The Boston Infrastructure and the "T" (1 Viewer)

[Jagan Seshadri]

HTF people from Boston:
I was wondering if the Boston-area MBTA system (the "T") is as horrible as the website www.badtransit.com makes it out to be. Also, what's the current status of the "Big Dig"?
-JNS

 

[Jason Seaver]

You know, I seldom have any problems with the T. Granted, most of my travel is on the Red Line, but maybe I've just been lucky. The lines at North Station for the Commuter Rail are unreasonable, but that's been the worst trouble I've had.

 

[Steven K]

Yes I'll also admit that the MBTA has a horrid website, and they just completely overhauled it
To be honest, the T is the most efficient subwaybus system I have ever ridden on. I used to take the T to and from work every day for over a year (then we moved locations).
Of course, it's not perfect... and this new Silver Line is kind of a joke (glorified buses).
Of course I've done my fair share of griping over the past few years about the T, but in the grand scheme of things, its pretty nice. It's clean, fast (except the Green line), and cheap (only $1.00 for most rides and $57 a month for a Combo SubwayBus pass).
As for the Big Dig, needless to say, it's still "just there." The Zakin bridge still isn't open, and the Mass Pike underground extension to 93 is delayed until January (it was supposed to open next week). This part of the Big Dig might actually save me time off of my commute.
But up to this point, the only portion of the Big Dig which is open for use is the Ted Williams Tunnel, and 95% of the people in Boston aren't allowed to use it except on weekends (always open to residents of South Boston and East Boston who have a Fast Lane account).

 

[Bill Slack]

It's not perfect, but it's not bad. The green line is a bit slow and gets crowded sometimes, but I don't have too many complains about it. It's free outbound on the street. I mainly ride the green line and some of the red line. Orange and blue very rarely.
The silver line has always seemed a bit weird to me, but I guess we'll wait and see. If it gets to Logan quickly I don't think anyone will mind...
The Big Dig... well, traffic sucked pretty bad befor ethe Big Dig. It's ugly, but at least it SHOULD alleviate a lot of problems and build some more park and commercial land for the city.
The commuter rail sucks to commute on, but it's awesome for me to get to the North End area other times. I live a few miles outside the city and it's much faster than driving. I've taken it a few times to go to the FleetCenter (which North Station is part of) for events and it works really well.

 

[Tim Abbott]

I haven't had any problems with the Orange line, and I ride it quite a bit. I live north of Boston and I will drive in to one of the stops on the Orange line and take it right to north station (I have season tickets to the Celtics).

I have generally been in favor of the commuter rail, as well. Even with all of the stops it makes, it still takes about as much time to take the train in as it does to drive. The bonus in my eyes is that you have all of that free time to read the paper, work on a laptop etc. in which you aren't sitting in traffic creeping along.

The green line can be a nightmare, especially right after a Red Sox game. Good luck trying to get on one. Otherwise, the green line works pretty well.

 

[Steven K]

The green line can be a nightmare, especially right after a Red Sox game. Good luck trying to get on one. Otherwise, the green line works pretty well.

The main reason for this is that most people try to get on at Kenmore Square. We always walk to Ruggles after a Sox game, and we make it home pretty quickly.

 

[Bill Slack]

And if you avoid the first entrance to Kenmore or go across the street it's about 10x as fast too. I usually park at a friends house or off of Comm Ave. (for free) and take the T from there or just walk.

If driving, the movie theater is the best place to park for Fenway. It's close, and has a 2nd exit to avoid a lot of the traffic getting out AND it's 24hr parking so you can go out to the bars or watch a movie afterward all for the low $20 fee (which is actually not that bad considering some of the prices on Boylston St!)

Also, when the green line is REALLY crowded the drivers usually just let people on for free, in any direction (when it's on the street) -- So while it has it's problems, they do try to make up for it. And the trolleys are finally supposed to be replaced with updated ones (this will be the 2nd try though!)