Goodbye Holidays, Hello Delays

The holidays are over. Everyone is returning to reality today. I took a few days off before and after the New Year, so this is my first commute of 2009.

So what was the first Monday commute of 2009 like? For a lot of folks, it wasn't that great. On the Worcester line the P502, P504 and P506 were all running at least 15 to 30 minutes late, according to T Alerts and news reports. The P508 arrived on time to Grafton, but it was slow going most of the way into Boston. We got to South Station at 8:48 a.m., about 25 minutes late.

I've also heard that the outbound trains on the Worcester line were also delayed.

Another thing made this morning's commute not so great. The parking lots were super icy. I saw a handful of people slip and fall in the Grafton lot today. Not good, not good at all.

I'm sort of dreading Wednesday morning. Supposedly we're going to have a snow/ice storm. This should make the commute extra fun.

The MBTA/MBCR wasn't really in the news the last few days of 2008/first few days of 2009.

The Blue Mass Group blog published an interview with Governor Deval Patrick on his selection of James Aloisi as the state's Secretary of Transportation.

Bostonist ran a cute column on being nice while riding on the MBTA. Anything "manners" related always reminds me of Muni Manners.

Yesterday's Boston Sunday Globe "Starts & Stops" column focused on where MBTA buses drop off passengers. The column also noted that the new Secretary of Transportation, James Aloisi, is a few weeks away from officially starting his new role. The Mass Pike is going to run an experiment from January 12th through January 23rd. During this time, eastbound passengers will not be able to use Exit 16 in West Newton to get onto the Pike. Pike engineers believe that people using this exit are causing traffic backups. Exit 16 is one of the free access points onto the Pike.

According to the Globe, street entertainers are having a tougher time earning a living. Many of these entertainers are posted throughout the MBTA's subway system.

Yesterday's Globe also ran an article about Massport. Mass Pike critics are not thrilled with the prospect of Massport taking over the Pike in downtown Boston.

On the Pike front, the Stop the Pike Hike group currently has more than 8,300 members. They are about 1,700 members away from their goal of signing up 10,000 concerned commuters. The final public hearing about the Pike's toll hike is this Wednesday, January 7th in Worcester. If you're interested in attending, the meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at Worcester City Hall, which is located at 455 Main Street in downtown Worcester. The Stop the Pike Hike group believes that the final toll vote will take place on either January 15th or January 22nd.

Finally, I have heard that state employees who had a state vehicle that they could take home needed to turn in this vehicle on January 1, 2009. I believe the only exceptions to the rule are those in law enforcement. I would love to know if the 60-odd MBTA employees who have MBTA vehicles were included in this rule. Again, there is no reason why Dan Grabauskas and senior managers of the MBTA need to have a MBTA car 24/7. Does anyone know if this rule is being applied to the MBTA?