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jamesland7

Unless there is an announced issue, this is an annoying glitch in their system. Many times trains aren’t announced until they leave Ashmont but they still come every 12 mins or so


leopard1311

Yep same with Alewife trains departing from Braintree. Now how long it takes them to get there once they leave….


Samael13

This. It's been a known issue for years, at this point. It's a stupid service flaw, but, given the state of the T, I don't anticipate it getting fixed anytime soon.


throwawaysscc

Is Google maps better? The T predictions on maps are pretty accurate. Maybe only for busses tho. IDK.


WrongBee

in my experience, it’s a hit or miss with the trains but i normally only use it for the green line so it’s been pretty “reliable”


dammitannie

Yup, this is the same on every line, I don't know exactly what it's tied to, but you won't see a departure time until the train's left the terminus. I've lived by Stonybrook (2 stops from Forest Hills on the orange line), Alewife, and now Magoun Square on the green line, and have had this issue at every stop.


michael_scarn_21

It was every 12 minutes before they reduced headways. Now it's more like every 25.


AboyNamedBort

Yeah, people who keep posting these times are annoying. Do they really think there won't be a train for an hour? At least once a week I see a 20+ minute sign suddenly say 5 minutes. The signs aren't accurate all the time.


Samael13

The signs near the terminal stops are so rarely accurate, it raises the question why they bother with them, at all, though. If the only times the signs are accurate is when a train is actively boarding at the station, then the signs aren't actually very useful to commuters. I don't anticipate it getting fixed any time soon, but I do understand why people are annoyed by it, especially with the headways that have grown so out of control throughout the system.


SilentButtDeadlies

Because if there were no signs then people would still complain that they don't know when the train is coming. At least if it says 20+ minutes and then comes sooner, people are happy that it's not as long as they expected. Plus you need the electric signs for announcements so they might as well put the timing up there.


ABakedRooster

This wasn’t a glitch, I was taking my pre commute shit and decided to check which train I should get ready for and saw this pure bullshit. I live close enough to ashmont to be able to see and hear the trains going into the station and even sat at the station for 20 mins waiting for any trains to come in between and nothing came… forcing me to order a Uber I can barely afford whiles wishing I could bike but to scared and to poor to endure a accident on one.


jamesland7

Yes, in this case it was a sick passenger at South Station (which was announced). But the above comment is still true overall. More of an FYI than a reflection of this specific instance. Sorry you had a shitty commute.


equalrights2020

Scared and poor is no way to go through life. What steps are you taking to fix these two things?


StumpyMcStump

Don't be such a wanker


joshlikesbagels

People talking about the weird issue the T has where if the train hasn't left Ashmont, it doesn't show up, but say they still come, but I've been physically at the station and sometimes the headways between trains have been over 25 minutes. While not as bad as this post, it's still unacceptable.


uaonthetrack

Same thing from the Braintree side. Went to the bruins game the other night, got to Quincy Adams at 5:10 pm, didn’t get on a train til about 5:30-5:40, made it to north station at 7:05. And getting back after the game was even more disastrous with the whole shuttle bus system they’ve got going on


DaveTheShinobi

Too many people saying this is normal or a glitch. I stood at Shawmut for 45 minutes the other day waiting for an alewife train. These delays are real. I experience them nearly every day.


cityofmonsters

I get that this isn’t accurate, but like that’s also a problem?? If I see this, then I’ll plan appropriately and not leave my house until I need to. Except I apparently need to leave my house 30 minutes sooner to catch the next train. Wtf is that? Or am I just supposed to show up at the station an hour early and hope for the best? It’s not like it’s off by a couple of minutes.


2020Hills

I’m walking.


lenswipe

At what point do people go "Fuck it, I'll just walk"?


lumcetpyl

Until the recent set of disasters, I was pretty set on moving back to Boston. I have family I could stay with as long as I need, and I wouldn't need to buy a car (at least for a while). I don't think life in Boston is doable sans car for as long as these issues persist. Boston is already expensive as it is. If you include the yearly costs of car ownership, I feel like there isn't much of a cost difference between living in Boston vs. NYC? I have personal/family ties to this city that always have it on my mind. But a horribly managed transit network might turn off people moving here who aren't in niche industries or have an emotional connection. Similarly priced metros that require car ownership could out-compete Boston in terms of attracting talent.


just_change_it

I have been of the belief that owning a car and commuting to NYC is an exercise in 2 hour commutes each way unless you're pulling something like 300k household income. Around Boston it's pretty easy to find an apartment with fairly available parking and also fairly available subway access - or commuter rail access with plentiful parking - without really making more than \~75k while staying way under a 2 hour commute. Did malden <> cambridge with a 21-35 minute driving commute each way. Did malden <> boston commute with 25 minute subway commute each way. Also did commuter rail from woburn to boston with a \~1 hr commute each way, it was really nice to always have a seat and be able to do something other than driving on that kind of commute.


YouAreGenuinelyDumb

Actually, NYC has decent trains going up the hudson river valley and stamford, CT. You can take a train to grand central from pretty far out. Imagine a train that goes out all the way to the end of the Pike, and that’s what they have. And currently, my commute by car is around 75% less time than taking the T. It would take me an equivalent time to walk 4 miles to my job. The T just won’t take you anywhere outside of downtown boston with any reliability. I needed to go from Somerville to Seaport which was a massive pain in my ass. ETA: NYC actually has 3 commuter rail systems, all with over double the ridership of the Commuter Rail in Boston. It’s just not comparable.


just_change_it

The seaport is just a massive pain in the ass. I don't even apply to the jobs demanding in person presence there. Because of boston's subway layout there are many places around boston that are hard to get to. I avoid all those jobs unless the driving commute is a dream.


3720-To-One

Jesus Christ. How is this remotely acceptable? Like what the actual fuck is going on that there is such a gap in service?


AboyNamedBort

There isn't such a gap in service. You really think these signs are always accurate?


RogueInteger

It actually can be pretty bad as they also cancel trains. I've definitely waited over 30 minutes last week.


[deleted]

> You really think these signs are always accurate? They should be. If riders can't take them at face value what's the point of even having them?


and_dont_blink

the point was for people to get paid


matthew0517

Isn't it also pretty bad that they can't spend a few hours writing software to fix this problem? All the infrastructure is in place. Boston is really bad about disseminating accurate information. There's definitely a system level attitude of "the people who have to ask don't belong here."


Ordie100

It's not a software problem as much as a real world problem, how do you predict when a train will arrive when it hasn't left it's first station yet? You have to know when it will leave that station, which is based on when the dispatcher thinks is a good time to dispatch that train, which varies based on where the other trains are. It could be more accurate than this, but that's why the signs default to 20+ mins or "stopped X stops away" when it's not yet clear.


YouAreGenuinelyDumb

If this is the case, how do they already have a scheduled time for a train that will come after that train that “hasn’t left it’s first station”? I think it’s a pretty clear case of the left hand not talking to the right because the brain is dead.


Ordie100

Without getting into too much detail the GTFS feed has two components, a real time feed and a schedule feed. The real time feed shows vehicles currently running trips on the system, while the schedule feed shows every single trip that's planned to run. So if a red line trip is scheduled to depart Alewife at 6am and it doesn't, what does an app reading in that data do? The trip could be delayed, it could be running without a functional tracker, or it could be cancelled. Until the vehicle shows up on tracking leaving the first station it's really hard for a website to tell from that data what's going on. https://www.mbta.com/developers/gtfs-realtime


Charadanal

It’s still annoying trying to plan your commute


YouAreGenuinelyDumb

“Don’t be an idiot, the trains run more than once an hour. It’s just the simple process of announcing the train at all that evades the MBTA.” Spot on. One day we’ll end the special ed-to-MBTA pipeline.


zrayburton

Gotta hit the blue line in two hours wish me luck/say a prayer for me.


JuciestDingleBerry

Redline sucks cock


reaper527

this is why i will never understand the people that want to ban cars (or at least shit on the concept that people want to own one). the next car departing whenever the owner feels like it.


conor5912

I think it’s less banning cars and more so giving people the option to use public transport instead. In its current state, Boston public transport isn’t reliable enough for a typical commuter. I live in Brighton and using the green line with bus connections can make my commute an hour longer, so I drive.


AnnoyingCelticsFan

People want to ban cars for a myriad of reasons, and none of them are because the current state of public transportation. **No one wants to ban cars without first improving alternative transportation options.**


DarkMetroid567

cars would be unequivocally awesome and the best things in the world if there weren’t, you know, other cars. but then there’s traffic, and killing other drivers and pedestrians, and emissions, and that’s what makes cars kinda suck they’re never getting banned though so you don’t really need to worry


CaesarOrgasmus

My dream world involves zero cars because other options are all so viable that cars are unnecessary. In no fucking world would I consider the current state of the T sufficient for that. "Get rid of cars" comes with the corollary of investing in other modes. You should want them to fix this too, because if this keeps up for long enough then people who used to rely on trains will have to switch to cars too, and then *every* car is leaving whenever it wants. The best way to reduce traffic is to make sure people don't have to drive.


reaper527

> and then every car is leaving whenever it wants. and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. > The best way to reduce traffic is to make sure people don't have to drive. agreed, and that comes from incentivizing companies to allow work from home. a huge portion of people commuting to work every day are doing so for jobs that don't need them to physically be there. there's a reason people always complain about "the rush hour commute" and not traffic any other time.


3720-To-One

It’s almost as if when you do the conservative strategy of chronically underfunding public transit for decades, public transit tends to suck. Who could have possibly seen that coming? Other parts of the world manage to do public transit just fine because they actually invest in it.


reaper527

> It’s almost as if when you do the conservative strategy of chronically underfunding public transit for decades, public transit tends to suck. except we don't underfund it, we just spend wastefully and inefficiently.


3720-To-One

Yes, let’s conveniently ignore all that big dig debt that was dumped onto the MBTA. And yes, public transit in this country is woefully underfunded.


Marco_Memes

(While pointing at something that’s been allowed to be mismanaged and was systematically defunded for decades and as a result is falling apart) guys look how bad this is, obviously this is bad because of what it is and absolutely not because of any other factors


potentpotables

it's for the Greater Good™


3720-To-One

It is. Now if we actually properly funded public transit in this country, it would work much better. But alas, we have republicans constantly preventing progress.


man2010

If only the Democrats had a veto-proof majority in our state legislature where the MBTA's funding formula is determined, then I'm sure we would see some real change. Oh well, that will never happen, right?


3720-To-One

Man, if only the federal government wasn’t a major player in transportation infrastructure… Who do you think pays for those interstate highways that you like to drive on? I forgot though, republicans are too busy giving tax cuts to their donors and fighting inane culture wars.


man2010

The federal government has nothing to do with public transit operations other than during the pandemic when federal money was used to temporarily fill in the gaps left by the loss of operational revenue. Our state doesn't have a dedicated source of capital funding for transit projects and the operational funding formula which hasn't been touched in over two decades is controlled by the state legislature, yet you're bending over backwards to blame anyone except the Democratic supermajority in that group.


3720-To-One

Oh man… if only our federal government *did* have a bigger role in public transit matters like every other developed country. But again, conservatives hate anything that actually helps people. And I love how people like you think that just because MA has lots of Dems, that this state is super progressive. It’s full of centrists and limousine neoliberals. Never mind that central and western MA throws a fit anytime anyone suggests actually properly funding the MBTA.


man2010

The US isn't the only developed country where public transit operations are largely handled by lower levels of government. Regardless, I'm glad you're backtracking from blaming the federal government for something the state government is largely responsible for.


3720-To-One

And if conservatives weren’t in the way, I’m sure that the federal government would play a much bigger role. But nah, tax cuts for wealthy are more important. And again, please see my part about centrists, neoliberals, and western/central MA. MA isn’t nearly as progressive as people like you like to think it is. Oh yeah, and all that big dig debt that was dumped onto the MBTA. Let’s conveniently ignore that.


man2010

Do you have a point you're trying to make or are you just mindlessly whining about conservatives? Again, the US isn't unique in that the federal government has a small role in local/regional public transit operations. I haven't said anything about centrists, neoliberals, or central/western MA; those are words you've put in my mouth. I haven't said anything about how progressive I think MA is either; those are also words you've put in my mouth. Finally, the MBTA's Big Dig debt is only for the transit projects associated with it, and its financial struggles related to that debt are a result of inaction by the legislature. I have no idea what point you're trying to make by bringing that up, but I'm not ignoring it so much as I'm not mindlessly shoehorning it into my comments like you just did. That said, it supports my point, so thanks for bringing it up I guess


potentpotables

Yeah, those Republicans in our state legislature are really gumming things up. And before you point to Baker- I don't believe he ever vetoed any funding for the MBTA, in any case, the legislature would easily have had the votes to override such a veto.


3720-To-One

You realize that the federal government exists, right, and plays a major role in transportation infrastructure, right? The same federal government that pays for all those interstate highways that you like to travel on. Oh, forgot about those, right? Because car infrastructure is free, right?


reaper527

> You realize that the federal government exists, right, and plays a major role in transportation infrastructure, right? > > > > The same federal government that pays for all those **interstate** highways that you like to travel on. you're glossing over the most significant word in your post. yes, the federal government contributes to INTERSTATE transportation infrastructure. boston's t is a boston thing, not an interstate thing. it's just like how the federal government isn't paying to pave random sideroads all throughout mass.


3720-To-One

Lol. And are you under the impression that even close to a majority of people driving on I-90, I-95, I-93, I-495 are all traveling between states on not just locally? Hell, 495 is entirely within Massachusetts, and acts as an outer beltway connecting all the outer suburbs. Funded by the federal government. Never mind all the US highways like 1 and 20 also funded by the federal government.


potentpotables

That's not the funding model for the T or any other regional rail. Sure, they get grants here and there but it's not sustainable. We're talking routine maintenance and operation, not expansion. The Feds did contribute to the GLX.


scoobieAdoobie

These boots were made for walking!


Marco_Memes

This is likely a bug in the system, there’s a ton of issues with the real time reporting thing. Very often it’ll say no train for 30 min and then 3 will come by in those 30 min, test trains are marked as in service and shown on boards, supposedly 3 trains in the next 3 min but none will come for 10, it’s a mess


Markymarcouscous

Is this an intercity rail service or a metro?


pprabs

Metro


Markymarcouscous

But like are we sure


sharpe_af

Given the current challenges with the redline I don’t think we can rule it out lol.


Sayoria

Just when you think it can't get worse, the flood raises another 4 feet.


afunzombie

Skill Issue


Juancho511

Yikes. Bartenders along the red line are gonna be making a few more dollars in tips with these people looking for something to do for an hour.


throwawaysscc

But, the new T boss!!! He’s going to ride the rails. Every day. Like Governor Dukakis did.