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Monthly Passes:
Currently, BC partners with the MBTA to provide students with semester T passes at an 11 percent discount rate, issued on a monthly basis. This primarily benefits the commuting students and staff. However, BC and the MBTA could partner further to offer passes sold at a higher discount, like the 50 percent discount ptovided to MIT students, This discount would be well-received by the significant portion of the BC populstion that does travel off campus, but does not do so enough to benefit from the 11 percent discounted passes. In addition, this would provide an incentive for the students living in the “BC bubble” to venture out of Chestnut Hill, something that many organizations on campus advocate.
Arrival time estimations:
On the red, blue and orange lines, countdown clocks indicate the estimated arrival time of the next train to allow for better travel planning. Subsequently, this technology enables various transport apps to provide estimations on the next trains and buses. People who use these lines on a frequent basis certainly experience shock over the absence of such technology when they take the Green Line for the first time (an abhorrence, right?). Fortunately, the MBTA has announced recently that it would be introducing this technology on Green Line at the end of 2014, providing arrival estimations to the light rail system as well.
Payment at stations:
With regards to the Green Line again – very frequently, especially during rush hour, trains stops at a station for a prolonged period of time as passengers queue to board the train from only the front door, through which the fare is paid. Very often, this waiting time is too long and the train operator ultimately opens all doors for boarding, essentially exempting those not entering from the front door of their fares. Personally I have benefitted greatly from this blemish when I travel during rush hour. But, thousands of dollars of revenue is lost due to this annually, contributing to the MBTA’s current debt situation. Ideally, fare gates could be installed in Green Line stations where passengers would pay upon entering the station, like stations on the other lines and in the downtown area. While MBTA did not pursue this due to the projected costs, the amount of time that could be saved and the amount of revenue that would be recovered could potentially be worth the expenditure. .
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Boston is fortunate enough to have a working public transportation system that is fairly reliable. However, a trip out of the state, particularly the country, would highlight the T’s need for improvement in order to catch up with mass-rapid transport systems of other major cities. For now, let’s look forward to the extended operating hours, and the upcoming ‘countdown clocks’ that would enable the Upper campus population to arrive more quickly at the decision of whether to walk to Chestnut Hill station, or to wait for the Commonwealth Avenue bus to Reservoir station.
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