I should start by saying I love living in a city with viable public transportation. Having the Red and Green lines within a short walk was a big selling point for our condo and the MBTA releasing GPS info has made riding the bus a much better experience (the “Catch The Bus” app rules).
That said, every time I ride a subway in Europe I get a mild inferiority complex. THEIR subway systems are able to achieve feats beyond the MBTA’s dreams. Like running after bar close and telling you when the next train will arrive.
So it was with a certain schadenfruede that I approached a bank of still escalators in the Frankfurst Messe subway station. “Great! Their escalators are always broken, too.” Except the damn thing started up as we approached, took us up to the top, then stopped again after a suitable period. Impressive, well thought out, AND energy efficient.
Why can’t we do stuff like that?
Duh…If we did stuff like that here, we may have to raise taxes on the rich and we’d never get the wonderful trickle down effects of their hard work.
Banish such socialist thinking! It’s unAmerican to walk further than your driveway. Get in your car and drive 😛
Nice post. Yeah, it’s really quiet sad that our systems are at LEAST 50 years behind. Imagine the energy and money savings alone if all of the T’s escelators did that.
The T’s escalators are the ultimate in energy efficiency. Every time I go near them they are roped off for repair!
Well said. European cities take public transportation seriously which makes the T look like it’s run by rank amateurs.