Edited to reflect fact incident was on commuter rail, not Orange Line.
Jessica Keener reports on an incident shortly before 10 a.m. on the outbound side at Back Bay station:
My husband + 3 others just pulled a blind man who fell down into the train tracks + saved this man's life in Boston today!!!!
Not long after, she tweeted at acting MBTA General Manager Jonathan Davis:
My husband & 3 other men saved a man from Back Bay train tracks. No MBTA people were there. Why not???
It's a wonder nobody thought of this before: Mr. mbTa:
Train delays?! bettah make 'em go faster, I got fools to pity!
Quit yo chattin' on yo cellular device. Nobody cares whatcha did last night, fool.
When fare increases go up, so does my tempah, fool!
The state Department of Transportation and the city of Boston today announced a competition for applications that let users navigate between the T and the Hubway bike system and find the location of the nearest food trucks.
State and city officials are hoping the real-time MBTA and Hubway data, coupled with information about food trucks, will lead to the same sorts of applications that emerged after a similar competition in 2009, then based just on data for certain bus routes.
Channel 25 reports MBTA officials are investigating a photo by a channel viewer that appears to show a T worker asleep at Wollaston during rush hour yesterday.
The morning after No Pants Day, Gretchen Bostrom tweets (don't read if eating):
Just witnessed a guy blow snot into his hand & wipe it on a bench at Charles MGH station, Alewife side. Seriously? No wonder we get sick!
Now I will NEVER sit on a public bench if I can help it!
I think I'm going to be that crazy lady who buys small tissue packets at CVS and hands them out to people I see sniffling.
Meanwhile, over on the Orange Line, Cara reports this morning:
BosGuy photographed, videoed the annual No Pants T ride, has exclusive photo of a planker sans pants on the Red Line.
The annual No Pants subway ride kicks off at 2 p.m. at South Station tomorrow. And remember, no thongs:
This is NOT illegal. Regular underwear does not constitute indecent exposure.
BostInnovation interviews Shawn Dufour, who's taken lots of photos of abandoned (and some active) tunnels and station areas in Boston.
Students Against T Cuts is just what it sounds like: Area college students working to fight proposed cuts at the T. Repeal forward funding, they argue.
So far this cold January morning, trains have died on the Red, Blue and Green lines and the Worcester Line is experiencing major delays.
At 8:34 a.m., Tanya K. tweeted:
Two empty, broken down trains we will be pushing in. 1000+ frozen, frustrated people cramming into this one. MBTA Red Line. Good times.
A few minutes later, Candice Springer added:
The Outraged Liberal notes the MBTA has announced its Doomsday Machine (again). Will the legislature blink?
Davey says that bailout is unlikely in the state's current climate, which can mean only one thing: change the climate with a proposal that is so awful lawmakers will have to cave.
No, don't worry, the T probably isn't planning on raising fares that much. But, as the Patriot Ledger reports, thieves are now trolling the parking lots at commuter-rail and Red Line stops and stealing catalytic converters off cars - a seasoned thief can saw one off in less than 30 seconds. They get $200 for their "scrap" converters, you get a $1,000 bill for a new one.
And this guy, spotted by a T worker at Back Bay station today, has probably just exceeded it:
The MBTA reports systemwide ridership in November increased by 5.5% over last year - and marked the third straight month of ridership above 1.3 million trips on a weekday.
Updated late Monday.
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo issued the following statement Tuesday afternoon:
The employee today was reprimanded and the incident is now included in his personnel file. No further action will be taken unless such an incident happens again. This matter is closed.
Channel 25 reports the case of the reprogrammed message board on Christmas went straight to the top - and state transportation czar Rich Davey says the unidentified worker will not be punished.
When it doesn't think anybody's around, the automaton that runs the MBTA PA system can be quite jolly.
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