The MBTA - Can't Live with It, Can't Live without It

The MBTA…most of us, myself included, moan and groan about it...and yet we heavily depend on the service. Public transportation plays a big role in my daily life. Like most college students in the city, I’m constantly commuting back and forth on a bus or train. But I am always unsatisfied! Anybody who follows me on Twitter knows that just about every day I tweet at least once or twice about how annoyed I am waiting for a bus to show. Waiting just wastes too much of my time. And I know it’s not just me. A lot of my friends are always complaining about it too. 

Usually, I take the Red Line from the Park Street stop in Boston to Central Square in Cambridge. On a typical night I get to Central around 7 p.m. where I wait to board either the 70 or 70A bus, whichever arrives first. I prefer taking this route instead of the 71 from Harvard Square because it’s more convenient. There’s a bus stop directly in front of my street. I’d rather not have to get off in Watertown Square and then wait for the transfer.

According to the schedule the bus should leave Central at 7:16 and then another at 7:36. That never happens. They’re never on time. In fact I usually board the bus around 8:15 after waiting for over an hour! That hour can feel like four hours when it’s a mere 30 degrees outside. And what annoys me the most is when three of the same bus come back to back. It’s pretty ridiculous.

I don’t just take the T to go back and forth to classes. I also really depend on it when I’m out doing school assignments, and especially during the weekends. I go out in Boston a lot where bars and clubs don’t close until 2 a.m. The problem? There's no T service after 1 a.m.! At that point my only option for getting home is an expensive cab ride, or having to crash at a friend's place.

There are a just too many problems with the T… trains delayed, busses constantly breaking down…and now fare hikes and service cutbacks have been approved for the summer? That's troubling, especially because of all the reports that this won’t be the last time the fare goes up.

I can’t say that I know what got the MBTA in this current budget mess but I do feel that it’s not right to make riders have to pay for it, especially when the service is just failing. I don’t think that’s at all fair to the thousands of daily riders who have no other way of getting around.

I'm pretty torn on the issue. Yes, it’s clear to anybody that uses the T daily that it is in desperate need of the extra funds, but why does it have to come out of our pockets? But the dilemma is that when you can’t live without it, you’ve got no choice but to just play along. The question is, for how long?