Smooth Operators at the MBTA

I saw this article as well as a couple others in this week's Boston Globe City Weekly. Apparently the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the operators of Boston's metro system known locally as the "T", is trying to encourage greater courtesy to commuters by other commuters through the distribution of gift certificates to Dunkin' Donuts. There is also a rather vague campaign to encourage T employees to be more courteous to commuters as well.

Long and short, I find this whole effort to be a misguided mess and waste of money, which in a sense makes it a perfect microcosm of the MBTA as a whole. It is very typical of the powers that be in Massachusetts to blame the shortcomings of a public service such as the T on the people that use it, rather than on those that are suposed to operate it efficiently. The article even mentions the dark rumour that it is actually the rowdy college students who are to blame for the T's problems, as good a lesson in the tactics of divide and conquer as I have ever seen!

What are the problems with the T as I see them (I ride the T at least 2 times a day)? They are as follows: the system is dirty: it is not cleaned or kept clean as much as it could be, especially when compared to a system like the DC Metro. The physical conditions of the stations vary dramatically. The "Charlie Ticket" system, a card system like New York or Washington, DC meant to replace the old token system, is in my opinion a complete disaster. The cards only state initial values, rather than the actual monetary value remaining on the cards. The machines dispensing cards are few in number, and seem to be difficult to use as there are always long lines in front of them (except for the machines that only take credit cards, which no one seems to use). The gates take the card and only open once the commuter receives the card back from the machine...a nice feature unless you are only using the card for one ride, in which case the machine has just given you a worthless card (in Washington, DC the machines "capture" farecards with no value). Also, ironically given the "Charlie of the MTA" song, the cards' value is deducted on entrance, rather than exit, which means that often there is a large pile of used fare cards either left on the gates or on the ground near them. Also, the system has been introduced haphazardly, so some stations still take tokens and do not take cards! Bus lines often shut down early in the evening. On top of all this, large portions of the orange line are closed for "signal maintenance" on the weekends, often with little advance notice. This and other infrastructure issues seem certainly try my patience, especially as every commuter must pay $1.25 a pop!

I also find it odd that the blame is shifted to commuters. I have witnessed MBTA employees throwing their trash on the tracks, and off-duty employees opening the doors on the orange line to chit-chat with on-duty train drivers. I've also listened to T employees complain that if someone jumps in front of the train they're operating, then the driver has to take a drug test! Poor babies!!! Honestly, I think the problem is that the MBTA, much like other agencies in this fine state, is an example of a governmental monopoly that has been captured by the employee union it negotiates with. The fare hikes certainly aren't being translated into better service (the PA system is also annoying and terrible. They also, for some reason, always give "No Smoking" announcements only in Spanish, I guess as Spanish-speakers are the only ones who want to smoke on the T. This seems to violate the Massachusetts law making English the official language, meaning that a state organ can make announcements in another language, but must provide all information at least in English).

But of course, the MBTA isnt designed to encourage mass transit. Despite my favoring mass transit, I now dream of driving my car, even in this traffic-clogged city. Oh, for a European-style mass transit system, such as I have experienced in Amsterdam or Munich, or even Kazakhstan, where the system is designed for use by all citizens, is cheap and quick, and runs regularly for most hours of the day and night. But then such a system would be truly revolutionary, and require more effort than Dunkin' Donuts certificates.

Here is an anti-T blog, submitted for your perusal.