Implausible Transit

It is common knowledge that Boston was once the center of the universe. The Boston Elevated Railway Company ran with this reasoning when they built the subway network that is now known as the MBTA. It reasoned that all should be grateful for the honor of passing through the bowels of city, no matter where their destinations lie. Trying to get from the South End to Cambridge? You'll transfer downtown, and you'll like it, too. Sadly, by the time the MBTA took over the system, Boston had lost its claim as the center of the universe, on account of the Intergalactic Council's relocation to Bethlehem, PA. Deprived of its crown, people began to notice the subway's highly radial design made trips between outer neighborhoods and nearby towns needlessly long. Of course, somebody at the MBTA did notice this, and proposed the Urban Ring Project. By 2010, this had devolved into a tangle of BRT services , which maybe  could be upgraded to rail if the Transit Gods were pleased ...

Ah, the B-Line. It is widely celebrated as the most fitness-oriented branch of the Green Line because it encourages people to walk to their destinations, since they will arrive faster than they would by riding it. While the MBTA's health-consciousness is laudable, should their rapid transit options have any responsibility to move people rapidly? Boston University is the 10th annual winner of the Jack Frost Award for their groundbreaking work in giving as many students frostbite as possible. Their innovative system of unconnected classroom buildings requires frequent crossings of Commonwealth Avenue, maximizing time outside during the winter and allowing them to beat out schools like MIT and Northeastern , where many buildings have heated connections. As a BU student and frequent Green Line rider, I hold the highly controversial opinion that both of these features are frustrating to deal with. The B-Line is a disappointing mess compared to the light rail lines of similarly...

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Seoul and ride its wonderful metro system. One of the highlights was AREX, an airport railroad connecting Seoul to the international airport in the neighboring city of Incheon. A trip from Terminal 2 to Seoul Station is nearly 40 miles and takes about an hour, stopping at all stations. The trains come roughly every 10 minutes all day, not counting the nonstop service. To contrast, Logan Airport has two MBTA options for getting to Boston, neither of which are anything like AREX. The Blue Line is fast, but drops passengers far away from the terminals, and the airport buses from the station can take up to 30 minutes to squeeze through traffic. The Silver Line, being a bus, suffers from the same problem, plus the traffic in the Ted Williams tunnel and on the streets of the Seaport. The MBTA schedules this trip to take roughly 20 minutes from Terminal A to South Station, but it frequently feels more like 40 minutes from my experience. Even assum...