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Cell service coming to all T stops, tunnels, but not all cell users will have coverage
By adamg on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 8:54am
The Daily Free Press reports the company that's built cell antennas along the Red and Orange lines is extending the service to the underground portions of the Green and Blue lines.
Whether you can actually take advantage of that depends on whether your carrier has signed a contract with the company. AT&T and T-Mobile, for example, will have systemwide coverage; Verizon has only signed a contract for four downtown stations, the Globe reports.
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Comments
Thank God for that
Every time I'm on the subway, I see a few wretched souls reduced to reading books or thinking for entertainment, because they're not able to hear me calling everyone I know to tell them I'm on the subway and am on my way to meet them. About time they fixed that.
OR
Some of us wretched soulds have to connect with busses after our underground subway ride and it would be nice to be able to check out nextbus or catch the T a few minutes before arriving at the connection so I know if I should run for it.
Can you use the phone quietly?
Great! Most people can't!
Some of us
Some of us know if we will catch the bus, or unfortunately miss it, WITHOUT the aid of "nextbus", just by familiarizing ourself with the schedule, in conjunction with knowing the vagaries of the T when it comes to following schedules, and allowing for the margin of error. Works like a charm. I feel sorry for people who cannot function without these irrelevant devices that clutter up one's life.
oh good
you can be the sorry sap that I see who's been waiting for 20 minutes in the snow and wind because the schedule said a bus was coming, but is late.
I'll walk up besides you all nice, fresh and warm because I know the bus is coming in 3 minutes...
PS - I take it you've never used NextBus. So don't knock it before before you used it. I can guarantee once you use it, you'll stop looking at paper schedules, and wondered how you rode the bus without it.
Lucky You
You must not take an express bus - or a bus that you have to leave on foot to catch before it starts the route ... i.e. before it appears to exist on NextBus.
Those can be half an hour late, but I don't know that at the time that I would have to leave home or leave work to catch the next one.
Oh, bite me
I used to frequent several buses to the point where I basically knew when one would be passing my stops, but even the most seasoned bus users with great memories sometimes take unfamiliar buses or take familiar buses from unfamiliar stops.
That's great for you
Other irrelevant devices I hope do not clutter your household:
A television
Computer
Phone of any sort
Car or bicycle
refrigeration
stove
microwave
books
radio
iphone/blackberry/zach morris phone
How about you let me decide how I want to use technology.
With the possible exception of a
two-way radio, none of the devices you listed will improve the frequency or reliability of the trains and buses - which is the real problem that needs to be addressed. And, more importantly, you and everybody else who's become so "tech happy" should wake up and realize that transit systems have gotten along very nicely without any of those devices for decades.
It's time we recognize mangement's gimmicks like wiring the subway tunnels for cell service (if you chose the right carrier) for what they are - CHEEZY GIMMICKS. And until we start calling the MBTA's bluff and demand REAL SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS everytime they try to pull the wool over the passengers eyes with this stuff, they will not make any effort to do things that actually improve the transportation service we are supposed to be paying for with our fares and tax dollars.
And, for those you who will argue the "non-fare revenue" angle, please explain why management is satisfied with using an outside vendor to wire the tunnes and set up the contracts, and thus getting only a small cut of the profits, instead of wiring the tunnels themselves and negotiating directly with the cell companies.
In other civilized places,
In other civilized places, the stops have signage that tells you when the next bus / train is coming, and is pretty accurate, too. Wasn't that the whole point of putting up the "new" LED signs and GPSs in busses?
Schedules Change
Not everyone has people doing all their shopping and other errands for them while they go to work and back.
Not every bus stays on the same schedule all year.
Or . . .
The T could parlay some of its technology funding into (functional, non-experimental) countdown timers at stops and stations--great for all, not just people with Smartphones*. Wishful thinking, I know. I think I'll see electric multiple-units on the Fairmount line sooner.
*I own a Smartphone and use Boston Bus Map. I agree that the T and other organizations need to "stay current" and provide for Smartphone technology, but it has already become the "haves" versus "have-nots:" plenty of cell phone users don't have Smartphones; and plenty of older folks don't have a cell phone, period, to even call the customer service line.
Get some facts before ranting
NextBus didn't cost the 'T a dime. They opened the data feed that already existed to external sources. That's an easy and free win for passengers. Installing signs at every station requires infrastructure investment, and while I disagree with the notion that the Orange Line cars are desperately obsolete, I'd rather see capital expenditures go toward track and rolling stock than bells and whistles. Yes, not everybody has a smartphone, but they are no worse off than they were before.
Nextbus can be used via text messaging
The smartphone version is more convenient, but simpler interaces are available (including a text messaging one).
Cool, didn't know that
And just about everybody in Boston has a cell phone.
You just need to look up online...
... the code Nextbus uses for your stop and the way to send the text message.
Wrong source of funding
The T isn't paying for this at all. An outside company has installed the infrastructure and is selling access to the cell companies. SO in fact, it made money for the T and added service for passengers.
Text message notifications
Text message notifications are free.
And theres a free 800 number as well for payphone users
Tell me more
Please share with your fellow passengers how exciting last night's sitcom was; gossip about which of your co-workers is shtupping whom; describe in detail your amorous activity of the night before. When loudly sharing the details of daily life via a cell phone in a crowded subway do not leave out any details. If we must hear your blather please kindly make it interesting.
But this will provide me with more occasions to read aloud. When someone sitting next to me needs to share their pearls via a cell phone I like to share with them the pearls of wisdom gleaned from what I am reading.
It's a strange irony that I like the loud racket created by subways. At least that drowns out the drone of a rider who thinks the subway car is his personal phone booth.
That's nice...but...
Do they plan to actually finish the work on the Red Line? The wording in the article is rather vague. My impression is that they only plan to cover Boston and not Cambridge.
Did you read the whole article?
"By the end of 2012, service is expected to reach the remaining untapped areas along the Red Line between Kendall and Alewife stations and between Shawmut and Ashmont stations as well as inside the Prudential and Symphony stations on the Green Line’s E branch, the communications company’s executive said."
Oh hm
There's actually two articles linked. I only saw and read the first, so my answer is...yes and no?
Great, now why don't they
Great, now why don't they take it one step further by joining the 21st century and offering wifi or 3g/4g.
30 Year old trains on Orange line
and you want money spent so you can browse Huffington post? God forbid you spend 20 minutes without internet access.
The two are not related
In fact, the company wiring the tunnels pays rent to the T for the privilege (which is why, I guess, Verizon isn't jumping onboard - they don't want to pay).
Nah, they'd rather make more
As Adam just pointed out, they'd rather profit from the cell installation so they can upgrade the orange line faster. And let's be serious, does the orange line really need new trains? Nah, they seem to work just fine.
In the context of the Orange
In the context of the Orange Line is FINE similar to FUBAR?
let's be serious
what is WRONG with the current trains?
98% of the time they run. I'd have some mechanical issues too if I ran for 18 hours a day, 365 days a year, for the past 30 some odd years.
If you still think this is a problem, please snap a photo of ANY automobile that is still on the road from 1980 and upload it here. I'm sure you won't find one...
Seriously folks, the trains run well for being 30 years old.
(and sorry, interiors don't matter, you're on that train for all of a few minutes daily, as long as your fanny has a place to sit, the HVAC works, its well lit, and it keeps you dry in the rain/snow, what else is there?)
True, plus the R32s are at least 15 years older
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R32_%28New_York_City_...
The MBTA is getting it's money worth out of the 01200/01300-series Hawker Siddeleys. The Boeing LRVs on the other hand . . .
FUBAR? I'm a red/orange
FUBAR? I'm a red/orange commuter. I prefer the orange line by far. The red line cars might look nicer on the inside, but they're always the ones with half a broken door or some middle cars out of service with the lights off. Not to mention, they always get stuck between Harvard and Porter.
Orange/Red really is opposite of Red/Orange
I prefer the Red over the Orange. AC on the Orange Line in the morning is barely noticeable while Red cars are nice and chilly. Orange cars match the Red in cars out of service. Difference is that the Orange dead, as opposed to the Red dead, cars are usually at the ends. Only half a door opening is common to both lines. The Red line is 1 up on the Orange line for trains breaking down between stations. But the Orange line probably has more express trains during the afternoon rush hour (i.e., great for anyone riding to Forest Hills but more waiting than riding for everyone else).
All in all though I realize the Red line is probably winning the worst trains race. At least there is a bright Blue spot on the heavy rail horizon with the new Blue cars. Bottom line though is that our subway system is a levy that is leaking. While holes are filled the foundation is eroding. Two major lines are breaking down and the financial foundation of the system can't keep up with servicing obscene debt and overdue maintenance.
I can't help but wonder why legislators are sticking their heads in the sand over this? The biggest issue in the Statehouse seems to be about casinos. I don't see casinos providing more than low wage service jobs and a pipeline for money to leave the local economy. But what is needed is to make the transportation system something that can be envied. That communicates that the Commonwealth takes seriously the maintenance of a fundamental component of public infrastructure. Continuing to play the avoidance game signals that Commonwealth legislative government is incompetent.