Oh brother, 24 hours has passed since something good happened for the MBTA system...time for the dramatics to resume:
You'd never know that Government Center opened yesterday using the T this morning:
- Green Line detour directional signs still up at State
- Detour maps still up at State
- No announcements that GC is open by BL drivers
The same HUGE crowd got off the BL at State and walked down to the Oak Grove platform, many presumably to transfer to the GL (who would blame them with signs still directing them to?). I got the feeling lots of people didn't know. Very poor handling of this on the T's behalf. All the signs should have been removed by end of day yesterday at the latest.
Though it would've been helpful, I doubt the T wanted to take time to compose some kind of GC closure "sign removal" program, and who can blame them? There's bigger fish to fry, and PLENTY of local media made it well-known that GC reopened.
As far as people not knowing, that's on them. The T has advertised GC's reopening on Twitter & MBTA.com well in advance of the actual event. It's partially the T's responsibility to keep riders in the know, and it's also partially the riders' responsibility to keep informed of operational changes.
I can't believe that many people don't pay attention to what going on in their city.
It was even the front page story on today's Metro. How oblivious can they be?
Believe it. Many people in today's society aren't the "brightest bulb", and most any Joe Schmo can walk into a transit station and ride the system, so it's not like there's some expectation of mass intelligence that should be held to the T's riders (we are talking about a system that has had riders who wank-off on buses & steal personal items out of customer service booths). Why would you think those folks would pay attention to city/MBTA happenings when they're too busy being self-serving?
I actually overheard a guy yesterday asking when GC closed...I think that proves my point.
Dunno, but drivers should absolutely be promoting GC non-stop. Our core is whole again.
Non-stop? That's a bit much...announcements of the reopening certainly can be helpful, but I go back to part of the GC reopening awareness falls on the rider too. When a driver might be facing some sudden operational difficulty or is busy with radio communications, I guarantee missing out on a GC REMINDER announcement is at the bottom of the list of priorities.
What I can't understand is why they haven't told the station staff to peel the arrows & detour maps off the walls. So simple.
As soon as Management tells staff to do so, you can further open up the floodgates of criticism that MBTA staff already faces from riders. Management would hear, "Why are you telling staff to peel stickers? This is what my tax money pays for, etc." Staff would hear, "How much do you get paid to peel stickers off? There's nothing else to do, like FIX THE SYSTEM?" Don't tell me that wouldn't be the case, because you know it would be...but now, they're receiving heck from posts like yours because they AREN'T peeling stickers. They truly "can't win".
Let's list out locations and we can go take out down ourselves (or since they are sticky, start pealing a piece off at a time).
You could, but 1) do you really have that much free time to do the T's work for free, and 2) are you willing to potentially be seen on camera & be confronted by TPD, who will say you're defacing their property?
I think the point of all this is, there's much bigger issues that GC reopening announcements & detour stickers...to state 24 hours after the initial opening that everything isn't 100% resolved from a 2-year closure notice shows how miniscule and undirected your focus can be. I think our $80+ million "gift" of the new Government Center should still take front & center spotlight for a while...it's too soon for the T-obsessed critics or fanbois to start turd flinging (in any aspect) in relation to this accomplishment.
By the way, thank you MBTA...Government Center Station is absolutely beautiful.
