MBTA Transit Police report arresting William Gwiazda, 33, on charges he went up to an undercover cop at the South Station bus terminal around 7:30 p.m. yesterday, started chatting him up, then offered to sell him some methadone:
Ultimately Gwiazda did indeed sell the detective Methadone, a Controlled Class B substance as defined by Massachusetts General Law. In addition to the methadone Gwiazda sold to the UC he was also in possession of additional Methadone he was offering for sale.
What do you make of this, Johnny? Trains on the Orange, Green and Blue lines slowed due to a power problem the T has yet to identify. Officials report power had come back at several locations by 1:45 p.m., however. The Blue Line was reported back up and running about five minutes after that.
And both wind up under arrest, MBTA Transit Police report.
Police say officers arrived at Back Bay station around 9:30 p.m. yesterday to find two men brawling. After officers separated them, police say, each accused the other of starting the fight. Neither, however, wanted to press charges agains the other, police say, adding:
As it now does at the end of every year, the MBTA is warning it will have to cut service and raise fares without action by the legislature to give it more money for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
MBTA Transit Police are looking for five teens for attacking a disabled 16-year-old outside the CharlieCard store at Downtown Crossing around 4:20 p.m. today. If caught, they'll be facing charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon - a shod foot.
The victim declined medical attention and was escorted to his Orange Line train. According to police, he got off an Ashmont train and was heading to the Orange Line when he was set upon.
The MBTA reports ridership increased again in November, by 1.3% over the previous year's figures. Average weekday ridership was 1.3 million, the T says.
Carey Shockey shows off his rendition of the Red Line at the Andrew-JFK/UMass tunnel, done a year ago at Karma Tattoo in Somerville. He explains he used to live in the Polish Triangle in Dorchester.
He joins Dot rat Adam Myerson, who has the Ashmont line on his leg (more).
WBZ interviews the driver of the trolley that was stopped at Boylston when another train plowed into his on Nov. 29. The other driver, coming off an eight-hour overnight shift at another job, was fired.
MBTA Transit Police report a Red Line rider and her cash were reunited this holiday season thanks to an honest fellow passenger.
Last Friday afternoon, police say, a guy on his way into town who was about to sit down at JFK/UMass started to move what he thought was some trash on the seat:
Didn't think so. As one rider put it:
At Davis starting at an Alewife train sitting in the tunnel. MBTA you sure know how to suck the happy out of a morning.
MBTA Transit Police report arresting John Wintersteiner, 30, of Newton, on charges he masturbated at the Beaconsfield Green Line stop earlier this month to the shock of a woman on the other side of the tracks.
Wintersteiner, whom police said was dimed out via the T's anonymous tip line, will be arraigned in Brookline District Court today on a charge of open and gross lewdness, following his arrest at his home this morning.
Innocent, etc.
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.
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.
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.
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.:
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.
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