New Blue line cars.

If I lived on the Green Line, I'd take the Blue Line to the airport. Since I live on the Red Line, I take the Silver Line.
 
czsz said:
Do people even take the Blue Line to the airport anymore now that the Silver Line circles the terminals directly?

Not that the Silver Line trolleyvan is the most comfortable conveyance for people with large pieces of luggage...
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Every time I take the blue line, its full of airport people. Its the best option when coming from the green line or orange line
 
Ach, right. I've become so Red Line-centric.
 
I live in Dedham and travel for work (~ 200 flights of year in and out of Logan).

Honestly, while the Silver is convenient and fairly frequent. There are a three reasons why I prefer the Blue Line:

1. The exercise of walking from S. Station to either State or Aquarium (I seldom have move luggage than a backpack and watching the progress of the various projects along the greenway is entertaining). Though =his walk can be a drag in the rain or during temperature extremes.

2. Time-wise, there is not a major difference between the two different lines to get from Logan to S. Station. One average, the Silver seems to be faster, though if you are getting on the Silver Line at Terminal A or B around the busier times for the airport, it seems to take an eternity just to get off the airport property as each Silver Line bus makes the entire circuit of all terminals while the Massport shuttle busses that run between the Blue Line Airport Station and the terminals will split (A/B, C/E) during the busiest times. The same situation exists if you are arriving at the airport during a busy time and are flying out of Terminals C or E, it can take an eternity to get over there.

3. During the busy times mentioned above, it is a clusterfu*k getting on to and off of the Silver Line busses. Far worse and a lot more time consuming than getting on and off a Blue Line Car during a busy period for it. The fact that just about everyone has luggage (save for the airport employees who use it), that you can typically only enter through the single front door by the driver so riders can pay, and that the configuration of the inside of the busses is very narrow all conspire to make this process tend to be a very drawn out and laborious one.

Actually, on an abstractly-related note, the water shuttle is by far my favorite method to get between Logan and S. Station. The views are outstanding, they have never been crowded, and time-wise it is comprable to the subway and bus.

On the down side, it is more money (10.00 plus tip, credit cards are accepted but it is something of a pain in the ass to pay this way) relative to a subway fare and montly passes for the Commuter Rail (which do work for the subway) do not work for the water shuttle. Also, if the weather sucks, it is not as fun of a ride.
 
You fly 200 times a year!? You should move to Winthrop!
 
Actually, I tried to convince my wife that we should move to some of the new development in Eastie (the Porter Sqaure Lofts, for example), or any place closer to Logan . . . unfortunately she wasn't about to budge--she figures living in a town that borders Boston is close enough.
 
The development is called Porter 156 (its a factory converted to condos 3 years ago that is at 156 Porter Street). Central Square in Eastie is the intersection of Bennington, Meridien and Porter Streets. The Liberty Plaza shopping center there is a prime candidate for redevelopment in some future business cycle, as a strip mall is probably not the best use of a waterfront location with views out to Charlestown and downtown.
 
Although the grocery store is essential, and needs to remain or be replaced in some form.
 
The Shaw's at that location is "new construction" (circa 1998); the remainder of the plaza (owned by the Lombardo family) is bustling, trash-strewn, and anti-urban. There's a McDonalds, Blockbuster, Payless, AJ Wright's (the stuff that fell on the floor at TJ Maxx), a "Ptomaine Pagoda" restaurant, Radio Shack, CVS, Kappy's, and Papa Ginos. In short, down-market.

I say bring on the condos. You could fit at least 2 MacAllen Buildings on this site.
 
The form of that plaza is anti-urban, but I'm sure the neighborhood would not appreciate having most of that commercial activity displaced by condos. (It would not be "bustling" if people didn't use it.) Better to find a way to rework it into a mixed-use development.

Porter Square in Cambridge also has a Shaw's, a Blockbuster, a liquor store, a CVS, a Radio Shack, and a chain pizza place (Uno's rather than Papa Gino's); I would not call it downmarket.
 
Keep all the same businesses. Just move them up so they front the sidewalk and park along Border Street. Put residential above it and behind it (fronting the harborwalk) and slot the parking in between somewhere.
 
The low-quality, chain-centric retail selections at the plaza are also anti-urban. The dirty, shopworn vibe make it unpleasantly down-market.

To be fair, I'm at the Porter Square location you mention more often than the Liberty Plaza, and in general, the retail offerings in Porter Square are more white- than blue-collar.
 
Finally got a ride on one of the new cars. They're more Yugo than Caddy, to say the least, Spartan in their appointments (hard plastic seats, no luggage racks). The fit and finish is all hard-resin plastics, optimized to resist vandalism and be forgiving of the T's traditionally lackadaisical maintenance program.

They're cleaner and brighter than the Series 06XX cars (Hawker Siddeley), and are the same dimensions (sizing up wasn't an option because of the Bowdoin loop). Interestingly, the windows on the new cars are smaller, and as a result, the cars feel smaller.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to miss the 30-year-old rust buckets, but all in all, this is a disappointment.

Any one else have impressions on these?
 
From today's Globe...

Slip sliding away on the Blue Line

By Noah Bierman
Globe Staff / June 6, 2008

Sandra Deden has contorted her body in every conceivable position while riding to work on the MBTA's new Blue Line cars: back straight, back arched, feet flat, legs crossed, and several combinations in between.

more stories like this"Today, I was sitting straight, and I just rested the top of my back on the seat," she said. "I was literally doing a yoga sit."

Deden, a 42-year-old commuter from Revere, said she is making these extraordinary efforts not only to guard against back pain, but to avoid slipping into her neighbors' laps when the subway car comes to an abrupt stop.

The reason behind her poses: the dark blue seats on the line's new $1.8 million subway cars.

Unlike the soft vinyl seats on older model subway cars, these are rigid, made of fiberglass, with a contour that makes little effort to conform to the spine.

As a result, many passengers have found themselves alternately fidgeting and slipping since the T began introducing the cars in February. Twelve are now in service and all 94 are scheduled to be online by the end of next year.

This is not to say that the new trains are without advocates. Some passengers said they look forward to catching one of the new cars, with their new-subway-car smell, the modern digital display, and not-yet-sticky floors. Some even like the seats.

"I love it," said Marie DeLorenzo, 84, of East Boston. "I find them wider."

The new seats are, in fact, wider than the older ones by 2 inches, allowing more distance between riders. But there are fewer seats per car, 35 compared with 42 on the old models.

It is also easier to spot if someone has spilled coffee on the new seats because, unlike in the old models, the material is impervious and does not soak up the evidence. And it is harder to vandalize the seats because there is no fabric to cut.

But one train operator, who declined to give his name because the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority does not allow its employees to talk with reporters, conceded that many passengers are, in fact, slipping.

"Some people do have that problem," he said with a laugh before zipping to the turnaround at the Wonderland stop.

A ride on the new Blue Line cars this week revealed what appeared to be a higher percentage of seated passengers clutching the metal poles than on other lines.

"I hadn't slid out on the floor, but I do find myself sliding," said Mark Melcher, a 41-year-old construction worker from Lynn. "Some older people, they can't handle the abrupt stop."

Melcher suspects the brakes are also at fault. "They're very abrupt," he said. "I've seen a couple of people fall."

Robert Harding, a 19-year-old who just graduated from high school, said he loves the look of the new trains, but can't stand the seats. The cushion on the old soft vinyl seats cups the passenger's backside, he said, while these have no traction.

more stories like this"When I do start slipping, I just hold onto the rails," Harding said.

Katherine DiFillippo, 20, took an old train in the morning, on her way to see her parents in Marblehead. The seat was so soft it cradled her to sleep. No such luck on the trip back toward Mission Hill, aboard a new-model car.

"They remind me of the bus," she said. "If the seats were different, I wouldn't have a problem with it. It seems like the air quality's a lot better, the lighting."

Sitting across from her, Ron Wilburn begged to differ. The 65-year-old Revere retiree has seen too many young people try to vandalize the old seats.

"The kids, they do a job on these seats," he said. "I have to tell 'em: 'Don't write on these seats, don't carve on these seats.' Because it comes back to the taxpayer."

The MBTA has received seven complaints about the seats since the first Blue Line cars were introduced in February, said Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the MBTA. Some riders also complained about jarring stops.

Pesaturo said that MBTA workers may modify the seats, if they can figure out a quick and cheap fix to give the surfaces better traction. "They're looking into whether there is some type of nonskid material that our own vehicle staff here at the car house could apply quickly," he said.

But new seats altogether? It's not an option, Pesaturo said. There are no plans to ask the manufacturer, Siemens AG, for any changes. The ride, he added, is getting smoother as T operators grow more accustomed to the new equipment.

"We firmly believe that the small number of complaints that have come in are the result of the seats being different - not uncomfortable or not suitable - and that customers will get used to them," he said.

Deden, however, said the seats need more than new material; they need a new design, with a better curve.

"I just want to sit," she said. "I don't want to have to pay attention to my posture."

But said Wilburn, a fellow Blue Line rider: "If that's your only complaint, don't worry. You're not riding in your living room."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/06/slip_sliding_away_on_the_blue_line/
 
Where the T's concerned, it never feels good to be right...
 
what a dumb article. The new buses are the same way. suck it up
 
Suffolk 83 said:
what a dumb article.
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Maybe, but I have seen a couple of older folks slide around on them. The finishes, though new, look cheap.

My main disappointment is that these new trains don't have luggage racks for people going to Logan. Even if they put them in one car per train-set (two cars when they go to six-car trains), it would make a difference.
 
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