Derailed trolley. Photo by Steve Burns.
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The T
By adamg - 12/18/12 - 7:15 pm
The MBTA reports both new GM Beverly Scott and Charlie the T Mascot will be on hand at Forest Hills around 6 p.m. tomorrow to welcome a group of "church ladies" and kids for some old-fashioned caroling. The originally impromptu carolers were kicked out of the station yesterday because they didn't have a busking permit.
By adamg - 12/18/12 - 10:47 am
The MBTA forwards this photo from the Blue Line repair facility in Orient Heights, where workers have made a Christmas tree out of a "bolster rack" of trucks used to hold the axles of Blue Line cars.
By adamg - 12/18/12 - 8:16 am
On Alewife side of the Red Line at Downtown Crossing around 8 a.m., Rob Grover and Kaitlin Milliot report. Milliot reports cops were quickly on scene to deal with the guy, who started yelling at them, as the woman stood there crying.
By adamg - 12/17/12 - 7:19 pm
A group of "church ladies" and some kids were kicked out of the Forest Hills Orange Line station tonight when they started to sing Christmas carols without an official MBTA busking permit.
But after learning of the situation, T General Manager Beverly Scott, making one of the first executive decisions of her first day on the job, decided to invite them back, to a "suitable and safe" location.
Rev. Laura Everett, executive director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, reports what happened around 6:15 p.m.:
By JohnAKeith - 12/17/12 - 3:04 pm
A couple months ago, the Federal Transit Administration updated its National Transit Database to include data from 2011. Their database analyzes the country's major public transit systems in many ways, including by size, usage, and budget.
The NTD includes "Fare Recovery Ratios" for transit systems across the USA. This is the percentage that passengers pay - out of pocket - compared to what their rides actually cost.
The data is further broken down by system and within each, by mode of transportation - so, subway (light rail and heavy rail), but also commuter rail, bus, an boat rides.
Passengers in Boston and in Massachusetts pay wildly different percentages of real costs. (The data is from 2011, prior to the July 2012 fare increases.)
Heavy rail transit riders (Red Line, Blue Line, Orange Line) pay about half of what their rides actually cost, as do light rail users (Green Line). Commuter rail passengers pay about 44% of the cost of their rides.
Demand response users (which I believe means "The Ride", here in Boston) pay just 4.14% of the cost of their rides.
By adamg - 12/17/12 - 12:49 pm
MBTA Transit Police have posted a photo of a guy they say bashed the bishop at Beaconsfield on the evening of Dec. 3 while a woman looked on in shock from the other side of the tracks.
By adamg - 12/17/12 - 6:26 am
A Boston man suffered serious injuries when hit by an inbound Red Line train at North Quincy around 12:15 a.m., according to MBTA Transit Police, who report they are still investigating how he wound up on the tracks:
By adamg - 12/15/12 - 4:40 pm
MBTA Transit Police and EMTs converged on the Chinatown stop on the Orange Line around 4:30 p.m. after a man was stabbed in the upper torso on the inbound platform. A train that left the station shortly before police were notified of the stabbing was being held at Downtown Crossing, but one possible suspect was in custody.
By adamg - 12/14/12 - 10:02 pm
MBTA Transit Police report on an incident at 8:15 p.m.:
An Eastbound MBTA Fitchburg Line train struck a trespasser on Track 1 approximately 200 yards east of the Route 2 Bridge in Concord, MA. The person struck was pronounced deceased.
Police report the victim was a white woman, between roughly 18 and 22.
By adamg - 12/14/12 - 2:14 pm
Neil the roving UHub commuter e-mails this account:
Last night around 7:00pm I get off the Orange Line at DTX and see some frantic ~20 year old kid frantically running around and asking the janitorial staff questions.
I try to be helpful so as we're heading down to the Red Line southbound, I ask him what's wrong or if he needs directions.
He says, "Oh man, I just left my cat on the train!"
I ask if it was in a carrier.
Yes, he was bring in back from the vet's after being neutered.
By adamg - 12/14/12 - 8:53 am
Don't worry - the fire at Woodland around 8:30 a.m. was quickly extinguished, but it did jam things up on the outbound side.
By adamg - 12/14/12 - 8:42 am
Remarkable project, the Urban Ring. The Mission Hill Gazette reports on a quiet little meeting at BRA headquarters to kick off planning for a study on linking the Blue and Silver lines as part of the Urban Ring - the crosstown subway bus line the state nailed to its perch in 2009.
"The project is dormant," Read explained. "Like trees, it'll come back to life when the season is right."
By adamg - 12/13/12 - 7:07 am
Matthew provides notes from last evening's meeting on the need for a new Government Center T stop and how officials are planning to move people around when they lose the connection between the Blue and Green lines for two years.
Also see the UHub discussion on the work.
By adamg - 12/12/12 - 8:26 am
Today's MBTA tales of woe come from the Franklin Line, where "mechanical problems" caused big delays and major crowding:
Suzie Mac, an hour late for work, reports:
Stopped at Norwood Central and train too full to let passengers on! Left them on the platform!
State Rep. Dan Winslow, a regular on the line, adds:
We're crammed on like sardines on Franklin train. Three train routes combined on one @mbtaGM? Why ^ breakdowns?
By adamg - 12/12/12 - 6:21 am
Meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. at 100 Cambridge St. Details on the upgrade.
By adamg - 12/11/12 - 11:32 am
After 25 years, weekend passenger service to the Cape will start in April, Wicked Local reports. Trains will include cars outfitted for bicycles.
By adamg - 12/11/12 - 9:21 am
Becca Westelman tweets it took her Green Line trolley 35 minutes to get from Park Street to Arlington this morning.
At 1:30 this afternoon, city and state officials gather in Somerville to ceremonially dig the first shovel of dirt for the first phase of the long fabled Green Line extension north from Lechmere.
By adamg - 12/11/12 - 8:03 am
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?
By adamg - 12/10/12 - 4:12 pm
Outbound service on the Orange Line came to a halt around 4 this afternoon when a fight broke out on a train pulling into Ruggles. Suzi Mac tweets:
That was interesting. Witnessed a big fight at Ruggles on orange line. Busted the window of the subway car.
The train was taken out of service - after police pulled off any brawlers they could find.
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