For as long as I’ve known, outbound on various incarnations of the Green Line has been free. Over the years, inbound has increased form $.25 to an outrageous $1.50. And that is for the privilege of riding on an unbelieveably overcrowded gropefest that is usually as late as a pregnant slut.
But those days are over. Now, with the advent of the Charley Card, outbound is now $2.00. TWO DOLLARS! Forgive my bad math, but isn’t that an increase of more than like a billion fucking percent?
When I started college in 1999, it was only $0.85 inbound. The above ground outbound stops were still free (I think most of them were still free when I moved last year, IIRC).
First : the MBTA is run by incompetent hacks (failed politicians). So they have assistants to the assistants, a terribly bloated management. the system is antiquated-they compound the problems by buying incompatible junk from bad sources (they spent 300 million to buy new streetcars from the Italian mfg. beretta, only to have 90% break down within weeks). They have unions who protect the rights of their workers NOT to work-the stations are filthy and stink of urine! The agency is in debt (8.1 billion ), and the hack-ridden management doesn’t care. Truly an example a political incompetence at its finest!
Whenever anyone starts bitching about the T, I’m happy to chime in.
How do they suck? Oh, let me count the ways…
Fucking. Charlie. Cards.
Never mind the fare increases (my pass actually got cheaper, but it costs so much more for my daughter’s that I’m still hosed). The new machines that you have to use to buy a pass will hardly ever read a fucking credit/debit card. The new gates suck more ass than a… really dedicated ass sucking thing. They break down constantly, they’re ridiculously slow, and they make tons of unpleasant noises, which is, of course, exactly what a train station needs more of. I’m so pleased that they spent all that money from the LAST fare hike on those gates instead of on, say, fixing the fucking switching problems at fucking Oak Grove.
Which brings me to the needless delays. At the last northbound stop on the Orange line, the switches break down constantly. Why has this happened consistently for ten years? Do we *really * not have the technology to keep these things from breaking down nearly every damned day in the winter, and at least three times a week for the rest of the year? Really?
And how about the T’s stellar record on elevator and escalator maintenance? I’d wager that on an average day at least 50% of MBTA stations are NOT handicapped accessible.
And just lately, the commuter rail has developed an unfortunate habit of running people over!
Seriously… the MBTA is an outstanding example of how the chronic fuckups of the world are richly rewarded.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that. At some of the stations, you can buy only Charlie Cards - tokens are neither sold nor accepted. At other stations, you can only buy TOKENS - they don’t take the Charlie card! What a joke.
That was for tdn, but **Absolute ** snuck in there. Are there still stations only using tokens? I thought they were supposed to be fully update now. And if you’re using a token, how does that affect the fare?
BTW, I found out about that in Wikipedia, which states that the Green Line handles 200,400 people per day. I know for a fact that half of them take the D line home at the exact same time as I do.
Not quite. While you won’t get paper transfers anymore, you will be able to board a bus, have the ticket price deducted, then board the next bus continuing in the same direction, without paying an additional fare, if it works as the MBTA says it will.Will I still be able to transfer for free between local bus routes?
Customers paying with a CharlieTicket or a CharlieCard may transfer for free between local buses for up to two hours after paying their fare. If your one-way trip includes more than two buses, you can transfer as many times as necessary for free. However, the transfer only applies to one-way, and not round, trips; i.e., two trips in the opposite direction on the same bus route do not receive the free transfer. Customers paying their local bus fare with cash-on-board no longer receive free bus transfers.
Does this mean that Charlie finally got to go home? I’d been so worried about his wife having to go down to give him his lunch, daily. (To say nothing of how badly he must smell after 59 years of no baths).