87 bus

[trtls.livejournal.com]

If anyone else is tired of the 7:52am 87 bus going sailing past the last ~ 6-8 stops before Davis Sq., please call the MBTA to complain. We call often, but we're only 2 voices. Seriously, it's not always possible to walk to Davis with 2 kids and snow and when you need the 87 to get further than Davis, you need the 87! (617)222-3200 or 800-392-6100. Thanks.

Comments

[ron_newman]

when you say "before Davis Square", which direction?

Is the bus skipping stops because it is jampacked full?

[trtls.livejournal.com]

Heading from Arlington to Davis.

Of course the bus is full. (although, not necessarily jampacked full in my opinion and certainly nothing that people can't live through for the couple stops until everyone gets off at the red line.) I want people to complain so that they add another shuttle or move the shuttle to a better time (the shuttle usually comes RIGHT AFTER the 87 goes by) so those going only to Davis fill that up instead of a legit bus others rely on.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm curious about that myself. I've ridden the 87 in both directions in the morning and I've never seen it not stop.

[trtls.livejournal.com]

Well, the 7:52 from Arlington bus routinely skips us.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Weird. I've grabbed that bus, although not lately, and it stops consistently. Hm.

[jere7my.livejournal.com]

Do you flag it down?

[trtls.livejournal.com]

Oh my, yes! Jumping and waving and kids holding out their hands!

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

It's normally one of the most reliable MBTA routes I know -- except this one driver who goes by at around 8am. He really, really does not like to stop at either Cameron Ave or the next stop by the park.

One time, after he blew by, I ran all the way to Davis with my (then 2-year-old) kid in the stroller, and as I got to Davis he had just closed the doors on his now-empty bus -- I knocked on them, and he looked at me, shook his head, and pulled away from the curb as the light turned green.

This reminds me of what I was told when I first moved to Boston: "You must understand: the purpose of the MBTA is to move trains and buses from one end of the line to the other. If people happen to get on at the stops in between, well, okay, but they better not get in the way of the primary mission of the system."

Many drivers are not like that, but some sure are!

[horizon-radar.livejournal.com]

In the same vein, I want to write a note to the Sunday 9:27 driver that comes 5-10 minutes late every week. It has done so for about 4 months now. I can base my morning around its lateness. I want to hand it to him as I depart at Lechmere.

"Dear Driver of the 9:27 87,

The bus should arrive at 9:27, not whenever the fuck you feel like it should.

Love,
The Passengers."

Under this would be a copy of the schedule with the time highlighted and circled.

I can promise he'd never stop at my stop again.

[antimony.livejournal.com]

Complaining to the T, politely, about the chronic lateness might still be useful. From my experience elsewhere in the system, the most likely result is that it will be rescheduled to 9:32 or 9:37 so that it can come at exactly the same time and be "on time", but it's at least something. It may well be that it just cannot make the schedule that's currently set due to traffic.

[horizon-radar.livejournal.com]

This is not a traffic issue.

I watch the bus arrive going westbound on Broadway at around 9:35AM with traffic passing by at the rate of maybe 5-10 cars a minute. At this point the bus is out of service, it is most likely the first run of the day.

The bus then reappears after its turnaround at the Clarendon Hill bus-way about 2 minutes later. Always the same driver, always with coffee in hand. Always driving leisurely the rest of the route to Lechmere.

I don't really care when the weather is fine. When it is not, I do.

Not just that driver on Sundays; maybe a T tradition ...

[fefie.livejournal.com]

It's been my experience, from riding 88, 87, and other buses around here on Sundays for years, that Sunday is pretty much a free-for-all in terms of schedule adherence.

Re: Not just that driver on Sundays; maybe a T tradition ...

[trtls.livejournal.com]

The T must just be so random. We took the 88 every Sunday for a couple years and it was almost always exactly on time.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

We also find the 87, particularly toward Arlington, to be so unreliable that it's better to take the T to Alewife and catch the 79 or 67 to get to Arlington Center. It takes longer in theory, but they're reliably on time, probably since it's harder to be late at the first stop.

[ron_newman]

Why do that instead of just walking down to Mass. Ave. (2 blocks) and taking the 77?

[jadelennox]

The 87 is miles more reliable than the 77.

[ron_newman]

77 runs much more frequently than the 87. But what I meant was, if you're going to walk to Davis and take the T to Alewife and get another bus to Arlington Center, you may as well just walk down to Mass. Ave. instead and take the 77.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

Kids + snow + ice + cold ≠ 1/2 mile walk (when you have other alternatives)

[trtls.livejournal.com]

This bus pretty reliably goes sailing by.... (from Arlington towards Davis)

[progressnerd.livejournal.com]

Email the Charlestown Bus Superintendent and you should get a response pretty quickly: CharlestownSuperintendent@mbta.com. At least I have to my emails.