Silver Line

Brendan Kearney notes the impressive social media integration on the Silver Line this morning.

CommonWealth reports not only is volume up on the Silver Line into the city - for which Massport says it will eventually pay so riders don't have to - but it's up on the Silver Line to the airport, for which people still have to pay.

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a woman they say stole a Silver Line inspector's bag, threw it into Fort Point Channel and then announced to officers that she couldn't help herself because she's a kleptomaniac.

Nyllabrii Raikou, 20, was arrested shortly after 10 p.m. yesterday on the Summer Street bridge - where they found her being pursued by the inspector. Police say the inspector arrived at the inspector's booth at the Silver Line platform at South Station to find Raikou inside:

Upon noticing the victim Raikou exited and began to walk away. The victim immediately went inside the booth and noticed his personal bag was missing containing his cell phone and other items as well as a MBTA radio battery.

Upon noticing the victim still following her and seeing the flashing blue lights of a Transit Police cruiser less then a block away Raikou tossed the victim's bag with all its contents into the Fort Point Chanel. Officers made several attempts to recover the bag however the currents were moving too swiftly.

Innocent, etc.

David notices Boston transportation services tend to be built in fives and then the powers that be eliminate one of them: There used to be five Green Line branches, five Silver Line routes and five terminals at Logan.

What's going on here? Do the planners have spooky Mickey Mouse hands? Does Boston overbuild then scale back? Shrinkage?

Going my way?

A concerned citizen complains about the way the city placed new trash receptacles at the Silver Line stop on Atlantic Avenue:

This Big Belly is right in front of the loading zone for SL4 at South Station. Very poorly sited. We love the BBs but they are street furniture that should be placed - not plunked - appropriately.

Stanley Staco reports it happened around 9:10 p.m. at Washington and East Newton streets.

UPDATE, Friday morning: The MBTA reports the driver was spit on, not pummeled, that one man was caught and that he will be summonsed into court.

Massport and the MBTA are teaming up on a three-month pilot project to provide free Silver Line rides from Logan to South Station.

Seems that when a big convention is in town, the MBTA runs special Silver Line service to the airport straight from the convention center, rather than making people carry their bags on that long walk to the nearest Silver Line stop and crowding onto a bus there.

Are you outraged? The Herald is, to the point of displacing its long-running Indian Joke of the Day series from the front page, which today features end-of-world fonts to accuse the T of stealing "all" its buses to service fat-cat conventioneers. Who, the Herald grudgingly admits, pay their fares just like rest of us - but only after the paper's crack investigative unit did some undercover surveillance:

On Friday, a Herald reporter and photographer observed people at the convention center paying regular fares to board the nonstop airport-bound Silver Line buses. The drivers did not take normal Silver Line routes or make any Silver Line stops before dropping passengers at Logan Airport. A driver said the buses provide conventioneers with rides to the airport. A bus tailed by the Herald did not follow the Silver Line’s dedicated bus route, instead driving directly to the Ted Williams Tunnel.

The horror!

Ed. derail question: Why is the convention center stop so far away from the convention center?

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a homeless man on charges he punched and spit in the face of a Silver Line driver who asked him to pay his fare.

Sean Stuart, 43, was arrested shortly after 10 a.m. at Washington Street and Massachusetts Avenue - after being pulled off the driver by several Boston Police officers, Transit Police say.

According to an MBTA Transit Police report:

WBZ reports Massport is expected to make a final decision on April 26 on a three-month pilot project.

The Metro reports on the incident, which happened at the scene of two collisions in the past three months caused by motorists running the lights.

The Metro posts a video of an Angry Silver Line Driver.

Earlier:
Angry Red Line Chick.

For the second time in three months, a driver ran a red light at D Street in South Boston and plowed into a Silver Line bus about to descend to World Trad Center, the MBTA reports. The driver, Adam Galarza of New Bedford, was cited for failing to stop at a red light and an expired inspection sticker after the 1:40 p.m. collision, the T says, adding nobody on the bus was injured.

Compare to December's crash at the same location.

These stats just in from the T for the South Boston end of the Silver Line for January through August:

• Total annual year-to-date ridership up 7.0% from 3,148,612 in 2010 to 3,368,580 in 2011.
• Average weekday ridership up 5.7% from 15,015 in 2010 to 15,877 in 2011.
• Average Saturday ridership up 67.3% from 5,550 in 2010 to 9,285 in 2011.
• Average Sunday ridership up 8.0% from 8,422 in 2010 to 9,098 in 2011.

A lot, a Suffolk professor writes.

The MBTA reports the driver of a Silver Line bus was taken to Tufts Medical Center with non-life-threatening "lacerations to the upper lip and eye area" after the attack around 3 p.m. at Washington and Kneeland streets The search for the suspect, who fled the scene, continues.

Rob V. checks in from the Other Coast:

I'm sitting in a terminal at LAX and wishing I was waiting for the Silver Line.

I hate the Silver Line.

I love my family in LA, but I hate this city so much that I wish I was on the Silver Line right now...

Dead Green Line train at Newton Highlands. Photo by Jenny Mackintosh.

Update, 8:10 a.m.: There's a dead train at Wollaston on the Red Line now.

Dead trains mean lengthy delays on the Green, Blue and Orange lines this morning; well, except the T is urging Orange Line riders to just forget it exists and seek alternate routes. Delays on the Silver Line to Design Center, too, due to a dead bus. Jennifer Musso tweeted from Oak Grove on the Orange Line:

Hundreds of people waiting for shuttle buses at OkGrv sub0 weather! Station worker says he's not answering "any more questions"

Commuter rail? How 'bout those 30-40 minute delays on the Worcester line? Erin Bowles checked in:

At Framingham, there was a woman on platform nearly in tears. Hoping she'll be OK, but there's no way she doesn't have frostbite.

Not that North Station lines were immune from problems. Matt Hrono tweeted:

T alerts failed. Haverhill 208 cancelled, people waiting in record cold for 45 mins, no alert. What gives? Safety issue much?

Big Red: Now 79% more strappy

A $3.4-million stimulus project will mean new glass walls at 14 Silver Line stops along Washington Street in Roxbury and the South End, all the better to retain the heat from the new overhead heaters, not to mention the amount of wind-whipped rain and snow hitting waiting riders.

Part of the money will also go to repair the asphalt in bus lanes and crosswalks along the route, the T says.

Meanwhile, the T says that as a result of a recent online survey, it's added more straps for riders to hang onto as they enjoy the extra non-seat roominess of Big Red cars: Each of the cars now has 50 straps, up from 28 before.

Signal troubles on the Green Line downtown, dead train at Eliot, roadway problems on the 5 Silver Line, dead train somewhere on the Red Line between JFK/UMass and Park Street, but at least the Orange and Blue lines are running OK.

Laura Vogel reports:

New record: door (North End) to door (Kendall Sq) travel time is 51 mins due to Red Line "delays." To be fair, it IS 2.6 miles.

Curse you, malfunctioning signals!

Dan Dunn reports a nearly hour-long ride from Davis to Kendall.

Hoppzor wonders why these signal problems so often occur when it rains:

every time it rains there are mbta signal problems at harvard or alewife. pretty sure these stations are underground.

Also, I probably only find the following funny because I'm sitting nice and dry inside: The T reports it has to divert some Silver Line service in South Boston because of a ship docking at the Black Falcon Pier and advises: "Passengers are encouraged to walk out to Dry Dock Ave. for bus service." Dry Dock Ave.? This morning? More like Wet Dock Ave., amirite?

The MBTA says new Silver Line 4 service will get riders from Dudley Station to South Station in 30 minutes, with the first, ceremonial, run scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

Buses are scheduled for every 10 minutes during rush hour and 15 minutes the rest of the day. T officials say federal stimulus money was used to get the service started.

The existing Dudley-to-Downtown-Crossing service is now SL5. SL3, which served part of the South Boston waterfront, was discontinued.

Kalunlee posts a photo of three Silver Line buses in the wild, all bunched together in a convoy; adds:

This is a typical occurrence-30+ min waiting & then 3 buses blow by.

Ed. note: It's hard to break them of this natural habit, which protects them in the wild from roaming packs of busiraptors.

$2.8-billion project cut from state wish list, Wicked Local Cambridge reports.

Also gone forever: The long-fabled Blue Line extension to Lynn, our own Arborway reports.

On the plus side: The Silver Line is still going to become an even longer bus route.

T workers weren't even done putting up a new map at Government Center when somebody rushed over to figure out how to get from A to B.

The MBTA today kicked off a two-year, $500,000 project to replace every single map at T stations. Download a hi-def copy of the new map (870k PDF).

Highlights: The updated maps show a new Sliver Line 4, which will provide direct service from Dudley to South Station starting next month (on surface roads; no, the T didn't build a secret tunnel), and, on the Green Line, riders will get to see which line actually goes all the way to Lechmere (the E) and which end before Lechmere: