This is quite possibly the furthest out an MBTA bus goes from any singular subway terminal. This route runs through Forest Hills to Walpole Center (near the CR station), via Roslindale, Dedham, Islington (Westwood), and Norwood, and it either serves directly or very closely 5 different Commuter Rail stations. So, let’s look at this route, shall we?
The 34E begins at Forest Hills Station in JP, and starts running down Washington Street. This is gonna be the road we’re on ALL THE WAY TO WALPOLE. Yes. We do NOT deviate from this road in the slightest! Rozzie, of course, is primarily residential and is more akin to a small city in of itself, while progressing on beyond, the sprawl begins to slowly become more evident. Of course, we also entered Dedham, passing both a park and the Dedham Mall in the process. No deviation into either, however. We had to interface with a weirdly-configured roundabout with the Providence Highway, and then we continued through the town center and in the backside of a strip mall. We’d then cross I-95 into Westwood, serving the Islington neighborhood (& the CR station, indirectly), and make a slight maneuver to go underneath the Franklin Line, only to continue into going underneath again. At this point, we were in Norwood, passing through the town center and by Norwood Depot. It actually looked like there were some places of interest, I need to come back here some time. We’d also pass by Norwood Hospital & Norwood Central, entering Walpole soon enough. Walpole was much of the same, just without hospitals. We sorta serve a school, though! Sunday runs terminate at a loop in East Walpole, while weekday/Saturday runs continue on up East St. and terminate at Walpole Center.
The good: It’s a suburban route serving similar areas to the Franklin Line! There’s otherwise nothing out here for public transit, at that, so yeah. It also serves many town centers!
The bad: It short turns on Sundays. I guess, it’s okay, but c’mon… Also, why not run all the way to Walpole’s CR station???
Nearby points of interest: Norwood’s town center and Rozzie look interesting…
Overall, it’s alright. There’s nothing else out here (the Dedham Local Bus doesn’t exist anymore, either, to my awareness), so it’s pretty important. However, I do feel it’d be best supplemented with additional buses out here.
Rating: 6.5/10
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