Kids riding the T

[mzrowan]

I found myself wondering the other day if the MBTA (the local mass transit authority) had a policy about the minimum age of unaccompanied minors, the way inter-city transit companies do. I can't find anything explicit on their website, but their fare structure is: up to two children 11 and under ride free with an adult; discounted passes for

Comments

[halfwitted]

hm, cool.

[fuzzyila]

from about the age of 9 or so, I had some classmates who took the city buses, but they were fewer than those who took the school buses or walked.

I know that from at least the time I was 11 or 12, I took the city bus to go to the malls near me and sometimes I took the bus and metro to meet my mom downtown after work. I sometimes got lost going to her building and had to use a payphone to call her and have her repeat directions :)

And of course by the time we were 12-13, we all took the bus/metro to get to high school, so it seems about right to me.

[ceo]

I'm pretty sure I started riding the T unaccompanied at 11. That's how old I was when the old Harvard station closed (when they rebuilt it as part of the extension to Alewife), and I don't think I ever went through it on my own, but I know I still qualified for the under-12 reduced fare.

I've seen kids in the 9-10 range riding unaccompanied, and nobody seems to make a fuss.

[contessagrrl]

My nieces (currently aged 17, 15 and 13) all rode the T (orange line) to and from school from young ages. They stopped being accompanied by an adult at age 8.

At that time (I don't know if the MBTA still does this) they had certain trains that were designated for school kids. Non-kids could ride those trains, but they tended to be full of school-aged kids, in a semi-looking-out-for-each-other sense. Also many of the schools had attendants they sent to the station to help the kids get to school.

[miss_chance]

Kid-trains is an awesome idea! I don't know if they do that in the morning anymore or not, because no way am I hearty enough to be up as early as school kids have to be (I have such respect and sympathy for kids with the ridiculous hours imposed by the school system). I know they don't do it in the afternoons, and it's a shame. It would be better for the kids and the adults.

[folzgold]

I think we should teach and encourage safe riding practices for kids approximately 10 years old and up. I know too many people, mostly girls, who were stuck at home during teenage years, until they were able to drive, because of parental fear of the public transportation system.

[folzgold]

The worst was when Mother turned to College-aged Daughter (aka, adult), and said, "You're not taking the Orange Line."