Hey, there! Log in / Register
More proof the Globe's local editor doesn't care about the city
By adamg on Mon, 11/12/2007 - 8:21am
Apparently, you can take the boy out of Hingham, but you can't take the Hingham out of the boy. See today's front-page investigative report in which FOUR Globe reporters team up to determine whether the new Greenbush commuter-rail line is the fastest way into Boston from Cohasset. The Outraged Liberal wants his 50 cents back:
... I can't wait for the Globe to commit this kind of personnel to riding the entire MBTA system, particularly taking a regular turn on Green Line (and the Boston College route) and see if the Breda car problems are solved as the T professes. But then again, Brian McGrory doesn't have a thing for the Green Line.
Note: The Globe does have a short story (on page B2) today about the MBTA getting 10 more Breda cars. Stephen Laniel wonders why the reporter was so unskeptical about the T's assertion this will actually mean better service for Green Line riders.
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Who's the city editor?
In Brian McGrory's defense, he's not the city editor. The city editor works for McGrory, whose job it is to oversee all local coverage -- urban, suburban, exurban.
Corrected
I've changed his title in the post, although the criticism remains: When's the last time the Globe had four reporters ride the Green Line?
Also, Brian might want to consider having somebody update his Web page.
swirling round the circulation drain
This is an outfit that outsourced 40-plus back office
jobs to India, after having it's local employees train
their replacements. Wicked classy
Am willing to bet that your average Globe reporter,
in a pop quiz, couldn't tell you what Boston neighborhood
Maverick Square was situated in.
They've really lost their way over there on Morrissey
Boulevard. It's really kind of sad.
What about the Herald
I'm not a Globe-lover, but no one seems to gripe that the Herald hasn't done such a story, and isn't the Herald really the expose paper?
Breda cars
I rode the Breda cars on the B line during their initial testing phases. On one such ride, I ran into a group of guys talking and looking at clipboards. I listened enough to realize they were officials at some level in the MBTA and examining the running of these new trains. One guy seemed to be from the company selling the trains. I was seriously annoyed with these new trains (still am) and decided to say something to the group of them.
I asked "Do these new trains have fewer seats?"
Answer: "Yes, but more standing room."
Q: "But less room over all too though? I mean it seems narrower AND there are stairs in the middle of the cars."
A: "Yes. Less room overall too...had to account for height changes to get over the wheels but stay low for wheelchair access."
Q: "Wait, so less room...and the Green B Line? Are you going to run more trains to account for all those students/people?"
A: "No."
Q: "Ok, so the new trains are purely for letting wheelchairs roll onto the middle of the train...and in doing so, they're smaller, narrower, and you've done nothing to work on getting people in the back doors while still collecting fares?"
A: "Yes."
Great. Real brain trust there. These trains were the worst things to happen to the B line in a while. They also teamed up to remove a half-dozen stops past Packard's Corner...but haven't figured out how to do so inbound from there yet...Stops every block cause you to take about twice as long to go from Kenmore to PC as you do from PC to Washington St now (never mind that they haven't fixed whatever causes the trains to need to go 5 mph over BU Bridge right now). Craptastic.
Don't blame the T
Federal law required the T to be compliant with the Americans With Dissabilities Act by sometime in the 1990s. They are only coming into compliance now (this is also the reason for the improved speaker system and the installation of elevators in some stations where there never used to be elevators). As for the BU bridge, I suspect they have to reduce their speed because the bridge is structurally deficient and is part of the "how the hell are we going to pay for that" list of transportation projects that sparked the governor's casino idea.
Still to blame
Complying with the ADA doesn't mean dropping room for 50+ passengers and calling some of those ledges in the middle of the train "seats". They went with the cheapest bidder and it shows that little-to-nothing-else came into play in their decision. Even after the mock-up and spacial designs, nobody thought to say "hm, if we only have 80% of the capacity now, how do we move the same number of people?". There also has to be 20+ square feet of floor space that isn't anywhere close to a rail to grab onto near the "low floor" doorways. It's like it was *only* designed to meet the ADA requirements and zero consideration for the other 99.5% of us who need a regular functioning T at the same time...more and more of which probably need the handicap access after getting tossed down the stairs in the middle of the car over and over again.
BU bridge speed limit
> whatever causes the trains to need to go 5 mph over
> BU Bridge right now
Actually it's 4mph.
If anyone can figure out why they set the speed limit so low, I would love to know. The problem is that the train drivers routinely run that red light at the BU bridge. But because of the speed limit, they run it at a snail's pace. So for almost an entire light cycle while the perpendicular traffic has the green light, the intersection is blocked by some Masshole trolley driver who didn't want to be delayed. It's gotten to the point of absurdity.
Cutout?
I don't know the configuration of the power feed there, but it might be a cutout situation. At such places, the operator must go very slowly to avoid a loss of connection to the power. These things are usually on curves of some sort.
If too much speed, the connection is lost, has to be re-hooked, etc., and would be much more time consuming than the slow ride.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
How About The Blue Line????
New Blue Line cars have been overdue for so very long - I don't see Brian McGrory pissing and moaning for all us schleps in Revere, Winthrop and East Boston. Ah, but it's not nearly as much fun as piling on the Hinghamites and their smarmy attitudes. (even if we agree with him)
I was over in between
I was over in between Sullivan and Wellington stations about a month ago, and saw a couple of new Blue Line trains being tested on the the tracks. They look kind of cool. All of the trains need to go through 500 miles of test running before use by the public, according to the Wikipedia entry. Summer 2008 - woo hoo!