MBTA photo policy

Some T employees still haven't gotten the memo about photos

adamg — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 21:54:59 +0000

Adam Weiss reports a T worker at State Street ordered him to put away his camera "because of 9/11."

Weiss adds it was one of the orange vests, not a T cop, and that he would have tried to explain the T's photo policy, but his train was pulling in.

Word slow to reach Mattapan Line that riders don't need a permit to take photos

adamg — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 18:56:06 +0000

Guy reports (click to expand) a driver on a Mattapan trolley told him to stop videoing out the back window because he didn't have a permit - which the T stopped issuing three years ago when it decided to allow non-commercial photography.

T to people with cameras: Shoot pervs, not tunnels

adamg — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:04:12 +0000

T GM Richard Davey, Deputy Transit Police Chief Joseph O'Connor at Hynes today.
MBTA officials today hailed people using social media to post photos of alleged exposers and gropers, although they said they're prefer if the photos were forwarded to them before being posted to social-media sites.

At the same time, officials say there are limits to photography underground: Try taking photos of power panels or locks or tunnels and don't be surprised if a T worker tells you to knock it off.

MBTA employees don't care: Even if you show them their own official photo policy, they still won't let you take pictures

adamg — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 03:43:28 +0000

Libberding reports a photography class she teaches went into the bowels of Harvard station tonight to, well, take photos. And they were promptly blocked by T workers who told them to knock it off, even though official T policy specifically allows non-commercial photography on T property (with certain safety caveats, such as no use of flash):

As we were talking, another MBTA employee caught another one of our group taking photos, and pulled him towards us. Eventually, I got around to showing each employee (by now, there were three of them gathering us together) what their own website said.

They seemed shocked by this. The woman we initially encountered had already called dispatch, and was in the middle of telling us that three years ago, she underwent training that told her that all photographic activity on MBTA property was strictly prohibited.

MBTA photo policy turns into Moebius strip at Newton Highlands

adamg — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:20:53 +0000

Back in October, a trolley driver threatened Owen Byrne with arrest for taking a photo at the Newton Highlands T stop.

Today, he reports, he was back at Newton Highlands to be interviewed by a reporter and camera crew about the MBTA photo policy that a sizable number of T employees don't seem to know exists:

Impressively enough a train driver stopped and asked if we had permission (which we did) to film at the station while we were doing this.

Look for Byrne and Adam Weiss, who had his own photo run-in with a T worker, on Channel 4 news tonight, sometime between 5 and 6:30 p.m.

Another MBTA worker who doesn't get the picture

adamg — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:54:25 +0000

Jeff Tamagini reports a run-in at Kenmore this morning with an MBTA supervisor unaware that the authority allows photography in stations:

... The train pulls up and opens its doors, I take my camera off my shoulder to carry it in my hand so it doesn't bang into the door, when I get a tap on the shoulder. It's the MBTA inspector that was in the little booth on the platform, he asking me with a snarky attitude if I am taking pictures, I say "No, I'm getting on the train", and I get a "Okay its against the law to take pictures on the T". When are the officials of this horrid system going to learn their own laws and policies! ...

Official MBTA photo policy, which states photography is allowed, with certain restrictions (such as no flash or tripod).

The MBTA might want to inform its police officers that photography is not a crime

adamg — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:42:45 +0000

Adam Weiss reports one of those black-suited special-forces T cops told him to stop taking pictures at the Government Center T stop this afternoon because, apparently, nobody's ever told him about the MBTA's official photography policy - which says picture taking is allowed on T property (just without a flash or tripod). Weiss says:

At least he was nice about it this time. He apologized, saying he didn't know the rules. Let me go on my way. Nothing against the cop, just the T for not informing him.

An arresting image in Newton

adamg — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:39:50 +0000

Owen Byrne reports what happened after he took this photo at the Newton Highlands stop on the Riverside line last night:

T employees more aggressively enforcing non-existent policy against photographers

adamg — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:04:48 +0000

Eric Kilby reports:

I was given a hard time last night by an inspector at the Haymarket bus platform, as I was trying to get a shot of the Government Center garage. The light was interesting. He said that he was instructed to tell people to get a permit or go away. I told him that there was a memo, but I didn't have a copy, and he said he hadn't heard of it. I thanked him for looking out for our safety and left, because it really wasn't worth the trouble to argue. He said it would be ok if I took like 5 steps back so I was on the public sidewalk and not the MBTA sidewalk (the texture was different), which seems kind of odd.

This comes a couple days after another T worker harassed some poor tourist for daring to take a photo inside Back Bay station.

If the T has suddenly changed its photo policy, you'd think they'd update the online version, no? Oh, wait, this is an agency that's only now updating 40-year-old maps ...

T employee unaware of T photography policy at Back Bay station

adamg — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:52:17 +0000

Ben Ostrander tweets that around 7:40 this morning:

Saw a tourist with a crappy point & shoot stopped by T employee at Back Bay & told she couldn't do that.

As Ostrander notes, that fall under the category of "Not True." The MBTA's posted photo policy says non-commercial photography is OK - the main limitations are you can't use a flash or tripod and you have to provide ID if requested by a T cop or official.

How MBTA buses are scrapped a matter of national security

adamg — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:29:45 +0000

So this guy who's really fascinated with buses thought it would be cool to follow an old T bus to the end of the line - to the plant in Everett where they're shredded and put on a barge on the Mystic River. He missed the No Trespassing sign:

... "Yeah Sarge,he is a busnut...I looked at the photos on his camera,nothing but buses"

He said also "Don't be surprised if the Department of Home land Security checks you out" ...

MBTA guys warn photographer to stop taking photos on a public street

adamg — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:41:56 +0000

Mike reports on a little run-in with a couple of guys in an MBTA SUV outside a South Boston bus depot:

Recently I was in South Boston to take pictures of the Macallen condo building. Directly across the street is (what I think is) an MBTA bus depot, and I took a few photos in that direction to capture a rainbow that appeared after the rain. As I was leaving, an MBTA SUV pulled up with two people inside and asked me what newspaper I work for. I said the photos are for a photography class I'm taking. They responded quickly something about warning me that I wasn't allowed to take photos on or of MBTA property and drove off. ...

Earlier:
Further proof the MBTA's photo policy not worth the paper it's printed on (incident at South Station).

I'd point to the MBTA's own photo policy, but the MBTA Police Web site is now the Kenmore busway of Web sites: Yes, it's under construction (because apparently whoever's re-doing the site has never heard of using an internal test server while keeping the existing live site up instead of just displaying a large graphic of a guy shoveling manure). So here is a copy of a draft of the policy, which I recall was basically the same.

Further proof the MBTA's photo policy not worth the paper it's printed on

adamg — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:25:54 +0000

Kevin Church reports men in uniforms demanded he put away his camera at South Station today:

I'm fairly sure this is an nudging of my rights, but since I never bothered to read up on these things, I'm just going to nod and smile and thank god the government is looking out for fat guys with wide-angle lenses. ...

Alleged MBTA photo policy, which supposedly allows non-commercial photography in public areas.

Earlier:
MBCR conductor disregards personal safety, goes after dangerous photographer on his train.

MBCR conductor disregards personal safety, goes after dangerous criminal on his train

adamg — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:15:23 +0000

Imagine: Dude was taking photos out the window of a Providence Line train:

... Shortly after taking a few pictures, a conductor came along and told me I wasn't permitted to take photos on the train. 'Why not?' I asked politely, turning off my camera and putting it away. The answer was along the lines of 'Because.' ...

The MBTA now allows personal photography without a permit

Arborway — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:22:36 +0000

Heard this morning that the MBTA will no longer require permits for those who wish to take photos on their property.

A few things to remember:

This policy does not apply to video/film recording, or commercial photography - which still requires a special permit.
You need to carry a valid Photo ID with you at all times and present it upon request.
Flash photography is still prohibited
The use of floodlights is still prohibited
The use of tripods is still prohibited
Trespassing into restricted areas to take photos is still a really bad idea that will get you arrested (if you don't get yourself killed, first)

The news is going to take some time to filter down to every MBTA employee, so you might want to put off your photo taking for a few days until the word gets out to avoid any unneeded hassles.