General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

393b40 said:
Probably not. Even if you make it free there's still a significant portion of people that will never take it and won't see the value in forcing them to pay for something other people use.
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And all the while, those same people happily drive on tax payer subsidized roads without even bothering to acknowledge the benefit.
 
I don't even know what stations have them & which ones don't, since I always make sure that I use the bathroom before leaving home. But I think that it's high time that restrooms are being put in stations now!! After all, people DO have to go. It's part of nature. I just remembered that there is one at Ailwife Station, & it's before you pay to enter through the turnstyles.

The only problem is that homeless & drunk folks may go in there for sleeping quarters & may not come out for a while. How is that aleviated? Can't put servelence cameras in there. It would become an invation of privacy, which would then constitute lawsuits. :unsure:
 
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Jahvon09 said:
I don't even know what stations have them & which ones don't, since I always make sure that I use the bathroom before leaving home. But I think that it's high time that restrooms are being put in stations now!! After all, people DO have to go. It's part of nature. I just remembered that there is one at Ailwife Station, & it's before you pay to enter through the turnstyles.

The only problem is that homeless & drunk folks may go in there for sleeping quarters & may not come out for a while. How is that aleviated? Can't put servelence cameras in there. It would become an invation of privacy, which would then constitute lawsuits. :unsure:
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Ive used the Alewife one a few times and it was perfectly fine. Its especially important at rail terminus because for many folks thats just the middle of the trip. You might have spent 30 minutes on the train and about to spend 30 minutes on a bus.

Harvard has one, but you need to track down an employee and convince them to unlock the door. From my recollection its a single.
 
jass said:
Ive used the Alewife one a few times and it was perfectly fine. Its especially important at rail terminus because for many folks thats just the middle of the trip. You might have spent 30 minutes on the train and about to spend 30 minutes on a bus.

Harvard has one, but you need to track down an employee and convince them to unlock the door. From my recollection its a single.
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I, also, had to use the one at Ailwife before I got on the train. I was having trouble with all 3 Charlie machines there. An employee let me through to the platform.
 
So after three years and a $3.3 million contract, the MBTA has decided to give up on it's transition of The Ride to Routematch and now go through the whole process in reverse to return to the old system.

Updates for RIDE Customers | The RIDE | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com

Here's what they used to say about the new software.
Screenshot_20211018-105932_Drive.png
 
Have to wonder what that's about - could just be the typical The Ride rider demographic and they're not actually lying about negative feedback, or, seeing as Routematch was purchased by Uber last summer, and Uber is in its current crunch for non-VC money, they could be increasing their contract fees substantially. Just guesses though...
 
Of course a green line MBTA train derailed today, got to keep up with the Jones's
 
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Saw tweets it could be due to a skateboard lodged in the rails??
 
stefal said:
Saw tweets it could be due to a skateboard lodged in the rails??
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Apparently so. It feels weird to have an actual reason for a T8 to jump the tracks beyond their infamously finicky center truck design.

I wonder if a skateboard's ever derailed a train before? That'd make a good trivia question some day.
 
First time at DTX since pre pandemic. Nice to see that the war on homeless people has been kicked into higher gear since my last visit. I’m sure these metal dividers are “just to keep everyone safe” as the usual Covid bullshit language goes. Or maybe it was just explicitly done to be anti homeless, who knows. Note that they don’t work, they only succeeded in making the guy sleeping horribly uncomfortable. What happened to kindness?

Also sad to notice the absence of the food vendors and the hucksters. The lockdowns have hurt the poor the most and I hope that a post pandemic world will allow the return of those who live on the margins of society… despite all evidence suggesting that we are barreling into a phase of history characterized by a level of sterility and corporate-only employment on a level never before seen.
CE9AC86F-6DA1-422A-87C6-CCBEA0F4287F.jpeg
 
FK4 said:
First time at DTX since pre pandemic. Nice to see that the war on homeless people has been kicked into higher gear since my last visit. I’m sure these metal dividers are “just to keep everyone safe” as the usual Covid bullshit language goes. Or maybe it was just explicitly done to be anti homeless, who knows. Note that they don’t work, they only succeeded in making the guy sleeping horribly uncomfortable. What happened to kindness?

Also sad to notice the absence of the food vendors and the hucksters. The lockdowns have hurt the poor the most and I hope that a post pandemic world will allow the return of those who live on the margins of society… despite all evidence suggesting that we are barreling into a phase of history characterized by a level of sterility and corporate-only employment on a level never before seen.View attachment 18244
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The metal dividers are armrests that were requested by older invididuals to help when trying to stand up and sit down from the benches. If you've ever spoken to someone from a council on aging or the age strong commission you'd know that's a very common request. Of course the debate is did we really need them on every single bench? Not sure. But also why do subway stations in America have to be defacto homeless shelters? That's not the job of transit.
 
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HelloBostonHi said:
The metal dividers are armrests that were requested by older invididuals to help when trying to stand up and sit down from the benches. If you've ever spoken to someone from a council on aging or the age strong commission you'd know that's a very common request. Of course the debate is did we really need them on every single bench? Not sure. But also why do subway stations in America have to be defacto homeless shelters? That's not the job of transit.
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I’ve never seen a MBTA station that felt like a homeless shelter, with the occasional exception of S Station and the area outside of — but not the inside of — N Station.

I’m not totally laissez-faire on homeless people but I don’t really see it as a major issue on the T. Also, I do think kindness and anti homeless sentiment is always a part of the conversation, and having the former doesn’t mean you’re all in favor of San Francisco level feces in the streets etc. I think we as a society have been quick to strangle opportunity at the very fringe of society, as well as remove color and life from the urban environment. Well, if you turn all the SROs into condos and you convert the local shitty coffee shop to Caffe Nero, don’t be surprised at the results.

And, fine, so old people wanted armrests, but there’s no doubt in my mind the T was happy to put them on every single bench for the reason I already said.
 
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FK4 said:
And, fine, so old people wanted armrests, but there’s no doubt in my mind the T was happy to put them on every single bench for the reason I already
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Yeah, I agree with this. I mean, I've seen people (mostly but not necessarily old people) struggle to get up from those benches, the lack of some kind of handhold for leverage was clearly problematic in some cases. That said, the T clearly didn't mind the fact that they'd also make the benches more hostile for sleeping, so from their perspective there really wasn't much downside.
 
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FK4 said:
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I’ve never seen a MBTA station that felt like a homeless shelter, with the occasional exception of S Station and the area outside of — but not the inside of — N Station.

I’m not totally laissez-faire on homeless people but I don’t really see it as a major issue on the T. Also, I do think kindness and anti homeless sentiment is always a part of the conversation, and having the former doesn’t mean you’re all in favor of San Francisco level feces in the streets etc. I think we as a society have been quick to strangle opportunity at the very fringe of society, as well as remove color and life from the urban environment. Well, if you turn all the SROs into condos and you convert the local shitty coffee shop to Caffe Nero, don’t be surprised at the results.

And, fine, so old people wanted armrests, but there’s no doubt in my mind the T was happy to put them on every single bench for the reason I already
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It all depends on how one looks at it. I'm just grateful this indicates the T finally ended their "War on the Elderly and Disabled". ;)
 
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