MBTA

I lived in Greater Boston for four years and five days and never drove to work once. Most days I got up at 3:30am, fed the kitties, ate breakfast, drank coffee, made my lunch, cleaned up the kitchen, took out the recycling and scooped the litter boxes before leaving the house at 5:00. From Belmont I took the #73 electric bus to Harvard Station, the Red Line subway to Downtown Crossing, the Orange Line to Forest Hills Station, and the #34E bus to downtown Norwood for the half mile walk to Mystic Scenic Studios. With a few exceptions, the trip home was easier. There was a Commuter Rail station a hundred or so yards from Mystic's back doors. The Franklin Line couldn't get me TO work on time, but even if I had to wait an hour for the next train, it got me home sooner than going back by the bus and the Orange Line. The Commuter Rail took me to South Station where I caught the Red Line back to Harvard and the bus home. When we moved to Watertown, the only difference was the #71 bus instead of the #73.



When I worked on Mystic's crew at the Museum of Science, I had many different ways to go, mostly starting with the bus to Harvard. I could take the #69 bus to Lechmere Station and walk five blocks to get there about 6:20. I could take the Red Line to Charles/MGH Station and walk ten or more blocks to get there a few minutes before 6:00. I could stay on the Red Line one more stop to Park Street Station and take the Green Line to Science Park Station, nearly across the street. That Green Line thing I did when it was raining or snowing heavily. During the last year there I discovered another way, the earliest possible way. The #57 bus out of Watertown Yard (not to be confused with the Watertown Busway, where the #71 goes) had a 4:30 am bus that went all the way to Haymarket Station, where I could catch the first Green Line train and be at Science Park by 5:30.



In four years I was late for work four times, two of them being weekend schedules. One morning it was snowing to beat hell, but I got to work my usual half hour early. People were calling in one right after another to say they were stuck in bad traffic. Mr. Ray, the owner, said to all of us there, "Jim Emerson takes fourteen trains to get here, and he's early!" I was stranded once, when the bus that served the Park School area where we were installing cabinetry, only ran until 8:00 pm, and we finished work at 9:30. Probably ten times there were breakdowns or other emergencies that could have made me late if I didn't build in a fat cushion of time every day. Going home was a different story. I was much later than usual getting home due to MBTA malfunctions probably ten times in four years. But they always got me home.

One afternoon I got a call at work. Carmen had been taken to Saint Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton due to chest pains. She was in no danger, but I should come there to support her and see her safely home. I ran out the door and jumped on the Commuter Rail train to South Station. I ran to the Information booth. "How do I get to Saint Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton?" I asked breathlessly, a wild look in my eye. The Information man got a puzzled look. "Hmmm," he said, "I think the Green Line goes down there somewhere." He smiled, happy to have helped me. First of all, I knew that the Green Line splits into four routes "down there" and his advice was meaningless. Second of all, there was a System Map on the wall behind him. All he had to do was turn around and look. I came around the counter and looked it up for him. Red Line to Central Square, #47 bus to Brighton. Thank you very much for the Information.



Carmen, as we know from "The End Of The Beginning Part 1 and 2" loved to go to Harvard Square. She even worked there for a few months. Her haircut person was there. There are funky shops and funky restaurants, including our favorite, The Border Cafe. And, from Harvard Station one can get anywhere, like Porter Square or Logan Airport or Quincy Market or the Prudential Center or Beacon Hill or the theatre district. We went to Rhode Island by Commuter Rail out of South Station. We went to Salem, Mass by Commuter Rail out of North Station. I went to North Georgia by Amtrak out of South Station. We (almost) never drove into the city.



While most of the time my MBTA ridership was commuting to work, there were a bunch of times I went out for adventures. During our second winter there was a long cold spell, lows in the teens to single digits, highs in the twenties for weeks in a row with no snow to ruin any pond ice. I had my skates at the ready, and one Saturday morning I looked up the routes to the Fells, where there were many large ponds. I packed my skates, got on the #71, Red Line to Downtown Crossing, Orange Line to Malden Station and #99 bus to the medical center across the street from Spot Pond. I expected to see dozens of people on the ice. There was nobody. It was quiet, peaceful, perfect. I skated for two hours all by myself, on ice that was at least 8" thick. I mosied on home a tired but happy camper.

I once rode the Red Line all the way to the south end of the line, Braintree, on a Saturday and took a bus from the station to the only Red Wing shoe store within my reach. Good shoes.



I rode to the shop in Norwood and back one day when I was working overnight shifts at the Museum of Science. I took the camera and made my parents a photo essay about my commute to work and the layout of the shop. I got the camera home just in time to head out for work.



The website, http://www.mbta.com/ is an excellent source of information. All the schedules for all their transportation are there. I found out early, though, that the Trip Planner can't be trusted. When Mystic hired me and told me to be there Monday at 7:30, I went to the Trip Planner and entered my starting point and destination, with 7:30 as my arrival time. The planner flat out told me it couldn't be done. So the preceding Saturday morning, on a Saturday schedule, with a signal malfunction at Downtown Crossing, I tried it. I made it to Norwood in plenty of time.

I became active in the MBTA community. I was a member of Transit Works, a loosely organized group of customers who did a little bit here and a little bit there to at least show them that somebody was paying attention. I attended a couple of brainstorming meetings about how to improve service and efficiency. The coolest thing was the Transit Diary. For two weeks I carried this fat book around. It contained six-page questionaires about forty rides: one six-pager for the 71 to Harvard on Monday morning, one six-pager for the Red Line to Downtown Crossing on Monday morning, etc. for forty "links." It asked about time, crowdedness, cleanliness, odors, politeness and helpfulness of drivers and other employees, safety issues, all kinds of stuff. It was a pain in the butt to keep up with, but it was kind of fun as well. Plus, gathering that information blow by blow for two weeks made us realize that, by and large, the system really works well - especially for as old and as massive as the system is.

I miss the big old "Charlie on the MTA" world. I used to say that I was a Boston gopher. I'd ride through tunnels underground, pop my head up and look around, then go back to the tunnels. For years I had no idea how to get from Harvard Square to Porter Square on the surface, or from Park Street Station to Downtown Crossing. I learned the latter one morning when the Red Line was stalled at Park Street, and I followed a (grumpy) crowd that decided to walk those six blocks rather than wait. Little by little I learned my way all around Boston, under and over. Then we moved away to a city with a third rate transit system. I sure do miss the MBTA.