The T: You know you want to ride trains (and busses)

kSmash · October 2010

tvethiopia wrote: »

wow, really? i live in salem and take the commuter rail pretty often and i've never had any problems with drastic lateness or accidents. obviously these things are going to happen, but my experience is that it's not so often as to strike terror in the hearts of pax goers. you do have to plan a little extra time for yourself to get where you're going, but that's always true when using public transportation.

what line are you riding anyway? dead bodies? yikes.

Yeah the Kingston line is pretty bad its been late everyday i've taken it, (except once when it came early but the doors didn't open so it pretty bad)

juju · October 2010

I was on a train that almost got into a really bad head-on train collision with another train because of mixed signals on the unreliable Worcester line. It's because Amtrak owns the lines plus cargo trains run similarly, so it's always a mess there.

Some of the North Shore trains are pretty reliable. There's also the MBTA website, which has all the commuter rail delays as fast as they can post em up there (and it's open source, so many MBTA apps have commuter rail alerts built into them).

Kiashien · October 2010

juju wrote: »

Also, I can't believed I missed all of this, but some of what the OP wrote was downright wrong. The OP might want to change some stuff on this post if anyone's going by this as canon instead of our wiki:

I am absolutely certain 3-day passes are available. They are advertised at the Government Center T station specifically for tourists, and were available this August when I had people visiting me. I've never seen them anywhere else, but they definitely exist. I did update it to note that I've only seen them at Government Center.

You were correct about the 7-day passes being annoying to get onto an actual Charlie Card. I updated that information.

If any other errors are noted, I'll gladly update them. Most of this stuff is things I've known since I was taught how to use the T at 3, so I'm likely to slip up here and there.

tvethiopia · October 2010

Kiashien wrote: »

juju wrote: »

Also, I can't believed I missed all of this, but some of what the OP wrote was downright wrong. The OP might want to change some stuff on this post if anyone's going by this as canon instead of our wiki:

I am absolutely certain 3-day passes are available. They are advertised at the Government Center T station specifically for tourists, and were available this August when I had people visiting me. I've never seen them anywhere else, but they definitely exist. I did update it to note that I've only seen them at Government Center.

You were correct about the 7-day passes being annoying to get onto an actual Charlie Card. I updated that information.

If any other errors are noted, I'll gladly update them. Most of this stuff is things I've known since I was taught how to use the T at 3, so I'm likely to slip up here and there.

hmm. I also feel suspicious of this 3 day pass, as I haven't heard of it and there's no mention of it on the mbta site (which, granted, doesn't mean much). i'll be out and about on the green line today, so i'll see what I can find out. did you purchase them from a machine or a human being?

alyu85 · October 2010

tvethiopia wrote: »

Kiashien wrote: »

juju wrote: »

Also, I can't believed I missed all of this, but some of what the OP wrote was downright wrong. The OP might want to change some stuff on this post if anyone's going by this as canon instead of our wiki:

I am absolutely certain 3-day passes are available. They are advertised at the Government Center T station specifically for tourists, and were available this August when I had people visiting me. I've never seen them anywhere else, but they definitely exist. I did update it to note that I've only seen them at Government Center.

You were correct about the 7-day passes being annoying to get onto an actual Charlie Card. I updated that information.

If any other errors are noted, I'll gladly update them. Most of this stuff is things I've known since I was taught how to use the T at 3, so I'm likely to slip up here and there.

hmm. I also feel suspicious of this 3 day pass, as I haven't heard of it and there's no mention of it on the mbta site (which, granted, doesn't mean much). i'll be out and about on the green line today, so i'll see what I can find out. did you purchase them from a machine or a human being?

For someone living in Boston I've never seen a 3-day pass. And it is annoying not being able to put Commuter Rail fares onto a Charlie Card.

juju · October 2010

I saw no mention of it anywhere on the machine at all today.

I know a lot of MBTA officials say buy a 7-day pass if you're going to be here for 3 days and sightseeing since it pays for itself very quickly, though.

Kiashien · October 2010

Frankly, I've never bought a 3-day pass, so I'm not absolutely certain. As I noted, Government Center is the only station I've seen them posted at.

I consulted at City Hall for awhile, is the only reason I really noticed it. I'm not sure they're any cheaper than a 7-day pass...

I'm no longer working in Boston itself, so it would be very hard to check personally. If someone with ninja skillz could drop by there and find out it'd be appreciated :mrgreen:

I simply am certain they exist

I can't promise anything more than that at this time.

Thank you to everyone who's been helping. I'm currently trying to move, so updates will be slow for a month or so, but I will DEFINITELY get a list of Cab Companies up in the second post by the end of January.

I know, I'm slowish, but I'm doing the best I can

ottoman673 · October 2010

So let me clarify: The site suggests i take the Silver line. Does the 7 day pass work on the silver line?
and it's $15, right? Just in case i end up going elsewhere in Boston.

and where do i buy said pass? The airport? South Station?

Durinthal · October 2010

ottoman673 wrote: »

So let me clarify: The site suggests i take the Silver line. Does the 7 day pass work on the silver line?

Yes. It covers all of the subway system (the Silver Line is actually buses, but considered part of the subway) and the local buses that reach out to the suburbs.

ottoman673 wrote: »

and it's $15, right? Just in case i end up going elsewhere in Boston.

Also yes.

ottoman673 wrote: »

and where do i buy said pass? The airport? South Station?

I got mine at the airport near the exit that has the Silver Line stop (the symbol is a T in a circle); there's an automated kiosk that you can use. I imagine all of the airport terminals are the same since I think there's a stop at each terminal, but I've only been in one of them so I'm not certain.

tvethiopia · October 2010

ottoman673 wrote: »

and where do i buy said pass? The airport? South Station?

you can buy 7-day passes at any subway station at the machines that also load money on charlie cards, issue charlie tickets, etc etc.

Kiashien · October 2010

Updated post to reflect where to buy T passes, and added information about the cooldown period.

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The T: You know you want to ride trains (and busses)

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