nanananananananana BATMAN!!!!!!!!! Oh, this is the BAT Center, not the BAT Cave? Booooo…….. Well, at least we’re in downtown Brockton now. Oh yeah, there’s a Commuter Rail station here too.
The BAT Center is BAT’s main bus terminal, where all their routes (sans the BSU campus shuttles and the Rockland Flex) all converge. While I was here on a Saturday, the cafe tenant that was here was closed, however in terms of other things, you have restrooms, BAT customer service, a very pixelated system map. There’s also a CharlieCard machine that was barricaded (BAT was fare-free). Yea, that’s right! BAT takes the trusty CharlieCard!!! The building is pretty nice, too, all things considered. There’s a pick up/drop off area on the road between the BAT Center and the Commuter Rail platform. So, walking to the Commuter Rail platform, it’s standard. The fact it’s behind the Brockton PD headquarters is a little sus, but whatever. It’s an island platform, and this section of the line is designed for trains to pass each other. As such, track 1 is outbound and track 2 is inbound. Yellow matrix signage, shelters, benches, blah blah blah. There’s a grade crossing here, though! And it’s in downtown Brockton, which is nice too. There’s some parking, not too much (apparently there’s a garage nearby?), and then, something amazing happened at the top of the hour as my friend and I were leaving.
At the top of the hour and half past, EVERY BAT route leaves the terminal. This, is the pulse. And, by god, is it a glorious thing to witness. All the buses leaving at the same time in a coordinated manner. BAT might be a smaller system, but for a first impression, they REALLY seem to have their shit together. Overall though, not bad!
The good: Location! It’s in downtown Brockton! It’s also intermodal with the BAT terminal and the Commuter Rail station pretty much being in the same spot. Furthermore, the BAT Center has some decent amenities. The Commuter Rail platform is standard, though.
The bad: Eh, not a lot here. I genuinely don’t have anything to say that’s bad.
Nearby points of interest: Downtown Brockton!
Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fall River, New Bedford)
BAT (1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10/11, 12, 14)
Overall, it’s probably……the only perfect Old Colony station?! Yeah, looks like we have gold in an unlikely place!
Rating: 10/10
