Part 2 on Boston transit: Clean, easy to buy passes
Before we get to the second installment of Bluebummer's account of his Boston visit, I have to note that many Bostonians didn't necessarily agree with his first take.
Bad Transit blog.
MBTA passengers "self-evacuate" after a long delay.
And a big welcome to all you Universal Hub Boston readers who have been stopping by lately.
Bottom line: There's good and bad in all transit systems, as this blog has found. But the bad is usually more interesting than the good.
Still, we can learn from the good in other transit systems. So here's Bluebummer/Justin's second look at the MBTA:
While riding the "T" I also noticed how amazingly clean their rail cars were. There was a sign across the aisle from us that read “your tax dollars help keep this train clean, please help us by doing your part and take your personal belongings with you.” I didn’t see any eating or drinking happening aboard the trains and only one incident of someone had spilled a few pretzels and they were stepped on. Also I noticed the scent on the trains, it was almost a sterile smell you have in hospitals, in fact it was that smell.
The trains were constantly running. I would say we didn’t wait more than 5 minutes at any one time, and the fares were much easier on the pocket book than they are here in Chicago.
Although a day pass in Boston was a whopping $9, a 7-day pass was a very nice $15. We were only in town for 3 days but we bought the 7-day pass because it truly was a bargain.
Also in Boston they have the fare card vending machines that take credit cards, or so we thought. Nine out of the 10 machines read cash only and when you went to use the one machine that says cash debit or credit, the credit card part of it did not work.
These machines are a great idea since they also vend 1- and 7-day passes at every station but would have to work to make having them worthwhile. Knowing the CTA is planning on acquiring this style of vending machine I ask the CTA to please make sure the machines are well kept and in working order because more than half of those in Boston were out of order while we were there.
I would love to know more about how they do it. Every single employee we spoke with trying to find our way around was more than helpful. One of their station attendants even directed us to the correct platform at one of the multiplatform stops and told us which letter train to get on and what stop to get off at for our destination.
Regarding the CTA and their new cleaning process for L cars I have to say it kicks ass. The deep cleaned cars on the Red line look better than some Ravenswood cars. The deep blue color of the seat inserts actually looks amazingly awesome. I stared at them thinking what a pretty blue it was...
Posted by: Arfo | October 12, 2007 at 11:37 AM
I just moved back to Chicago from Boston a few months ago. I had completely took buying a 1 Week Pass AT THE TRAIN STATION for granted, not to mention being able to use a debit card. I did get a rude awakening when I was sent to Dominicks looking for a Pass, or waiting in line at the Currency Exchange down the street form the Western Blue Line Station. That said, the blank stares from Customer Service people are the same back in Boston. When the automated machines first showed up the lines were a mile long with people needing their hand help while they bought a train pass.
The biggest difference? 24 hour train service in Chicago! Ask anyone who has ever had to take a Green Line train to downtown at 8am. It is only comparable to buses in Calcutta. I have never ever been that smooshed in Chicago.
I miss lots of things about Boston, but honestly, The T, and the Charlie Card, are not on that list.
Posted by: Jillian | October 12, 2007 at 03:48 PM
Bottom line: how much does the Boston system have to pay from the farebox compared to Chicago?
Posted by: Davey | October 13, 2007 at 11:52 AM
As a frequent (but not daily) rider of the CTA it just makes sense to vend day passes at every station. Also, the machines that vend those passes are frequently out of order or have sold out of one-day passes (which is what I normally buy). I have taken to keeping a valid one-day pass in my wallet all the time. I would get a Chicago Card except that it would often be more expensive for me to use that rather than the one-day pass. If the Chicago Card could be set up so that it wouldn't charge more than what the passes would cost, I'd get one as soon as possible.
Posted by: ebob | October 14, 2007 at 10:43 AM
Here's one thing that could make the T unbearable - they're currently testing a soft rock station with "light" news and commericals at 2 T stops. How much do you want to bet the idea is to raise money by selling the rights to Clear Channel or someone?
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/10/11/t_gives_music_a_test_run/
Posted by: Attrill | October 15, 2007 at 12:25 AM
Well I would point out that the Charlie Card systems are all brand new. When I moved to Chicago from Boston in August of '05, there were only two stations that had Charlie Cards (Airport and Aquarium) and every other stop still operated on tokens. Not that I don't like paying with my debit card, just wanted to point that out.
Also 24 hour service and near 24 hour service is worth it's weight in gold. I can't tell you how many times I had to make the 3.5 mile walk from Harvard Square to my mother's house because I had the gaul to be out past 12:30.
Posted by: wickedripeplum | October 15, 2007 at 11:49 PM
There is something to be said for twenty-four hour train service. I was horrified to learn that the T only ran until 12:30 in Boston when I moved here. This is a city that likes to force its citizens to bed early. Needless to say, I don't stay out too late. Chicago sounds like a deal in that respect.
Posted by: Whalehead King | October 16, 2007 at 05:29 PM