July 1, 2025 • 23 mins
Boston proves its rank as one of America's premier transit cities through our comprehensive exploration of its historic first subway, vintage trolleys, modern rail lines, and extensive bike infrastructure.
• Visit to the Mattapan Trolley line featuring 1940s streetcars in regular daily service
• Interview with Andrew Cassidy from MBTA about America's first subway, built in 1897
• Exploration of how Boston's transit-oriented development shapes neighborhoods like Back Bay
• Experience with Fenway Park as a model urban stadium without massive parking requirements
• Testing of Boston's outstanding Blue Bikes system
• Observation of how Boston's transit feels like traveling through different decades simultaneously
• Comparison with other cities revealing where Boston ranks on our top cities list
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting us on Patreon to get early access to our upcoming episodes in Philadelphia, Baltimore and beyond. Check out our merch store or use the "buy us a coffee" link to help keep Transit Tangents running.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Doors are closing Public transit.
That's my way to roll.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
On a metro.
I'm taking control.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Bus stops, train tracks it's my daily grind.
Public transit, it's the rhythmof my life.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
On this episode of Transit Tangents.
We do Boston in a day usingonly public transit, from
subways to light rail, ahistoric trolley, buses and a
whole lot more.
We put Boston's publictransportation system to the
test.
All of that and more coming upon Transit Tangents.
All right, we are in downtownBoston, doing Boston using only
(00:39):
public transit.
We are walking right nowtowards downtown crossing
station where we're going tocatch the red line towards
Ashmont, and we're heading to apretty unique piece of transit
at the end of the red line there, which I'm excited to check out
.
If you're enjoying this videoas you watch, please consider
hitting the like button andleaving a comment.
(01:02):
We made it to Ashmont on thered line, but before boarding
our next mode of transit, wewanted to take a moment to talk
about how we got into Bostonfrom the airport.
So yesterday we both flew intoBoston separately, and
ordinarily you would take theblue line from Logan into
downtown.
(01:22):
That's the rail connection.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Or, if you're really adventurous, you can take the
ferry from the airport across tothe wharves in downtown.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yes, I think those are pretty infrequent,
unfortunately, but yesterday,though, the blue line was down
for construction.
They had shuttles running, sowe decided to try something
different, which was taking thesilver line, which is a pretty
interesting system.
It's like a kind of a BRT kindof not.
Some of it runs in mixedtraffic, but other parts run in
their own dedicated right away.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, I would say a lot of.
It did have a lot of BRT-likequalities because it did go
underground and went through atunnel that was dedicated to
just buses.
You ended up in a verysubway-like station that was
designed specifically for theSilver Line Yep.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
That was also really nice and it was free from the
airport to downtown, yeah, anddrops you right at South Station
, which you can basically getanywhere in the city with one
ride, except for North Station.
So we just rode the Red Line outto Ashmont and we're now about
to get on the Mattapan Trolley,which is a fun little historical
piece of transit here thatessentially extends the Red Line
(02:28):
a little bit further outthrough some more suburban
territory.
So excited to check it out, yeah, all right.
So we just got off the MattapanI-Speed line and we got off
here at Central Avenue, and thiswas actually originally a
(02:51):
steam-powered commuter servicein the mid-1800s and then in
1929, it was upgraded into whatwe see today and there have been
obviously some upgrades to it,but the streetcars are actually
the originals from that timeperiod.
These streetcars were actuallyintroduced in the early 1940s,
not right when the line opened.
(03:12):
There are not many like thisleft in the United States
anywhere, especially none thatare running in daily service
like this as definitely a reallyreal mode of transit.
We saw lots of people gettingon and off from Ashmont on their
way down to Mattapan, sodefinitely a cool little piece
of transit history to come checkout.
I'd never been to this before,so pretty cool to see it in
(03:33):
person.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
So one of the reasons that we chose this stop in
particular to get off is you cansee there's actually a lot of
development that looks fairlynew and it's all right next to
the stop.
So it's a really good exampleof that sort of transit oriented
development and a really cutesort of town center area that's
very walkable and has multiplemodes, including the streetcar
bike share, and we've seen busescome through as well.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
We jumped back on the trolley to Ashmont and took the
red line all the way to ParkStreet right at Boston Common.
Andrew Cassidy, the SeniorDirector of Digital Strategy and
Engagement for the MBTA, met usthere to share a bit about the
history of the station we werestanding at.
He also hosts a podcast calledSpilling the Tea with the MBTA.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Boston is no stranger to history.
You know, shot heard around theworld American Revolution.
But also what people might notknow is also that it's America's
home to America's first subwaysystem, Originally our green
line going between Boylston andTremont.
This is back in 1897.
There was such I mean it's hardto imagine, but there was such
(04:40):
trolley car congestion from allthe different private companies
running trolley cars at the endof the 1800s that, in order to
alleviate some of that traffic,they decided to put some
underground.
And this was a massiveundertaking because, you know,
digging holes in 2025 is alittle bit easier.
1897, not so much Right, youknow this is using horse-drawn
(05:04):
tools and mostly manual labor.
The Boston Common is where it'sgoing underneath.
It actually had to gounderneath a graveyard, so they
had to relocate individuals whowere interred there.
So it was a massive thing.
A lot of people didn't believein it.
A lot of people thought it wasopening a portal to the
underworld.
It was opening a portal to theunderworld.
Lo and behold, it became, youknow, a step forward for
(05:29):
transportation across thecountry which is massive.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Some of those arguments today, I don't know.
Yeah, maybe on a hot day.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yes, but it was, it allowed for us to kind of grow
that system and again,originally just going from one
corner of the common to theother, that has branched out to
now.
We have four different subwaylines, we have all these
different commuter rail it'sreally blossomed into this full
service.
But none of that would havehappened without these two and
these are the original headhouses that were constructed for
(05:59):
when it opened back in 1897.
Wow, awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
After talking with Andrew, we went for a short walk
through Boston Commons and gotback on the Green Line at
Boylston to head further intothe Back Bay neighborhood.
We had a much longerconversation with Andrew that
will be released early for thoseon Patreon so we just took the
Green Line train from Boylstonto Copley, just a couple of
stops down the line.
(06:24):
We're now kind of in the middleof the Back Bay area and, if
you're interested in this, theBack Bay actually used to be
underwater.
It was a bay and the cityessentially filled all of the
land in.
There's a really good video onYouTube about this by Daniel
Steiner that I'll link below ifyou're interested in the history
of that.
But the area is home to what'sright behind us here the library
(06:46):
.
We've also got the TrinityChurch right here and the
neighborhood in general is a lotof beautiful old kind of row
homes, a medium density housingall throughout this area.
That's kind of characteristicof Boston at that era.
It's also famously like the onepart of the city that is a
perfect grid if you were to lookat it on Google Maps, and
that's mostly because it wasfilled in and built in
(07:08):
afterwards from when theoriginal city was settled All
right.
After a quick walk around theBack Bay area, we're gonna hop
back on the Green Line and heada few more stops up to Kenmore
Square where we will check outFenway Park.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
So we jumped on the green line at Copley, took that
all the way to Kenmore Square,to historic Fenway Park.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, and for folks who don't know, fenway is the
second oldest baseball stadiumin the United States, only
behind Wrigley Field in Chicago,and there's something a little
different about this stadiumcompared to the others we've
seen on the show.
Where's all the Fenway parking?
That's a very good question.
Yeah, this is like an actualurban ballpark, which is nice to
(07:57):
see.
Go figure, it's pretty easy toget here.
You can take the green line,like we just did.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
There's also a commuter line stop right here so
folks can get to the gamemultiple different ways, all
sorts of buses it's nice to beable to go to a sports stadium
like this and not have to justgo through a massive sea of
parking like we have seen somany times before.
Like in san antonio, we went tothe stadiums, the convention
center and uh arlington anddallas, like it's always a sea
of parking.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Kansas city we didn't even make it to the stadiums
because they were so far out andthey're just surrounded by
parking lots.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah but we were able to get off the subway, make it
here within a few minutes, andthen there's still a ton of like
street activation and otherthings that are happening, so
just a really good spot.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Restaurants, bars, places to live.
It makes for a much more likefun atmosphere, both pregame and
postgame, and you don't have toworry about driving home
afterwards.
Yeah, exactly One thing worthmentioning is that Kenmore
Square Station also had a greatdirect bus connection right at
the top of the stairs, leavingthe Green Line.
All right, we just stopped.
We got some lunch near FenwayPark that famous Boston-style
(08:55):
pizza.
I think we just had some prettymid-pizza, but we were in a bit
of a rush, so that's okay.
But we're now just taking awalk over.
Okay, but we're now just takinga walk over and we're going to
catch our first bus of today.
We both took the Silver Lineyesterday, but we're going to
get on the number one bus hereon Massachusetts Ave over to
Harvard.
So interested to see how ourfirst bus is and if it shows up
(09:17):
on time.
It should be here in just a fewminutes, so fingers crossed.
We're presently getting alittle bit let down by the bus.
We're at least five or sixminutes delayed now and the bus
is like crawling on the transitapp and on Google Maps, so Not
sure if it's a ghost bus.
We'll see Fingers crossed thatit's not a ghost bus.
What if it's not?
(09:38):
We'll see.
We've seen several universitybuses go by that have faked this
out, but we'll see that kind ofsucked.
Yeah, that was a very slow bus,probably one of the slowest
buses we've been on.
Like on the show before, I feellike yeah, yeah, it was crowded
when we got on it.
(09:58):
There's no dedicated bus lane,there's no signal priority and
it had clearly been sitting intraffic for a while before it
got to us, and then the bus waslike standing remotely because
there's so many people on it.
People were getting off atevery stop and then every stop
had a whole bunch of peoplewaiting for it.
So yeah, not ideal.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
What we think we've determined is that the buses
here might be designed to funnelpeople to the trains, because
the trains all kind of convergeon Boston where everybody's
trying to go yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So especially in the areas like we're obviously like
for folks who live here, you'reprobably going to be in parts of
town maybe that are not rightserved on the trains, but in the
areas we've been going to havebeen pretty well served by the
trains.
So we kind of forced that bus alittle bit and now I know why.
People probably yeah, althoughthere were a ton of people on it
, so I don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Um but'll see if our look improves there.
We're gonna go explore Harvard,we're gonna get some coffee,
yes, and then we're gonna finishout the day here in Boston.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
All right, let's get some coffee.
After coffee, we decided togive the city's bike share
system a try, with a quick ridenorth to a commuter rail station
.
In general though obviouslywe're not really getting a huge
taste of it here, but Boston'sdone a ton with bike
infrastructure in the last fewyears.
We've seen a lot of bike lanesall over the city.
Yep, I know the mayor has beenvery pro bike lane, pro transit
(11:13):
in general Also.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
I should mention, we're not in Boston.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
We're in Cambridge that's true, yes, in general.
The Greater Boston area hasbeen good, though, with that
sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Cambridge is a beautiful area lots of
walkability, tons of nice greenspaces, parks, bike lanes,
crosswalks, hybrid pedestrianbeacons.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
And right now.
So we had just walked aroundHarvard for a bit and now we're
riding the bikes up.
Just one more stop up on thered line.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And we're actually going to catch the commuter line
yeah from.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Porter Square, so get a glimpse of what the commuter
trains look like.
Well, that was pretty easy,short ride.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Short, sweet, simple.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah, but I wanted to point out we weren't recording
when we unlocked these.
I didn't have the appdownloaded yet and I walked up
to it, scanned the qr code and Ihad the bike unlocked literally
in 60 seconds, which, as far asthose sorts of bike share apps,
gone in 60 seconds, gone in 60seconds.
(12:13):
So, um, yeah, I think I wouldcount that as a as a win for the
app being easy to use and alsothe network of the bike share
here is absolutely incredibleyes, yes, covers like basically
the entire city goes out quite aways.
We'll put a map up for folks,but all right, we're going to
walk over now.
The Porter Square Red Line andCommuter Line station is right
(12:33):
up here and we're going to gohop on the commuter rail and
take it back towards downtown.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
North Station.
All right.
So after the e-bikes, we endedup at Porter Square Station.
Here you can generally catchthe red line.
You have the commuter line hereor there's also buses coming
out of this area.
Today we're going to take thecommuter line.
The one thing to note here wementioned on an interview that
we did and I've mentioned sortof throughout the podcast you
(12:59):
can use the same fare methodacross the system.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
That is not the case for the commuter line, right?
Uh, even though the commuterline is still operated by the
mbta, it right now is on its ownapp and system, so, uh, and it
also has variable pricing andthat probably has something to
do with it.
That is something similar towhat we saw in washington dc
their, their actual, just likesubway metro, is based on
variable pricing.
You, you tap your card when youget in and you tap your card
(13:24):
when you get out, and it keepstrack of the price.
Based on that, the commuterrail works the same way.
So the further you travel, themore you pay for the service.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, so we're going to hop on this train in about
five minutes and then we'regoing to head over to North
Station.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
All right, so we made it from the commuter line, got
into North Station.
Commuter line was moving alittle slow, but it was still a
nice ride.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
We were reaching the terminus of the line, so yes,
yeah, makes some sense.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Seems like there was like a lot of.
It was like going through anindustrial area.
Seems like there was a lot of.
It was like going through anindustrial area.
There might have been a lot ofstuff going on around, but from
North Station we hopped on theOrange Line just one stop up
here, to the Haymarket Station,which brings us to Faneuil Hall,
which is where we're standingright now.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Yeah, so vibrant part of the city, a lot going on.
Last time I was here, someBostonian guy yelled at me
because I didn't choose like alobster claw suit enough.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I don't know Chris was taking his time.
Still scarred All sorts ofreally historical things to go
do in Senior here.
The site of the Boston Massacrewas right up the road.
We're really close to the NorthEnd, which is famously where
Paul Revere lived and the OldNorth Church and all sorts of
things Also like two blocks fromthe Big Dig, the Big Dig.
So if you were ever a modernMarvels fan like I was as a
(14:45):
child, you learned all aboutthat Totally and we would take
you to a lot of these sites butthey are all very walking
distance and we're running alittle short on time.
But you can access so many ofthese sites in Boston Literally
obviously by public transit, buton foot in a lot of cases Once
you're in the core part ofdowntown.
(15:06):
Here there's so much historicalthings to go, do and see Once
you're here.
Also, the I have to mention theaquarium.
The aquarium in Boston isamazing.
I I remember love going as akid, but I got to go with my
two-year-old niece six months orso ago and she loved it as well
.
I'm just imagining like nothingbut oysters and lobsters.
No, there's a massive tank inthe middle that, like the
staircase, wraps around or likea ramp, and so you're seeing
(15:28):
like sharks and all sorts ofdifferent fish all in this one
giant tank in the middle.
It's very cool.
Next visit.
So if you're in Boston, hit theAquarium for sure, and there's
a very deep station on the BlueLine there.
The Blue Line was underconstruction all day today.
That's the reason we haven'tbeen on it.
They were having signal issues,is what I read online, so we
didn't ride it.
But a very deep station at theAquarium station right after it
passes under the water, but it'salso next to the Aquarium.
(15:50):
All right, we're going to startto wrap things up a little bit.
We're going to head from hereto South Station, where we'll be
catching a train down toPhiladelphia actually.
So we'll see you at SouthStation.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
So we are finishing up our day here in Boston, where
we've traveled all over thecity using buses.
Well, bus, we used a busyesterday too.
Two buses, so two buses, trains, bikes and a lot of walking.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yes, before we get into some of the highlights,
lowlights, all that sort ofstuff, we are here at South
Station.
We're going to be getting onthe Amtrak Northeast Regional
headed to Philly tonight, sowe've got a bit of a train ride
ahead of us and we will be doingNice.
Five hours of train ride aheadof us, yes, and then we'll be
(16:33):
doing the same thing in Phillytomorrow.
That episode will not be doneyet, but it will be out early.
If you are able to support theshow on Patreon, that's the best
way you can help us out.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Also continue to watch, because from Philly we're
going to Baltimore.
Hopefully those release in thatorder, but we'll be in
Baltimore as well.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yeah, so lots of cool stuff coming soon, but overall
I mean we had a pretty smoothday.
The bus was the only real thingthat slowed us down, um, but
every train we got on.
For the most part I think thismorning we waited five minutes
for our train going out to, uh,the matapan trolley, yep, um,
but otherwise I think all of ourtrain waits were like minutes
(17:13):
or like appearing as we werewalking out.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Agreed yeah, boston is very easy to get around by
public transit.
We knew that going into this.
We just really wanted to takethis opportunity to highlight
all of the different levels oftransit that exists here and
kind of give our impression ofit.
As you said, super easytransfers.
We saw some really cool oldinfrastructure.
I love the fact that they stilluse the old streetcars and,
(17:36):
like the Mattapan, yep, uh, thatstreetcar, just it felt like
you're in another era.
I mentioned to lewis off camerawhat I loved about.
Um, boston's transit is likeeverything we did felt like
you're in a different decade yes, even like the, the red line
trains versus.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
We didn't get to use the orange line too much, but
the orange line trains are newerthan the red line trains, which
feel like you know 90s.
And then some of the old greenline trains are newer than the
red line trains, which feel likeyou know 90s, and then some of
the old green line trains areolder than that.
Then you had the Mattapantrolley, which was older than
that.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
We get on a commuter line with wood paneled walls.
It feels like you're in a 1970sconference room.
It's almost like you're livingin an active museum of transit
history in the US, yeah, andit's interesting too, the
different modes.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
So us, yeah, and it's interesting to the different
modes.
So, like, despite you know, thegreen line, blue, orange and
red all being on the map there,uh, the the green line being a
light rail being different, um,and also the benefits of having
the kind of trunk line where allthe different lines of the
green line run together is atthose main stations in downtown
there's basically just alwaysanother train coming, like a
(18:35):
minute or less right afterwards,so it makes the frequencies
really good.
And then as you get further outand the riders get more sparse,
so does the the green line,especially as it gets above
ground.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
So I'd say my major call-outs a ton of train
coverage, also a lot of buscoverage, but it does seem like
the buses funnel to the trains.
I we think of our theory isthat Boston is kind of a hard
city to navigate and preventcongestion, just the way the
city grid is laid out, or lackthereof.
Yeah, so you funnel people intotrains and trains have a direct
route in, right?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
And I'm sure as you go further out the bus has
probably become a little bitbetter.
But yeah, in the city centerit's so chaotic and the bus that
we did ride the number one bus.
It just took forever because itwas like it had been sitting in
traffic in downtown and then by, like you know, closer into
downtown back bay area and thenas it got to us it was packed
and then we were just stuckstopping everywhere we were
going all the way through.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
So, uh, it's a bit of an ordeal, but just doing my
good deed, yeah other call outsuh, if you want to take a bike
like this week has been uh,today has been beautiful weather
uh, perfect for biking.
If you want to take a bike,there is a massive bike network
here the Blue Bikes.
You can go pretty much anywherein the Boston metro area and
(19:44):
connect via all these littlestations, so it is absolutely
perfect for that.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
And it's also just highly walkable, right, and we
didn't get into the bikeinfrastructure really, but
there's major improvements inbike infrastructure all across
the city, so definitely,definitely a lot of fun.
Now something if you haven'tseen this episode yet we did an
episode where we have ranked allof the cities in a day.
That we have done using onlypublic transit so far, and we're
now, at the end of each episode, going to slot in the new city
(20:11):
where it may go.
So are we going to add a drumroll?
Okay, yeah, all right.
So, after a lot ofdeliberations, uh, and it's
still to be totally fair, I mean, this is subjective, but it's
fun to rank these out yeah,let's first.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Let's first go back a second and make sure that
everybody understands.
We are basing this on ourexperiences and knowing that we
don't live in these cities.
Obviously we don't have thefull picture, so people will
absolutely disagree with us onsome of these and throughout
this.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
If you were watching this episode, you noticed things
that you were like, oh, you gotlucky on that or no.
That's always really good.
Definitely, let us know too,because obviously, yes to your
point, in a day you can't figureit out.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
But so where does d not cc?
So where does boston rank?
I think we're putting boston inthe number one slot.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, yeah, I think I think we're putting Boston in
the number one slot.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Yeah, I think we both agree.
Boston is number one on thelist so far of the cities that
we have been to during the show,just eking out Washington DC,
and kind of for a couple ofreasons.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Number one the coverage of the trains in the
downtown and like immediatelyadjacent area, like the more you
know, urban core and slightlybeyond, is just so much more.
There's a lot more lines, a lotmore stops, a lot more just
density around all these areasand whatnot.
You've got the subway, thelight rail, the commuter rails,
(21:29):
the buses, even though, again,we didn't have the most positive
experience, but you still havethe silver line as well, the
bike coverage, the bike coverage.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
The ferry service.
I mean, you have so manydifferent modes of
transportation to get around andconnect throughout the city.
And also we look at this from aperspective, again not living
in these cities of okay, youhave now traveled across the
country via flight or via trainto get to these city centers,
and then what do you do at thatpoint?
How do you get around?
And I think what you're sayingthe density of the stations and
(21:55):
the coverage puts Bostonslightly above DC.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
It's very close though and I will say so like
Boston has the tap to pay withcredit cards.
Now that was a win.
Since we've been in DC, that isnow the case there too, but
when we were there that wasn'tthe case, so that, I guess, has
some bearing on it as well.
And you know, I would say,probably two or three years ago
Boston would not be in thenumber one or two slot, mostly
(22:20):
because they were having allsorts of issues, as we talked
about with Andrew from the MBTAtoday.
So but but they've really putin the work, put in the effort.
The state governor is ispushing forward, the mayor is
pushing forward.
The MBTA their new CEO hasreally gone hard on trying to
make sure all this stuff worksagain.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Also one more point to emphasize this is almost a
tie, and we're barely barelyputting Boston above DC.
Yeah, DC's metro does move alot more people in a regional
sense, Like you have a lot morepeople in that region that are
being supported by the transititself, and so you have so many
commuters from all of thosetowns coming in, right, yeah,
and they also have likeautomated trains.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
I'm even doubting it in my head now.
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
But it's close.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
You guys.
Let us know where you think itshould have slotted in.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
But with all that being said, though, maybe
they're in first place A, firstplace B.
We'll see, we'll see.
Okay.
With all that being said, thankyou all so much for watching.
If you have not liked thisvideo already, please consider
doing so.
If you haven't left a comment,do that.
You can support the showdirectly via Patreon by checking
out our merch store or usingthe buy us a coffee link.
But with all that being said,thank you all so much for
(23:27):
watching and enjoy the rest ofyour Transit.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Tangents.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Yeah, I'm saving that dough.
Public transit's where it's at,watch me go.
Doors are closing Public transit.
That's my way to roll.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
On a metro.
I'm taking control.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Bus stops, train tracks it's my daily grind.
Public transit, it's the rhythmof my life.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
On this episode of Transit Tangents.
We do Boston in a day usingonly public transit, from
subways to light rail, ahistoric trolley, buses and a
whole lot more.
We put Boston's publictransportation system to the
test.
All of that and more coming upon Transit Tangents.
All right, we are in downtownBoston, doing Boston using only
(00:39):
public transit.
We are walking right nowtowards downtown crossing
station where we're going tocatch the red line towards
Ashmont, and we're heading to apretty unique piece of transit
at the end of the red line there, which I'm excited to check out
.
If you're enjoying this videoas you watch, please consider
hitting the like button andleaving a comment.
(01:02):
We made it to Ashmont on thered line, but before boarding
our next mode of transit, wewanted to take a moment to talk
about how we got into Bostonfrom the airport.
So yesterday we both flew intoBoston separately, and
ordinarily you would take theblue line from Logan into
downtown.
(01:22):
That's the rail connection.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Or, if you're really adventurous, you can take the
ferry from the airport across tothe wharves in downtown.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yes, I think those are pretty infrequent,
unfortunately, but yesterday,though, the blue line was down
for construction.
They had shuttles running, sowe decided to try something
different, which was taking thesilver line, which is a pretty
interesting system.
It's like a kind of a BRT kindof not.
Some of it runs in mixedtraffic, but other parts run in
their own dedicated right away.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, I would say a lot of.
It did have a lot of BRT-likequalities because it did go
underground and went through atunnel that was dedicated to
just buses.
You ended up in a verysubway-like station that was
designed specifically for theSilver Line Yep.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
That was also really nice and it was free from the
airport to downtown, yeah, anddrops you right at South Station
, which you can basically getanywhere in the city with one
ride, except for North Station.
So we just rode the Red Line outto Ashmont and we're now about
to get on the Mattapan Trolley,which is a fun little historical
piece of transit here thatessentially extends the Red Line
(02:28):
a little bit further outthrough some more suburban
territory.
So excited to check it out, yeah, all right.
So we just got off the MattapanI-Speed line and we got off
here at Central Avenue, and thiswas actually originally a
(02:51):
steam-powered commuter servicein the mid-1800s and then in
1929, it was upgraded into whatwe see today and there have been
obviously some upgrades to it,but the streetcars are actually
the originals from that timeperiod.
These streetcars were actuallyintroduced in the early 1940s,
not right when the line opened.
(03:12):
There are not many like thisleft in the United States
anywhere, especially none thatare running in daily service
like this as definitely a reallyreal mode of transit.
We saw lots of people gettingon and off from Ashmont on their
way down to Mattapan, sodefinitely a cool little piece
of transit history to come checkout.
I'd never been to this before,so pretty cool to see it in
(03:33):
person.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
So one of the reasons that we chose this stop in
particular to get off is you cansee there's actually a lot of
development that looks fairlynew and it's all right next to
the stop.
So it's a really good exampleof that sort of transit oriented
development and a really cutesort of town center area that's
very walkable and has multiplemodes, including the streetcar
bike share, and we've seen busescome through as well.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
We jumped back on the trolley to Ashmont and took the
red line all the way to ParkStreet right at Boston Common.
Andrew Cassidy, the SeniorDirector of Digital Strategy and
Engagement for the MBTA, met usthere to share a bit about the
history of the station we werestanding at.
He also hosts a podcast calledSpilling the Tea with the MBTA.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Boston is no stranger to history.
You know, shot heard around theworld American Revolution.
But also what people might notknow is also that it's America's
home to America's first subwaysystem, Originally our green
line going between Boylston andTremont.
This is back in 1897.
There was such I mean it's hardto imagine, but there was such
(04:40):
trolley car congestion from allthe different private companies
running trolley cars at the endof the 1800s that, in order to
alleviate some of that traffic,they decided to put some
underground.
And this was a massiveundertaking because, you know,
digging holes in 2025 is alittle bit easier.
1897, not so much Right, youknow this is using horse-drawn
(05:04):
tools and mostly manual labor.
The Boston Common is where it'sgoing underneath.
It actually had to gounderneath a graveyard, so they
had to relocate individuals whowere interred there.
So it was a massive thing.
A lot of people didn't believein it.
A lot of people thought it wasopening a portal to the
underworld.
It was opening a portal to theunderworld.
Lo and behold, it became, youknow, a step forward for
(05:29):
transportation across thecountry which is massive.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Some of those arguments today, I don't know.
Yeah, maybe on a hot day.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yes, but it was, it allowed for us to kind of grow
that system and again,originally just going from one
corner of the common to theother, that has branched out to
now.
We have four different subwaylines, we have all these
different commuter rail it'sreally blossomed into this full
service.
But none of that would havehappened without these two and
these are the original headhouses that were constructed for
(05:59):
when it opened back in 1897.
Wow, awesome.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
After talking with Andrew, we went for a short walk
through Boston Commons and gotback on the Green Line at
Boylston to head further intothe Back Bay neighborhood.
We had a much longerconversation with Andrew that
will be released early for thoseon Patreon so we just took the
Green Line train from Boylstonto Copley, just a couple of
stops down the line.
(06:24):
We're now kind of in the middleof the Back Bay area and, if
you're interested in this, theBack Bay actually used to be
underwater.
It was a bay and the cityessentially filled all of the
land in.
There's a really good video onYouTube about this by Daniel
Steiner that I'll link below ifyou're interested in the history
of that.
But the area is home to what'sright behind us here the library
(06:46):
.
We've also got the TrinityChurch right here and the
neighborhood in general is a lotof beautiful old kind of row
homes, a medium density housingall throughout this area.
That's kind of characteristicof Boston at that era.
It's also famously like the onepart of the city that is a
perfect grid if you were to lookat it on Google Maps, and
that's mostly because it wasfilled in and built in
(07:08):
afterwards from when theoriginal city was settled All
right.
After a quick walk around theBack Bay area, we're gonna hop
back on the Green Line and heada few more stops up to Kenmore
Square where we will check outFenway Park.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
So we jumped on the green line at Copley, took that
all the way to Kenmore Square,to historic Fenway Park.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, and for folks who don't know, fenway is the
second oldest baseball stadiumin the United States, only
behind Wrigley Field in Chicago,and there's something a little
different about this stadiumcompared to the others we've
seen on the show.
Where's all the Fenway parking?
That's a very good question.
Yeah, this is like an actualurban ballpark, which is nice to
(07:57):
see.
Go figure, it's pretty easy toget here.
You can take the green line,like we just did.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
There's also a commuter line stop right here so
folks can get to the gamemultiple different ways, all
sorts of buses it's nice to beable to go to a sports stadium
like this and not have to justgo through a massive sea of
parking like we have seen somany times before.
Like in san antonio, we went tothe stadiums, the convention
center and uh arlington anddallas, like it's always a sea
of parking.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Kansas city we didn't even make it to the stadiums
because they were so far out andthey're just surrounded by
parking lots.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah but we were able to get off the subway, make it
here within a few minutes, andthen there's still a ton of like
street activation and otherthings that are happening, so
just a really good spot.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Restaurants, bars, places to live.
It makes for a much more likefun atmosphere, both pregame and
postgame, and you don't have toworry about driving home
afterwards.
Yeah, exactly One thing worthmentioning is that Kenmore
Square Station also had a greatdirect bus connection right at
the top of the stairs, leavingthe Green Line.
All right, we just stopped.
We got some lunch near FenwayPark that famous Boston-style
(08:55):
pizza.
I think we just had some prettymid-pizza, but we were in a bit
of a rush, so that's okay.
But we're now just taking awalk over.
Okay, but we're now just takinga walk over and we're going to
catch our first bus of today.
We both took the Silver Lineyesterday, but we're going to
get on the number one bus hereon Massachusetts Ave over to
Harvard.
So interested to see how ourfirst bus is and if it shows up
(09:17):
on time.
It should be here in just a fewminutes, so fingers crossed.
We're presently getting alittle bit let down by the bus.
We're at least five or sixminutes delayed now and the bus
is like crawling on the transitapp and on Google Maps, so Not
sure if it's a ghost bus.
We'll see Fingers crossed thatit's not a ghost bus.
What if it's not?
(09:38):
We'll see.
We've seen several universitybuses go by that have faked this
out, but we'll see that kind ofsucked.
Yeah, that was a very slow bus,probably one of the slowest
buses we've been on.
Like on the show before, I feellike yeah, yeah, it was crowded
when we got on it.
(09:58):
There's no dedicated bus lane,there's no signal priority and
it had clearly been sitting intraffic for a while before it
got to us, and then the bus waslike standing remotely because
there's so many people on it.
People were getting off atevery stop and then every stop
had a whole bunch of peoplewaiting for it.
So yeah, not ideal.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
What we think we've determined is that the buses
here might be designed to funnelpeople to the trains, because
the trains all kind of convergeon Boston where everybody's
trying to go yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
So especially in the areas like we're obviously like
for folks who live here, you'reprobably going to be in parts of
town maybe that are not rightserved on the trains, but in the
areas we've been going to havebeen pretty well served by the
trains.
So we kind of forced that bus alittle bit and now I know why.
People probably yeah, althoughthere were a ton of people on it
, so I don't know.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Um but'll see if our look improves there.
We're gonna go explore Harvard,we're gonna get some coffee,
yes, and then we're gonna finishout the day here in Boston.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
All right, let's get some coffee.
After coffee, we decided togive the city's bike share
system a try, with a quick ridenorth to a commuter rail station
.
In general though obviouslywe're not really getting a huge
taste of it here, but Boston'sdone a ton with bike
infrastructure in the last fewyears.
We've seen a lot of bike lanesall over the city.
Yep, I know the mayor has beenvery pro bike lane, pro transit
(11:13):
in general Also.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
I should mention, we're not in Boston.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
We're in Cambridge that's true, yes, in general.
The Greater Boston area hasbeen good, though, with that
sort of stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Cambridge is a beautiful area lots of
walkability, tons of nice greenspaces, parks, bike lanes,
crosswalks, hybrid pedestrianbeacons.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
And right now.
So we had just walked aroundHarvard for a bit and now we're
riding the bikes up.
Just one more stop up on thered line.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And we're actually going to catch the commuter line
yeah from.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Porter Square, so get a glimpse of what the commuter
trains look like.
Well, that was pretty easy,short ride.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Short, sweet, simple.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah, but I wanted to point out we weren't recording
when we unlocked these.
I didn't have the appdownloaded yet and I walked up
to it, scanned the qr code and Ihad the bike unlocked literally
in 60 seconds, which, as far asthose sorts of bike share apps,
gone in 60 seconds, gone in 60seconds.
(12:13):
So, um, yeah, I think I wouldcount that as a as a win for the
app being easy to use and alsothe network of the bike share
here is absolutely incredibleyes, yes, covers like basically
the entire city goes out quite aways.
We'll put a map up for folks,but all right, we're going to
walk over now.
The Porter Square Red Line andCommuter Line station is right
(12:33):
up here and we're going to gohop on the commuter rail and
take it back towards downtown.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
North Station.
All right.
So after the e-bikes, we endedup at Porter Square Station.
Here you can generally catchthe red line.
You have the commuter line hereor there's also buses coming
out of this area.
Today we're going to take thecommuter line.
The one thing to note here wementioned on an interview that
we did and I've mentioned sortof throughout the podcast you
(12:59):
can use the same fare methodacross the system.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
That is not the case for the commuter line, right?
Uh, even though the commuterline is still operated by the
mbta, it right now is on its ownapp and system, so, uh, and it
also has variable pricing andthat probably has something to
do with it.
That is something similar towhat we saw in washington dc
their, their actual, just likesubway metro, is based on
variable pricing.
You, you tap your card when youget in and you tap your card
(13:24):
when you get out, and it keepstrack of the price.
Based on that, the commuterrail works the same way.
So the further you travel, themore you pay for the service.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, so we're going to hop on this train in about
five minutes and then we'regoing to head over to North
Station.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
All right, so we made it from the commuter line, got
into North Station.
Commuter line was moving alittle slow, but it was still a
nice ride.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
We were reaching the terminus of the line, so yes,
yeah, makes some sense.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Seems like there was like a lot of.
It was like going through anindustrial area.
Seems like there was a lot of.
It was like going through anindustrial area.
There might have been a lot ofstuff going on around, but from
North Station we hopped on theOrange Line just one stop up
here, to the Haymarket Station,which brings us to Faneuil Hall,
which is where we're standingright now.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Yeah, so vibrant part of the city, a lot going on.
Last time I was here, someBostonian guy yelled at me
because I didn't choose like alobster claw suit enough.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
I don't know Chris was taking his time.
Still scarred All sorts ofreally historical things to go
do in Senior here.
The site of the Boston Massacrewas right up the road.
We're really close to the NorthEnd, which is famously where
Paul Revere lived and the OldNorth Church and all sorts of
things Also like two blocks fromthe Big Dig, the Big Dig.
So if you were ever a modernMarvels fan like I was as a
(14:45):
child, you learned all aboutthat Totally and we would take
you to a lot of these sites butthey are all very walking
distance and we're running alittle short on time.
But you can access so many ofthese sites in Boston Literally
obviously by public transit, buton foot in a lot of cases Once
you're in the core part ofdowntown.
(15:06):
Here there's so much historicalthings to go, do and see Once
you're here.
Also, the I have to mention theaquarium.
The aquarium in Boston isamazing.
I I remember love going as akid, but I got to go with my
two-year-old niece six months orso ago and she loved it as well
.
I'm just imagining like nothingbut oysters and lobsters.
No, there's a massive tank inthe middle that, like the
staircase, wraps around or likea ramp, and so you're seeing
(15:28):
like sharks and all sorts ofdifferent fish all in this one
giant tank in the middle.
It's very cool.
Next visit.
So if you're in Boston, hit theAquarium for sure, and there's
a very deep station on the BlueLine there.
The Blue Line was underconstruction all day today.
That's the reason we haven'tbeen on it.
They were having signal issues,is what I read online, so we
didn't ride it.
But a very deep station at theAquarium station right after it
passes under the water, but it'salso next to the Aquarium.
(15:50):
All right, we're going to startto wrap things up a little bit.
We're going to head from hereto South Station, where we'll be
catching a train down toPhiladelphia actually.
So we'll see you at SouthStation.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
So we are finishing up our day here in Boston, where
we've traveled all over thecity using buses.
Well, bus, we used a busyesterday too.
Two buses, so two buses, trains, bikes and a lot of walking.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yes, before we get into some of the highlights,
lowlights, all that sort ofstuff, we are here at South
Station.
We're going to be getting onthe Amtrak Northeast Regional
headed to Philly tonight, sowe've got a bit of a train ride
ahead of us and we will be doingNice.
Five hours of train ride aheadof us, yes, and then we'll be
(16:33):
doing the same thing in Phillytomorrow.
That episode will not be doneyet, but it will be out early.
If you are able to support theshow on Patreon, that's the best
way you can help us out.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
Also continue to watch, because from Philly we're
going to Baltimore.
Hopefully those release in thatorder, but we'll be in
Baltimore as well.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yeah, so lots of cool stuff coming soon, but overall
I mean we had a pretty smoothday.
The bus was the only real thingthat slowed us down, um, but
every train we got on.
For the most part I think thismorning we waited five minutes
for our train going out to, uh,the matapan trolley, yep, um,
but otherwise I think all of ourtrain waits were like minutes
(17:13):
or like appearing as we werewalking out.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Agreed yeah, boston is very easy to get around by
public transit.
We knew that going into this.
We just really wanted to takethis opportunity to highlight
all of the different levels oftransit that exists here and
kind of give our impression ofit.
As you said, super easytransfers.
We saw some really cool oldinfrastructure.
I love the fact that they stilluse the old streetcars and,
(17:36):
like the Mattapan, yep, uh, thatstreetcar, just it felt like
you're in another era.
I mentioned to lewis off camerawhat I loved about.
Um, boston's transit is likeeverything we did felt like
you're in a different decade yes, even like the, the red line
trains versus.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
We didn't get to use the orange line too much, but
the orange line trains are newerthan the red line trains, which
feel like you know 90s.
And then some of the old greenline trains are newer than the
red line trains, which feel likeyou know 90s, and then some of
the old green line trains areolder than that.
Then you had the Mattapantrolley, which was older than
that.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
We get on a commuter line with wood paneled walls.
It feels like you're in a 1970sconference room.
It's almost like you're livingin an active museum of transit
history in the US, yeah, andit's interesting too, the
different modes.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
So us, yeah, and it's interesting to the different
modes.
So, like, despite you know, thegreen line, blue, orange and
red all being on the map there,uh, the the green line being a
light rail being different, um,and also the benefits of having
the kind of trunk line where allthe different lines of the
green line run together is atthose main stations in downtown
there's basically just alwaysanother train coming, like a
(18:35):
minute or less right afterwards,so it makes the frequencies
really good.
And then as you get further outand the riders get more sparse,
so does the the green line,especially as it gets above
ground.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
So I'd say my major call-outs a ton of train
coverage, also a lot of buscoverage, but it does seem like
the buses funnel to the trains.
I we think of our theory isthat Boston is kind of a hard
city to navigate and preventcongestion, just the way the
city grid is laid out, or lackthereof.
Yeah, so you funnel people intotrains and trains have a direct
route in, right?
Speaker 2 (19:04):
And I'm sure as you go further out the bus has
probably become a little bitbetter.
But yeah, in the city centerit's so chaotic and the bus that
we did ride the number one bus.
It just took forever because itwas like it had been sitting in
traffic in downtown and then by, like you know, closer into
downtown back bay area and thenas it got to us it was packed
and then we were just stuckstopping everywhere we were
going all the way through.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
So, uh, it's a bit of an ordeal, but just doing my
good deed, yeah other call outsuh, if you want to take a bike
like this week has been uh,today has been beautiful weather
uh, perfect for biking.
If you want to take a bike,there is a massive bike network
here the Blue Bikes.
You can go pretty much anywherein the Boston metro area and
(19:44):
connect via all these littlestations, so it is absolutely
perfect for that.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
And it's also just highly walkable, right, and we
didn't get into the bikeinfrastructure really, but
there's major improvements inbike infrastructure all across
the city, so definitely,definitely a lot of fun.
Now something if you haven'tseen this episode yet we did an
episode where we have ranked allof the cities in a day.
That we have done using onlypublic transit so far, and we're
now, at the end of each episode, going to slot in the new city
(20:11):
where it may go.
So are we going to add a drumroll?
Okay, yeah, all right.
So, after a lot ofdeliberations, uh, and it's
still to be totally fair, I mean, this is subjective, but it's
fun to rank these out yeah,let's first.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Let's first go back a second and make sure that
everybody understands.
We are basing this on ourexperiences and knowing that we
don't live in these cities.
Obviously we don't have thefull picture, so people will
absolutely disagree with us onsome of these and throughout
this.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
If you were watching this episode, you noticed things
that you were like, oh, you gotlucky on that or no.
That's always really good.
Definitely, let us know too,because obviously, yes to your
point, in a day you can't figureit out.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
But so where does d not cc?
So where does boston rank?
I think we're putting boston inthe number one slot.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, yeah, I think I think we're putting Boston in
the number one slot.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
Yeah, I think we both agree.
Boston is number one on thelist so far of the cities that
we have been to during the show,just eking out Washington DC,
and kind of for a couple ofreasons.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Number one the coverage of the trains in the
downtown and like immediatelyadjacent area, like the more you
know, urban core and slightlybeyond, is just so much more.
There's a lot more lines, a lotmore stops, a lot more just
density around all these areasand whatnot.
You've got the subway, thelight rail, the commuter rails,
(21:29):
the buses, even though, again,we didn't have the most positive
experience, but you still havethe silver line as well, the
bike coverage, the bike coverage.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
The ferry service.
I mean, you have so manydifferent modes of
transportation to get around andconnect throughout the city.
And also we look at this from aperspective, again not living
in these cities of okay, youhave now traveled across the
country via flight or via trainto get to these city centers,
and then what do you do at thatpoint?
How do you get around?
And I think what you're sayingthe density of the stations and
(21:55):
the coverage puts Bostonslightly above DC.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
It's very close though and I will say so like
Boston has the tap to pay withcredit cards.
Now that was a win.
Since we've been in DC, that isnow the case there too, but
when we were there that wasn'tthe case, so that, I guess, has
some bearing on it as well.
And you know, I would say,probably two or three years ago
Boston would not be in thenumber one or two slot, mostly
(22:20):
because they were having allsorts of issues, as we talked
about with Andrew from the MBTAtoday.
So but but they've really putin the work, put in the effort.
The state governor is ispushing forward, the mayor is
pushing forward.
The MBTA their new CEO hasreally gone hard on trying to
make sure all this stuff worksagain.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
Also one more point to emphasize this is almost a
tie, and we're barely barelyputting Boston above DC.
Yeah, DC's metro does move alot more people in a regional
sense, Like you have a lot morepeople in that region that are
being supported by the transititself, and so you have so many
commuters from all of thosetowns coming in, right, yeah,
and they also have likeautomated trains.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
I'm even doubting it in my head now.
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
But it's close.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
You guys.
Let us know where you think itshould have slotted in.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
But with all that being said, though, maybe
they're in first place A, firstplace B.
We'll see, we'll see.
Okay.
With all that being said, thankyou all so much for watching.
If you have not liked thisvideo already, please consider
doing so.
If you haven't left a comment,do that.
You can support the showdirectly via Patreon by checking
out our merch store or usingthe buy us a coffee link.
But with all that being said,thank you all so much for
(23:27):
watching and enjoy the rest ofyour Transit.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Tangents.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Yeah, I'm saving that dough.
Public transit's where it's at,watch me go.
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Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.