Boston sucks hard
I thought this place sucked because it doesn't really have any avenues lined with bars and eateries, and no real social gathering spots that don't involve freezing your ass off while being watched by mounted police who's horses are shitting on your picnic blanket, but I was wrong. Boston now sucks for so many more reasons.
In addition to tunnels collapsing on people and killing them, and in addition to the subsequent months long re-closure of those long-awaited tunnels to fix the busted ceilings and shit, they are hiking the T fares - across the board. Last time, which was only about a year ago, the buses went relatively unharmed: a mere 15 cent increase in fare, bringing the total to $.90. That's better than most cities; however, when they hiked the fare, they cut the suburban bus routes (goodbye all you low-income urban workers trying to save cash by living in the suburbs - as if your murderous commute on the inhibited and overworked bus routes weren't enough) AND eliminated night owl buses, dropping Boston's "transportation rating" to the lowest in the nation - below fucking ATLANTA for Christ's sake. As if it wasn't bad enough that the subway only ran until 12:30 (still does), they had to take away the buses that ran until a mere 2am and then charge us more to use any part of the system. LAME.
Now, a scant year later, the rates are rising again, and this time not so modestly: the T will jump from 1.25 to 1.70 and the buses will rise from .90 to 1.25 - and that's only if you have a "CharlieCard", a reloadable plastic card that tracks where you've been and whatnot. 1: way to create another way of wasting petroleum 2: way to screw everyone who forgets to reload their card/forgets it at home. If you don't have a CharlieCard, you have to pay 2.00 for a subway ride and 1.50 for a bus ride. There have been no extension of any transportation lines, no extension of hours, no addition of bus routes nor very many new buses, very few new T cars save for the green line, oh, and the free outbound service after the T comes above ground? Gone. And you can't get a transfer for a bus if you pay with cash - only if you have a CharlieCard.
If the MBTA doesn't announce some kind of improvement to the public transportation system within the next year, I'm going to lose my mind. The T needs to run all night, or at least until 2 or 3am. This 12:30 curfew shit is killing any hopes of upward movement for this city - unless you're a taxi driver.
In addition to tunnels collapsing on people and killing them, and in addition to the subsequent months long re-closure of those long-awaited tunnels to fix the busted ceilings and shit, they are hiking the T fares - across the board. Last time, which was only about a year ago, the buses went relatively unharmed: a mere 15 cent increase in fare, bringing the total to $.90. That's better than most cities; however, when they hiked the fare, they cut the suburban bus routes (goodbye all you low-income urban workers trying to save cash by living in the suburbs - as if your murderous commute on the inhibited and overworked bus routes weren't enough) AND eliminated night owl buses, dropping Boston's "transportation rating" to the lowest in the nation - below fucking ATLANTA for Christ's sake. As if it wasn't bad enough that the subway only ran until 12:30 (still does), they had to take away the buses that ran until a mere 2am and then charge us more to use any part of the system. LAME.
Now, a scant year later, the rates are rising again, and this time not so modestly: the T will jump from 1.25 to 1.70 and the buses will rise from .90 to 1.25 - and that's only if you have a "CharlieCard", a reloadable plastic card that tracks where you've been and whatnot. 1: way to create another way of wasting petroleum 2: way to screw everyone who forgets to reload their card/forgets it at home. If you don't have a CharlieCard, you have to pay 2.00 for a subway ride and 1.50 for a bus ride. There have been no extension of any transportation lines, no extension of hours, no addition of bus routes nor very many new buses, very few new T cars save for the green line, oh, and the free outbound service after the T comes above ground? Gone. And you can't get a transfer for a bus if you pay with cash - only if you have a CharlieCard.
If the MBTA doesn't announce some kind of improvement to the public transportation system within the next year, I'm going to lose my mind. The T needs to run all night, or at least until 2 or 3am. This 12:30 curfew shit is killing any hopes of upward movement for this city - unless you're a taxi driver.