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The year on the T: Weirdness

Bicyclist at Back BayThe T did its part to encourage bike riding in 2012.

On a big system like the T (several hundred thousand riders on a weekday), you'd expect a certain amount of weirdness. You'd be right. Some examples from 2012:

T police kicked out some well meaning but permitless carolers at Forest Hills; in one of her first executive decisions, new GM Beverly Scott agreed to let them back in - and joined in:

Charlie conducts carolers, including new MBTA GM Beverly Scott and State Rep. Byron Rushing.Charlie, Beverly Scott, State Rep. Byron Rushing at Forest Hills.

Five-Star-Day Guy transfered from the Red Line to the Orange Line.

The T inaugurated bananaphone service on the Green Line:

Bananphone

The Red Line countered with Banana Rastaman service.

A cat was lost, then found on the Red Line.

The Orange Line was delayed due to coffee.

An angry man confronted riders at Andrew with a plunger.

Strollercat happened. Then came Trainturtle:

Trainturtle

Charlie took a ride on a Swan Boat:

Charlie on the Swan Boat

The Red Line was delayed by the discovery of a mystery item - which turned out to be one of those gizmos Cambridge meter maids use to write tickets.

A woman whose car wound up on Green Line tracks on Beacon Street blamed her GPS.

Melinda Green provided proof that, yes, all those Sob Story people do collaborate:

Sob Story Guy and GalsPhoto by Melinda Green.

Nikki captured the painter at work on the Red Line:

Painter on the Red Line

A guy jogged down the Red Line tracks under South Boston.

The Fitchburg Line was delayed due to horse.

A man used a box cutter to slice open a lemon on the Red Line, then ate it.

Report from the MBTA Sweat Fest 2012.

That woman tried going up the escalator in her motorized wheelchair.

A bus rammed into a trailer for a Sandra Bullock movie in Dudley Square.

The Riverside Line was delayed due to turtle.

A bank robber without a car took the T instead.

The limber can always get a seat on the Green Line.

The finest hand-crafted subway map in the world made its appearance on the Red Line:

See the entire route map.See the entire route map.

A man rode the Blue Line with an iguana on his shoulder.

An alleged Green Line exhibitionist claimed jostling on the crowded trolley made his shorts fall off.

Some people on the Red Line are just trying to get a head.

Somebody with access to the MBTA Transit Police Twitter account tweeted he was bringing a 12-pack.

Say, we don't get many sax-playing luchadores on the Red Line.

A guy tried riding his bike up the escalator at Forest Hills, wound up spilling his coffee at the top.

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Comments

I saw that painter woman at Park Street a while back. She appears to have mental issues rather than being just some pretentious pseudo-artist looking for attention.

I also saw Sob Story guy on the Red Line the other night. I think he knows people are onto him. Part of his spiel is now "I've been doing this for a long time and I know people hate me".

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The MBTA carries on average 1.2-1.3 million a weekday.

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In which case you have to assume that the actual number of people is roughly half that (people going to and from work).

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Meh, I hear you Adam. Don't know if it works out to 50/50, though.

By interesting comparison, Atlanta's MARTA carries 470,000 per weekday and is the 9th largest transit system.

http://www.grta.org/cur_reg_tran.php

wiki says we rank 4th in rapid transit [subway/metro] usage after NY,Washington DC and Chicago. S.F. is 5th. BUT, IT DIDN'T INCLUDE THE GREEN LINE, only the other 3 lines. Boston also has a huge commuter rail network. I know in S.F. BART operates like a commuter train network, similar to metro north. D.C. metro also goes way out into suburbs.

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