3.3 min readBy Published On: September 25th, 2015Categories: Features11 Comments on Southie Rant of the Week- The T

written by Peter Gailunas

Why is it that South Boston has huge bus stops and the bus drivers refuse to pull into them?  Nothing is more annoying than being behind a bus and it stays in the lane of traffic to let passengers  on or off thus causing more traffic.  Pull into the bus stops!

Why don’t we have more buses running during rush hour?  We’ve all seen the gaggles of commuters waiting 30-50 deep at each bus stop in the morning.  Sometimes it’s double the amount if a #7 or #9 is late or missing altogether.  I’ve even witnessed a mass of commuters walking armageddon-style to bus stops blocks away trying to get ahead of the game.  It’s survival of the fittest and if you have to walk to P Street to get on the bus, you’ll do what’s needed to be done. 

And have you seen how packed these buses get?  I take the #9 at 6:30 in the morning before the rush.  I always get a seat and it’s usually filled with Boston Latin School and Latin Academy students .  But after 7:00, it’s a whole different ballgame.  The buses get so packed that it’s got to be a safety violation.  Commuters are all but pressed against the front windshield.   Little yellow line that you should stand behind?  Forget that.  All rules are off when you are trying to get to work on time.  The buses leave from the barn on First Street and are usually full to capacity before L Street.  We need more buses!

Late night T service with the City of Boston – but not for Southie.  Mayor Marty Walsh announced starting in March, the T and select bus routes will stay open until 3am on the weekends.  Sound great, right?  It does –  but not for Southie.  None of the bus routes in South Boston will be running late.  It’s just walking or Uber for you, Southie.  Was there a meeting to discuss the routes that would run late?  Did Southie’s #9 or #7 even get tossed out there for consideration?  It’s not like South Boston is packed with bars, restaurants and young people in their 20’s.  We need at least one bus route to run late!

Why can’t you park at the bus stops at night?  Parking in South Boston is an absolute nightmare.  Every day it gets worse and it’s going to continue to get worse with each condo complex that is built.  Let’s start thinking outside the box when it comes to creating more parking spots, like say, the giant bus stops that aren’t used at all.  You could probably park at least two to three cars in the bus stop.   A sign could be posted stating that you must move your car before 7am or it will be towed.   I would gladly set my alarm and run to move my car at  7am instead of driving around at night for an hour looking for a spot.  As to the State’s claim that parking in a bus stop is a public safety issue, I’m calling bullshit.  After a storm, snow is plowed into the bus stop and not cleared until it melts.  That doesn’t sound safe to me.   We should be able to park at the bus stops overnight! 

Make bus stops smaller.  Why does a bus stop need to be 40 ft. long?  The drivers aren’t pulling into them in the first place, so let’s make them no more than 6 ft. long thereby creating more parking spots.  Bus stops should be smaller.  Better yet, elimate every other bus stop! 

That’s all for now.  That’s my Southie rant of the week.  Keep on keeping on, Southie!

 

11 Comments

  1. Nina E. March 21, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    Please please please add more #7 buses to the morning rush hour!  Unless you go to one of the very few first stops you have to watch at least 3 or 4 full buses pass you by.  It’s a simple solution.

  2. Anonymous March 21, 2014 at 3:51 pm

    Every one of these makes a hell of a lot of sense. You should forward this to Marty’s office.

  3. Scott March 21, 2014 at 4:07 pm
    They don’t pull in because as I just saw in front of Rondo’s the bus stop was filled with cars and one double parked next to them. And on top of that there was a BTD truck with 2 employees in it sitting across the street doing nothing.
  4. Anonymous March 22, 2014 at 12:39 am
    Shut up
  5. bob March 24, 2014 at 1:05 pm
    I’ve witnessed the migration of folks walking East on 4th street to get a better chance to get on the #7 bus before it fills up. More buses at that time make sense!
  6. Ann Marie April 5, 2014 at 2:14 pm
    And put hydrants and handicapped ramps in the bus stop zone instead of ramp + bus stop + fire hydrant. That’s half a block of parking right there!
  7. Anonymous September 25, 2015 at 11:40 am

    This is absolutely true. The 'I'm just running in for a second' justification results in blocked bus stops when everyone else has the same mentatlity. Why not just get rid of the bus stop zones all together and establish formal parking instead? Have the busses simply double park like they do now.

  8. T rider September 25, 2015 at 1:01 pm

    Apparently you are riding the T school bus for students?

  9. Anonymous September 25, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    All of these points circulate the point of doing you a service, so i am not entirely sure what kind of rant you are trying to progress. You want the bus to pick you up, but you don't like where it picks you up, but you also think the bus shouldn't pick you up in said spot because it should either be dedicated to parking spots on off-hours or, inevitably, made smaller so it could kind of pick you up? 

    But furthermore, fewer bus stops mean more people congregating at similar spots, which, we all know, causes conflict way larger than what happens outside of BBG while waiting for Chinese food. As I digress, I don't believe we need any more conflict in the neighborhood and why are you complaining about parking spots if you commute via bus? Let's not tear the place apart. Let's work on putting it back together.

    When life gives you a lemon, you make lemonade and through in some vodka into it to spice it up.

  10. Anonymous September 25, 2015 at 5:32 pm

    All of these points circulate the point of doing you a service, so I am not entirely sure what kind of rant you are trying to progress. You want the bus to pick you up, but you don't like where it picks you up, but you also think the bus shouldn't pick you up in said spot because it should either be dedicated to parking spots on off-hours or, inevitably, made smaller so it could kind of pick you up?

    But furthermore, fewer bus stops means more people congregating at similar spots, which, we all know, causes conflict way larger than what happens outside of BBG while waiting for Chinese food. As I digress, I don't believe we need any more conflict in the neighborhood and why are you complaining about parking spots if you commute via bus? Let someone else sweat that issue. Let's not tear the place apart. Let's work on making it better.

  11. REALLY !! September 30, 2015 at 1:51 pm

    Not sure what happened to my post from this article a week or so ago….I guess the truth speaks volumns huh – but the # 7 and # 9 aren't the only buses that run in and out of South Boston, the # 10 bus – yes it may also go to Copley but it goes a complete different route and some of us do have to get to the medical area for work……so enough already with # 7 showing up full – I get the # 10 @ 6:15 in the morning and for my 1 bus – IF IT SHOWS AT ALL – there  are 2 or 3 # 7's going into Downtown if you ever were to look at a schedule they run about every 4 minutes in the morning and evening already….we have what they call the Bayview # 11 you can also take that into downtown – its a little more roundabout way but at least it gets you there……my # 10 runs every 30-45 minutes in the morning – and its the ONLY route that comes this way – so try starting your  day off like that every morning…its gotten to the point I leave for work anywhere from an hour to an hour and half to make sure I get some bus coming near my work…. I was told by a person I know that works for the T – if something happens they take the # 10 (MY BUS ROUTE) off the grid first – so then we get even luckier and wait anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes….EVERY MORNING….maybe like I stated also people can move all the way back into the bus – they think they are the only ones riding it….believe me I know –  I also take # 7 to and from my pt night job and have been left standing while that has gone by full coming home – yet I can see a ton of space in the back….not sure what half the solutions would be and the T isn't going to really be much help either – they can have all the meetings they want but South Boston has always had horrible service since I was old enough to take a bus I think…..and I also agree with the parking overnight like they let people do in some of the school yards…..and one last note….can someone please explain to me why we have 3, 4 sometimes 5 carrriages on the buses – they should have to fold them up like they did in the old days before they get on…that announcement thing can say all it wants about sharing space on the bus it doesn't happen – hell at this point I wouldn't mind sharing as long as my bus showed up….

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