Hazardous driving conditions

Beware of holiday driving hazards, like this one on Route 20 yesterday:

So long, and thanks for all the...

... Thanksgiving exodus traffic! In the lead-up to yesterday's (Thursday) Thanksgiving holiday, Google predicted that the historically best time to leave town was... the Sunday before! So, which was the worst day to travel before the holiday? Google had it pegged at the traditional Wednesday evening. But many local experts gave this honor to the evening of Tuesday, November 21. And right they were!

Here are some vistas of the congestion patterns across the country at around 5:00 PM EST Tuesday. The hot-spots all highlights the major metro centers in the eastern half of the US. I assume the western half has been saved only by the time difference:

A closer look shows just how bad it can get while driving between Boston and New York City:

At least, there's one place worse than ours! But in reality, nothing beats Beantown traffic. Try getting home after a hard day's work on Tuesday. Pick a direction, any direction!

Google predicted "just" 56 minutes to drive the 20 miles back home at 5:00 PM, which seemed ridiculously optimistic given the profusion of red in the picture above. A decision to leave later seemed apt, and was justified when a 6:20 PM departure resulted in a breezy 43-minute trip. Oh the joy, that 43 minutes to cover 20 miles is considered heavenly! Welcome to Boston!

And the Japanese Way

While Keolis works on fine-tuning their excuse generator for the approaching winter months, here come the Japanese with their own definition of "customer service":

"Passengers on a morning train on the Tokyo region's Tsukuba Express line might not have noticed anything was amiss Tuesday. But when their train left Minami-Nagareyama station, it did so 20 seconds ahead of schedule — and when the company noticed, it issued an apology to customers."

To top it all, the next train was only about 4 minutes away!

The full NPR article can be found here. Some reading material, and food for thought, during your next T ride!

The Keolis Way

Keolis runs the commuter rail lines in the Boston area. Their executive chairman recently stated that they are working hard to meet their customers' demands, and that they even have a new logo:

"The new blue represents technology and innovation and the grey, our strong presence in local communities. Our new signature, ‘more ways, more life’, means that we want to provide more mobility and give people more freedom in their lives to engage in their communities."

They've also apparently invested $101 million in their Boston operations, both on the infrastructure side and with communications. Failing switches have been a recurring commuter rail theme, and they're going with high tech: propane heaters and covers!

"The MBTA is committed to keeping its customers better informed by providing the most updated service information quickly, accurately, and when they need it."

Which brings us to the T's commuter rail app. The following comments are self-explanatory:

I guess the customers fall in that "grey area" in their logo... yes, bring on the winter!

Commute madness

Boy, has traffic gotten incorrigibly bad around the Boston area of late! Granted, it has always been bad. But this Fall has seen an unprecedented surge in bottlenecks all around the region, extending up to and beyond the I-495 ring.

This morning set a record of sorts. After 42 minutes of driving, I was still 30 minutes away from work. On a trifling 20-mile distance. In the good old days, which were essentially about a month or two ago, 40 minutes would have been considered par for the course for this same commute. When school is off during the summer months, this even dropped to 35 minutes occasionally.

Now, 75 is the new 40.

Most vexing of all is the total incompetence of the traffic engineers at the level of towns and cities, to get even the most basic and obvious strategies right. Their response to traffic problems has always been to prevent people from taking "other" routes. My guess is that wealthy/connected/elite people own homes along those "other" routes. More on this side of the matter in the coming days.

But bring on Amazon and their HQ2, with 50,000 more high-end jobs added, driving up congestion and the already bloated home prices. Cannot wait for that quality-of-life surge!

North, South, or North?

I encountered this sign during today's rush hour, and was momentarily baffled by the SOUTH NORTH text above the shield symbol for I-95:

It took a while to resolve that I had to actually change to the left lane at high speed and in traffic because I wanted to take I-95 North (notice that much smaller sign to the left?). All that real estate to the right of the Route 1 symbol, and there was no thought given to spacing out the two symbols?

Yes, the SOUTH NORTH is not centered above the shield. But then, the entire sign lacks centering, so what do we make of it all?

There's waiting, and then there's waiting!

The JetBlue line at Boston's Logan airport was snaking out the door this past January. And this was just for dropping off bags after checking in online! How apt, then, to have this advertisement proudly stand witness to the nonsense?

As I read the question "What age did you actually start?", I was reminded of when I arrived at the airport and not about when I started saving for retirement:

It's never just a stop sign...

This sign in downtown Boston appears to say "Stop, do a head-stand, then proceed with caution." But don't turn right (a one-way street). Or is it "don't turn left", since you are standing on your head at this point?!

Insuring software-controlled vehicles

A recent post titled "Hacker fears prompt motor insurance plea" (click here) is arguing for insurance companies to cover hacked autonomous vehicles. And allowing them to go after car manufacturers and software developers to recoup costs!

Reminds me of the decades-old forwarded e-mail: What if Microsoft made cars?

There are no short-cuts

A recent article in USA TODAY titled "Waze and other traffic dodging apps prompt cities to game the algorithms" (click here) talks about traffic routing apps sending drivers down quiet residential streets to beat congestion on the main roads and highways. This issue has been a pet peeve of mine too, as it resonates on a personal level during my own commute. 

I was pulled over several months ago for ignoring a tiny sign next to a state route off-ramp. The sign is barely visible, and is not even in your line of sight while you multi-task with the lane change, the upcoming right turn, the need to decelerate from highway speeds soon after the lane change, etc. The sign prohibits right turns between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM, Monday through Friday.

This right turn leads into a rather long two-lane, two-way road connecting a state route to a main road that feeds directly onto an interstate. The road in question also has a double yellow line painted down the center, and has a posted speed limit of 35 in most places (except for a 5 mph speed limit at two rather bumpy speed bumps).

This is not what I would characterize as a quiet neighborhood street. Those typically are short, have no center lines, and assume a default speed limit of 25 mph. "My" road though, is lined with expensive homes set far enough back from the road to generally be invisible from the car. I consider myself to be at the receiving end of a certain brand of elitism. The residential "noise" even caused the town to spring for a more conventional large, green highway sign parroting the same information on the aforementioned tiny sign.

I wonder how such a main connecting arterial could be thus precluded from general public use, when said public pay their fair share (and more) in taxes. I assume the same locals would not think twice about cutting through other truly neighborhood streets when they are running late for an important meeting, and the primary highway is clogged. Welcome to the latest brand of NIMBY-ism.

Cross-subsidizing the MBTA's incompetence

A crowd of non-regular travelers using the commuter rail to attend the Patriots' victory parade. A golden chance for the service operator to actually make some money through boosted fare collection. But none of this for Boston's commuter rail, as per this complaint registered by a friend (a regular commuter):

"This is to inform that no tickets were checked from Westborough to South Station yesterday in the car nearest to the engine of train 508. Non-collection of fares is unfair to monthly pass holders like me since we bear the price increases. There were a lot of passengers yesterday due to the Patriots parade and it is a shame that Keolis was not able to collect fares."

There is a valid point in here. The response from Keolis is the typical copy-and-paste approach that rambles on without actually addressing the point raised in the complaint. Keolis spent a majority of the reply quantifying the increased ridership (which draws further attention to the missed opportunity), the crowded and uncomfortable trains (which were not part of the complaint), and a boast about the massive preparation that still led to this fare collection failure. Contrary to the response, at least this one car was apparently not very crowded, and did not pose a challenge for a ticket inspector to pass through.

Good Morning,

Thank you for your most recent email regarding service on the Worcester/Framingham Line during the Patriots’ Super Bowl Parade on February 7th.

We apologize for the frustration you experienced during your commute, but must tell you that February 7th was the busiest day in the history of the Commuter Rail system, as 215,000 passengers commuted that day for the Patriots’ Super Bowl Victory Parade. This was a 60% increase in ridership, when compared to typical weekday service.

Although many passengers commuted in crowded conditions, we did deploy 24 trains, made most express trains locals to accommodate as many riders as possible, and deployed extra staff at key Boston stations to assist with directions and crowd management. At the conclusion of the parade, 12 extra trains were added on the Providence, Kingston, Worcester, Middleboro, Haverhill, Lowell, Beverly and Franklin Lines, timed to coordinate with the conclusion of the rally, in an effort to minimize the impact on the evening commute. Please know that we understand that the crowded conditions on-board the trains and in stations was uncomfortable for many, and not the ideal traveling experience.

The proper collection of revenue is important to us, but many fares went uncollected due to the difficulty crew members encountered while navigating through crowded coaches. We do understand how frustrating this can be, especially for our monthly pass holders. However, our primary goal that day was to safely move as many people as possible and we are happy to report that we were successful in doing so, despite the large crowds.

With that said, preparation began weeks prior for a potential parade. Careful planning was involved for what turned out to be an extraordinary and historical day in Commuter Rail service. Although we may not have been able to meet the demands of all passengers, and for that we do apologize, there were many whom were able to travel to and from the parade in a safe and timely fashion. We offered the maximum level of service possible to accommodate commuters and parade goers alike.

Again, we apologize for the frustration you experienced and thank you for writing to us.

Sincerely,

Keolis Customer Service

If Keolis, the commuter rail operator, is unable to collect fares, then perhaps they should reimburse the monthly pass holders for the day's travel. Maybe this lack of interest from Keolis is tied to their own proven ineptitude over the past several months, combined with the MBTA's insightful public notice that their contract will not be renewed.

Car sandwich, Boston-style

And not to be undone, the region's highway system competed with the commuter rail to produce its own novel delay excuse. Take a look at this innovative crash on the Masspike (I-90) near Newton earlier this evening:

Just brush it off!

What should you do in case of yet another train delay in Massachusetts? Just brush it off, of course. The commuter rail was on fire today in terms of delays. Literally. But it's at least something new:

And Boston's subway system wins again!!

The Globe headline says it all: "MBTA leads nation in derailments." A proud day as the Boston region successfully defends its title, winning the coveted award for the second year running. As an added plus, we narrowly edged out such tough competitors as... New Orleans and San Francisco.

Read all about it here.

Apps you like it

A variable message sign in Utah recently flashed the following advice:

Apt, indeed, given our times.

Excuse Generator fits the MBTA to a T

The T, as Boston's public transportation agency (the MBTA) is generally referred to, is the absolute master at providing top-quality non-service to the traveling public. Their "reasons" for delays and fiascoes run the gamut. Rails bent from too much heat in the summer. Rails bent from too much cold in the winter. Too much snow on the tracks. Too much demand for travel.

In a sense, they are just "too much".

Now there is an excuse generator that comes up with reasons that are more creative than the dull and cliched offerings of MBTA officials:

www.MBTAexcuses.com

Click here for a related news report on CBS. And enjoy the excuses on yet another snowy Boston day!