So how's the first week gone?
It depends on who you ask. I've had some success but I had one bad snarfu on Thursday with the tunnel. I also didn't ride friday (day off).
But mornings its been pretty good. ~27-30 minutes as advertised. For me its about 40 minutes door to door, which is slightly less than my old way (111 or 116/117 to a subway like and a walk after), which was ~50-55 mins if I made my connections and walked fast)
I guess a good way to put it is "when it works, its great, but when it's bad, its very bad"
I got stuck in traffic Thursday afternoon in the tunnel going home, and I know people have complained about the bridge (as expected). I'm hoping over time we can all work together (residents. city, state, fed) to work out some of the kinks.
It's a nice service. Even in traffic, it's far better than the 111. (at least for me it is). With the 111, I'd get there, after a long walk, and waiting there with a sea of people for a single bus that pulls up. Then wait for god knows how long (20+ mins) trying to get from Haymarket to the onramp to the Tobin on said sardine canned bus.
The 111 itself can take up to 40 minutes or more sometimes, just in waiting and in traffic. So compare the 111 issues to the SL3's with it's own issues, the SL3 not too terrible by comparison. Especially since its a one seat ride vs a walk and/or few connections. That's really what is key here.
Even using the 116/117 and the BL wasn't any better before. Again typically 45-50 minutes door to door. But this was a bus, a train, and a 20 minute walk. So again, with the SL3 being a one seat ride, it comes out on top.
My only real complaint is just station location. I live off Central Ave, so until the walkway at Bellingham Sq is opened, Box District is the closest station to me. It's a 9 minute walk to Box District, vs a 3-6 minutes to nearby bus stops (6 minutes being the inbound 111, 116/117 bus stop, 3 being the 112 to Wood Island stop on Central Ave). Again not too far away, but still a walk. But again, trade off is one seat ride.
However, coming home this is appealing. Don't laugh, but I like that I walk by Family Dollar now every day (cheap groceries and cleaning products). And I do like that I can take a detour coming home and hit up Market Basket. Makes picking up a few things easier (vs going to Roche in DTX).
On a related note, Friday I went to Market Basket. I took the 114. Easier, and I had bottle return. I didn't bring my grocery cart (granny cart) because I was only getting a few things (and intended on taking the SL3 to Box District and stopping at Family Dollar). But it started to rain and I bought too many heavy items. So walking over to the SL3 then walking from Box District to my house just.... was too much in the rain and I was better off waiting for a 112 or 114. It was fine, I ate my cheeseburger and pot stickers I bought at the store while I waited.
Ironically, there were at least 30 or so people waiting under the overhang at the bus stop next to Market Basket. Sure some people were waiting for cabs (there were none), but many were waiting for the 114 or the 112. (and yes both were late due to the bridge). The irony is.. less than 500 feet away is a new rapid transit line, not one person there waiting, except for a MBTA official who was directing traffic. *shrug*
But I digress. Getting back to the the new service.
As far as ridership.. from what i can tell, it's building. Monday and Tuesday AM were sparse. Evenings were better. Thursday afternoon was the busiest I've seen so far, but then again people had been waiting for a SL3 for a while at WTC & Airport so it was pretty packed by the time we got to Chelsea.
But we'll see, it may take some time for service to build. I remember when the SL1 and SL2 opened, it took a bit. But also keep in mind that MassDOT on Friday released its first of many tobin bridge detours so the 111 is about to get screwed. So service may build after that.
And finally, I've been.. and going to, keep track of SL3 times for a bit to see how well it performs. I'm keeping them in a Google Sheet, If you'd like to see them you can
click here.
Let me know what you think!
