The chair refuses to yield on the Green Line
Apparently, the B line was replaced by shuttle buses last night. Gemini6Ice recounts how he almost got locked up because an Orange Vest refused to let him board an empty bus with a single folding chair:
... I asked how I was supposed to get home with my chair, and she flatly told me she didn't know and didn't care, but that I couldn't take it on the bus.
The bus rolled up, completely empty. And so I took my chair to the back of the bus. About four other people also boarded. She yelled at me to get off of the bus, and so I civilly disobeyed, and pointed out that I had already paid in advance for transportation service with a monthly pass. She held up the bus instead, intent on enforcing her rule and affirming her authority. Eventually she brought transit police to threaten to lock me up in South Boston for the night if I did not comply in vacating the bus with the chair. ...
Comments
Always amazed
I always am amazed at the minutiae that the T will go after with all of their resources while the important problems go unsolved.
"There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not here any more."
-The Ghost of Christmas Present.
They didn't say anything to me
Last spring, I took a hand truck on the Red Line and then past a driver through the front door of a Green Line train, and nobody complained.
http://www.neilvandyke.org/weblog/2008/05/#2008-05-25
On the train, I anchored it firmly in place with my foot, and covered the handle end with my relatively blunt hand, of course. In hindsight, it is conceivable that the hand truck might have been a liability in some accidents, I don't know, but I could also see it providing a sturdy support as people in the aisle are falling into each other like dominoes.
Personally, I'm very glad that I can occasionally take items like this on the T, and that increases the value of the T to me. I'd be happy to pay a small surcharge, if that surcharge is also charged to strollers and such, which I'm not sure is a good idea.
The same person gets on a
The same person gets on a bus. Someone else is carrying a fold-up chair. The bus is in a accident. The chair goes flying, hitting our complainer on the noggin. What does our complainer do? Send a complaint letter to the MBTA demanding to know why there rules were no enforced, and then rush to the internet to tell people about the outrage.
You know it's true.
Chair law?
I'm not sure folding chairs are prohibited from the Green Line. I've seen the obvious on the trains/buses, like SUV strollers, luggage, mirrors, and even *gasp* human beings, all of which, when not properly fixed to the floor, could potentially go flying in an accident and slam someone in the head. Much more likely is that the "same person" in question would first go after the MBTA vehicle operator. He/she must be drunk or have been on his/her cell phone!
All that being said, though, I couldn't find a list of prohibited items on the T, at least one that was more comprehensive than the one on their website (ie. bikes in some cases, and certain pets). I mean, when those professional athletes of the Boston Bruins go to work at the TD Banknorth Garden and take the T, allowing them to go anywhere they want to go when they're done with work, are they allowed to bring their huge hockey bags and equipment on board?
Absolutely true.
A chair, like any other object, can become a projectile in an accident or sudden stop. This is why the MBTA sensibly prohibits any personal belongings, and why all passengers must be securely strapped into their harnesses by the safety warden before the bus is in motion.
I see no reason to change that.
A projectile.... like a full
A projectile.... like a full grown human being standing up in a car \ bus?
Come on guys, let's be serious here. I'd rather be hit in the head with a chair then a 300 pound guy. The justification behind the rule is absurd, when there's far more menacing projectiles on board.
My guess is this doesn't apply to strollers either, of which I've seen many on a bus.
This MBTA worker was a bitch for being a bitches sake because she had authority.
Oh, and sues the chair
Oh, and sues the chair holder when they find their name.
Uh-huh
That's why nobody is allowed to bring any objects onto the bus. nobody goes on with any liquids in glass bottles that can become airborne. No canned food that can fall out of a bag and roll, rapidly, down the aisle tripping someone. No laptop computers which can fly across the bus and, due to the brightness setting of the screen, blind someone.
Are we really talking about this? I think that when I get on a crowded bus that I'm more of a danger than a folding chair because if the bus stops quickly I'm flying down the aisle.
I'd be interested to know what the cost of this little incident might have been. Cost of holding bus, lost time, cost of two officers, where were they diverted from, etc.
This is madness...
Too bad this isn't Sparta. If a woman with more money than brains can bring a four-wheel drive, off-road baby carriage built for 3 kids onto a bus then there's absolutely nothing that prohibits a folding chair. End of discussion.
Wow
Another douche who thinks that by being a jerk he's Rosa Parks. Grow up and get a job, junior.
keep your head down and
keep your head down and respect the authoritah?
Sieg heil?
I guess Mick Foley will
I guess Mick Foley will never get to ride a T bus then!
So it's OK if your chair has wheels?
Besides No Pants Day, looks like there needs to be a Bring your Chair on the Bus Day.
Things to get hit with on the Green Line
Laptops. Knapsacks. Textbooks. Those Chevy Subdivision baby carriages. Tiny wooden bats on Bat Day.
Seems to me that what most often smacks into people while riding the Green Line is another Green Line bus or trolley.
I vote for the chairs.
I dont see the problem with
I dont see the problem with the chair either, it doesnt take up much space and is easier to hold onto then a giant stroller.
My guess is the T person was wrong to outright reject the chair and the blogger got snarky. The T person decided to dig in their heels and an impasse was born.
Bring your own?
They should at least allow chairs on those cars that don't have seats anymore.
New MBTA policy, you can't
New MBTA policy, you can't sit on our trains and now we will not let you sit down at home either.
Be careful what you say!
If you're not careful, you might give them ideas! Hell, I bet they'd be crazy enough to institute some kind of "exit fee" policy where you have to pay just to get off the damn trains or something! Sheesh!
Yes I am joking; I know about Charlie on the MTA.
Its bound to happen at some
Its bound to happen at some point, after all they have the system in place for it and other cities have a pay when you exit system based off of time of day and miles traveled.
Doubtful
1) The T does not have such a system in place. You don't tap your CharlieCard when leaving a station.
2) The T got rid of the last exit fares (Quincy and Braintree) when they fully adopted Charlie in 2007.
The B line stops just about
The B line stops just about every block, yes? Could the OP not have walked forward or back a stop to one that wasn't manned by a crazed chair-hater?
What is the rule/policy?
One thing I haven't seen addressed anywhere in this discussion or on Gemini6Ice's post is this: what exactly is the rule or policy that was being enforced? I'd really like to know that.
Not only are there plenty of much bigger baby carriages on buses (I've been on #66 buses with as many as 3 carriages during rush hour, which is definitely a challenge!) but, as many others have attested on this thread, folks bring on large suitcases, shopping bags, and so on, and I've never heard of those being against any kind of rule. Heck, when I lived in Central Square in the late 70s, I brought home small Christmas trees (tied up, but still!) on the bus. So what is the policy - was it just the rule that says "don't sass the dispatcher?"
large objects on buses
A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine got on a northbound #1 bus at Symphony and found herself surrounded by, in her words, "a baby in a stroller; a double bass; a cello; a guitar; a saxophone; various shopping bags, and seriously wall-to-wall, sardine-packed riders".
As for folding chairs, I've brought them on the Red Line without any trouble, going to or from the Boston Folk Festival or an Esplanade concert. I've even unfolded one to sit on the platform or in the empty wheelchair-space on the train (since there were no wheelchairs around).