INCONVENIENT TO A T
This column originally appeared on Wicked Local

When I was a kid my mother bought me the Boston Game, a board game that caused you to playfully navigate the entire color-coded system of the T.  We were in the city quite a bit, and she thought it would be an effective way for me to learn my way around town and potentially how to use public transportation just in case. 

The T was an affordable way to travel back then and it was convenient. For short money you could go virtually anywhere in the city. When I finally moved into Boston permanently in 1990, the T was my principal mode of transportation. For years, my former workplace (Marriott Copley) offered employees T passes for $25.00 a month, making it more affordable and more convenient than driving.    

But the T has changed. 

This past week, I twice dared to take the T into Boston instead of driving, the first day opting to go to the Quincy Adams Station figuring the Braintree parking lot might already be full with early commuters.  Quincy Adams did have plenty of spaces if you were riding a motorcycle or driving a SmartCar. I drove down to a level that said “open”, but found every spot to be taken. Due to work being done on the garage which forced me to weave around large tarps and irritated men operating jackhammers, I was dangerously forced to drive the wrong way in order to exit optimistically hoping that I did not run into an oncoming car. I finally commandeered a spot on the next level that I could pry my vehicle out of with a can opener upon my return, and then I headed to the T. Of course, the first inbound train traveled right by all of the hopeful passengers waiting on the platform as if to rub in the fact that it had already been a struggle to get to this point and that our public transportation adventure wasn’t about to end.

A few days later I had to travel into Boston for an appointment at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. There was no traffic and I got to the Braintree Station without a problem. I parked and walked toward the turnstiles, deciding to pay for my parking beforehand in an effort to cleverly absolve myself of this electronic headache on the way out. (Braintree was, after all, the only station that once required you to have tokens in order to leave.) After paying for parking and not receiving a receipt even though the machine always promises you one, I turned toward the turnstiles only to be told that the station was closed and that buses would bring all passengers to other stations to connect with inbound trains.  Having already paid for parking, there was no turning back. I frustratingly followed the crowd and talked briefly with a woman who was working to organize people onto buses – admittedly not a fun job. I told her that people should have been notified of this detour as they arrived at or near the station. “It was posted on the website,” she said.  I told her that if I am using the T as daily transportation that it is not reasonable for the MBTA to think that I would check the website every day before coming to the train, that it would be like checking a website every morning before going out to start my car. I added that the T might have opted for a gigantic sign on route 3 alerting riders to the fact that the Braintree Station was closed (even though they take your money for parking).  She responded, “I don’t work for the T.”  The bus then took us through traffic, finally weaving into the Quincy Adams Station, and then continuing to the Quincy Center Station.  Passengers were never told where the bus was going to drop us off. I guess someone should have checked the website. The bus got stuck in several traffic jams and/or red lights on its way to Quincy Center, where passengers were finally dropped off a fairly good distance from the station.  I estimated that in the amount of time that it took the bus to get from Braintree to Quincy Center, I could have easily driven all the way into the city and been well on my way to parking my car at Brigham & Women’s. 

I enjoyed riding the T in years past. I actually looked forward to my time on the train providing a kind of quiet cocoon that would allow me to read a book, parts of a newspaper that someone had left behind (back then), or just quietly people watch before I got to my destination. 

As has been publicly noted, however, the T has faced several challenges in recent years including the snow debacle of 2015 that led to the resignation of Beverly Scott, increasing fares, publicly miscalculated figures that will be needed for necessary innovations, and increased costs caused by commuter rail expansion. 

When the T provided cheap and simple transportation, it served its purpose perfectly well.  In the spirit of my latest adventures on a transportation system that I once effectively partnered as part of my daily life, I would suggest the following as a potential new slogan for the MBTA: The T 2019 - More Expensive and More Inconvenient than Driving.