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I'm meeting somebody from Pittsfield. Can you tell me if the bus has gotten in yet?

Car where it doesn't belong at South Station bus terminal

Ari Ofsevit was on a bus in the South Station bus terminal that wasn't able to move this evening because somebody had driven a car into the bus area.

Steve Timmins reports:

Not uncommon at all. Some people don't understand that the access ramp from I-90 westbound is for buses only.

Earlier:
Excuse me, is this Hahvahd Yahd? We want to pahk our cah.

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Comments

Not clear (from what was reported) that the ramp from 90 westbound had anything to do with it.

The primary problem is they ignored the signs at the top of the ramp that say PARKING LOT KEEP RIGHT and BUSES ONLY KEEP LEFT. Drivers can get to that point entirely legally from the expressway or the local street.

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if you are unfamiliar with where you are driving. You don't realize you need to change lanes until it's too late to safely do so or you're blocked by other cars, your GPS Navigation told you to stay in that lane and you didn't see that it turned into bus only until it was too late, something else requiring your full attention was going on on the roadway when you were passing the signs, etc.

I've had this problem in other cities, particularly with Google Maps Navigation screwing up the directionality of one way streets, confusing alleys with roadways, and not noting if an intersection has no right/no left turns. I report them to Maps Help when I get home, but it takes weeks for the mistake to be corrected on the map.

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If you know that you are going into an urban area, take the time to preview the route and use that newfangled street view thing before you even get in the car.

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yaomingmeme.jpg surely, you must be joking?

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for real! I had never heard of car parking at the bus station while my friend kept telling me we could park there overnight, so I went on google streetview and sure enough you can go right up the ramp digitally.

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I'll rate this signage 6 out of 10: https://goo.gl/maps/Ed8brF8mjLF2

"Buses Only" is pretty clear. But rules are supposed to be on a white background, while green is for street names and destinations. And some advance notice would be nice.

The "do not enter" signs just add to the confusion, since they don't distinguish between going the wrong way on a one-way and a road that some vehicles can use but not others. And the fine print says "MBTA Buses Only", even though no MBTA buses serve the bus terminal.

Likewise all the "no thru traffic" signs. They're useless. There's nowhere to drive thru to -- the parking lot or bus terminal is the end of the road. And if someone was looking for a shortcut and needed dissuading, these signs are too late, since there's no other way to go at this point.

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This guy storrows trucks in his or her working life.

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You see a lot of box truck drivers with a BMW as their daily driver?

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Especially when they are 10+ years old and you do your own mods.

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Do we really have to point out to the bad guys that the Transit Police cannot secure the bus terminal.

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anyone can access the bus terminal from the street or via South Station.

If the "bad guys" want to do bad business, all they have to do is walk into the building.

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The terminal is well secured against the existential threat of moms taking pictures of their children before boarding buses for an NYC adventure.

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