You may or may not have noticed that MBTA train staff are now required to inform you of bus connections at each stop after the automated system completes its spiel. To be more precise, they are required to inform you of the presence of said connections, but not to provide any information on what connections exist.
In fact, the updated (read: angry/unstable/morose depressive/more responsive) stop announcement system on the MBTA’s bus fleet has removed references to specific bus routes you might find yourself suddenly compelled to try out on a whim.
This actually makes sense on some level. While a connection at Arlington would require nothing more than a mention of the #9 bus, pulling into Copley just one stop away would demand the T employee in question list the #9, 10, 39, 55, 352, 500, 502 and 504.
You could be in Forest Hills by the time all of the options for Haymarket were rattled off. (the #6, 92, 93, 111, 325, 326, 352, 354, 355, 441, 448, 442, 449, 424, 424W, 450, 450W, 456, 426, 426W, 428 and 455 respectively)
This is all part of the T’s latest plot to make more people ride the bus. Apparently sixty years of weekend signal maintenance on the Orange Line wasn’t enough.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:06 am
What would REALLY encourage people to use buses in addition to the trains is posting more system-wide maps, or even just maps at each subway station that show all bus routes in that area.
I find the buses to be quite convenient, especially when I’m not going into downtown Boston. However, I see many people who take the train all the way in and then out again, when a bus transfer would have been faster.
For example, I needed to go from Somerville to Agganis Arena at BU last week. Instead of taking the Red Line all the way to Park St and then the Green Line out to St Paul St, I simply took the Red Line to Central, and the 47 bus over to Comm Ave, leaving me with just a short walk to the arena.
The only problem, of course, is that the buses don’t run as often as the train, so you have to plan it out. Perhaps if more people rode them, they would run more frequently!
November 22nd, 2007 at 1:13 am
(Sorry your comment ended up getting caught by my spam filter for some reason)
The addition of more bus maps would be a great move.
People do get rather stuck in their own routines, and find it hard to seek out new ways to get where they need to go. The common mentality of “Any trip to Allston or Brighton must involve the B Line” is one great example of that.
What the T should do is to put up overhead maps at stations showing exactly where buses can be picked up (as some stations have multiple bus stops in the immediate vicinity) and a map to the side showing where exactly those buses go, not just the usual list of intersections that tell those unfamiliar with an area absolutely nothing.
Forty years ago, the T was given a lot of well-deserved credit for offering riders detailed overhead street maps in each subway station that let people know not only what was nearby, but where it was in relation to them. I think the same thing could be extended to help potential bus riders.
As to the ” more people rode them, they would run more frequently!” remark, go ask someone who takes the 66 on a regular basis what the T’s response to more riders actually is.