ravena_kade

Well the train shutdown is here. They are not shuttling people directly along the train tracks as they have done for the 41 years I have been taking the T to work. They are bussing all of the south shore to the last train stop in Dorchester and then you take the train with all the Dorchester people. Oh boy. Going home there was no communication at all. Sad because this is the week all the college kids come back to a college town and they may not be well informed about how to get around. Also the people are being buses into neighborhoods where there is a high gang presence. I generally wear headphones and do not look at anyone when I am on the trains. Tonight some of the tough locals wanted to bully the people not from there. Some 14 year old punk started to threaten to cut all the while women and rob them. An older kid told him to STFU and punched him. Great. Fun times. In the morning I will take the ride with my dad and wait with the rats for an early bus to the medical area. I know that hundreds of people who take the first trains are late for work as they are not starting the buses any earlier than the trains. It takes 25 minutes to get to Dorchester from Braintree if you are going straight there. What they are doing is having the buses go to all the train station stops in the affected area and then head to Dorchester to catch the train. This takes at least an hour before traffic starts..God knows what it is like during rush hours. I also told Dad that if I did not get picked up on Mondays at the JKF station he would have to find his own food. There are only 2 of these days I have to worry about. I can't wait until October when this is done.

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palusbuteo

UGH

I'm sorry. what a clusterfuck.

I've somehow managed having to avoid the shuttlebuses but I know my time is coming.

I was "lucky" when the orange line was shut down I could drive up to Leominster and take the Fitchburg CR to North Station. It added almost 2 hours to my day, and I still had to speed-walk to North Station to make the train home or else be 2 hours late. But I know few people have the option or ability to drive in or find any kind of alternative method of getting in without the train. And I find that really irritating.

If I wasn't so far away, I'd like to think I could have you carpool with me. I'm sorry I don't have any viable options for you.

All this work better be fucking worth it. It is a very painful reminder of what happens when you neglect and subvert mass transit for decades. In too many cases we're relying on 80+ year old technology and equipment. And it seems like every fucking day there are "signal issues". A friend who worked for the T said most of the system is still using 80 year old signals and there isn't a lot of compatibility with current tech.

Oh but you can just use your credit card at the turnstiles....When it works.
Next year there's supposed to be "fare verifiers" to stand there and make sure you actually paid to get in.

And to think how much traffic could be reduced if companies would just allow remote work. But no, we can't do that because management and supervision like we're in fucking middle school.
I hate every minute of this bullshit.

Edited Date: 2024-09-07 10:49 am (UTC)