Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Is a Storrow Doctor an expert in getting things into or out of uncomfortable places?
 
Teban54 said:
First train at Medford/Tufts!

Edit: Oops, this is the second train. I missed the first, but I heard the first train was fully packed and they couldn’t fit everyone.
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I was on the first revenue train. Barely fit in; I was there early yet the crowd on the platform was so overwhelming that I was the last one onto the Type 7 and had to stand on the stairs. Worth it.
 
JeffDowntown said:
So this may have been commented on before, but do we have typical T cluster signage in action on the new GLX?

The terminal station is signed "Medford/Tufts"

But the some of the cars bound for that station as a terminus are signed "College Avenue" (And some pictured above are Medford/Tufts, just to add to the joyous confusion).

Could we work any harder to try to confuse riders?
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Only the Type 9 that came from Riverside was signed as College Ave (presumably, any B/C type 9's would be the same, as all three branches will send an early morning trip to Medford daily). A Type 9 on the E is extraordinarily rare but it appears the signage would be Medford/Tufts in that case, per the dignitaries' train. I have to imagine this oversight (likely a result of GLX announcements being loaded into the Type 9's upon their 2018 delivery) will be corrected soon.
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How is the speed along the line? Is it reduced or reaching the anticipated speeds in the open sections?

Also I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, but with this line and fare validation being a much different animal than the short Union Sq spur, unless people don't validate, there will be some problematic lines at rush hour times.

We're never seeing interim fare gates, so I imagine fare validation is either a deterrent to riders (who would obey the validation), or is a direct hit to fare collection (those who decide to ride without validating).
 
AndrewOnTheMBTA said:
We're never seeing interim fare gates, so I imagine fare validation is either a deterrent to riders (who would obey the validation), or is a direct hit to fare collection (those who decide to ride without validating).
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I think it's unlikely that there'd be a significant deterrent to ridership from fare validation, because it'd have to be a pretty marginal gain in utility for the GL anyway over an alternative for that to be the deciding factor. More likely is that a bunch of those people would, upon encountering a difficult/frustrating/problematic validation experience, simply decline to do so, especially if their enforcement remains as poor as on the Union Square branch (and their ill-fated attempt at proof-of-payment on the surface branches fifteen or so years ago). I'd expect the second option (hit to fare collection) to be the more likely outcome...a nicely stupid legacy of Baker & Company's ill-considered cuts to the project.
 
AndrewOnTheMBTA said:
How is the speed along the line? Is it reduced or reaching the anticipated speeds in the open sections?
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North Station to Medford/Tufts took 17 minutes for me.

Aside from the Lechmere viaduct, the only slow zone I noticed was just to the south of East Somerville. Once you get past that, the trains are very speedy.
 
devnull said:
Yeah; the trains still slow to a crawl (10mph or so) to go over any switches (it is still the Green Line, after all), but for the longer straight stretches on the Medford Branch, we were hitting 40mph regularly
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What is with this slow zone BS? They've had more than enough time to get this running smoothly!!
And would you even believe that part of the GL on Comm. Ave is going to be closed again for so-called track work?! They were already there during the summer for the same thing!! :mad:
 
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I’m sorry we didn’t
1. organize an Archboston meetup
2. Advertise Archboston—lots of proto-urbanists riding even at 7:30pm ~ 8:30pm

Had a delightful/ deeply nerdy chat with a railfan 'cause I snagged the best seat for the head end view on a Type 8 inbound. He cited missing “Franks voice” and he knew there was only one Type 9 running :) We need more Archboston participants to be on a first name basis with Frank [Oglesby]

I did hear a re-cut Frank at Medford say “Green line trains depart every [7] to [13] minutes” and it was a real luxury to be able to wait on a warm train.

Also Medford has 2 public restrooms which I hope stay nice
 
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The fare validation was really awkward (and badly explained).
1) Go to fare "Vending" machine (it turns out it is also a fare-subtracting machine, but that isn't how any of us think of it)
2) Tap your card
3) At the lower left corner of a grid of all the usual "add value buttons" but the same size and color, there's a "validate fare" button. Very much hidden in plain sight, undifferentiated from the other buttons. Because I was transferring from the 80, I was offered a strange button where a $0.70 amount stood out, even if the text that said "Validate" didn't stand out.
4) poke that button
5) Did I tap again? I don't remember.
6) Then if you "miss" tapping at the FVMs, you're supposed to enter the front door of the cars and tap the farebox

As a result, nobody 'cept me was seen to pay a fare. I'd say 80% never even tried...expecting to be "asked" and 20% who seemed to hesitate/seek mostly went unhelped by environmental and UI cues (the FVMs don't have a big "Validate Here" look. I'd say I paid only because was determined to figure out how it worked, half from honesty, half as a student of UI/UX.

I judge the system is stupid-bad in all kinds of ways:
1) Why isn't there a big, brightly labelled tap target on either doorpost as you enter the station? Cheap, no screen, just a target, with a ping and maybe an LED (to be ADA )
2) Same for inside the trolley. Are/Arent there supposed to be tap targets at every door?
3) button on the Fare Vending Machine should look very different from the others. Its crazy to "hide" the Validate button among identical "buy" buttons having the same size, color ('cept validate has a smaller font)
4) FVM button should match the look of the physical tap targets Whatever logo / image / color / shape is used. Maybe a bright orange circle. Isn't the FVM just code? Can't you get me a circular Validate button among the rectangle-buy buttons?
 
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RandomWalk said:
I think they did an Apollo 13-style “Here is a box of parts that we have. How do we solve this problem?” project to work around Cubic’s schedule slip for AFC 2.0.
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Still, it is hard for me to believe that some unique/contrasting button color for "validate" wasn't in that kit of parts. [EDIT heck, as simple as reversing the button white-on-black would make it look the existing farebox targets AND be a clue that "validate" somehow has a function reversed from add-money-to card]

Barring that, I'd have attached a sign printed on corrugated plastic that said "Validate here. Tap, select [button image], and Tap Again" (or something easy as 1-2-3).
If candidates for State Rep and Catholic School Open Houses can use lawn sign technology, I'd hope the T could.
 
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I'm very curious to know if the GLX is providing tempoary traffic congestion relief in Charlestown during the PM rush hour. Whether we are seeing reduced traffic on I-93N in the Zakim Br. area, and the notorious North Washington Street Bridge in the northbound direction.

It was estimated the GLX would take 26,000 cars off the road, so if it is the case, it would be significant improvement.
 
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