Human-Use Analysis

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Summary


Bus		Transfer		Subway

Trying out the T!
I am a relatively new user of the T; I moved to Boston 6 months ago and have only used it a few times before, usually with guidance. Therefore I thought it would be perfect for me to test out the T and see how it compared to my normal mode of transportation to do my errands (mainly walking, biking, or getting an Uber). For my T experience I took the bus, transferred, and then took the subway to my destination.

Bus

1. To start my trip I used Google Maps for navigation and found a T route to follow. It suggested taking bus route 1 Dudley and tranferring to the green line Cleveland Circle.	2. I walked about 2 minutes from my apartment to the bus stop to make the bus on time. Google Maps had an estimate of when the bus would arrive, but it was late. After the bus did not show up on time I noticed that if I clicked the information it said the bus was 5min delayed.	3. While I was waiting for the bus I noticed a map of the various routes at the bus stop. This map was very detailed and hard to read and I didn't get much use out of it.

4. The bus finally arrived and was clearly marked with the T symbol as well as 1 Dudley (which was the bus I was supposed to take according to Google Maps).	5. When I got on the bus I saw the onboard fare box, which accepted CharlieCard, CharlieTicket, or cash. I had no cash, but thankfully I had my CharlieCard on me, and it had money on it. There was no fare vending machine at the bus stop for me to purchase a ticket.	6. I moved onto the bus after tapping my card and noticed it was very crowded. There were no seats available and it was pretty hard to move around and would have been even harder if I had any large bags with me.

7. Throughout the bus there were stop buttons and stop tape to press when you were requesting a stop. But it seemed since it was busy that the driver was making most stops anyways.	8. The bus also had light up signs as well as a recorded voice that would announce which stops were coming up next. This allowed me to easily check when my stop was getting close, although the voice was sometimes hard to hear, especially on a crowded bus!	9. After a short bus ride I reached my transfer stop at the Hynes Convention Center. Now I would have to transfer onto the subway.