Except when they aren't...

Usual Monday morning on the green line, as tired commuters fought to get on the train.  The announcements told us that pass-holders should go in the back doors, fare payers in the front.  Except our driver refused to open the back door, once again jamming the front.  Look, if you're not gonna do it, don't announce that you are.

Ya know what's nice...?

When a train drops you off during rush hour because it's going out of service and the driver tells you, "There's another train right behind us" and "right behind us" turns out to be ten minutes later.

Oh, and to the guy blasting "Men at Work" out of his MP3: Well, there's just nothing I can say.

What I'll remember...

Hit the green line for a quick trip downtown last night.  After a 10-15 minute wait, a single car green train pulled up.  Given the fact that it was half-full, the T seems to have assessed demand pretty well.  Despite the pouring rain, the driver only opened the front door.  I was in the seat across from the driver.

As we approached Coolidge Corner, one of the passengers made the not-so-ridiculous request that the driver open the back doors.  It was raining, so nobody wanted to wait in line to board.  And it was a single car, so fare evasion was less likely.  The driver grunted as she walked by and uttered to a colleague standing outside, "Lazy fucking people."

Wow.  I always knew they had it in them, but I was pretty sure they would manage to hold back. 

As you know, I believe there is a fine line between preventing fare evasion and treating customers as, well, customers.  Let's look at the situation.  It was a single car, so the chance of fare evasion goes down, as the driver can see everyone.  It's also only taking a few people per stop.  Enough to cause a back-up while boarding, but not enough to be a mob.  And it's pouring.  Any driver with any common sense should open the back door.  And upon request, should not swear about the passengers.

Just another day.

Why everyone hates us...

Yesterday, I had the "privilege" of sitting next to three 20-somethings discussing their drinking lives.  The guy next to me, decked out in a Bruins shirt, was talking about how awful his week was because he hadn't been able to go drinking.  Just the kind of guy that makes everyone hate Boston sports fans.

Dude, if your week is ruined because you've had to go a week without getting sloshed, you need to skip the game and get to an AA meeting.

Hearts and minds, hearts and minds

Part of the fun of the morning commute is never knowing which T Driver you are going to get.  90% of them are perfectly pleasant.  Today, I got the other 10%. 

I'm pretty sure that this guy thought he was a bouncer at the world's trendiest nightclub.  He did a great job of finding something wrong with everyone.  First, there was his refusal to start the train until a passenger took off his backpack.  Normally, I'm in favor of backpacks on the ground on the T, but this was a half-empty car.  And refusing to move?  Come on, get real.  Then, as a passenger flashed her monthly pass at him, he shouted, "Take it out, I don't know what's in your wallet!  And what about your friend?"  Her friend?  Was he trying to get a date?

Seriously, employees, your time is coming.  I'm not saying that's good or bad, it just is.  Everyone else has taken cuts, and when you go on strike, you'll need all the public backing you can get.

Post-Celtics rush

Went to the Celtics game last night and took the Green Line home.  So here's what I don't understand: There are 20,000 people heading out of the Boston Garden and it seems like half of them are taking the T.  So why aren't there trains waiting for us?  Seriously, not that hard.  Have a couple of trains ready to go as soon as the game lets out.  You know it's coming.

C'mon, make up your mind...

Seriously, it's getting annoying.  This week, they dropped the asinine "We're checking everybody at an above-ground station" program in favor of only allowing front-door boarding.  I'll give them credit, in that they're ignoring rush hour for that particular trick.  But the weekends and evenings do get busy and my ride just became that much longer. 

The saga has become very sad...

First, to those five idiots wearing costumes: You look like Warren from "There's Something About Mary," except he has more on the ball than you do.  Nice job, disrupting a meeting to the point where nobody could participate.  There's democracy in action for you. 

Next, to the people standing outside in the morning scanning cards at the station.  Look, I know you are trying to prevent fare evasion, and it's a nice idea.  But you're pissing people off and not doing much good.  If I want to evade, all I have to do is tell you that I'm paying with cash and then get on in the back, anyway.  You are getting those people who get on the train and couldn't make it to the front because it's too crowded, but that's not a problem at Washington Square.  Furthermore, most people this far out have passes.  It's a nice show, but a waste of time.  On the plus side, the drivers open the back doors more consistently now.

So there's a 23% fare hike on the table.  That seems fair, as the T hasn't raised prices in five years.  Of course, I hope the board is this tough when it comes to contract negotiations with the union.  We all pay a large chunk of our healthcare costs while having had flat salaries over the past several years.  No reason the T's employees can't do the same.  Don't like it?  Let them strike.  I have no doubt you'll be able to find other drivers quickly.

Three out of service stops and a couple of weenies

After being out of town for several days, I got a nice welcome back from the T.  My first train, which did not have any actual problems, went out of service at Kenmore due to a breakdown at Boylston.  Sure, why not?  That's only four stops later.  One "gentleman," and I use that term loosely (as indicated by the air quotes), pushed his way to the front of the scrum so that he could be the first one on the next train.  Oops, sorry weenie.  The next train also declared itself OOS after we got on, so the weenie was now the last one to get off the train to get to the next train across the platform.  Needless to say, he managed to weasel his way to the front of that scrum, also.

But he was nothing in comparison to Weenie #2, who was on the next train.  We now had two OOS trains worth of people trying to get onto an already mostly-full train, so we crammed ourselves into the sardine can.  A stop later, I was able to press off the door and saw that W2 was sitting in one of the seats next to the door and had his suitcase on the other seat.  Had someone punched him, there's no way that they would have been able to find twelve jurors to convict.

Another lovely day.  Glad I wasn't going beyond Gov't Center, as the train went OOS there, my third of the day.

More friendly T drivers...

Thanks to the T driver who slammed the door in my face and then sat on the tracks doing nothing.  There seems to be a pattern.

Once again, I am reading of people who are want the T to maintain current service and pricing while closing a $166m gap, led by those five idiots in superhero costumes.  Guys, enough already.  We've been through this.  It sucks, but something has to change.  Until you're ready to change the name of the stop to Coca-Cola Park Street Station, we're losing some routes and paying more.  Perhaps the state or Massport can pick up some of the bills, but we're going to end up paying for them one way or another.

C Line follies: a double!

Ahh, that's the C Line train that I know and hate!  Waiting for the inbound train with about forty people, since a train hadn't shown up in ages.  Finally, a train pulls up.  Even better, it's empty!  And it pulled right past us, bells-a-ringin'.  We crammed onto the next train that showed up, only to have it go out of service.  Why?  Who knows.  Get off, get back on the third train I have seen today.  Go a few stops and this one goes out of service, too.

Yeah, better accelerate that order of new cars.

Dear drivers:

Dear T drivers:

There are cuts coming.  Not just to service and discount fares, but to your compensation as well.  Yeah, I know, you have a union, blah blah blah.  But the MBTA needs to balance its budget, and you guys are part of the problem, which means you will be part of the solution.  So if I were you, I'd be going for the hearts and minds of the passengers now, not when your spokesperson starts telling the world how unfair it is that you will have to pay a higher portion of your healthcare costs.

Here's what I'm going to remember over the past few days: Last week, when it was pouring rain, you wouldn't open the back doors to the train.  It's rush hour, which means that there are dozens of people trying to board.  Thanks for making us wait.  Likewise, I was running for the door at Gov't Center and your driver slammed the door in my face.  Then you just sat on the track waiting but wouldn't open the door.  Gee, thanks.

I understand that you guys have very little power in the world, and your job is the one area where you get to exercise that power.  Hope it makes you feel better, because passengers remember, and you won't end up getting much sympathy when negotiations come.  The rest of us have been doing more work for less total compensation over the last few years.  You will be joining us.

D Line follies during rush hour

Apparently, the D Line broke yesterday.  C Line trains were packed and breathing was, well, difficult.  Oh, lady standing behind me, I don't have eyes in the back of my head, so if you are looking for a place to stand, a simple "excuse me" will do the trick and everyone will try to make some room for you.  Don't give us snarky comments after you go flying.

Sarcastic kudos to the driver who made the announcement for people who boarded on the back to come up front and pay their fares.  The only way to get those people up front would be for them to get carried along the top of the mosh pit.

Advisory Board recommendations

Well, let's add another bit of complexity to the situation.  The MBTA Advisory Board issued a set of recommendations that included a nice little mix of pain.  It was happy to absolve the T of a number of responsibilities, including the transit police and ferries, while pushing some of the costs on others elsewhere.  That would take care of just over 40% of the budget.  Another 45% or so would come from a 25% fare hike, which is unpopular, but necessary.  The final 15% would be "a little of this and a little of that," including a $.50 surcharge on event tickets and wage freezes for MBTA employees (Welcome to our world, guys!) and a few million bucks from local institutions and advertising.

I guess this proposal is good, at least from the point of view of the MBTA.  It minimizes the increase in fares while maintaining virtually all current routes.  Of course, if you are a Massachusetts taxpayer that doesn't benefit from the T, you're kinda screwed.  Furthermore, what happens the following year when expenses spike or employees want raises?  I really hope the band-aid holds, since I don't want to see the pain if we need stitches.

Signal problems

Arrived at work 15 minutes late today due to switching problems on the Green Line.  Of course, these things happen, except they had the same problem Friday.  I don't know what's worse: either they haven't fixed the problem from Friday, or they did fix it and it happened again.

The driver only slammed the door in passengers' faces once this weekend out of my three trips.  That's a pretty good ratio.  How sad that the employees view the customers as the enemy.

Rush hour jerk

This week's winner is the woman who shouted, "Everyone, it's rush hour, take off your backpacks!?" and then started to swing her backpack-sized purse around while trying to read.  Hypocrisy at its finest.  What's good for me is, well, good for me.  Not so much you.

As negotiations continue...

I am delighted to see that so many people have shown up at the MBTA's town halls to voice their opinions about the upcoming fare hikes/service cuts (or T 2.0, as we will call it from now on).  It appears that most of the attendees have voiced strong opposition to 2.0, which does not surprise me.  Those who are most affected are most likely to show up, while those in favor of the T's plan don't want to risk their lives.

But there's a harsh reality that we need to look at: the T doesn't have any money.  It's running a $166m deficit and has a ton of debt.  One woman at a town hall called for "creative solutions."  Give me a break.  You don't think they've been looking for ways to get every penny out of costs?  Heck, they even opened a store to sell T memorabilia.  They're desperate.  With the sales tax not generating what the state expected, the state simply doesn't have the money to give to the T.  It isn't there.  It sucks, but it's the reality.

The cost side of the equation isn't changing.  I don't see the workers rushing to give back salary increases or benefits.  They already got hit with a switch to a cheaper health care plan.  Energy isn't coming down.  Repairs certainly won't get cheaper.  You get the point.

Personally, I'd rather see fare increases than service cuts.  We owe it to each other to maintain services for those who need it the most.  Those are often the people who live farthest from the city and would face the biggest cuts.  Likewise, shutting down several lines on the weekends is a non-starter.  The downtown economy is bad enough on the weekends; Let's not keep the students away.

If the American political system is any indicator, we're going to see half the cuts we need that will make nobody happy but still leave a significant budget deficit.  Hopefully, it won't come to that, since I don't want to be having this same conversation three years from now.

The solution won't make anybody happy but it will make for a financially stronger MBTA.  And frankly, we don't have a choice.  Routes will get consolidated, schedules will get cut back and fares will go up.  I'm still in favor of subsidizing those who need help.  But we have to accept the fact that somebody needs to be the adult around here.

Goofus and Gallant

Goofus: The T driver who refused to open the door at Government Center, no matter how long I knocked on the door of the stopped train.  Nice, thanks.  Way to win the hearts and minds of your customers with budget cuts looming.

Gallant: The teenager standing next to me who was able to discuss the health care insurance industry in-depth.  Wow, an amazing amount of knowledge for a kid.  He also spoke about the problems the T is facing and mentioned one of the solutions that we have, namely, raising fares while subsidizing those who cannot afford them.

Wear some #$%&! headphones

I don't care whether you are 3, 30 or 300.  If you have a portable device, iPad, Gameboy, etc., wear some headphones.  I don't need to hear your freakin' Q-bert game halfway across the train.

Apparently, it gets cold in Boston in the winter...

The MBTA ended up apologizing for some heavy delays on the Red Line yesterday and boy, are their faces, well, red.  Apparently, they were affected by the cold weather.  Funny, we do get that occasionally in Boston.  It's okay, I understand; I spent much of the morning stuck in a disabled Green Line train.  See, Red Liners, now you know how we feel every day.  Boston.com has  the article here.  As the article points out, many of the financial problems lie as much with the government as with the MBTA (Try not to be shocked.).  The T is responsible for its own books, but the government forces it to take on unprofitable routes.  Kinda sounds like the post office except, instead of delivering letters, it delivers people.

Question of the day: The woman standing next to me asked a friend why the stops' names aren't announced by an automated system like they are in DC.  You know, so you can actually understand the conductor.  Anyone know why this is?

Oh, and to the people on my train who did not stand up for the elderly gentleman with the cane, you are all jerks.

The time has come: The MBTA is finally examining fare increases

That staple of Green Line reading, The Metro, wrote that the MBTA is finally examining fare increases and service cutbacks.  Well, it's about freakin' time.  For those not acquainted with Business 101, see the following:

Revenues-Expenses=What's left

No, I do not view the T as a profit entity, but it has to be more self sustaining.  Unless the employees take a pay cut or maintenance expenses magically disappear, neither of which is likely, expenses will stay where they are (more on that later).  Revenues come from a variety of sources, but the main ones are the government and fares, in that order (government=taxes).  Let's not kid ourselves that the government has any more money to give, meaning that fares are next.

According to The Metro, the T is considering some pretty massive increases.  Charlie Card rides could go from $1.70 to as high as $2.40, while individual tickets could go from $2 to $3.  Bus rides could see increases from $1.25 to $1.75, while parking could be up almost 30%.  All of these depend on which plan is chosen.

Expenses: Since the only way to eliminate expenses is to eliminate trains, that's what the T is discussing.  The big ones would be weekend elimination of the E train on the Green line and weekend Commuter Rails.  Northeastern students (and downtown bars), you're kinda screwed.

The good news is that not all of the above is going to happen.  Like any good negotiation, the MBTA is putting out the most radical proposal so, when it comes in better, everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.  We will likely see 30%ish fare increases, putting the Charlie Card ride at $2.25.  Parking will see similar increases, while the E train and weekend Commuter Rail services will see cutbacks, but not eliminations.

Here's a suggestion: Use the funds to hire a few people to enforce fare evaders at the biggest stations.  Government Center, Park Street and the airport all stand out.  Seriously, there always seems to be an open gate and no employees at those stations.

Oh, and to the guy who was quoted as saying that he would walk rather than ride the T if fares went up, you're an idiot.  You don't get something for nothing, even with tax dollars.

Do me a favor: I'm checking something here, so if you see an ad to the right, please click it and leave it open for 5-10 seconds.  Thank you.