Category: Massachusetts

Alrighty, so now onto the 120! I’ve had a little bit of interest in this one after reading Miles’ entry on it and seeing that one can get a nice shot of the city from a particular spot accessible by this bus route. So, how IS the route? Let’s look.

So, while the route’s “official” starting point is in Maverick, coming from Orient Heights the route loops around Jeffries Point. I didn’t, but some Street View imagery suggests I wasn’t missing out on a lot as it’s very residential. However, we quickly went up Meridian Street and turned down Bennington Street, which would be the main road down East Boston. Going down here, there’s not a lot that isn’t special, but it is a lot of businesses on either side. In a sense, it’s like Main Street. That, is, until we reach Chelsea Street. Once we got there, we’d cross it, turn onto a stroad (still Bennington St.!), go underneath US-1A, and deviate into Wood Island. From here, all seemed normal enough, passing the overpass to Constitution Beach (which I heard is a nice planespotting location!). Then we deviated into Orient Heights and the route is over, right?

NOPE! The route then continues back, up Boardman Street and towards US-1A, turns down US-1A, and does a loop around the very residential Orient Heights neighborhood, serving some housing projects and, most notably, the shrine of Madonna, Queen of the Universe (yes, it’s actually called that!). I elected to get off the bus at the Madonna Cross and walk the rest of the way (although I ended at Suffolk Downs since Google insisted on steep unpaved roads). There WAS, however, one issue I observed with this.

THE DAMN ROAD IS TOO STEEP AT SOME TURNS! MY DAMN BUS HAD QUITE A HARD TIME MAKING IT UP WITH HOW STEEP AND SHARP THE TURNS ARE, AND YET THE MBTA JUST HAPPILY CHUCKS DIESELS AROUND HERE! WELL GEE, MAYBE THEY SHOULD’VE JUST OPTED TO INSTEAD TROLLEYBUS-IFY THIS BUS ROUTE INSTEAD! I KNOW HISTORICALLY I’VE BEEN STAUNCHLY ANTI-TROLLEYBUS, BUT AT THE LEAST THEY EXCEL IN VERY HILLY ENVIRONMENTS LIKE HERE, ALL WITHOUT SPEWING OUT UNHOLY AMOUNTS OF NOXIOUS GASES! IT’S LIKE FOR EVERY STEP FORWARD WE TAKE 25 STEPS BACKWARDS AND FALL OFF A CLIFF!

The good: It’s a supplement to the Blue Line! With that, it also serves the intermediate stops that the subway otherwise wouldn’t. Headways are also alright, being about every 20-30 minutes, except on Sundays (every 50 minutes)

The bad: I hope to GOD you don’t have to pay again if you get on in the loop section and need to go past Maverick or Orient Heights! It’s probably more MBTA procedures than the fault of the route itself, but still it’s annoying. THE DAMN ROADS ARE ALSO A BIT STEEP AND MIGHT BE AN ISSUE FOR DIESELS! JUST GET THE TROLLEYBUSES, NIMBYISM BE FUCKED!

Nearby points of interest: There’s a few parks and whatnot in Jeffries Point, along with Maverick Square and Orient Heights. The Madonna Cross is also a nice place to get shots of the city!

Overall, GIVE THIS DAMN ROUTE A TROLLEYBUS OR TWO, MBTA!

Rating: 7/10

Alrighty, a new bus entry! So, as of the time of writing this, several bus routes in and around the Chelsea area (namely the 111, 112, 114, 116, and 117) were made fare-free to compensate for the Sumner Tunnel closure. For those who don’t know their Boston geography, you have four major roads going into East Boston and Chelsea from downtown: US-1 carried by the Tobin Bridge, the Mass Pike carried by the Ted Williams Tunnel (& the Big Dig), and US-1A which is carried by the Callahan Tunnel eastbound and the Sumner Tunnel westbound. With that in mind, here’s the 114: East Boston’s Market Basket bus.

So, upon leaving Market Basket, we took a couple of turns and started heading down Everett Avenue and Arlington Street, a move done only by Maverick-bound buses. Market Basket-bound buses do a loop near City Hall, however both go down Broadway through Bellingham Square. Weirdly enough, it announced the Commuter Rail at Bellingham Square’s Silver Line station. Not sure what’s up with that. Soon enough, we’d cross the Chelsea River with the Tobin Bridge in sight off in the distance, paralleling the 116 and 117 in East Boston. Not much was of interest, though we did pass (yet another?!) Central Square. Soon enough, we’d pull into Maverick Square, for the Blue Line connection.

The good: Well, it serves Chelsea’s town center and government buildings – in one direction. It’s also kinda useful as a one seater from Maverick Square straight to Market Basket.

The bad: I said “kinda” because there’s one fatal flaw: THERE ARE ONLY NINE ROUND TRIPS – AND THEY’RE ON WEEKDAYS ONLY!!!!! YA KNOW, FOR A ROUTE THAT SERVES A SUPERMARKET DIRECTLY, THAT’S KINDA BAD! WHY EVEN HAVE IT?! AT THAT POINT JUST EXTEND THE 112 TO MAVERICK! I’D MAYBE FORGIVE IT IF IT RAN TO HAYMARKET OR GOVVY, BUT EVEN THEN THAT’D ONLY BRING IT FURTHER INTO QUESTION! WHY, HOW, JUST WHY?!

Nearby points of interest: You got Maverick and Bellingham Squares! Furthermore, more for your dollar at Market Basket! But, c’mon, just take the 116/117 to Bellingham Square, and the 112 to Market Basket. Both are more frequent.

Overall, WHY DOES THIS BUS ROUTE EVEN EXIST?! WHY, JUST WHY, JUST EXTEND THE 112!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: No. (translation: 1/10)

Ah, the East Boston Ferry. I was planning to ride this in May, but uhhhh, I kinda missed it due to negligence on my part. Oh well! With the closure of the Sumner Tunnel, I figured it’s as good a time to ride it. So, let’s get into it.

So, the route is pretty short, going from Lewis Wharf in East Boston, to Long Wharf in downtown. The boat itself was fairly comfortable for what, I presume, is commuter-grade equipment. I’ve also heard you can stand outside, but since it was raining when I did this (or, rather, it just stopped), they didn’t allow anyone to board outside. Nevertheless, after taking some time to reverse, we were on our way and, soon enough, made it to downtown in about 10 minutes, and I was on my merry way to South Station to meet up with June.

The good: For a ferry, it’s pretty decent enough. I’m not sure if there’s restroom facilities, but for the short distance this route covers it’s not needed. Furthermore, it’s pretty useful as a supplement to the Blue Line between Aquarium and Maverick. Or, it would be….

The bad: …if the ferry was nearly as frequent. It takes 10 minutes to clear the distance, a decent amount of which is spent reversing the ferry. Consequentially, it’s also only half-hourly, as opposed to every 6-10 minutes on the Blue Line. But, I’ll give the ferry some forgiveness as it hasn’t had any incidents unlike the other modes on the T.

Nearby points of interest: Downtown and East Boston, duh!

Overall, while the ride itself is nice, the East Boston Ferry is kinda limited in usefulness and use cases are kinda niche, given the Blue Line serves the same spots AND is faster, AND it’s more frequent! But, I still think water-centric transit can be utilized if under the right circumstances. And, for a short-distance water taxi, the East Boston Ferry is alright enough.

Rating: 8/10

Lewis Wharf, oh boy! Well, there’s not a lot to say about it so this one’s short and sweet. Lewis Wharf is a short walk from Maverick Square and the shopping that surrounds it. It is also pretty barebones, with just a few benches and not a shelter to be seen. Signage? Only tells you to buy the tickets on mTicket. The views of the city are nice!

The good: It’s pretty close to Maverick Square and East Boston! Yeah, I don’t have a lot to say.

The bad: It’s kinda barebones!

Nearby points of interest: Maverick Square, duh! You also have Jeffries Point.

Transit connections:
MBTA ferry (East Boston)
Blue Line & various buses (at Maverick)

Overall, meh, it’s barebones and there’s not a lot to say about it.

Rating: 3/10

Remember when I wrote about Uphams Corner, that there were two bus connections? This is one of them. Let’s look at the 15.

So, I got on the bus at Uphams Corner, meaning I didn’t go through Kane or Saint Peters Square, and it was a weekday so it didn’t go all the way to Fields Corner. The routing, though, has the bus coming up Hancock Street from St. Pete’s and Kane Squares into Uphams Corner proper, then up Dudley Street to Uphams Corner Station. From here, it’s largely a straight shot down Dudley Street, while supplementing many bus routes through the area, which was very residential. Eventually, after winding through the dense-ish streets of Dorchester, we reach Nubian and then afterwards do the usual Nubian-Ruggles run, via Roxbury Crossing. Yeah, not a lot to say, it’s a quick one and done route.

The good: It supplements existing transit, and in of itself is very frequent (every 15 minutes!), especially versus the Fairmount Line. It also gets decent ridership as a result, with my particular trip becoming standing room until Nubian. Furthermore, many of the areas it DOES serve are relatively starved for transit as well.

The bad: Can we have ALL trips run to Fields Corner via Kane and St. Peter’s Square please?!

Nearby points of interest: The Kroc Center, a few parks in the area, and Kane and St. Peter’s Square. Also, Uphams Corner (the neighborhood) looks like an interesting place.

Overall, it’s alright, and for what it is it gets the job done pretty well. I just don’t have much more to add here.

Rating: 7/10

Whelp, welcome to Uphams Corner, the last zone 1A Commuter Rail station on my backlog. How good is it? Well, let’s see…

So, while Uphams Corner itself isn’t that special, being just your average Fairmount station, which means it has benches, a spot to pitch in, a red dot matrix sign, a CharlieCard reader, and of course BUS connections. So, what bus connections are here? The 15, easily. And, furthermore, unlike the station, the 15 actually gets ridership? The difference with that? The 15’s actually frequent unlike the Fairmount! Eh, about every 15 minutes or so, vs. every 45 on the Fairmount on weekdays (and 90 on weekends! Vleugh!). At least there’s art on the Dudley Street underpass, and it looks nice!

The good: It’s on a busy road, has plenty of bus connections, and plenty of amenities as well as BlueBikes! Neat! Also, it’s a pretty nice place to railfan with the backdrop of the Boston skyline. Uphams Corner proper is also a short walk away. There’s also stairs!

The bad: Eh, I mean I genuinely can’t think of much wrong with the station itself. It’s more pedestrian-friendly than Newmarket, is fully high-level unlike Fairmount and Readville, and there’s actually stuff around the station. Though, supposedly the area isn’t the best at night, from what I can find online.

Nearby points of interest: There’s a few parks, the Kroc Community Center, and a few businesses going towards Columbia Road. There’s also a community garden nearby!

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fairmount)
MBTA bus (15, 41)

Overall, this is probably the best station on the entire Fairmount, all things considered. Like, I genuinely can’t think of a lot wrong with it maybe aside from the lack of a way to load a CharlieCard. But, not a bad way to go out for the Fairmount Line.

Rating: 8.5/10

Up next on the Fairmount Line, is Geneva Ave- wait, what? OH, it’s FOUR CORNERS/Geneva Avenue, okay! Got it. So, let’s look at Geneva-Four Corners.

So, of course, the platform is your standard Fairmount Line affair. Pitch in! Benches exist on the ramps as usual, there’s shelters, yellow dot matrix signs, and it’s partly residential partly urbanized. However, unlike the other stations, the platforms are staggered on either side of Geneva Avenue. However, you can still access both platforms, from both Washington Street and Geneva Avenue. Speaking of that, you also have bus connections on both streets with the 19 on Geneva Ave. and the 23 on Washington St. Neat! There’s also an anemic amount of parking, as typical for the line, but face it: why would you bring your car here?

The good: It’s got amenities! CharlieCard readers, wastebaskets, benches, and it’s sheltered! Also, the outbound side’s ramps being sheltered is a nice touch as well, and it feels nice being in the middle of the woods (despite being in the heart of Dorchester!). Also, there’s several ways in and out as well, which is nice.

The bad: Eh, the shelters that used to have plexiglass could stand to have it replaced! Also, why does the inbound side not have stairs? Yeah, that’s annoying.

Nearby points of interest: There’s a couple of parks, and a few businesses lining Washington Street.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fairmount)
MBTA bus (19 on Geneva Ave., 23 on Washington St.)

Overall, I like how it feels woods-y, while still being in the heart of Dorchester. That’s the kind of energy I can get behind with a Commuter Rail station in the middle of Boston. And, I dig it. But, it’s still not my personal favorite on the line.

Rating: 7.5/10

Alrighty, next stop is Morton Street! Well, well, well, is this any decent like Fairmount is? Let’s look.

So we have a station in Mattapan, fully high level, has insanely long ramps (long enough to need a bench?!), signage, entrances without any easy way to cross the namesake street (4 lanes?!), and a DUNKIES nearby! Well, this is actually kinda sweet! It’s also got a red dot matrix sign in place of a departure board, which I swear sometimes looks like it’s flickering from afar. Bah, whatever, I’m sure it’s no biggie. Also, the wastebaskets read “Pitch In”. Neat. There’s also history on some of the signs, as well.

The good: It’s got full length highs and some amenities!

The bad: Why is there no crosswalk at the station itself? Furthermore, why is there a lack of benches? Yeah, that’s very annoying.

Nearby points of interest: Eh, not a lot aside from a few businesses.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fairmount)
MBTA bus (21, 26)

Overall, it’s an alright station. It’s serviceable, but it’s certainly not the best one out there. Next!

Rating: 7/10

Alrighty, the Fairmount Line’s namesake! Well, let’s see how it holds up vs. the rest of the line. Is it a decent place? Is it dogshit? Well, let’s find out.

So, getting off the train it’s clear that it’s OLD. In essence, the oldest station on the entire line (second to Readville), given it’s still with mini-highs. That also means ALL offpeak trains board at the puny-sized platform. Yikes. But, for amenities, you have some parking, a CharlieCard reader (yay!), some signage, wastebaskets, benches, and even departure boards. Neat! Furthermore, the ramps ACTUALLY DROP YOU AT THE MINI-HIGHS, RATHER THAN FORCING A NEEDLESSLY LONG WALK! Did I mention from here to South Station is also only $2.40 (a subway fare)? As for crossing over, it’s pretty easy: just use the ramps and Fairmount Avenue. Bus connections are found a block over on either side of the tracks.

The good: It’s cheaper, has a shorter ramp unlike Hyde Park, and just has more service! It’s also got a CharlieCard reader unlike most other zone 1A stations, which is a nice bonus! Also, it’s got a proper departure board. And, also, parking.

The bad: Would be nice if it were a full-length high platform!

Nearby points of interest: Just like Hyde Park, this one’s close by to Cleary Square.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fairmount)
MBTA bus (24)

Overall, for what it is, it’s pretty darn good for a station. It gets a decent amount of service throughout the day, is in a largely walkable area, and has a transit connection (which I’ll be looking at some time). So, will the rest of the line beat it? I don’t know, so stay tuned for that.

Rating: 7.5/10