Boston Transportation Tips by Laura_Mexico

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Better known as the "T", this is the weirdest metro system I've ever known... I though Washington DC's subway system was strange, but this one is worse. First off, there aren't many lines, which is OK as the town is small anyway. Some of these lines are quite old though and it looks like they haven't been refurbished in many years. However, the subway in general is clean and safe, it has facilities for handicapped people in some stations (such as elevators -- which I confess to have used when carrying my heavy luggage back and forth from the airport), although the space in some of the stations isn't too big.

Now here's how it works: you buy a token - not a ticket - for USD 1.25 and this can take you anywhere around the city but only within a certain radius from downtown... if you go farther than those established limits - which were not very clear to me - you have to pay twice as much or even more (e.g. the Newton area, towards the south western part of Boston) whether you're going inbound or outbound: these are the terms to describe whether you're going from the outskirts towards downtown or viceversa. There are reduced fares and also monthly/weekly passes: please visit the MBTA website for further information.

Continues in the next tip...

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Website: www.mbta.com

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: (Continued)

Here's where the weird part starts: the farther you get from downtown the most probable it is that the metro will run right on the street, as if it was a tram. The "stations" become then a bench or two - very much like a bus stop - where you wait for the train to pass by. Now: when you're going inbound people make a line at the beginning of the track, and you must hop on the first car and pay your exact fee to the driver... this is not practic at all under my point of view, especially at rush hours when many people are waiting to get on the train. Sometimes - or so I was told - there are so many people waiting to get in the train that the driver just lets you ride it without paying for it, in order not to delay the train's departure more than necessary....... this is not that bad!

The best part is that when you're going outbound (towards the outskirts) from one of these stations you don't have to pay! The ride is for free... You must hop in the train at an "open air" station so this rule can apply. A good example is one of the green lines (there are 4-5 branches of it), which has a station right in front of the Museum of Fine Arts: this station is on the open air & has no booths to get in, so if you're going towards the outskirts of town you can take the metro there for free. Remember: if you go inbound, you ALWAYS have to pay no matter where you start your journey!

Speaking about the green line: as I said, it splits in several different lines. So you have to be careful when riding the train: make sure it holds the letter (D, E, etc.) of the line which will take you to your final destination (some or all of them pass by the same track!), otherwise you'll end up somewhere else!

It's somewhat complicate but once you get used to it I suppose it's just like riding any other metro...

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Website: www.mbta.com

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: Logan is a busy airport but it's rather small nonetheless (at least compared to NYC, DFW or LAX airports)... or so it seemed to me when I arrived there. What I loved the most was its location next to the sea and close to the city: you could see the planes taking off and landing from the Inner Harbor area.

The facilities are not too large, as I said, but the airport is conveniently located close to a "T" (subway) station which will take you anywhere in town. There are free shuttles that take you from the different airport terminals to the T station every 10 minutes or so.

I arrived here after a stop-over in Dallas; there are many airlines arriving into Logan but very few direct flights from Mexico -- you have to stop somewhere else in most cases before arriving in Boston.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: Coming soon!

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