The T

Last month, the MBTA announced a contest in which anyone could design what could be the next MBTA map.

Transit Maps has not one, but two contest submissions posted for our viewing pleasure. While no submissions have been officially heralded by the MBTA at this time, it is clear that some very talented cartographers are partaking in the festivities.

The MBTA had previously announced a deadline of April 30, 2013, however no mention of the contest has been made since the original announcement of the contest.

BFD response to mystery boom. Photo by Victoria Bedford.

Around 8:50 p.m., Boston firefighters and Transit Police rushed to the area of Arlington and Boylston streets after several people reported hearing a loud explosion. Cara Terez, sitting on the Rattlesnake roof deck, tweeted:

Loud LOUD explosion.

As a precaution, the T shut Green Line service as firefighters looked around on the street and in the station for the source of the boom, but they found nothing, an inbound Green Line driver reported the tunnel between Copley and Arlington was fine and service started up about 10 minutes later.

Brian D'Amico tweets police speculate a tour bus may have had an engine backfire or two.

The Boston Business Journal reports the Department of Transportation's Finance Committee this week approved a plan under which New Balance will build a new Worcester Line station near its impending new Brighton complex. The stop will be called Boston Landing.

Transit Police report a surveillance camera captured a man in the act of stealing a worker's T-Mobile Galaxy Note 2 phone out of a North Station information booth around 12:20 p.m. last Thursday.

They've posted a series of the photos in the hopes of tracking down the man, whom they describe as white, about 35, 5'5" to 5'7" with a heavy build. He was wearing a blue, long-sleeved shirt with a black and blue stripped tie and black pants and had a black backpack.

This guy tells WBZ he was only expressing his displeasure at the way the driver was driving.

Transit Police report arresting a Saugus man after he started choking a bus driver for no good reason they could tell and another passenger had to pull him off.

Police say Franco Contino rode a 426 bus from Haymarket in Boston to Saugus without incident last Wednesday afternoon.

But when the bus stopped on Lincoln Avenue to let passengers off, Contino erupted in fury and began cursing out the driver, Transit Police say:

Case in point:

Haverhill 213 10:30 AM OB experiencing 30-45 min delays due to residual delay 5/13/2013 11:46 AM

Are the people who write these things really that dumb? Oh wait, I guess that's a rhetorical question.

Transit Police say a Quincy woman learned Saturday it's also against the law to assault people selling food inside MBTA stations

Transit Police report Tina Drouin, 49, of Quincy, grew upset around 2 p.m. when she ordered a steak and cheese sub at the Nathan's Famous stand in the Quincy Center Red Line stop, because the worker allegedly loaded up her steak and cheese sub with too much "shit," specifically, too many pickles.

Police say that when the worker refused to refund Drouin's money, Drouin punched the worker in the face, then "pushed two large very heavy jars filled with pickles and pickle juice into the sub maker knocking her to the floor and shattering the jars."

Drouin, police say, then ran out of the station. But the worker decided she wasn't going to put up with Drouin's alleged shit and so got up and ran after her. Police say the worker caught up with Drouin on Hancock Street near City Hall and held her until Transit and Quincy police arrived. Police had to summon an ambulance to transport Drouin to a local hospital after she complained of neck pain.

Innocent, etc.

Arturo Gossage captured South Station in its Mother's Day finest.

Copyright Arturo Gossage. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

A man wound up on the tracks at Airport station around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday. The train operator managed to stop the train before hitting him. An MBTA spokesman declined to say how the man ended up on the tracks but said he was not seriously hurt (click to see a photo from the scene, forwarded by Heath - it's not gory, but could be disturbing).

Around 1 p.m. today, Jenn Martinelli reports:

A guy just fell on the tracks at Maverick Station right before the train arrived. 3 people jumped right down to help. The train was almost at the station and they just jumped right down and got him.

A somewhat stationary yet still roving UHub photographer noticed T workers dealing with a couple of Red Line cars that slipped off the rails in the Cabot yard around lunchtime:

All these T workers have just been standing around for the past 90 minutes while one guy saws away on something between the 2 cars. Do they think they're going to pick it up?

A T spokesman said the workers know what they're doing and figured out how to get the cars back on the tracks. He added that because the two cars were in the yard, they were not carrying any passengers and did not delay any service.

As I was riding by Oak Grove (on the commuter rail) on my way home earlier, I noted a change. One side of the platform is now closed off, complete with fake walls to block whatever's going on from view of the passengers.

Anybody have an idea as to what they are doing, and why they need to reduce the station capacity by fifty percent (both passengers and trains)to do it?

The T this week launches a PSA campaign aimed at getting bus riders to leave bus drivers alone. You wouldn't think people would need to be reminded that spitting at drivers is not OK, but recent evidence suggests there are quite a few people out there who think nothing of punching drivers, spitting at them and trying to pull drivers off buses for beatings.

In addition to the bus ads, loudspeakers across the T system will be carrying a message from Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan:

Assaulting an MBTA employee is against the law. Think twice before putting your hands on T staff. We will find you, arrest you and prosecute you.

The T adds it is seeking legislation to increase the penalties for people found guilty of attacking T employees.

The T is adding QR codes to its police cruisers so that people with iPhones or Android devices can QR themselves links to download the SeeSay app for reporting T trouble.

Wire problems mean bustitution between Riverside and Kenmore.

Get the handle fixed now, they implore.

It was only a couple of years ago that MIT fixed up the musical installation.

Via Boston Reddit.

Richard and Kim Donohue in the hospital. Photo via Transit Police.

Transit Police have posted an update from Officer Richard Donohue, injured in the Watertown firefight, that updates us on his condition, expresses his sadness over the loss of his friend and MIT officer Sean Collier and thanks all the cops, firefighters, doctors and nurses who helped save his life.

I am able to walk briefly through the use of a walker. My pain varies day to day and I still have a long road of rehab and recovery ahead, but I am optimistic I'll recover back to 100%. The bullet will remain in my leg as it is not obstructing anything or causing any pain. However my wife has informed me that the bullet will ultimately cause her the most pain, as I will be using it to get out of things such as mowing the lawn, doing laundry, and painting the deck.

Transit Police say a South Boston man was charged with disorderly conduct Friday after officers discovered him "train surfing" from the back of an inbound Red Line train in Quincy.

Police say they found Justin Green, 29, hanging onto the top roof rail from the rear of the train, as it was pulling out of North Quincy around 5:30 p.m. A witness then told police he had seen Green doing the same thing at Wollaston.

Police say Green objected to being charged because he has "a God given right to do anything he wants" and that the only person that would have been harmed was himself.

Police, however, say Green forced a halt in Red Line service while they got him off the train.

They add that in addition to disorderly conduct, Green was packaged into a cruiser for a ride to Transit Police headquarters because he was wanted for evading jury duty.

Innocent, etc.

The T begins express-train service between Worcester, Framingham and Boston next week that will shave roughly 23 minutes off a Worcester rider's trip.

A morning express train will leave Worcester at 6:20 a.m. each weekday, stop at Framingham at 7 a.m. and then pull into Back Bay at 7:37 a.m. and South Station at 7:43 a.m. In the afternoon, a train will leave South Station at 5:35 p.m. and Back Bay at 5:41 p.m. and pull into Framingham at 6:13 p.m. and Worcester at 6:43 p.m.

The state is planning to increase the total number of round trips on the Worcester Line to 20 by October.

MBTA cops with automatic weapons rushed into the Kendall Square Red Line station to pull some alleged fool off a Red Line train at lunchtime. A spokesman reports:

A customer reported that a man aboard a northbound Red Line train had made comments of a threatening nature. The train was held at Kendall while police investigated. The man was removed from the train and questioned by police.

A.P. Blake got a close-up look at one of the four new commuter-rail coaches that went into service yesterday. The MBTA is hoping a few dozen more of the delayed two-level cars will arrive later this year and be put into service by year's end, helping it increase commuter-rail capacity.

The T announced the news tonight.

Members of the MBTA SWAT team talked to CNN about the end of the stand off at the Watertown boat.

At 6:22, Miza reported:

Beware of blue line, 2 trains full dumped off at Suffolk Downs due to wire issues. No shuttles.

The T eventually did start shuttle service, using Silver Line buses, which, of course, led to delays on the Silver Line.

Although Copley station remained shut tonight, Alex Mellion notes:

The lights are on again at Copley! What an awesome thing to finally see!