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Why is the T subsidizing Tufts' marketing effort?

By adamg on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 10:01am

The MBTA is about to embark on an expensive, time-consuming effort to change New England Medical Center to Tufts Medical Center on all its maps and at the station itself. Although the T has asked Tufts to help pay for the work, Steve Garfield doesn't get it:

Why add the Tufts branding to the T signs? If they want to purchase naming rights, have them pay.

Otherwise, just get some white paint and white stickers and change the name from New England Medical Center to Medical Center.

Like on this map on the Orange Line at Downtown Crossing? Maybe they could apply some of that white paint to the Arborway line while they're at it.

Arborway line?
Neighborhoods: 
Chinatown
Topics: 
The T
Free tagging: 
Tufts University
New England Medical Center
Orange Line


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Comments

By Arborway on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 10:31am.

"This is a little more complicated," he said of the New England Medical Center stop. "For Hynes/ICA, the name change was really more of a name reduction, and only involved eliminating or obscuring three letters. The Orange Line revision, however, entails substituting one name for another."

Then:

A: Change it to "Medical Center"

OR

B: Change it to something not dependent on corporate whims.

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By John K on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 11:22am.

Right, like why didn't they just leave "Auditorium" Auditorium?

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By Ron Newman on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 11:45am.

The Hynes Convention Center replaced the Hynes Auditorium on the same spot.

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By John K on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 6:04pm.

Yes, Ron, that's true. But, irrelevant to my point.

What subway stops are called doesn't matter to most people, I think. You could call them stops "A" "B" "C" or "THX1138" if you wanted. Once you know the system, you get off where you get off.

And, tourists go by directions given to them by locals or on maps.

People seem to find Fenway Park pretty easily without going to the "Fenway" stop (since that's not where the vast majority get off, anyway).

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By Ron Newman on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 11:43am.

Problem is, if you change the name to just Medical Center, people will go there looking for Mass. General, or for the Longwood Medical Area, or especially for Boston Medical Center which is a dfferent institution a mile and a half away.

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By pierce on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 1:29pm.

I wonder if that is true. Do people go to the generically named Museum stop on the E-line for the Fogg, ICA, Children's museum or any of the other many museums that are not located there? Do tourists go to the Harvard Ave stop looking for the University? Do Northeastern freshman accidentally go to the Community College stop? (Zing!!) Seriously though, there are several community colleges in Boston. I don't think this alarmism is accurate

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By Ron Newman on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 8:13pm.

Isn't the stop called "Museum of Fine Arts"? At least I think it used to have that name.

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By stephencaldwell on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 9:03pm.

Yes it is.

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By pierce on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 10:32pm.

Yeah I stand corrected. Though in sifting through google results, i think that may be a newer thing. On all older maps that I have found (pre handicap symbol and pre uglification of the font with two different sizes of capitals) its just listed as "museum". I haven't been here long enough for that to make a difference, but since 75% of the trains still have maps with "arborway" on them, its fair to think I may have seen it on those.

still though, nobody is getting off at Community College looking for Roxbury CC, or getting off at Courthouse for jury duty in Dorchester.

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By anon on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 7:12pm.

Suffolk Downs and Wonderland don't seem to attract this kind of hatin'. What's up?

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By Gary McGath on Sun, 04/27/2008 - 8:41am.

It's worth it to have subways that boast "Wonderland" as their destination signs as they go into the tunnel.

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By Arborway on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 11:44pm.

Spotted at Davis

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By Shane Curcuru on Sun, 04/27/2008 - 7:52am.

That would be a huge benfit to Tufts, having a second subway line even closer to their campus. I bet they'd be interested in that. It'd also save some money now, rather than having to repaint everything all over again in a few years - plus, it would make for great jokes in the meantime.

That, or just stick on white stickers on all the stops saying "Next to Chinatown", if we want to pander to the Dim Sum tourists.

Activist site about green line extensions: http://www.medfordgreenline.org/

Site about maps of all the proposed T and commuter rail etc. extensions: http://futurembta.com/

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