a daily basis.

UPDATE 10:30 AM
The T has taken the Mac Daniel story off their website.

UPDATE 9:45 AM Friday

The print edition of the Globe has a more in depth article on the first month of the Charlie system and there is a significant change in wording from what first appeared on boston.com on Thursday and is still on the T website. Mac Daniel now writes

Based on the statistics released yesterday, by the end of January, 86 percent of T riders were using CharlieCards and 14 percent used CharlieTickets or paid cash and had to pay the surcharge. Grabauskas hopes to lower the percentage of people who rely on the paper tickets in the next several months.

The 86% figure still seems to be too high given the fact that many monthly passes in January were still CharlieTickets and all Commuter Rail and Express Buses passes still are tickets.

The article in the print edition also focuses on the T's claim that fare evasion is being stopped by the new system

The T, which previously projected that the new system would boost revenues 3 percent, now expects a jump of 9 percent -- or about $21 million -- in fare collections by the end of this fiscal year, June 30.

That increase is over and above the 25 percent fare increase that took place Jan. 1, MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas said. "The numbers that we have seem to indicate strongly that fare evasion was greater throughout the system than we thought," he said.

The effort to curb fare evasion is being helped by additional security cameras , new, higher fare gates, and more T "ambassadors," who assist passengers in learning the new pay method but also are alert to people trying to jump the gates

I showed this article a few minutes ago to workers at Harvard Square and their reaction was laughter.

I think the system is collecting more revenue but fare evasion wasn't the problem. One of the main reasons the T wanted "Automatic Fare Collection" was the documented fact that T employees were robbing the system blind at the T's counting room in Charlestown. Also with the new fareboxes on the bus and trolleys dollar bills can actually be recorded which was not possible with the old fareboxes.

As far as fare evasion is concerned I have seen more people pass through faregates without paying in the last month than I have ever seen before. It is much easier just to follow somebody through a gate. A CSA isn't going to do anything unless the Transit Police happens to be there.

Original post from Thursday night 2/8/07 11:45 PM
The T is using a story by Mac Daniel on boston.com as an official press release

This story, written by Mac Daniel, appeared in the Boston Globe on February 8, 2007.

Numbers for the first month of CharlieCard usage show that despite fare increases the T's new automated system is being quickly adapted by riders, with 575,000 of the plastic cards in circulation after the program's first 30 days.

By comparison, the Chicago Transit Authority's ChicagoCard had 372,000 in circulation as of December, nearly four years after its introduction for bus and subway service.

The use of the CharlieCards has also seemed to change the way people pay to ride on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subways, buses, and trolleys. For the first time in the authority's history, the new fare card has made credit and debit card transactions account for more than 40 percent of the T's revenue.

"We have exceeded our expectations for the first 30 days," MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas said today in a telephone interview.

In January, 86 percent of T riders used CharlieCards and paid the lowest amount under the new fare structure. About 14 percent of riders paid a new surcharge by using CharlieTickets or paying cash, a number Grabauskas said he want to lower in the next several months.

In addition, 87 percent of all bus passengers used the low-fare CharlieCards, while 13 percent of riders paid a surcharge. On Green Line surface stops, 96 percent paid with CharlieCards and 4 percent paid a surcharge.

OK what the article DOESN'T tell you about Chicago.

Chicago Cards cost $ 5.00 and are only good for Pay-Per-Use fares or a 30-Day Pass.

While the Chicago Card does offer a .25 cent discount on the 'L a regular farecard ( similar to the CharlieTicket) has the same value on a bus and transfers are issued. Chicago bus riders have not warmed to the Chicago Card since a trip and transfer is still $2.00 when boarding on a bus ( it is $ 2.25 when boarding at a rail station )

Chicago Card info

Reading the Chicago blogs the problem is the Chicago Cards have an alarming failure and it takes about a week to process a replacement unless you travel to the CTA office in the Loop.

Plus the monthly and weekly passes are still offered by CTA Transit Card for the same price so there is no compelling reason to switch to the card.

This statement from Grabauskas can not be true

In January, 86 percent of T riders used CharlieCards and paid the lowest amount under the new fare structure. About 14 percent of riders paid a new surcharge by using CharlieTickets or paying cash, a number Grabauskas said he want to lower in the next several months. In addition, 87 percent of all bus passengers used the low-fare CharlieCards, while 13 percent of riders paid a surcharge. On Green Line surface stops, 96 percent paid with CharlieCards and 4 percent paid a surcharge.

It can't be true for the simple reason that many January passes were issued on CharlieTicket stock as the retail locations had not been converted. I think anybody who has ridden a bus or the subway in the past month would find these figures out of whack at least for January.

Of course the T is being cute with this. Instead of issuing a press release on their own they simply republish the Globe article by Mac Daniel.

Mac you have been had. Any commuter will tell you these figures are not correct.

After Greenbush - what should the T do next?

2007-02-08T19:20:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday the T celebrated the end of the construction phase of the Greenbush Commuter Rail line that will complete the reconstruction of the Old Colony routes that were abandoned by the New Haven Railroad in 1959 when the Southeast Expressway opened. The cost of restoring these 3 lines is close to ONE BILLION DOLLARS with Greenbush alone costing $510 million.

BAD TRANSIT writes about Greenbush this week and I understand where the rage is coming from. Unlike the other 2 parts of the Old Colony Division that were restored (Plymouth/Kingston Line and Middleborough/Lakeville Line) Greenbush was fought very heavily by the residents of the towns it will serve. The T HOPES that by 2010 they will have 4200 inbound passengers every weekday.

We could debate if Greenbush was a sound transit idea for decades to come but the fact is the money is spent, construction done and the line will operate starting this summer. What is more important is what the T does next.

Politicians in the New Bedford and Fall River area are pushing for the restoration of Commuter Rail to their areas. The State of New Hampshire wants to work with the T in extending Commuter Rail back to Manchester and Concord which was done briefly some 20 years ago. These are noble ideas but it is time for the T to focus on the transit needs of riders inside Route 128 (I-95).

It is time for the T to finally end 50 years of promises by itself and the former MTA and extend the Blue Line to Lynn and Salem. This is a project the old MTA wanted to do in the mid 50’s when the line was extended to Wonderland but was stopped at the State House by supporters of the former Boston & Maine Railroad which operated the commuter rail then. The project has been talked about, designed, talked about, redesigned over and over again.

2 years ago U.S. Representative John F. Tierney (D-Salem) announced the reauthorization for the Blue Line extension project to Lynn as part of the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU). The $286.4 billion legislation passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 412-8 and was signed by President Bush on August 10, 2005.

What happened??? I can’t track it down. There seems to be more interest in extending the Blue Line to Charles-MGH because of heavy pressure by Partners Healthcare to do so. I have no problem with that connector as it would finally connect the Red and Blue lines but it shouldn’t be done at the expense of extending the Blue Line to at least Lynn.

Then we have the proposed extension of the Green Line from Lechmere to West Medford which now appears to be getting some traction. But what project does the T have on the front burner?

Silver Line Phase 3 which would be a one mile bus tunnel connecting the Silver Line-Washington St with the Silver Line Waterfront busway at a cost of $1.2 billion. Honestly compared to the Blue and Green Line proposed extensions I can not see the justification of the Silver Line project for Boston transit needs in the near future. I just can not see a united Silver Line generating the ridership numbers needed to justify the amount of money being set aside for it. The money would be better spent building a no frills trolley line between North and South Station with possibly using the abandoned portal into Boylston Station. That option certainly would not cost $1.2 billion.

The T should give a call out to Seattle where King County Metro after building an expensive bus tunnel in 1990 closed it in 2005 to convert it to light-rail and bus operation.

The T has other pressing issues to deal with. The cars on the Orange Line are over 20 years old and unlike the Blue Line there are no firm plans to replace them at this time. The Red Line also has cars that were originally built in 1969-70 ( and rehabbed in the late 80's ) that will need to be replaced soon. Even the newer Red Line cars bought in 1993 will soon need an overhaul as the T is having major problems with the on board computer system designed by Digital that they can no longer get parts for since Digital products are no longer supported by Hewlett-Packard the company that now owns what is left of Digital.

The Green Line is what it is : 110 years old and showing its age.

Please offer some feedback on what the T should do next.

Charlie's Mailbag - February 8th - T Employee Appreciation Month Update

2007-02-08T09:50:00.000-05:00

The mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com brings some good news this morning.

From Fred who started the idea of T Employee Appreciation Month

Just wanted to let you know that I received a letter today back from the T, Cheryl Hinton, Director of Bus Operations thanking me for my letter about Operator Wright and letting me know he received an official commendation and it was going in his permanent record. I have another letter ready to fire off for another good service effort by a driver.

I'm glad they at least respond.

- Fred

That is great to hear.

Please let us know about the GOOD T employees by clicking here.

faces of commuters

2007-02-07T12:14:00.000-05:00

another tip from a Chicago transit blog CTA Tattler

A reader turned me on to this pretty fantastic set of photos of New York City train commuters emerging through the train turnstile.

Unfortunately, I really don't have enough Web page real estate to show off these photos by Bill Sullivan. So just go over to Bill Sullivan Works and see them for yourself.

A tip of the hat to Tom at windycitybits.com, via live from the third rail.

Just proves the faces of commuters are the same everywhere

I don't think we will see this in Boston

2007-02-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

I saw this item on a Chicago transit blog "Live from the Third Rail"

From metro.co.uk:

Soft porn films are being shown on giant video screens at a bus station in Bulgaria. The plasma TVs at the terminus in the capital Sofia show bus times during the day but switch to porn at night. A station spokesman said: 'We wanted to give the passengers something to take their minds off the cold and to pass the time while waiting for a bus.'
.
I mean, come on, it can't be any worse than Skin-e-max. However, I want to know where the bus station in Bulgaria is getting sufficient money to buy Plasma screen TVs. And can you imagine who gets the job of picking out the softcore porn to show to bus passengers?

So if anybody visits Sofia, Bulgaria please give us a report.....

Charlie's Mailbag - February 7th - T refunds and commuter rail woes

2007-02-07T11:43:00.000-05:00

from the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Kelly wonders why the T gave her too much money back

Charlie:

And we wonder why the T is bankrupt?

About two months ago (before the new fare increase,) I filed an on-time complaint about a D-Line inbound train during morning rush hour. I got my refunded fare in the mail yesterday, and it was … $5. Isn’t this a little much to be refunding? Not that I’m complaining, but … all I needed was my $3 fare back. If they are giving everyone more than they deserve, isn’t it a waste of money?

Also, a side note: during all the fury and madness on 1/31/07, I tried to log onto the new MBTA website to find out if my commuter rail train was going to be delayed. Surprise, surprise, I couldn’t load the webpage. And my internet was working just fine. Are they ever going to be able to handle many hits at once?

Love your site! Thank you for always watching out for us!

Hi Kelly and thanks for the nice words.

You are not the first person I have heard say this. I wonder if the refund department is simply sending out minimum refunds of $5. I have heard of some riders getting back CharlieTickets for their trouble. Does anybody else have a similar tale?

Why the T doesn't have a way of quickly adjusting their website to a text only when there is a high load factor I don't know. I know of many websites and message boards that do this regularly. It wasn't a good sign when boston.com announced the new website and 15 minutes later it crashed back in December and then what happened during the emergency last week shows they need to do something in peak times.

Peter wrote in on Monday morning about the Commuter Rail that day and I missed the email.

normally take the 8:21AM train from Swampscott. Due to the weather
this morning my wife gave me a ride to the station. We were sitting
in the car when all the sudden a train rolls in at 8:16. I quickly
hop out of the car and run to the platform and on to the train. What
I discovered resembled something that you would normally see in a
documentary on 3rd world country railway systems. People were packed
into the train worse then a 5PM E Green line car. I wound up standing
in the vestibule between cars packed with others unable to even turn
around. Others were in the space directly over the coupler. The
conductor did not even lower the stair cover and close the door. We
rode to Lynn with the door open and people hanging on for dear life.
When the train stopped we were finally able to get the stair cover
down and door closed for the rest of the trip. A dozen more people
tried to cram at Lynn in our door. All we needed was a few people
riding on the roof and hanging on the side and the 3rd world
transformation would have been complete.

I can only imagine the people waiting in the frigid temperatures this
AM for trains that never came or already passed (nobody really knows
which).

Sadly like death and taxes you know the Commuter Rail falls apart when it gets cold. You would think the T would be prepared for this after all these years but it continues to happen. We all know the information signs are useless but the T "promises" they are working on a new system.

In any event service has gotten worse since MBCR took over the operation of the Commuter Rail from Amtrak. Keep in mind the T didn't fire Amtrak, they walked away from bidding on the new contract.

MBCR's website proudly says

MBCR is a partnership among three leading transportation companies: Veolia Transportation, Bombardier and Alternate Concepts, Inc. It was chosen by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to manage and operate the Boston commuter rail system, effective July 1, 2003.

What it fails to mention is how members of this partnership have lost rail contracts in Europe over poor performance.

It should be very interesting at South Station this summer when the Greenbush line starts operation. While the T has put out a bid for new locomotives and passenger cars they won't be here for years and MBCR had trouble last summer keeping enough locomotives and cars in service.

Greenbush line is completed testing to begin in April

2007-02-06T16:34:00.000-05:00

The long delayed 497 million dollar restoration of the Greenbush Commuter Rail line will soon be up and running. T and State officials today celebrated the end of construction on the line.

The Greenbush Project will restore commuter rail service on the 18-mile long Greenbush rail line through the towns of Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate, Massachusetts.

Mac Daniel has details

T Press Release

METRO: Don’t toss those CharlieTickets after all

2007-02-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

A month ago we posted an entry about people discarding CharlieTickets that still had value on them and one of our readers decided to check for himself. Today Christina Wallace writes about him the METRO.

Ron Newman has a new hobby.

In the past several weeks, the Red Line commuter has noticed a pile up of CharlieTickets scattered on the ground of MBTA stations. Instead of chucking them in the trash, he decided to check to see if they still had value. What he found was that riders frequently ditch their tickets without tapping their value.

Newman began a mission: Collect as many tickets as possible.

As of late last week, the Somerville resident had 30 tickets worth $55.

“People don’t understand you can add value to a ticket,” said Newman, who commutes from Davis Square in Somerville.

His next step: Deposit the value onto one CharlieCard and donate it to a charity for someone in need.

Today at South Station I picked up a ticket that had an original value of $10 and when I checked it there was $8 on it.

some transit notes from New York

2007-02-06T13:45:00.000-05:00

I noticed a couple of transit items in the New York Post yesterday that may be of interest to Boston riders.

WAIT FOR BUS GPS IS OVER

Every bus at Manhattan's 126th Street depot has been equipped with global-positioning hardware, allowing its exact location to be monitored from a command center in East New York, Brooklyn, officials said.

Electronic signs will be installed at some bus shelters, relaying the expected wait time for the next bus. This information will also be made available on the MTA's Web site.

Maybe someday this dream will become a reality in Boston....

and the Post got the training manual for their Customer Service Agents

RAIL RULE #1: NOD & SMILE
INSIDE STATION-AGENT MANUAL

Relations between straphangers and the MTA are strained at best, according to the Customer Service Plus manual obtained by The Post.

Despite this, the agency's advice to the former token-booth clerks for handling angry riders is essentially to do nothing.

"Learn to 'zip your lip,' the manual advises. "Nod your head frequently and say, 'Uhh-huh' from time to time."

And, the guide warns, "Don't tap your feet."

Wonder what the Boston one says....

Charlie's Mailbag February 6th more on North Station

2007-02-06T13:08:00.000-05:00

from the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com
Joseph looks at the improved North Station

I also would like to voice my opinion a little on the renovations at North Station.

My few points would be

1. LARGE monitors should be mounted inside the new area at each or every other doorway to the trains..The 13 inch monitors outside the station DO NOT cut it anymore..

2. The platforms outside the new area connecting the tracks SHOULD be permanent. There is nothing worse than trying to fight your way through pedestrian traffic to get to your train.

3. How about a couple of Kiosk vendors to at least give us the option to buy something to read or to drink.. There is plenty of room and not everyone likes MacDonald's.

4. All of this should have been in the budget since we all have gotten our tickets increased twice within the last 2 years. One would have thought the architects would have thought of these improvements during the planning period.

Any feedback would be great..

Joe

Delaware North says retail locations are coming.

A second phase in the upcoming months will introduce a variety of retail options geared to commuters and Garden guests including food and beverage retail locations, ATMs and other service providers.
DELAWARE NORTH COMPANIES – BOSTON AND MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSIT AUTHORITY (MBTA) OPEN NORTH STATION CONCOURSE EXPANSION

Rest of your suggestions make sense.

Greg from San Francisco who writes a transit blog says hello

Hi

I read about your blog at the Christian Science Monitor (via Yahoo
News) and took a look....I like it very much! I've always had an
interest in Boston's system since a) I spent a summer there a few
years ago and liked the city very much and b) Boston used to have the
infamous Boeing cars we did.

I have been doing a similar site, since 2005, at http://
www.njudahchronicles.com . I mostly focus on the N-line since it's
the only one that covers a cross section of the city (and it's the
one I ride the most) but I do other issues too.

Anyway, looks like you're doing great, keep up the good work!

GSD

Thanks for the kind words. Yes MUNI and the T did share the wonderful Boeing cars and now we both have Bredas. I know the N line well as I have taken it out the beach several times. The line really is a melting pot. Thanks for visiting.

T gets $630,396 from Turner Broadcasting

2007-02-05T14:23:00.000-05:00

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today that Massachusetts state and local officials have reached a settlement with Turner Broadcasting and Interference, Inc., by which the companies will pay $2 million in restitution and other compensation to the communities and agencies affected by last week’s scare.

Here is a breakdown of where the money will go.

MBTA
OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES $182,426

ADDITIONAL RESTITUTION FUNDS $132,772

HOMELAND SECURITY
& COMMUNITY INITIATIVE FUNDS $315,198

TOTAL $630,396

Charlie's Mailbag - Feb 5th Somerville bus woes, Charlie issues

2007-02-05T13:02:00.000-05:00

from the mailbag at charlieonthembta@blogspot.com

Rob in Somerville writes about what should be an easy bus trip

Dear Charlie,

I thought you might be interested in my rant about the unbelievable poor quality of weekend bus service, which many shoppers and workers attempt to rely upon.

It was Saturday night, and I was having a hard time mashing potatoes with a meat tenderizer. So I decided to go to the shiny Kmart in Assembly Square and get a real masher.

Now, I work from home and choose not to to own a car. That shouldn't be a problem, because the MBTA's No. 90 bus literally runs door to door, from my home to the shops at Assembly Square. The beleaguered agency's $466,000 new website announce that on this Saturday evening, the 90 bus would pick me up outside my home at about 7:35pm and then retrieve me from Kmart at about 9:05.

Nope. Even though the 90 runs across Somerville (the most densely populated city in New England, with almost 80,000 residents on four square miles), to the Sullivan Square transit hub, to the shops at Assembly Square, to the Wellington transit hub, it only runs once an hour on Saturdays. It doesn't run at all on Sunday. And even when it's supposed to run, it doesn't run. So whether you're one of the hundreds who work in the big boxes or a normal person who works on weekdays and shops on weekends, you can't get there from here. Sorry, buy a car.

When I saw the schedule last night, I thought I was experiencing a rare case of luck. I went outside at 7:30. The bus came by, at 7:43, going the wrong direction. I waited another twelve minutes for the bus to go to Davis Square, turn around, and come back. It was about 20 minutes late, but I could live with that. Sure, it was 30 degrees out, but like a first-class citizen of America, I was basking in the glow from a Dunkin Donuts and reading American Psycho.

can read the rest at Rob's blog

Rob I couldn't agree more. Nights and weekends bus service is just too spotty in many areas

Gabe has another CharlieCard issue

Hey, I'm Gabe, I live in Lexington, and I use the T pretty regularly. I don't know if other people have been having this problem with Charliecards, but here's the story.

I was in Andrew station on Saturday, going home after volunteering at the red cross food pantry on mass ave., i tapped my charliecard, but instead of opening up, the faregate honked loudly and flashed a SEE AGENT message at me. Assuming that, as in past experience, that simply meant "sorry, you didn't tap right" i simply tapped again and went through. however, looking at the screen on the gate, i realized that it had already charged the card the first time. now thanks to the genius' at the T, i need to somehow make it all the way to downtown crossing to get my 1.70 back. that sort of transaction ought to be able to be handled by any CSA and any fare vending machine in the system. grrr....

Again I couldn't agree more. The CSA's should be able to fix minor problems on the spot without sending people downtown.

Linda wonders if the T is starting a Fast Lane type of boarding

Here's something new to me. I'm a daily Commuter Rail rider with a monthly
pass on CharlieTicket, and don't ride the subway that often.

Entering the Redline at Porter Square this morning the gate slot wouldn't
accept my CharlieTicket. Then i noticed (this is pre-coffee, of course)
that several of the gates read "SmartCard Only." So now they're apparently
restricting some of the gates to "fast lane"? Sounds like a good idea
except--sour grapes--we commuter railers don't have that option (yet?).

Is this the beginning of "fast lane" CharlieCard-Only fare gates, or just
an anomaly?

Linda of Lynn

I haven't heard that they are officially doing this but it is something done in other cities ( example Chicago ) But Porter wouldn't be the station I would pick for the roll out if they are. As you mentioned the Commuter Rail folks still have CharlieTickets and the biggest crunch time at Porter happens when the inbound Commuter Rail stops there. Taking out gates for CharlieTickets is not going to help with the crunch.

I have heard from a conductor on the Commuter Rail that it maybe a another few months before CharlieCards roll out on the rail service as the T needs to find away to keep the hand held validators the conductors use from running out of battery power. As anyone with a laptop knows, outlets on the Commuter Rail are few and far between. I have heard that the validators on the Green Line need to be recharged after about 3 hours.

PATRIOT LEDGER - T pays some to sit and do little

2007-02-04T15:34:00.000-05:00

The weekend edition of the Patriot Ledger brings a front page story about one worker complaining about her workload at the T. Not too much work, too little. So she filed a complaint that the T wasn't given her any work because of her age ( she is 75 )The state dismissed the complaint but wait until you read why.

complaint Mendeleyev filed with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination was dismissed in September, but the agency did not dispute her estimate of her workload.

Instead, a commission investigator found that there was no discrimination because most of her colleagues were given the same number of assignments, if not fewer.

One of the other engineers received no projects to work on in 2003 and 2004 and another had one assignment, the investigator reported.

T spokesman Joseph Pesaturo declined to provide information on Mendeleyev’s salary and the engineering payroll.

read the entire article here

Charlie's Mailbag - Feb 4th - stupid is as stupid does

2007-02-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

Another edition of the mailbag which can be reached at charlieonthembta@gmail.com

Gwen from Waltham noticed something odd about the Silver Line-Waterfront bus maps. They don't show the Silver Line.

Hey Charlie love your blog.
I work down in the Seaport District and usually catch the Silver Line at what they call "Silver Line Way". Yesterday I saw a couple of tourists looking at the bus map there and I offered to help.

They were looking for the Black Falcon Terminal and which bus to take and by mistake they had taken the bus to the Airport and were now trying to figure out which other Silver Line bus to take.

Charlie the map in the bus shelter doesn't have the Silver Line on it. It has all the other bus routes but nothing for SL1, SL2 or SL3. I read last week that the trip planner lost the Orange Line and now it looks like they lost a bus line as well!!

I got this letter about a week ago and I decided to check this out myself as I couldn't believe the T could lose a bus line.

I was wrong.

I went to the Silver Line Way station this morning and there is absolutly no mention of the SL Waterfront Lines on the map in the bus shelter. What makes this stranger is the bus shelter never existed until the Silver Line opened so it should not be a case of a map they never updated. Throw in the fact that the line has been running now for over two years one would think this oversight would have been corrected by now.

Now who exactly is at fault here I can't be sure. The shelters are maintained by WALL USA which was selected by the City of Boston to install 'street furniture' which includes automatic public toilets, newsstands, bus shelters, and information kiosks. They are probably the people responsible for the maps in the shelters but does the T print the maps or does WALL do so.

In any event the maps are out of date and it is pretty useless to have a bus map that doesn't show the bus you are waiting for.

Jeff from Abington had a run in with MBTA Police on Sunday morning

I enjoy your blog and badtransit.com very much as it shows me I am not alone at thinking the T could be a lot better. This morning I had occasion to be confronted by MBTA Police Officers because I was reading a newspaper.

I had missed my train from Abington this morning so I drove to Braintree to catch the Red Line to Boston. Outside Braintree station I picked up a newspaper in a box right outside the ststion entrance for something to read going in town.

As we left North Quincy 2 MBTA officers approached me and told me I was reading pornography on the train and that is not allowed. What I was reading is a newspaper called Barstool Sports which can be a little racy but nothing that is outlandish in todays society. They even demanded to see my ID.

I have never even gotten as much as a parking ticket in my life and I am being harrassed for reading a newspaper I picked up at a T station?

-Jeff-
Abington, MA

Jeff this report leaves me speechless. I know the paper you were reading and yes they are known for covers with beautiful women wearing as little as possible but it certainly in no way comes close to being pornography.

This has to be brought to the attention of the Transit Police because from what you report this really makes one wonder about the judgement abilty of these officers.

Here is the person to contact

Joseph C. Carter
Chief of MBTA Transit Police
617-222-1100
MBTA Transit Police Department
240 Southampton Street Boston, MA 02118

You can also check out their website at http://transitpolice.us/

which informs us that

Please let us know what happens with this

Comuter Rail signs to be fixed

2007-02-04T07:43:00.000-05:00

Things must be getting better with Charlie as Mac Daniel's Sunday column in the Globe has no mention of CharlieCards or CharlieTickets this week.

But he does talk about the infamous information signs on the Commuter Rail and the T is about to revamp the system.....again

Some of the signs can handle 99 characters; others on the same rail line can handle 1,600 characters. Should a dispatcher enter more than 99 characters on a rail line that also has signs that can handle 1,600 the signs go blank or begin issuing garbled blips and bloops.

Then there's the chain of command. Dispatchers at South Station send messages for display on the signs to an MBTA router at High Street, which sends them to a phone line, which transmits them to individual computers at each station. That process involves three computers and along that line, there's a lot that can go wrong.

There have also been software crashes galore on the system. When the vendor recently performed an upgrade, the problems got worse.

Once again, the system is headed for an upgrade, T officials said last week.

The T has recently received proposals for a new satellite-based sign system that is hoped to streamline the process.

"It's going to be a straight communication line" from the dispatcher to the station, said Stephen Jones, the T's deputy director of railroad operations.

A contractor could be selected by the end of the month, he said.

In addition, and don't hold your breath, Jones said there's the potential to do arrival countdowns routinely , meaning the signs could tell passengers how far away the next train is from the station.

Sounds like the same system we talked about last week

30 years ago Sunday - disaster on the Chicago 'L'

2007-02-03T15:54:00.000-05:00

One thing we do take for granted is that even with delays our transit system will get us to where we are going safely. 30 years ago in Chicago 12 commuters didn't make it home.

Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the darkest day in Chicago 'L history when 12 persons were killed and more than 180 injured as four cars of a CTA train toppled frown elevated tracks in the Loop and plunged to the street during the evening rush hour.

The dead and injured included pedestrians who were crushed beneath cars that slammed to the pavement at Lake Street and Wabash Avenue.

Please remember our fallen commuters.

On February 4, 1977 the worst accident in "L" history occurred at the sharp curve on the Loop elevated at Wabash Avenue and Lake Street.

It was not the worst accident in CTA history however. In 1950 a streetcar hit a gasoline tanker truck at 63rd and State killing 33 passengers. The streetcar ran on what is now the 36-Broadway line but in those days the route went from Devon Avenue all the way to 119th Street and Morgan Avenue on the far south side. It was because of this accident that the CTA decided to abolish streetcars in favor of buses with the last one running in 1958.

bowing head for the riders who never made it home

Charlie's Mailbag February 3rd - More Green Line follies

2007-02-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

From the mailbag at charlieonthembta@gmail.com we hear from Deb in Brookline

Charlie
Last night I boarded an inbound D line train at Reservoir and it took nearly 30 minutes just to get to Copley because of boarding lines.

For starters they only seem to run one car trains on Friday nights which is foolish given the number of students that go into the city. The train arrived at Reservoir and it took nearly 4 minutes to get everybody on even though most had prepaid fare cards. When we got to Brookline Hills it took another 4 minutes but the worst was yet to come.

At Fenway Station it took nearly seven minutes to get everybody on the train. Part of the problem was many of the students boarding there paid cash with the driver. Can't the T refuse to board these clowns since there are vending machines at each station on the D line?

I also thought last night that you have these T workers at each station standing around and doing nothing inside their little heated sheds. Why can't these people check fares before the train arrives and speed up boarding by opening all the doors?

The T promised fasting boarding with this Charlie system and it seems to be much worse at least on the D line!!!

Deb from Brookline

Hi Deb You made 2 very good observations.

I would agree there is no reason for a passenger to pay cash on a D Line trolley since every station has vending machines. At least on that line they could impose a no cash on train policy and that would help a little bit with the boarding lines.

As far as having the "ambassadors","CSA's or whatever the T is calling them this week checking fares beforehand it does on the surface make sense but since the T plans to do away with these workers in a couple of months it wouldn't be a long term solution.

I also find it interesting that many of these workers on the D line are retired T employees who have been called back to "help out". One worker at night at Brookline Village used to be the head of the Green Line before he retired a couple of years ago and you can be sure he is not getting $8 an hour in this temporary position.

Still the T has to figure out a better way to board people on the Green Line. The B line outbound has been really crazy as of late as some operators are only opening one door outbound at night after 30 years of all door openings towards BC. I was on a packed car Thursday night and the driver only opened one door at Harvard and Commonwealth where half the car wanted to get off. That is complete insanity.

My suggestion to the T is to at least TRY the system used in Chicago.
BOARD BUSES MORE QUICKLY WITH CTA's new GO LANE boarding process

Nobody can tell me this would not reduce boarding times on the trolleys and some high use bus routes. I have seen it work on the heavily used bus lanes of Michigan Avenue in Chicago and buses don't get bogged down as much as they had in the past. How hard can it be to test the idea on one line to see if it works in Boston?

T Tales: New North Station not ready for prime time

2007-02-02T15:01:00.000-05:00

North Station unveils new renovations (02/01/2007) VIDEO from 7News

Peg drops a note to charlieonthembta@gmail.com about the "new and improved" North Station

think the T might have jumped the gun a bit in their ‘ribbon cutting’ for the expanded and improved waiting area at North Station. Last evening, trying to catch a 4:30 train, I ran into the new area at about 4:27, looking for an electronic monitor to tell me what track to go to…..oh wait, there are no monitors in the new area, just a large digital cartoon of the Bunker Hill Bridge and an ad for Banknorth. Suddenly though, a garbled voice announces (I think) the 4:30 train to screech!@garble& now loading on ???...Where, thought I, is that coming from? Overhead?? Behind me in the older part of the station? Apparently, there are no speakers in the new area either. Oh well, no time to spare, I run out to the boarding area to read the monitor at track side to see which track and then turn right to go to track 3….Ooooops! Orange cones and yellow ‘do not cross’ tape is strung across the head of the platform parallel to the tracks, but blocking access to adjacent boarding areas. I stood in muted frustration as I watched my train depart, and dejectedly went back to sit on one of the new benches to wait for the next train. Gee, I guess I SHOULD be happy that there was a place to sit! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghh!!!

Does sound like they rushed the opening a bit. The ironic thing is media coverage was almost non-existent of the opening because it occurred just as invasion of the Cartoon Network was happening. Still it is a huge improvement over what north side commuters have had to deal with the past 12 years.

T Tales: 40 minutes from Kenmore to Government Center

2007-02-02T11:10:00.000-05:00

CME writes us at charlieonthembta@gmail.com about her trip on the Green Line Friday morning

This may explain why I waited 25 minutes at Park for a Riverside train today.

Here's (part of?) why there was a huge backup on the green line this
morning.

I commute from Allston to Government Center, and this morning I was lucky
enough to get a 57 to Kenmore. When I hit the platform, there was a
pretty big crowd standing around looking impatient, so it seems something
was already delayed.

We waited about 10 minutes for a train, which, after we'd all piled on,
did the thing where it closed and then reopened its doors. This is
Kenmore-station speak for "This train will be standing by". A couple of
passengers made angry noises and jumped off the train in favor of the
other inbound train that had just arrived across the platform.

Our train pulled out a few minutes later and stopped, as they usually do,
in the tunnel right after Kenmore where the track takes a large, non-flat
curve to the left. And it stayed there. And stayed there. And of
course, the lights and the ventillation kept shutting off like they do
when the train isn't moving. At this point, there were quiet funny noises
coming from the front of the car/train (I'm not sure which, I was in the
back of the second car) as the drivers tried to reboot the train.
Finally, the PA system beeped, there was a long slince, and a grumpy voice
said "-workin' on it". Everyone around me gave an annoyed laugh at how
uninformative this was.

After a few more minutes of waiting, we heard voices in the tunnel outside
the train. Suddenly someone banged violently on the doors next to me
(rear doors on the righthand side), and all of the passengers nearby
jumped away from the door in alarm. The guy outside forced the doors open
and jumped on, panting like steam engine, then forced them closed behind
him. He pulled out his keychain and unlocked the platic panel covering
the control circuits over the door (this was a Breda Type 8 car), reached
in, violently threw a few levers back and forth, and in his hurry nearly
dropped the panel on the heads of the surrounding passengers. (It was
really great to see someone treating the problem like it mattered, but he
was as wound up as if someone were being injured, which was disconcerting
and causing him to make mistakes like almost braining a dozen passengers.)

It turns out that there was a fault in the door control circuitry such
that the door registered as open even though it wasn't, and the train's
safety systems wouldn't allow it to move with an "open" door. The T guy
repair guy had "isolated" the door; I assume this is T-speak for "turning
it off". They dumped us on the platform at Hynes and took the train out
of service; radio traffic from the repair guy indicated that that the
train would be taken to Park St without passengers so it could be removed
from service.

I was then on two more trains that were turned early; the one I got on at
Hynes (after skipping the first to come through) was turned at Park, and
the North Station train after that was turned at Goverment Center- by the
high-tech method of a T guy standing on the Government Center platform and
stopping the train to tell the driver this was his last stop. If I'd been
going farther than Government Center I'd have *really* been ready to spit
nails. As it was, total time from hitting the Kenmore platform to
Government Center? 40 minutes. You can bet I'll be filing an on-time
service claim.

cme