I didn't expect this so early in the season, but today the temperature in Boston climbed to 86°. So welcome to the first Hot Car report of the season!
The Franklin #715 was short again today; five coaches instead of the six that we used to expect. It's been down to five for a few days, though, so maybe that's the new status quo.
I counted 14-15 people riding in the vestibule, not counting the conductor of course. The number is slightly indeterminate because people do tend to stand in the doorway as well. Inside the coach itself...well, it was the worst I've seen in a while. I was able to count at least 24 standees (not counting the people in the vestibule) up to the mid-point of the coach. Beyond that point I couldn't count accurately, but since the far side was visibly as packed as the side I was on, it's a very safe bet to say that there were at least 45 people standing in the coach - and probably more.
Among the standees were some young children riding with their mother, by the way.
No fares were collected, of course. Although I heard that one eager young go-getter of an assistant conductor had tried to collect fares after the train had emptied out a lot; I think it was at the Norwood Center stop the day before. From what I was told, he ended up with a mini-revolution on his hands. Angry passengers wanted to know why anyone who had gotten off before that point had been able to get a free ride.
The coach behind mine was pretty crowded. The people in it were visibly sweltering. We were all chatting - there's nothing like being packed like sardines and getting really awful service to get people to break through the usual barriers to conversation - and it soon came out that the other car had no AC. In fact, some passengers seriously claimed that they thought that the heat was on! That didn't sound impossible to me, since I've experienced the same thing on some hot days on the T.
I was horrified to see a baby in a stroller in the hot car, too.
The hot car was #628. I heard that there was another hot car on the same train, so at Walpole I hopped out and ran down to the next and final car - #1504. Sure enough, it was hot too - extremely hot. It was still crowded enough for people to be jammed in the vestibule, and one of the people riding there was a woman who had to be at least six months pregnant. She told me it was better riding in the vestibule than riding in either of the broiling-hot coaches on either side of her.
Ironically, I had lost my patience (again) and written some complaints before the ride home tonight! I "wrote to the top" first (it was hardly the first time, though). Bob Stoetzel has written to me several times with explanations and apologies, but no action has ever been taken. By the way, isn't it funny that the T's "Write to the Top" page doesn't allow you to write to the actual head of the T, Dan Grabauskas? I couldn't find his email address anywhere on the MBTA site.
Since I've never gotten a satisfactory answer from the MBTA before, I wasn't inclined to let matters lie there. So I wrote to Governor Patrick's office again, specifically pointing out that A) increasing numbers of riders are in real danger, and B) since the MBTA management had repeatedly ignored the issue, referring my email to MBTA management (again) would not be helpful.
Then I called both the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe. Had to leave voicemail at the Herald, but I talked to someone on the tip line at the Globe; not a reporter, I think, but I told him about the danger to the commuting public and gave him my phone numbers.
Maybe tomorrow I'll contact the Boston Phoenix, too. I'd call the Metro, but they never seemed to show much interest. It's a pity that BostonNOW! is gone; they were the only ones who covered this issue much.
Oh, a quick wave to LesserEvil, who was riding in the same vestibule as me. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one blogging about the miserable state of the commuter rail, and about the Franklin line in particular!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
System in Crisis
Over the past three or four weeks, the Franklin #715 train is experiencing an unprecedented state of collapse. Ridership has increased enormously; every seat is full to capacity, the aisles are packed solid, and even the vestibules - which are supposed to be off-limits for passengers - are full of riders.
Yesterday there were 14 people riding in the vestibule that I was in. I was in the spot exactly between two cars; that spot is probably the most dangerous on the train, because it's the intersection between the two coaches. You can easily get your hand or foot caught and crushed by tons of moving metal!
Fares haven't been collected on the #715 for weeks. Passengers are openly talking about giving up their passes and buying 12-ride tickets instead, because you can easily get a month or two of rides from one; the conductors simply can't check tickets.
A couple of days ago I was jammed into the middle of an aisle, which is probably the second-worst place to stand on the train. Standing next to me was a pregnant woman; she had to be at least six months along. Nobody offered her a seat. When the time came for her to get off, she literally had to squeeze past me and through the rest of the crowd!
I've heard that ridership is up to a similar degree across the system. That's probably because of the skyrocketing price of gas. If so, I don't think the overcrowding problem is going away - ever.
It also occurs to me that during a recent train accident, the people who were standing were the ones who got injured. At at least 30 standees inside each coach, plus 12 or more standees in each vestibule (not counting the conductors), I count 190 standees who are being endangered by the willful blindness of MBCR and MBTA management to the safety hazard that's happening on their watch.
Governor Patrick is equally culpable, as is the Legislature.
Operating a train under these conditions must violate safety regulations. What agency is responsible for enforcing the law in the case? OSHA, perhaps?
The conductors are clearly miserable, incidentally. But it's obvious that there isn't a thing they can do. The passengers I've heard bitching about the situation have all made it very clear to any conductors in earshot that we do not blame them.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Ruggles: Signal Problems
On Friday March 7th, the Franklin #710 train (departing from Franklin/Forge Park at 7:45 AM) skipped the Ruggles stop. They announced it; apparently there was some sort of signal problem.
This morning, March 10th, the Franklin #708 train (departing from Franklin/Forge Park at 7:00 AM) also skipped the Ruggles stop. Again, it was announced on the train PA system.
I've put in for the on-time service guarantee on both days. Since the train never arrived at my destination, the MBTA can hardly claim that it was on time!
I called them just to see if this was going to be a regular occurrence. According to their customer service rep, they don't expect it to be - it's just a signal problem. Now that I think of it, that's a little disturbing - I wonder what other problems there might be? I'd hate to find out by having my train run into another one at full speed!
And why haven't they been able to fix that signal over the last four days? It could have been two different problems, I suppose, but that seems unlikely.
This morning, March 10th, the Franklin #708 train (departing from Franklin/Forge Park at 7:00 AM) also skipped the Ruggles stop. Again, it was announced on the train PA system.
I've put in for the on-time service guarantee on both days. Since the train never arrived at my destination, the MBTA can hardly claim that it was on time!
I called them just to see if this was going to be a regular occurrence. According to their customer service rep, they don't expect it to be - it's just a signal problem. Now that I think of it, that's a little disturbing - I wonder what other problems there might be? I'd hate to find out by having my train run into another one at full speed!
And why haven't they been able to fix that signal over the last four days? It could have been two different problems, I suppose, but that seems unlikely.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Bird Crap Story
The bird crap was still piling high on the evening of Tuesday, February 6th. The next evening I noticed that it had finally been cleaned.
I first posted about the guano-covered escalator on January 3rd, and of course the problem had been building up long before that. It took the T 35 days (or more) to get the escalator cleaned.
It took the birds far less time to cover it with crap again.
I first posted about the guano-covered escalator on January 3rd, and of course the problem had been building up long before that. It took the T 35 days (or more) to get the escalator cleaned.
It took the birds far less time to cover it with crap again.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
More of the same...
The escalator at Ruggles remains uncleaned. Bird crap is piling higher, and has been smeared all over the left inner side by unaware passengers. Yuck.
On the morning of Friday the 25th two Franklin trains were cancelled: #706 (6:35AM) and #708 (7:00AM). The next train was obscenely overcrowded, of course, and got into Ruggles 36 minutes late.
Fares are not being collected more than half of the time. The MBTA blew $55 million dollars trying to trade debts, according to the newspapers. They've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars - if not more - providing wifi access to certain coaches, but there still aren't enough seats. It's nice to see that they have their priorities in order!
Seriously, what will it take to get the system fixed? How much more will people take? Why isn't any public figure doing something about this?
On the morning of Friday the 25th two Franklin trains were cancelled: #706 (6:35AM) and #708 (7:00AM). The next train was obscenely overcrowded, of course, and got into Ruggles 36 minutes late.
Fares are not being collected more than half of the time. The MBTA blew $55 million dollars trying to trade debts, according to the newspapers. They've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars - if not more - providing wifi access to certain coaches, but there still aren't enough seats. It's nice to see that they have their priorities in order!
Seriously, what will it take to get the system fixed? How much more will people take? Why isn't any public figure doing something about this?
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Guano, Delays, and $$$
Guano: The escalator at Ruggles remains uncleaned, and the guano is piling up higher every day. It has been fourteen days since I posted the photo, if anyone is counting.
Delays, and $$$: The Franklin line has been running late quite often - in fact, it's more often late than on time, and that has been confirmed in the news. It's usually the worst-performing line in the entire system!
This morning, though, was special. The #708 is scheduled to arrive at the Franklin/Dean College station at 7:07 AM. It didn't arrive until 7:53 AM instead, effectively pushing it back to the next scheduled train slot. The passenger information marquees performed comically throughout; When the train was already 30 minutes late, the signs said it would be 20 minutes late, and when the delay reached 40 minutes the signs updated to tell us all that the delay might be as much as 30 minutes. Tremble at the technological savvy of the mighty MBTA!
Maybe they should go back to steam locomotives.
With two trains worth of people to cram into a single train, the overcrowding was all that you'd expect. The conductors announced that there had been mechanical problems at the "storage area". If a mechanical problem can cause that sort of havoc, I wonder what will happen if the threatened Amtrak strike takes out South Station starting on January 30th? The mind boggles.
Perhaps a class action lawsuit would be in order. God knows it's annoying enough to pay $223 per month*, $2,676 per year for the privilege of not having a seat on a crowded, swaying train. But if the ridership is subjected to the sheer chaos that seems likely if the strike goes forward...well, I've already heard rumors of legal action. And that's based on the current lousy service.
The #708 arrived at Ruggles at 8:55 AM instead of the scheduled 7:50 AM. I've already filed for my free ticket. It's a good thing that the T has plenty of money to throw away on complimentary fares! In fact, they must be rolling in dough. In the past nine trips I've taken on the Franklin #715 train, I've only seen fares collected four times.
There are stubs which show that a conductor went through the coach after it departed South Station, but well over a hundred people get on at Ruggles. If over 50% of them aren't being ticketed, and that rate obtains over the entire commuter rail system, I'd guess that the MBCR/MBTA is throwing away tens of thousands of dollars every day.
They're not losing anything on me, of course. I'm one of the poor bastards who buys a monthly pass. But people with tickets and punch-passes are getting a lot of free rides. I know one daily passenger who rode for an entire month on a single 12-Ride ticket!
Call me a pessimist, but the commuter rail system simply can't survive much longer under the current management. It's going to fall apart within ten years, I'd guess - just when people will need it most. It desperately needs to be properly funded and managed, but the odds are that none of that will happen until the system crashes to a standstill. Maybe the Amtrak strike will be the nudge that the legislature and management need...but I doubt it!
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* - And what do you bet that fares will shoot upward sooner than we expect? They're not supposed to go up again until 2010, but T General Manager Dan Grabauskas recently wrote in BostonNOW! that fares wouldn't go up in 2008; call me cynical, but I suspect that this is a hint that we'll get a 25% or higher fare increase in 2009.
Delays, and $$$: The Franklin line has been running late quite often - in fact, it's more often late than on time, and that has been confirmed in the news. It's usually the worst-performing line in the entire system!
This morning, though, was special. The #708 is scheduled to arrive at the Franklin/Dean College station at 7:07 AM. It didn't arrive until 7:53 AM instead, effectively pushing it back to the next scheduled train slot. The passenger information marquees performed comically throughout; When the train was already 30 minutes late, the signs said it would be 20 minutes late, and when the delay reached 40 minutes the signs updated to tell us all that the delay might be as much as 30 minutes. Tremble at the technological savvy of the mighty MBTA!
Maybe they should go back to steam locomotives.
With two trains worth of people to cram into a single train, the overcrowding was all that you'd expect. The conductors announced that there had been mechanical problems at the "storage area". If a mechanical problem can cause that sort of havoc, I wonder what will happen if the threatened Amtrak strike takes out South Station starting on January 30th? The mind boggles.
Perhaps a class action lawsuit would be in order. God knows it's annoying enough to pay $223 per month*, $2,676 per year for the privilege of not having a seat on a crowded, swaying train. But if the ridership is subjected to the sheer chaos that seems likely if the strike goes forward...well, I've already heard rumors of legal action. And that's based on the current lousy service.
The #708 arrived at Ruggles at 8:55 AM instead of the scheduled 7:50 AM. I've already filed for my free ticket. It's a good thing that the T has plenty of money to throw away on complimentary fares! In fact, they must be rolling in dough. In the past nine trips I've taken on the Franklin #715 train, I've only seen fares collected four times.
There are stubs which show that a conductor went through the coach after it departed South Station, but well over a hundred people get on at Ruggles. If over 50% of them aren't being ticketed, and that rate obtains over the entire commuter rail system, I'd guess that the MBCR/MBTA is throwing away tens of thousands of dollars every day.
They're not losing anything on me, of course. I'm one of the poor bastards who buys a monthly pass. But people with tickets and punch-passes are getting a lot of free rides. I know one daily passenger who rode for an entire month on a single 12-Ride ticket!
Call me a pessimist, but the commuter rail system simply can't survive much longer under the current management. It's going to fall apart within ten years, I'd guess - just when people will need it most. It desperately needs to be properly funded and managed, but the odds are that none of that will happen until the system crashes to a standstill. Maybe the Amtrak strike will be the nudge that the legislature and management need...but I doubt it!
--------------
* - And what do you bet that fares will shoot upward sooner than we expect? They're not supposed to go up again until 2010, but T General Manager Dan Grabauskas recently wrote in BostonNOW! that fares wouldn't go up in 2008; call me cynical, but I suspect that this is a hint that we'll get a 25% or higher fare increase in 2009.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Ruggles: For the Birds
Here's why you should always stay in the center of the escalator at Ruggles, and never, ever touch the handrails no matter what the safety signs say:
I had to take this from above and the view is limited, but basically a large area of the escalator (and of some of the staircases) is absolutely covered with bird crap every day. I suppose someone must be cleaning it up at least once in a while. But basically the area is always filthy.
I had to take this from above and the view is limited, but basically a large area of the escalator (and of some of the staircases) is absolutely covered with bird crap every day. I suppose someone must be cleaning it up at least once in a while. But basically the area is always filthy.
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