Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

nattarbox t1_iy8gtfq wrote

Reply to comment by GM_Pax in could the red line be shut down next... by iFuckingLoveBoston

I agree in principal but the MBTA is so organizationally broken and seemingly incapable of being fixed, there might not be a better option.

Maybe smaller transit departments built with a fresh start and some foundational charter to eventually merge with larger systems isn't a horrible idea?

But obviously the #1 is completely useless if it ends at MIT instead of continuing into Boston. You can pretty much walk anywhere you need to go in Cambridge so a municipal bus system wouldn't do much without extending past the borders.

IDK hard problem.

1

GM_Pax t1_iy94h8a wrote

>I agree in principal but the MBTA is so organizationally broken and seemingly incapable of being fixed, there might not be a better option.

Because it was set up that way.

​

>smaller transit departments

IOW, further balkanize the system. This is a bad idea. Right now, you could go from Norfolk to Manchester-by-the-Sea, just within the MBTA's core service area. It's all one system; the fares are consistent across the whole thing, as are policies and rules that passengers must adhere to.

Meanwhile, out here, away from the MBTA?

To get from, say, North Adams down to, oh, Chatham?

BRTA, FRTA, PVTA, WRTA, GATRA, and CCRTA ... SIX different transit authorites. Six different fare systems; six different sets of rules; six different web pages to find your way around when looking for schedules.

You absolutely do not want to do that to the MBTA's service area.

...

Also, trust me on this: even if you did it, and balkanized the whole thing anyway? SERVICE WOULD NOT IMPROVE ... it would get worse. I've lived with that worse, all my life ... and the LRTA (Lowell Regional Transit Authority) SUCKS BALLS, and makes the MBTA look like a continuous orgasm of delight and joy by comparison.

5