I didn't think it was worth an entry, but apparently a lot of people are feeling ticked off at the T lately. As one of the greater Boston area's long running "chicken or the egg" disputes, the conflict between low commuter morale and the gritty realities of mass transit is coming to a head for the fiftieth time this year. To follow the link above to the bulletin board where people have posted their complaints about MBTA service is to travel deep into Boston's psyche, a place where the collective unconscious acknowledges that this is a very old city, with a very old mass transit system, but if it's been around so many years why can't they get it to run on time, dammit?
Just go to any subway station to observe the following scenario, an underground cavern, filled with grit, old damp copies of the Metro and pigeons, and watch as the wary faithful gather on the platform. Depending on which side of the platform you are on, there will be at least 3 trains on the opposite side before one comes in your direction. After about 5 minutes with no train, people start to twitch and begin sticking their necks out over the tracks, trying to get a glimpse of the next oncoming train. If there is an event or if it's rush hour, there is also an inverse ratio of trains to commuters, but still people pile into the cars like it's the last helicopter off the roof of the embassy.
I took the T to a night class for almost a year and it almost cost me my sanity every time. Waiting for an outbound D train at 5:30 on game night could make anyone insane. But I knew what what to expect and most of the time I managed to get to class only about 5 minutes late. After 17 years of living in Boston, I know the exact distance in which I am better off walking than waiting for a train. It's a skill one developes over time like an animal learns to smell snow on the wind.
Despite all this, I was dumbfounded a couple of weeks ago when I tried to get the 8pm train to Salem at North Station. Apparently, the train bridge had gotten stuck in the up position at Beverly and there had been an inbound train at Beverly sitting in the station since 7. No one knew what had happened yet, but there were a lot more people than usual waiting around the station. I waited for about 17 minutes and then someone made the announcement that a bridge was stuck and they were trying to fix it. I tried going to the ticket window to ask for a refund slip (something the T doesn't advertise, but if the train is more than 30 minutes late, you can fill out the card to get a refund), of course I was sent to a different window and even more predictably, that person refused at first to get me one, insisting that since it was a train bridge, i.e. not the actual train, then the T was absolved of any obligation to give out refunds. I insisted that he give me one just as a souvenir and he saw the logic in that and shoved it at me through the slot in the bulletproof glass.
I found a seat on the floor and waited with a book. People asked in wonderment where I had gotten the refund card. Apparently I had succeeded where so many before me had failed. I pointed to the window and said good luck. The man behind the glass was in the process of telling an elderly lady that it was up to her to find out how to get a connecting bus to Lynn. Apparently he had mistakenly sat down behind the INFORMATION window instead of the LEAVE ME ALONE I AM JUST HERE TO COLLECT A PENSION window.
I was content to let it slide. So the train was delayed, 98% of the time you can set your watch by it. But it seemed strange that there seemed to be no effort to try an alternative way to get people home. I had been on the commuter rail before when it had broken down and there were busses in 15 minutes ready to take people where they needed to go. All I saw was a group of conductors drinking coffee by their office. Then I saw a man go up to one of them and ask the question that was on everyone's mind. "Are there going to be shuttle busses coming soon?"
The conductor's reply was the straw that broke the collective camel's back. He jabbed a thumb towards the entrance and said "There's cabs outside buddy"
That's when several people lost it. Years of indifferent service, broken down, MIA trains, intermittent AC and overcrowded cars exploded as several people began to gang up on the conductor. A professor-looking man demanded to speak to someone in charge. I asked them why they couldn't have run a shuttle bus by now, when it had been done in the past, other people said they lacked sufficient funds for a 35 mile taxi ride. The conductor spluttered something about just doing his job for whoever signs his paycheck (I am not kidding) and retreated to the conductor's room.
After about 20 more minutes, a train managed to limp it's way into the station, but the T employees seemed to know that the damage had been done. No one had the gall to collect fares. They seemed to know that a line had been crossed and that one of their own had done it. It's one thing to be delayed. You can tell me there's an hour's wait and I'll hang it there as long as it takes as long as people are being treated decently. It's when people who have been waiting patiently are yelled at and ordered around with all the grace of a cattle drive that ridership goes down. People would actually prefer to sit in traffic on their own time rather than squished in a tin can with a bunch other people being screamed at over a loudspeaker system.
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