The Boston Traveler, Part II

» Literalman - Riding the MBTA

Last Friday I was back in Boston for the first time in about ten years; I used to live in Back Bay and, later, Malden. This time I rode in from Framingham with my brother, who is a regular T commuter, and his two daughters and my two sons.

Commuter rail service has expanded a lot since I last lived in Massachusetts (1981). The Framingham line, for example, now has been extended 23 miles to Worcester, and it has off-peak and weekend service, whereas it used to run in rush hours only.

Back in the 70s and 80s, I served on the T User Panel and the Mass. Governor's Task Force on Public Transportation. One problem we identified was rail vehicles with the wrong destination signs. Twenty years later, this is still a problem. I saw at least two Green Line cars with wrong signs--showing, for example, Lechmere as the destination on a car that was heading away from Lechmere. If you're riding the T, be sure to find out where the train is going if you're not sure.

-- posted by Literalman

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