MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) discussion

[railiner]

The only real problem with the Silver line is that if the Ted Williams Tunnel has a traffic jam, your bus is stuck in it.

I only took the SL2 route, from Boston’s Black Falcon cruise terminal to South Station, and that branch doesn’t use the Ted Williams tunnel, and only makes a few stops on surface streets.
I found its operation fascinating. The Neoplan Dual Mode articulated bus ran like any other bus on the street, with the operator collecting fares as passengers all boarded thru the front door.
When the bus pulled into the”Silver Line Way”, the HVAC blowers shut off, then the engine shut down, then the blowers started back up, and the bus quietly started forward, now powered by its trolley poles which had raised at the stop.
It then entered a gate-protected ramp down into a tunnel, and then made its remaining stops in subway-like stations . The driver opened all three doors for passenger entry and exit, as the stations used fare control access to the platforms.
Arriving at South Station gave free access to all connecting subway lined.

 

[BlackDiamond]

They have now phased out the SL operation via overhead wire. MBTA seems to have an aversion to trolley buses. They are instead going with the current fad of battery electric. How this will work out we will see. I think they are using CNG buses in the meantime.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

There's a reason I take the blue line to/from Logan....

Dumb question, but can you actually walk to the station? I.e. is there a pathway to the rental car center (which is walkable to two blue line stations)?

 

[Bostontoallpoints]

There's a reason I take the blue line to/from Logan....

Dumb question, but can you actually walk to the station? I.e. is there a pathway to the rental car center (which is walkable to two blue line stations)?

There is a pathway from the Airport MBTA Station to East Boston Stadium. You stay on that path past the tennis courts and parking lot under the highway ramp and then to the rental car center. It's a 5 to 10 minute walk.

 

[Bostontoallpoints]

There's a reason I take the blue line to/from Logan....

Dumb question, but can you actually walk to the station? I.e. is there a pathway to the rental car center (which is walkable to two blue line stations)?

I always take the free shuttle bus from the Airport MBTA station to the Airport terminals. There is a sidewalk on the service road across from the station that you can walk to Terminal E.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

There is a pathway from the Airport MBTA Station to East Boston Stadium. You stay on that path past the tennis courts and parking lot under the highway ramp and then to the rental car center. It's a 5 to 10 minute walk.

That's what I did - I discovered that last time I (well, time before last) was in Boston - had to rent a car for work portion of trip and then had time to go into town. Nice walk. I gather it's also easy to Maverick.

I see that walkway - doesn't look very pleasant.

 

[John Santos]

That's what I did - I discovered that last time I (well, time before last) was in Boston - had to rent a car for work portion of trip and then had time to go into town. Nice walk. I gather it's also easy to Maverick.

I see that walkway - doesn't look very pleasant.

I have walked from the Airport T station to a terminal, but many years ago and I'm pretty sure they've changed everything. It was possible, but not very pleasant or direct and I think I had to use a cross-walk across the main airport loop road that the car drivers basically ignored. I would use the shuttle bus if at all possible.

Few if any airports are well-designed for pedestrians. I was once on a red-eye from LAX to JFK with a connection to a commuter plane to BOS, and they didn't tell me the type of plane on the commuter flight had been grounded due to a crash in the midwest. (Later determined to be due to failure to de-ice.) They didn't tell me until after I had arrived at JFK and transferred to the commuter terminal. Long line at check-in, got to the front and they told me my flight and virtually every other commuter flight was cancelled, and I had two choices, a bus or a packed (pre-Christmas) full-sized plane. Both options would arrive about the same time. (The bus would leave soon, the other plane left about noon.) I opted for the plane, was told I needed to retrieve my luggage, take it to a different terminal, and check in. My bag had already been transferred from the LAX terminal to the commuter terminal. I had no breakfast and about 4 hours to kill. All the restaurants in the terminal had closed due to lack of flights, and it turned out none of the airport shuttle buses were stopping there and about half way to the other terminal, I reached the end of the sidewalk and had to descend an icy 10-foot slope and cross another access road to get to my new terminal. (There might have been a better route, but it wasn't clearly marked and they didn't give me a map or directions.) Made it alive across the road, checked in, and caught the connecting flight to Boston, took a cab directly to the company Christmas party in Porter Square. It was directly across the street from the Porter Square T station, but I don't think the Alewife T extension had opened yet.) I slept through the Christmas party.