Monumentally Bad Transit Authority

[davidn]

Dear The T,

I'd like to share the experience of my commute this morning.

I walked up to the Brandon Hall station of the C Green Line at about five to ten with the intent of catching a slightly earlier trolley than normal. After waiting for 25 minutes with no transport in sight, I called my wife to ask if she could look on the "Service Alerts" section of the MBTA site to tell me if there had been a crash, derailment or reservoir flood, but no alerts were listed for the C branch even though the D and E lines showed 10 or 15 minute delays. Shortly afterwards, an express train sailed past the waiting passengers, and five minutes later a trolley finally arrived.

I took the trolley as far as St Mary's Street, and had I stayed on it at this point I would probably only have been about twenty minutes late for work. However, I tend to avoid going underground on the T's services wherever possible, because three years of being fairly frequently caught in dark tunnels with no hope of escape or word of rescue from the drivers (on one occasion for nearly three quarters of an hour) were enough for me to catch claustrophobia. At this point on my commute I instead usually switch to the CT2 bus to get to Kendall Square, but I had already missed it by the time I arrived this morning. As the arrival time of the Green Line is a gamble at the best of times, though, I always have the backup route of taking the 47 from the same stop instead, going to Central Square and then taking the Red Line. I did this today, and was actually impressed at how promptly the bus arrived after I started waiting.

This particular 47 bus dumped all three of its passengers unceremoniously off at the roundabout just after the Boston University Bridge - the driver said that the road ahead was blocked and that we had to leave, but offered no advice on seeking a route to continue our journey. (This trifling mile-long shortening of the route also went happily unlisted on the MBTA's site this morning.) As it trundled off, I considered walking back across the bridge to wait for the next bus likely to transport me to work, but given the performance I'd seen so far, I decided to forget it and completed the last one and a half miles of my commute on foot. I arrived at the Kendall Square stop that the next CT2 would have taken me to about two minutes before it got there itself.

My normally reasonably short commute lasted a full hour longer than usual this morning, making me late for work on a truly unprecedented level. I would like to request a refund on my $56 LinkPass as it's unlikely that I'll attempt to use your services again this month - this morning has shown me that walking is rather more pleasant and indeed can be slightly faster.

---

Unsent as yet. It needs more stewing time.

Comments

[e-to-the-ipi.livejournal.com]

I ended up cycling because of some bad times on the tube, though TfL seems brilliantly more competent.

It can be really fun, and good for you!

[davidn]

I've thought of cycling, actually... I might try that when we move, because we'll be a little closer. I'd be pretty afraid to try it on the route that I take to work just now because it's utterly deadly (literally, unfortunately, for at least one person that we know in Boston).

[e-to-the-ipi.livejournal.com]

That's scary.

My route's reasonably busy, but has a good few cycle lanes, and is essentially six miles straight down one road, turning right just before the Royal Albert Hall. Still really scary cycling round London - though you have to go through red lights, I find.

[diarytypething.livejournal.com]

Maybe if you got a folding bike you could combine public transport and cycling? This would only really work if most of the route is flat though, because the smaller wheels mean that a folding bike doesn't work as efficiently (the wheels, and therefore pedals, need to turn more times to travel the same distance), so they're not ideal for longer distances or hilly routes.

City cycling can be incredibly scary, but you start getting used to it quite quickly. The main difficulty is changing your attitude from the rural deference to cars to a more assertive style of cycling, which actually makes sense in a city because the cars can't get up much speed and have less room to manoeuvre, so this levels the playing field a bit. Of course, where it gets really hairy, there's always the option to get off and push for a bit instead of cycling through a busy junction. There are a lot of organisations that run cycle training courses - basically Cycling Proficiency for Grown-Ups, but with an emphasis on how to deal with urban traffic - so you might be able to find something like that near you.

[davidn]

It's possible! My hypothetical route for cycling to work would be mostly flat (just hills on the stretch to and from the house)... though if I were to skip the bus by cycling I would be as well to continue instead of changing to the subway.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

The semi-funny ending takes the edge off. Don't let them off the hook like that. You should be too mad to make light. ;) Stick a period in where that last dash is, and end it there. Maybe "as it's unlikely I'll bother attempting to use your services again this month."

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

or just "as it's unlikely I'll bother attempting to use your services again," if that doesn't sound implausibly frustrated.

[davidn]

The odd thing is that I'm not really annoyed at all, even though I should be. It's a nice day and I didn't have a lot to do at work. I feel strangely un-bothered by the whole thing, which is the real reason why I posted this up here instead.

Thanks, though, if it does get to me I'll take your edits on board :)

[crassadon.livejournal.com]

Definitely push for the refund! You can probably get it!