A blog that follows issues of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and observations on Boston life in general. Now all night long
Charlie rides through the tunnels crying "What will become of me? How can I afford to see My sister in Chelsea Or my cousin in Roxbury?" (C)1948 Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
“We never intended this outcome and certainly did not set out to perpetrate a hoax. What we did is inadvertently cause a great American city to deal with the unintended impact of this marketing campaign. For this, we are deeply sorry,”
The two young men charged with perpetrating a hoax that gripped the city launched into a smirking, rambling performance - art skit yesterday as reporters sought to question them about the terrorism scare. As their chagrined lawyer looked on, Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown and Peter Berdovsky, 27, announced they would respond only to questions about human hair.
The first mistake the MBTA made with this new system was with the CharlieCard's design. Call me crazy, but I don't think that I have ever been on a T that looks like that. The car itself is so shiny and clean that it is literally producing a luminescent glow on the window sills and doors.
Secondly, all of the passengers featured on the card are in their ultimate states of Zen. The pseudo-feminist-business woman who seems to be day dreaming about a CharleneCard, the young girl who hopes to be just as heroic as Charlie some day and an aging bald man all stare admiringly at the fun-loving Charlie. Actually, the aging bald man looks as though he is missing an eye and giving us, the consumer, a pirate-like wink that is pretty creepy. We'll let that one go, MBTA.
Also, it seems to me that Charlie may be passing around a little Irish coffee to his fellow passengers, if you know what I mean.
"He assured me there would a smooth transition," said Giombetti, who is joined by Ashland on the still-forming authority. Giombetti said the goal of the RTA is to increase service, not lose something that's seen as valuable.
A bus strike looms on Cape Cod. Bus drivers, mechanics and dispatchers for the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority will vote Saturday on a new union contract. Should they vote it down, a strike will be called on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
While originally skeptical of the plan, the Straphangers Campaign now says the "roving customer agent" experiment seems to be working. The group reached the assessment after having campaign staff and volunteers observe the roving clerks at 50 booth locations.
"At least 94 percent of the time – at least once during our observation period – they would answer questions; 56 percent of the time they would give directions; 44 percent [of the time] they would buzz people into the system," said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign. "And these are the kinds the things that we think really help riders figure out where they are going."
"They've spent more on Metro North and Long Island Railroad than they should have over a period of time ... more should have been directed at the city. If the money had been there, things would be better," Thompson said.
RailCorp has apologised to passengers who have endured long journeys without toilets, which, in some cases, have forced people to wet themselves, urinate in carriages and ask for toilet stops.
The problem is worst on the South Coast line, where people travelling for two hours or more can lack basic amenities due to a combination of vandalism, trains with no toilets and delays to long-promised new carriages.
Passengers have faced the humiliation of wetting themselves due to lack of toilets. Others have been seen urinating between carriages or, if the area between carriages is enclosed, inside them.
Suddenly the Lowell Line looks like the Orient Express
The day after the mooninite invasion there are far more questions than answers. But there is one question that should be front and center and so far the media has been ignoring it.
How could someone install a device 20 feet above a busway without anybody seeing anything?????
Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens may have done the City of Boston more good than harm when they installed those 38 lite brite devices all over the city because it exposes just how vulnerable we are to someone who would really want to hurt us.
Think about it.
Nobody saw or reported anything amiss when these "ads" were deployed. Nobody thought anything was unusual. THAT should frighten Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick far more than what actually happened yesterday. Peter and Sean could have been planting explosives just as easily as the lite brites. Every security measure implemented after 9/11 FAILED in this case and the Mayor and Governor instead of screaming at Turner Broadcasting should instead look in the mirror and ask 'how did we allow this to happen'. Don't think this hasn't gone unnoticed by real terrorist who now could think it would be easier to launch an attack against the city. Then at the next level there are so many questions to be asked that you almost don't know where to begin. Just take the simple fact that these devices were sitting around for TWO WEEKS before anybody in authority really noticed them. For 2 weeks the Boston Police didn't notice this strange light on an overpass?
or this?
Of course nobody in 9 other cities reported anything amiss either but today city officials nationwide are expressing dismay over the stunt
In the Seattle area, the first device was found Tuesday by a Woodinville Public Works Department crew working on a railroad trestle over Highway 202, said Woodinville Police Chief John McSwain.
"Public Works found it and took it down and didn't even bother to call us" because the device didn't appear to be threatening, he said.
When news of events in Boston began to be reported Wednesday, he said, the Seattle Police Department called and passed on the information about the locations of other devices.
McSwain and other officers removed three more of the devices from various locations, including an awning at a business, in a mini-mall and in front of another business.
The appearance of the devices indicated they weren't too sinister, with one officer describing them as a battery, a light and a cartoon character making an obscene gesture, McSwain said.
Three devices also were found in Bothell, police reported. Officers acting on information from the Seattle Police Department removed the devices and knew the devices were not a threat.
Seattle police also found several of the devices in the city but declined to reveal their location or how many there were.
Police here believe there were 56 devices in Philadelphia similar to the ones in Boston that caused a terrorism scare, authorities said yesterday.
However, the blinking electronic devices in Philadelphia were not discovered until after the ones found in Boston were revealed to be a promotion for a late-night cable television cartoon show. There were no immediate signs of anyone panicking from the Philadelphia devices.
Mayor Street's spokesman, Joe Grace, said one device was found attached to a commercial sign at Sixth and South Streets and there were possibly 55 others. A cease-and-desist letter was sent to Turner Broadcasting, threatening fines for violating zoning codes.
Grace said Philadelphia intended to recoup all costs associated with what he called "a stupid, reckless, irresponsible prank."
"Chicago Police are aware of the marketing campaign locations and have been taking the necessary steps to remove the devices," said Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond. The number of devices removed and their locations weren't available.
"It's behavior like this that can divert the city's first responders from genuine emergencies," said Kevin Smith of the Office of Emergency Management.
The publicity stunt that put a scare in Boston also had repercussions in New York City, where police took to the streets in search of the blinking devices and the marketing firm thought to be behind the hoax is based. The NYPD had not received any complaints about the devices prior to the Boston scare, said police spokesman Paul Browne. But when the police department became aware of the situation in Boston, it contacted the New York marketing firm Interference Inc., which cooperated and provided a list of locations so the devices could be removed.
Police said Interference gave them a list of 41 locations where they had planned to place the signs — on an awning in the trendy Meatpacking District, on a metal door frame in Greenwich Village, on a fence-top on the Lower East Side — but it was unclear how many were actually dispersed.
Officers went to the various locations amid the hysteria in Boston, and found only two of the devices — both attached to an overpass at 33rd Street and the West Side Highway.
The outfit responsible for planting blinking devices that prompted bomb scares and a wave of road and bridge closures today in Boston scattered 20 of the devices in San Francisco, police said. One of the devices was found last week on a sign above a Clement Street art gallery and design store called Park Life. Store owner Jamie Alexander, 37, said the device was 12 inches wide and 15 inches tall, with a blinking, robotic figure displaying a middle finger. It had been attached with magnets.
Alexander said he did not suspect a terrorist plot.
"I thought, 'What the hell is this?' " Alexander said. "I left it up. I though it was cool."
On Sunday, after the device ran out of battery power and stopped blinking, he had a friend climb a ladder and take it down.
Alexander said he could understand some of the anxiety caused by the devices, if only because the one he found had about a half-dozen "D" batteries crudely taped to it.
"But those people are pretty paranoid," he said of the reaction in Boston.
As for Turner Broadcasting? Well they wanted publicity and they got it. Brendon Behan once remarked "There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary." and since it is unlikely that Turner or Time-Warner will suffer any more than some fines and restitution for this stunt there maybe some executives giving themselves high fives behind closed doors. Millions of people are now aware that Adult Swim exists that didn't yesterday. This story is front page news across the globe from Sydneyto London.
This morning the Commonwealth went after Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens but they are nothing more than scapegoats in this. What they have done is show just how very much at risk we all are.
BTW we would like some feedback on the preview windows that allow you to look at a link without clicking. Should they stay or should they go? Please let us know.
To update you on how my Watertown experience turned out... I intentionally boarded the bus last at Watertown Yard, held out my CharlieCard and a $20 bill, and said to the driver "I need to load value onto my CharlieCard". He then replied "OK just a second" and pushed a few buttons on his farebox keyboard. He then instructed me step by step to follow the instructions on the screen, tapping my card, loading my money, hitting the little white button to confirm it, tapping my card again to load it, and then finally tapping to pay the fare. It took probably 15-20 seconds total, and the driver was very courteous and helpful throughout the process. This was a welcomed experience given the stories of confusion and rudeness I've read about when people have tried to load value on their CharlieCard on buses.
-Charlie
That is great to hear. I truly believe the vast majority of T employees are good and this why the blog started the T employee appreciation thread.
Teresa comments on fare evasion
Charlie--
After being subject to a circuitous ride on a 70 bus to Central Square that thought it was a 47, I was a bit disgruntled when I entered the T station on the inbound side. As I waited for the next train near the main fare gates (with Charlie machines and T attendant), I witnessed one young female delinquent offer entry to her delinquent friend by opening the gate from the track side. She didn't even try to hide her behavior. Then, seconds later, the two delinquents loudly call over to delinquent #3 who was just entering the area. Delinquent #1 proceeds to open the gate for her as well.
A bit shocked that they would do this so brazenly in front of the T rep (rather than at the more inconspicuous entrance at the end of the platform) I had to say something. So I poked my head between the fare machines and asked the T attendant "Don't you even care that people are basically jumping the turnstiles right in front of you."
His reply was, "What can I do, I have to help these people" as he gestured to the masses that have yet to figure out the byzantine machines.
As I shook my head and went back to waiting on the platform, he called out after me "and yes, I do care."
Now if only the T management would care.
-Teresa
The T decided to change the order from turnstiles to gates to combat fare evasion in the system thinking the gates would make it harder. Just the opposite has happened. Honestly in all the years I have been riding the T I can't recall very many cases where I would see somebody jump a turnstile. You were much more likely to see someone plead poverty to the token clerk and usually they would get waved through something not likely to happen now with Charlie. What fare evasion I did see regularly was on buses where people would just waltz by the driver without paying. The driver might yell at them but most of the time it was just ignored and Charlie won't solve that problem on a bus. Since it is impossible to have T Police on every bus this will remain a problem.
In New York several stations have been converted to a newer floor-to-ceiling turnstile that is impossible to jump but city officials are concerned that it is a fire hazard as it allows only 20 passengers to exit a minute compared to 40 at a regular turnstile so Boston is not alone with this issue.
Now the Green Line has its own issues with fare evasion as Boston tries to introduce "proof of payment" (POP) to the street level trolleys. I asked users of a San Francisco transit blog how well POP works there and got some interesting feedback. Some examples
from Viscus: If you don't already have a pass, you buy a ticket either from a turnstile in a subway station, one of the vending machines that they have at surface station platforms, or you go to the very front of the train and buy a paper transfer from the train operator.
Randomly, Muni fare inspectors will show up on trains or station platforms to check everyone for proof of payment. If you don't have it, you're subject to something like a $250 citation.
Now that sounds exactly what the T is trying to do at least on the D Line. One major difference between MUNI and the T on the trolley lines is the second cars in San Francisco are not manned so when boarding the second car you must have some form of proof of payment. Fare evasion is a hot topic with riders in San Francisco
from factfarmer3000: I guess its safe to say its not handled that much
lots of people who want their POP go to the front after they board to get it.
there are lots of fare jumpers, unfortunately. However, I think it is only the Muni Metro that has police men come on board and check that people have their POP. Although, I think that fare jumpers are usually on the regular buses, especially those long crowded ones like the 14- Mission.
I'm just a commuter though, so you might want to wait for a professional response form someone else.
and indeed a MUNI employee did post
Currently there are only Fare Inspectors checking in the subway/light rail and the cable cars. Alas, the greater majority of fare evasion is done on the buses.
Muni has hired 47 new inspectors but they are slated to work in the same venues. I am constantly being told my managers that I speak to that fare inspection on buses are not in the near future.
Officially, when there is a fare evader, we are supposed to call Central Dispatch and wait for instructions. The vast majority of the time, operators don't call because it is a waste of time to pick up the phone and nothing happens to the same people; AND then it will make you even more late in your bus schedule. People have been evading the fares for generations. Grandmothers tell little grandson how the MUNI UNIVERSE works and the knowledge is handed down thorough the generations. Even kids of MUNI bus drivers do it. Why? Because they know nothing will happen from asking their parents.
To me, the paper transfer is one of the many reasons why MUNI is losing so much money. There is so much room for abuse of the system. I would say that only 30% of the time, people would show clearly what the date is and what is the expiration date
which prompted more posts
Well, about half of the time that I've been around when the fare inspectors showed up, one or two people got busted for fare evasion. As others have said, most of the fare evasion probably happens on the bus lines, where people jump on through the back door, only show half of an expired transfer, etc.
A lot of people in San Francisco have a really sick sense of entitlement when it comes to mass transit.
Fare evasion on the T will continue to be an issue until the fare inspectors start writing tickets or the MBTA Police arrest people. Then the word will spread on the streets that it isn't worth it.
A few days ago we got an email from Fred who made a fantastic suggestion
I was thinking this morning about the story on the blog yesterday about the driver of the 0010 bus and it clicked. This morning I happened to catch the 7 in Southie with my favorite driver. I don't know his name, but every day when I ride the bus he drives, he puts me in a better mood. This morning they rerouted some of the buses (I have no idea why) so he stopped at the corner, flashed 7 fingers at us and turned the corner to wait for us... not only did he not have to do that, but he opened the back doors to get us on the bus quicker and not have to be out in the cold. Then he proceeded to apologize for the inconvenience and the delay. At the end of the route, he also took time out to give a rider directions to their destination. He was great! Normal days, he calls out "7 Downtown" if he pulls up to a stop with another bus or a lot of people or he calls out the major stops on the route.. for some reason he always puts me in a great mood and I am not a morning person. I plan on writing a letter to the T commending him of his service.. and it got me thinking.
We all know that there are good operators and bad ones out there. We're stuck with the cards we're dealt and there's not a whole lot we can do. But I was thinking what if we all took it upon ourselves to try to change things thru the "trickle down effect". If everyone that has a good experience, or good operator takes a few minutes out of their day to write a short note during the month of February... let's leave the negatives aside for one month (they'll be there in March I'm sure).. maybe it will have a positive effect of the morale of the T employees. And if the T actually recognized good service (imagine the same driver getting ten nice notes about them) maybe it would inspire the less friendly folks to be a little friendlier. It's so easy to complain, but if we all tried to make a difference by being positive maybe we could put a few more friendlier people out there.
Who knows - it just might work!
Fred
Fred that is an outstanding idea.The vast majority of T employees are good,hard working people trying to deal with a very large and aging transit system. It is human nature (especially in Boston) to dwell on the negative but we should stop and praise those T employees who ARE doing a good job.
So please send your nominations for "A good T employee" either in the comment section of this thread or by email to charlieonthembta@gmail.com
But if you have a bad experience please tell us about that as well and those will be posted separately.
I got 2 emails from friends in Chicago in the last hour and I have a sense that many others that live in Boston are hearing similar from friends around the country.
from my emails
I'm not sure who looks dumber, Turner Broadcasting or the city of Boston. I'm picking the City of Boston right now.
No one's seen Aqua Teen Hunger Force in Boston before?
How could they not recognize the mooninites?
The simple fact is there were similar displays in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. AND they have been on display for 2 weeks in Boston!!!! Boston bloggers are having a field day with as well as you can sample at UniversalHub.com
Now certainly Turner Broadcasting should have informed the city about what they were doing and late Wednesday evening Turner officials admitted they had not done so.
The Cartoon Network ran an apology to Boston Wednesday evening
But be prepared to be laughed at by your friends out of town. Expect Leno and Letterman to have fun with this. This wasn't an issue in Manhattan which is the most security conscious place in America. It happened here and it will become another chapter in local folklore.
Turner Broadcasting acknowledged late this afternoon that the suspicious packages that ignited fears of bombs across Boston today were magnetic lights that were part of an outdoor marketing campaign for an adult cartoon. Turner was promoting Adult Swim's animated television show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" in Boston and nine other cities, according to a statement e-mailed by Shirley Powell, a company spokeswoman. "Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards," the e-mail statement said. "We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger."
"The "packages" in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim's animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they mistakenly thought to pose any danger."
