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T, the

The Boston subway and bus system. Represents the triumph of fuzzy logic, or something, because it does not actually stand for any single word. Cambridge Seven Associates thought it up in the early 1960s when the state hired them to design graphics for the then new MBTA. Their goal was to come up with something as recognizable as a cross that also evoked the idea of transit, transportation, tunnel, etc.

There are four lines: Red (because it used to end at Harvard, whose color is crimson); Blue (it runs along the ocean); Green (it goes to the leafy suburbs of Brookline and Newton) and Orange (because it used to run above what was once known as Orange Street).

The T claims the Silver Line is a fifth subway line - and shows it as such on its system maps. It is, however, a bus.

You'll sometimes hear references to the Purple Line (collectively all the commuter lines).

Glossary: 


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Comments

The Green Line has nothing to do with the 'burbs. The Green Line passes by (through? under?) the famous Emerald Necklace designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (who did Central Park after he did the Emerald Necklace). That's why it's called the Green Line.

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You forgot "Yellow Line," the unofficial name for the T bus lines. (This is due to T livery--buses are/were painted with black and yellow stripes, akin to the purple line, I mean commuter rail car's purple stripe.)BTW, the "Silver Line" is a joke, and everyone knows it.

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As far as I know, the "T" means "Tube".

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I always thought "T" stood for Transportation. As in, Massachusetts Bay TRANSPORTATION Authority.

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It's the Mass Bay TRANSIT Authority

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Says so right at the top of mbta.com.

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