General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

South Acton train station has bike lockers. I don't recall seeing them elsewhere.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Ron Newman said:
South Acton train station has bike lockers. I don't recall seeing them elsewhere.
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Yeah, those are great, and while I haven't seen a similar set-up elsewhere, there are large sheltered bike cages at Forest Hills and Alewife.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Why South Acton? Not a place I would have envisioned a critical mass of bike commuters.

This bike shed thing is something that should have been done more than a long time ago.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

South Acton's bike commuters may be coming from Maynard, which is fairly dense, and a longish walk but a very short bike ride from the station.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Ron Newman said:
South Acton train station has bike lockers. I don't recall seeing them elsewhere.
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The MBTA website doesnt mention them, so they might be maintained by the city?
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

The bike racks at Porter were moved over Thanksgiving. I can't tell if there are more now than before, but it certainly looks neater.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

jass said:
The MBTA website doesnt mention them, so they might be maintained by the city?
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Yes, they are not owned/operated by the 'T. I can't remember whether that is also true of the parking lot.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Road the orange line from forest hills to downtown crossing the other day. Woman got on at green st. with about 4 bags. MBTA guy got on the next stop and asked if she needed a hand getting off and out. He then radioed in, and stayed on the train until she got off and helped her carry her stuff all the way out of the station.

I was impressed and hats off to that guy.
 
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Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

palindrome said:
Rode the orange line from forest hills to downtown crossing the other day. Woman got on at green st. with about 4 bags. MBTA guy got on the next stop and asked if she needed a hand getting off and out. He then radioed in, and stayed on the train until she got off and helped her carry her stuff all the way out of the station.

I was impressed and hats off to that guy.
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That's the polar opposite from the always smiling and friendly station attendants at South Station. It blows my mind how bad those people treat tourists and people from out of town who need help with the Charlie Card machine, or directions.

One story that really made me laugh: This couple, definitely from Europe, needed help getting the machine to work and there was not anyone standing near them, so they went over to the glass control room and asked a woman in there is she could assist. In disgust, the woman looked at them and said "that ain't my job, you're gonna have to just wait for someone else to come up and help you. And before you ask, I ain't got not idea when that will be." Keep in mind she said this in an annoyed tone and the people seemed to be floored. I happened to be standing nearby, waiting for a friend, heard the whole thing and assisted the couple. The man asked if everyone in Boston was like this.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Former T trolley operator pleads guilty in 2009 texting crash


By Eric Moskowitz and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Aiden Quinn, the former MBTA operator who said he was texting his girlfriend before his Green Line car smashed into another car in 2009, pleaded guilty today to a charge of negligence by a person in control of a train.

Quinn was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service after entering his plea today in Suffolk Superior Court before Judge Carol Ball.

The May 8, 2009 crash in a tunnel near the Government Center station injured dozens and caused millions of dollars in damage.

Quinn had become a symbol of the hazards of using cellphones and messaging devices while operating a vehicle. After the crash, the T implemented the strictest cellphone ban in the country, barring its drivers from carrying any kind of electronic device on a train or bus. Twenty-two T employees have since been fired or suspended.

The crash also fed into growing concern about texting while driving cars. The Legislature earlier this year passing a law banning texting while driving motor vehicles in the state.

Investigators found that that Quinn was typing on his cellphone, without looking at the track, while the train cruised almost 600 feet through a tunnel, at about 25 miles per hour, running a yellow and a red light. By the time he glanced up and pulled the emergency brake, Green Line Car 3612 was just 8 feet from the rear of another trolley stopped on the tracks, the investigation found.

The crash injured 60 people and caused more than $9 million in damage, including the loss of three trolley cars. Among the passengers with significant crash injuries was a 28-year-old Lynn woman who broke her pelvis and may not walk again. A 19-year-old Salem woman suffered a concussion and broken vertebrae.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/12/texting_t_drive.html

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I must say, even as liberal as the old bags on the Suffolk County bench tend to be, I would have expected at least six months of jail time on this one.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Should be 1000 hours community service, for one. Perhaps scrubbing the floors of trolleys/stations with a brush (not a toothbrush, though, so things can actually get cleaned within the time). And there should definitely be jail time.

Also, shouldn't be allowed to drive any motor vehicle again.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

BostonUrbEx said:
Should be 1000 hours community service, for one. Perhaps scrubbing the floors of trolleys/stations with a brush (not a toothbrush, though, so things can actually get cleaned within the time). And there should definitely be jail time.

Also, shouldn't be allowed to drive any motor vehicle again.
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Ehhhhh...I'm not sure that he/she should be banned from driving in general


He/She certainly shouldn't be driving a bus or any type of vehicle where it's getting paid to transport people around.

It's too bad that the tranny fucked things up...the (now ex) driver could've retired by the time he was 45 with full-pension!
 
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Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

mass88 said:
That's the polar opposite from the always smiling and friendly station attendants at South Station. It blows my mind how bad those people treat tourists and people from out of town who need help with the Charlie Card machine, or directions.

One story that really made me laugh: This couple, definitely from Europe, needed help getting the machine to work and there was not anyone standing near them, so they went over to the glass control room and asked a woman in there is she could assist. In disgust, the woman looked at them and said "that ain't my job, you're gonna have to just wait for someone else to come up and help you. And before you ask, I ain't got not idea when that will be." Keep in mind she said this in an annoyed tone and the people seemed to be floored. I happened to be standing nearby, waiting for a friend, heard the whole thing and assisted the couple. The man asked if everyone in Boston was like this.
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WOW!! That is pathetic, this person should be fired. It does not surprise me though. Most people in Boston go out of their way like you did to help tourists visiting Boston.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

bosma said:
WOW!! That is pathetic, this person should be fired. It does not surprise me though. Most people in Boston go out of their way like you did to help tourists visiting Boston.
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It gets tiring, though. I was once asked directions five times during a short walk, and I was carrying a camera at the time and probably looking like a tourist myself! Eventually, when yet another couple asked me how to get to the Hancock Tower, I just pointed to its hulking form on the distant skyline and said "that way".

Of course, if it's your job, that's a different story.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

czsz said:
It gets tiring, though. I was once asked directions five times during a short walk, and I was carrying a camera at the time and probably looking like a tourist myself! Eventually, when yet another couple asked me how to get to the Hancock Tower, I just pointed to its hulking form on the distant skyline and said "that way".

Of course, if it's your job, that's a different story.
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When you work for the MBTA, who's business is to move people around the city and metro area (although some would say the MBTA is the business of just employing people) you should expect to be asked questions about directions and whatnot. Especially when you are working one of the largest transit hubs in New England.

I get asked from time to time by people and I don't mind at all. I am happy to help people out, because I know when I travel abroad and need help, it's nice to get an answer from someone.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

The T has 10 million to spread over the 15 busiest bus routes for improvements.

Thanks to the imbeciles over at route 28, the MBTA will waste time and money to hold public meetings on what improvements can be made.

The T brings up exciting features like bus lanes, curb extensions, signal priority etc....but 10 million will only buy some trash cans and maybe some red paint to brush up the bus stops.... I dont expect much.

Find your local meeting here.
http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/public_meetings/

The first one is
January 18, 2011 6:30 PM ? 8:00 PM Key Bus Route Improvement Program: Bus Route 1 - Cambridge


Note that meetings will be held for route 39 as well, even though improvements have been studied for that route since 2005. The final report was issued and nothing was done.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

What these Service Plan meetings often result in is route changes (for instance, 89 now goes to Davis Square much of the time) or adjustments in hours or days of service (for instance, 87 now goes to Arlington Center on Saturdays as well as weekdays).

I know Lexington would like to get Sunday service on the 62/76, as well as possibly later weekday and Saturday runs.
 
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