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Nothing beats a B trolley
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Comments
That happens a lot on the E
That happens a lot on the E line in the morning, we get bumped off usually at Copley or Prudential to express it to Brigham... I'm curious how long she had to wait for the next train. Usually they express it if there's one right behind it.
Some things never change
I lived in Allston in 99-01 and the B line was always a disaster. When a train rolled into the station, it was one of the other ones. When a B rolled in, it was packed to the gills. I'm sure it's even worse now that taking the T is fashionable!
rofl...
Murphy's law on the T!
They probably did this
They probably did this because you could take the faster 57 to BU stops
Bus Diversions are fast
Even with traffic, don't bus diversions on the B Line seem to be faster than the trolley? I know the logistics might make it too difficult to do, but would it be better to replace the tracks with a lane and run trackless trolleys (electric buses powered by overhead wires) where the Green Line is now instead? And, by creating a bus-only lane (like the Silver Line), it would be there to help move traffic in emergencies. Just a thought to ponder.
Hold your tongue
If anything, the B line should be going the OTHER way. More priority over the lights, less dependence on traffic issues, less stops than the bus that parallels it between Kenmore and Packard's Corner...
If you want radical ideas, let's elevate the track to get it above the street hustle...or bury it so that the subway actually runs out to BC. Turning it into a glorified bus is no option.
Boston has to really start considering how to sink some MAJOR money into expanding and improving the high-speed public transit infrastructure so that we're not caught with our pants down from 2020 onward and elbow-deep in buses everywhere.
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Bth ithfth ah hode mah dunthg ith thundth thunnthee!
Stooge Quote
Moe: Hold your tongue!
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Suldog
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good and bad ideas
To submerge or elevate the tracks would cost too much. But, the other ideas (fewer stops and/or to have an approaching trolley trigger the green light) would be more feasible, cost close to nothing, and would probably speed thing up a lot. Good thinking Kaz,
Said it before...
...and I'll say it again: the first thing the T needs to do is close Blandford, BU Central, St. Paul and Babcock. Cutting the number of stops between Kenmore and Packards Corner in half would speed the train immensely and won't inconvenience anyone because if anyone is so lazy that they can't walk an extra 300 feet, they can take the frickin' 57 bus.
Also the BUS
If they don't like the 57, they can also take the BUS (Boston University Shuttle). It's supposed to only be for students, BUMC employees, etc, but they hardly monitor who rides.
It stops at Agganis, BU West, BU Central, and Blandford before heading off to Symphony and BUMC. On the return trip, it stops at Symphony, a BU building near Beacon and Mass Ave, Blandford, BU Central, BU West, and finally Agganis again.
By the way, if even the BUS doesn't think BU East is important, then why does the T? Between Blandford and BU East, one of them needs to go for sure.
Why the B Line is so slow
You seem to misunderstand why the B is so slow. The trains are perfectly capable of traveling far more quickly than they do, but the B is bogged down by the number of frequent stops it must make. While the 57 has a decent number as well, there isn't a guarantee that someone will be standing and waiting at each and every stop along the way as there is with the B.
The 57 also lacks the massive number of passengers waiting on the platform for the chance to ride one or two stops down the line.
When it comes to capacity, buses fail in comparison to trains.
60' articulated bus = 100 passengers. Single Green Line car = 175. Single two car Green Line consist = 350 passengers.
So yeah, the math on replacing trains with buses doesn't really add up no matter what the MBTA may claim,
It would also help alot if
It would also help alot if the those trolleys go a bit faster between stations. The only part that that I ever seen the green line B ever nears 30 in the BU area is the little part before the first traffic light of the BU bridge and BU Central stop. In between the rest, it goes at like 15. The area between Blandford Street and BU East goes under 10.
I noticed there's inspectors that stands at the station alot now. I also think if they install a place to put money in and so on, they can make it a "gated" station so people can load the station faster. That way those attendants can get the payment and if they don't, he can get to put money on the spot so they don't have to do it on the train.
Wait a second...
Walking from Kenmore to Blanford takes all of 10 minutes tops if you have to wait at a light to cross the street. In fact it takes no more than 20 minutes, and with the number of stops and lights the B line hits, its not faster than walking. Seriously, BU kids need to get off their whiny butts and just hoof it every once in a while.
Or bike which what I do
Or bike which what I do alot. To be fair Rachel, it can take more than 20 minutes to walk around BU from one end to another (I'll give 25 from Kenmore to West Campus) and many times we only have 10 minutes to get to the next class. Many times though I get out of class, I manage to use all my entire 10 minutes trying to walk from the Theology Building to there the Tsai Auditorium is. Trolley is faster than walking (though slower than a bike). Though trolley is useful to get from West campus to central fast, walking/biking is the fastest way for me in my example still.