Worcester Bloggers and More Debate About Parking

I would like to give a big shout-out to Neil of the 4-Rilla is Real blog and Linnea of Real Worcester for last night's meet-up at the Worcester Shark's game. Commute-a-holic and I both participated. It was nice to meet other Worcester-area bloggers and blog readers and it was great to get out and support the Worcester Sharks. The Sharks beat the Norfolk Admirals 4 to 3.

This was a fun and an inexpensive event. What more can you ask for in such trying days? In case you're either a hockey fan or you're looking to do something fun and inexpensive, the Sharks have a program where you can purchase tickets to Wednesday night games for $5.00 a ticket for groups of 10 or more. You can't even go out and see a movie for that. So if you're looking for something to do, consider checking out a Sharks game on a Wednesday night this winter. The DCU Center is a safe and welcoming environment which has been renovated to remove any sign of the old "Centrum" orange seats.

I even took the P527 train all the way to Worcester and walked to the DCU. Commute-a-holic was kind enough to return me to the Grafton station after the game.

Now on to commuting news!

The P508 was on time. We arrived into South Station at 8:21 a.m. The parking lots still look like they're only 1/2 way filled in Grafton, Westborough, Southborough, and Ashland.

Though I haven't seen published MBCR/MBTA on-time performance stats in months, I did notice a sign in the far corners of South Station. For the month of October 2008, the Worcester-Framingham line had an on-time performance of 90.55% and a year-to-date performance of 87.67%. I, for one, think these stats are suspicious. But there doesn't seem to be any accountability for publishing the stats by an outside authority, so I guess we have to go with what they are telling us.

People are still fired up about the parking rates. We appreciate all comments made to the blog - even if we don't agree with them. Commute-a-holic and I love how the blogsphere generates dialogue, which is what we are trying to do.

If you're a commuter rail rider and you're looking to connect with other riders, feel free to use Train Stopping to make those connections. A comment by Raghu Saranathan for West Natick commuters yesterday made me realize that others may be looking to connect. Let's all try to work together.

I will say, I do get annoyed when I see references to people "cutting out lattes to pay for parking." I've actually made a lot of reductions in my life over the past 2 years. I'm single and I work in financial services, so there is a very strong probability I could lose my job if the market continues its downward slant (spiral). I'm glad I started to become a lot more environmentally aware over the past few years, because it has helped me cut down on my consumption. That being said, I'm still irritated when I see utter mismanagement of public funds and I am still incredibly upset about this parking increase. But we will work through this.

On to the news. Yesterday's Examiner.com contained a scathing commentary on what happens when we don't pay to ride buses or trains. It is really well written and I agree with the sentiments. It may not solve all the debt issues, but I have got to believe that these funds help the bottom line. If not, then why even bother with fares?

Today's The Boston Globe focuses on how Massachusetts House Speaker Sal DiMasi is now pushing for the gas tax to offset transportation costs. Also, there is an op-ed by Senate President Therese Murray and Senator Steven Baddour. The focus is about reforming the transportation system in the state. The state is certainly in for a long haul, so to speak.

Finally, the MBCR and MBTA have entered into a partnership with the Samaritans to increase awareness about suicide prevention and support services. The partnership will also provide support to transportation workers who may have been impacted by a suicide. The partnership includes:

• Creation and implementation of a public awareness campaign about suicide prevention services, including advertisement for the Samaritans’ Statewide Toll Free Helpline 877-870-HOPE (4673) that will be promoted in posters placed in T and Commuter Rail stations.
• Creation of a Samaritans education and information program that will be available to provide emotional support services to transportation employees who witness or handle suicides.
  
• Creation and implementation of an awareness campaign regarding Samaritans’ need for volunteers to increase their capacity to assist persons in need and families of those who have died by suicide.
  

Train Jumper

Was anyone on last night's P527 train? If you weren't, you missed a massive amount of excitement. The P527 departs South Station at 5:35 p.m. and it is an outbound train to Worcester. After the Wellesley Hills stop, the train started to leave the station when, all of a sudden, the emergency brakes came on and we jammed to a halt. It seems a passenger jumped off of the train as we were leaving.

Now, for the semi-comical part, there must have been at least 10 announcements that we were at the Wellesley Hills stop . . . so it's not like said passenger shouldn't have known we were at the station. I don't believe the passenger was hurt. According to the conductor, I know they refused medical attention and limped away. You know, the three Wellesley stops are not that far apart . . . is it worth it to risk serious injury JUMPING OFF OF A TRAIN to save 15-20 minutes? People are wacky!

Onto this morning's commute. I think the conductor on my car of the P508 was cranky. Either that or he had no patience for people who didn't have their passes out. I think his announcement was something like "Next stop West Natick . . . and here's an idea . . . have your passes or tickets ready." So, maybe he's glad it's Friday too. Anyhoo, we arrived outside of South Station at 8:20 a.m. and sat there for 6-8 minutes, with an official arrival time on the track of 8:28 a.m.

Now this is really weird. I never received an update from the MBCR's RailMail about the new MBTA schedule for the Worcester line. I know the updates were sent to riders on other lines. One of my coworkers rides the Plymouth line and received an update. Plus, yesterday the author of the Charlie on the Commuter Rail blog RAILED against the Franklin line's new schedule in a blog post. Even MySouthborough posted a Southborough-centric schedule. Yet I never received an email from RailMail. Who knows - maybe I'll receive it today.

In any event, my company sent out an announcement about the schedule changes going into effect this coming Monday, October 27, 2008. Here is the announcement:

Beginning Monday, October 27, 2008, changes will be made to the schedules on the following lines:

• Framingham/Worcester

• Franklin

• Greenbush

• Needham

• Old Colony

• Providence/Stoughton
  

No changes to the schedules on the following lines:

Lowell, Newburyport , Rockport, Fairmount, Fitchburg, Haverhill

Schedules are available to view, download and print online at
www.mbcr.net where you can also sign up to receive e-alerts when your schedule changes.

Finally, The Patriot Ledger published an article in today's paper about how South Shore commuters feel about the new MBTA parking increases. Here are some quotes:

“The money has to come from somewhere, but I think the state should be helping more,” said Elizabeth Stouhlsatz of the Wollaston. “It’s bad all around.”

Jim Cotter of Quincy said that although he does not frequently park in MBTA lots, over the past six months he has been taking the T more often.

“I can’t imagine there aren’t ways they can cut costs internally instead of putting it on the public” he said. “They should be enticing people to take the T.”

The article also noted that the T is the largest owner of paid off-street parking in New England, with 43,000 spaces in 150 locations. What a trivia stat! In 2007, the T claims that more than 9 million vehicles parked at T lots.

Drove to Work

I drove to work today. No, I didn't drive because of yesterday's endless commute. I actually have something outside of the city to do tonight after work. So it is easier for me to drive in so I can leave work and go directly to my event.

Traffic was light this morning. Even the backup that happens at the Newton toll on the Mass Pike at Route 128 didn't happen, nor did the backup from the Route 16 mergers. Ah, summertime driving can be so sweet sometimes!

I did take the P527/5:35 p.m. train home last night. The conductors made an announcement regarding all of the delays yesterday morning on the Worcester line. They explained the delays
and apologized to the passengers. I thought it was a good customer service move. We all understand that delays will happen. But we get riled up when the delays happen and there is no communication as to why the delays were happening.

As "Anonymous" mentioned in a comment, if you were caught up in yesterday's delays, submit an On-time Service Guarantee form to the MBTA. It may take 6 to 8 weeks to obtain your refund, but definitely submit for it. It is a good way to officially log service delays.

I'm still curious about one thing from yesterday - if the MBCR/MBTA sent buses out to stations on the Worcester-Framingham line, which stations did the buses go to?

Today's Sidekick in The Boston Globe ran a cute article about guzzling less gas. Nice, easy tips to implement if you're looking to cut your fuel consumption.

Monday Night's P527 Commuter Rail Train

Last night, the P527 outbound train on the Worcester-Framingham line was about 3 minutes behind schedule, as we arrived to Grafton around 7:22 p.m.

I did not commute in on the train this morning, as I have a post-work engagement in Needham.

I just read Commute-a-holic's post about last night's commuter rail extension discussion. I love this comment from State Rep. Betty Poirer (R) from North Attleboro:

"Let's fix what we have" before building new rail systems, she said.

NO KIDDING! The T cries poor, that they can't maintain the cars/lines they have, but then want to spend a billion dollars expanding a line no one wants? They're so out of touch w/reality, it's unbelievable.

I hope this doesn't turn into another Greenbush line. No one wanted the Greenbush area - the towns of Hingham, Cohasset and Scituate fought the extension of this line for years. First, the towns didn't need the extension because they have access to the Red Line, the Quincy Commuter rail line, and the ferry's. Second, the Greenbush line cuts very close to some historic buildings and homes. But the T literally bulldozed their way to a line extension. Since Greenbush is a new line, they have the best cars and their service seems to be amazing. And it sounds like the trains are relatively empty and no one seems to know whether Greenbush will see the ridership on lines like Worcester-Framingham and Franklin.

I know Worcester line riders would love new cars. It sounds like the riders of the Northern lines would like new cars. Heck, Worcester line and Franklin line riders would just like to get to Boston on-time with relatively easy schedules (not "new" schedules that cut out more hours from your life).

Watching the New Bedford/Fall River saga unfold is bound to be interesting.

Getting Beaten to the Punch and My Commute Updates

Commute-a-holic - you beat me to the punch regarding the CSX line maintenance announcement!

First, before I recap my latest commutes, I want to comment about next week's maintenance work.

Wow. I'm stunned by today's announcement that CSX is going to initiate track work on the Worcester-Framingham line this Sunday.

This is absolutely ridiculous that they can announce this a week ahead of time and expect there to be no uproar. How are they able to make an announcement like this five days before the work begins? While I understand that a majority of the work will take place during non-peak commutes, who determined what is a peak time? Call me silly, but there are a lot of riders taking the 7:15 p.m. (P533) train out of South Station. So we're just poor unfortunately souls who have to work "non-peak" hours at our jobs?

I give Amtrak some credit in announcing their maintenance work, scheduled for June, so far in advance. Amtrak made their announcement last Thursday - months in advance.

I thought CSX, the MBCR and the MBTA met "regularly" to discuss the issues plaguing the Worcester-Framingham line. What do they do at these discussions - figure out what they're going to have for lunch or chat about the last night's Patriots/Celtics/Red Sox/Bruins game?

Let the blog complaints begin!

Last night's commute was fine. I took the P527 which leaves at 5:35 p.m. out of South Station. This is the local train. Got to Grafton at 6:59 p.m., so almost right on time (the "on-time" arrival to Grafton is 6:58 p.m.).

I didn't ride the rails this morning. I drove in because I missed my train (the P508) and I would have been late to work if I waited for the next one. And thanks to the "new" MBTA/MBCR schedule for the Worcester line, if I miss the P508, the next train doesn't depart the Grafton station until 7:49 a.m. (the P512) , arriving into South Station at 9:08 a.m. I would be over 40 minutes late to work if I had waited. With my company's new work hours policy, I'm trying to be a good doobie and get to work right on time.

There is nothing better than driving on the Pike into Boston on a raining morning!! Better than what, you can only imagine. Sarcasm can serve a purpose, right?

New Worcester-Framingham Commuter Rail Schedule Finally Posted to MBTA.com

I'm back from my extended business trip.

Thank you to all the Train Stopping visitors who shared their commuter rail experiences and insights over the past two weeks.

I noticed that the new Worcester-Framingham commuter rail schedule, effective on Tuesday, February 18th, was finally posted to the MBTA.com website. It was posted as a PDF.

My observations:

• Funny - the 7:19 a.m. (P508) inbound train will now leave Grafton at 7:09 a.m. and apparently will arrive at South Station at 8:23 a.m. Um, 1 minute earlier than the old schedule? That's such a change!!
• The P512, which now departs Grafton at 7:49 a.m., still departs Grafton at 7:49 a.m. but will now get to South Station at 9:08 a.m. as opposed to 9:00 a.m. Huh?
• At night, the outbound P523 now leaves at 4:58 p.m. It's new departure time is 5:00 p.m. and it will arrive to Grafton at 6:05 p.m. the 5:30 p.m. (P527 - the local train that stops at every stop) will now leave at 5:35 p.m. and won't arrive to Grafton until 6:58 p.m. The 6:05 p.m. (P529) will now depart at 6:15 p.m. and it is supposed to get to Grafton at 7:20 p.m.

This is crap. Sorry for the harsh language, but this new schedule is crap.

The onus is on the riders now. We really need to let our voices be heard to let the Governor, the MBTA, the MBCR, and our state and local elected officials that this new schedule is not acceptable.

Why should the Worcester-Framingham line be a second rate line?

Train Rider is back and I'm ready to for some action. I would like to thank Commute-a-holic for maintaining the blog in my absence.