I can speak to the quality (lack thereof) of the 76 bus for commuters. Years ago I lived in Somerville, relatively close to Alewife, and took the 76 out to Lincoln for work. To be blunt: it sucked.
As Stephanie has said, it only runs once per hour, even during peak commuting times. Good luck if you miss your bus; you're now an hour late. It takes the better part of an hour to get through Arlington & Lexington, vs. 20 minutes going direct out Rt. 2. Then, in the evening, the schedule inbound gets messy - many of the busses don't come all the way out to Lincoln, but stop at 5 Forks (whatever the hell that is - I think it's the random intersection in Lexington by the gas station on 2A, but that remains unconfirmed). I once misinterpreted it and got stuck at work until 10pm. I didn't have as much hassle as Stephanie on the red line side, since I was only going two stops. Anything further into town does add significant time, as Stephanie said. Anyway, after a few months of diligently attempting to take the bus, I gave up and returned to using my private vehicle. Obviously, I'm very privileged to have that choice. I feel terrible for people who can't afford a car, because the public transit here in the burbs is incredibly inconvenient and time-consuming. Best, Virginia Goodwin On Tue, Nov 28, 2023 at 6:12 AM Carl Angiolillo <carlangioli...@gmail.com> wrote: > I am sorry you had such an uncomfortable experience, that sounds awful. > > Does anyone else have actual experience with the 76 bus? Several people in > other threads have recommended it but it's not clear how many of them have > actually taken it. As someone who commuted by transit for many years > I found recommendations from fellow straphangers more useful. > > Another good reality check is ridership numbers. According to 2018 > ridership data*, on an average weekday ~11 people got on and ~11 people got > off at Old Bedford Rd, ~6 people got on and ~6 people got off at the Civil > Air Terminal, and ~288 people got on and ~259 people got off at Lincoln > Station. > > So while there were people who relied on both in 2018, the train appeared > to be ~16 times more popular despite being more expensive and similar in > scheduled travel time. > > Carl > Codman Rd > > * I pulled data from Spring 2018 for Lincoln Station at > https://mbta-massdot.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/MassDOT::mbta-commuter-rail-ridership-by-trip-season-route-line-and-stop/explore > and data for Fall 2018 for Old Bedford Rd and Civil Air Terminal > https://mbta-massdot.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/MassDOT::mbta-bus-ridership-by-trip-season-route-line-and-stop/explore > > > Unfortunately they did not have data from the same season and it's > certainly possible that some of the difference is due to seasonal > differences but I would not expect it to be this substantial. It's also > possible that there is an error in my calculations or I am misinterpreting > the source data so I'd encourage anyone who is interested to double-check > my work. > > > On Mon, Nov 27, 2023 at 6:27 PM Stephanie Smoot <stephanieesm...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> I used the bus service to Alewife to get into Boston for about three >> months. I would not recommend using the bus to commute to Boston >> especially if you live in south Lincoln. While it is about a third cheaper >> than the commuter rail monthly pass, it is very slow, uncomfortable, and >> can be dangerous. I would budget two hours in morning and three hours in >> evening to get back and forth. >> >> if you are using it as a commuter, the bus is frequently off schedule so >> add time. In the morning there were always seats and ran close to schedule >> but the bus filled up as it slowly worked its way thru Lexington. Time to >> get to Alewife is about one hour plus any waiting time. Then you would >> take the red line into boston which has had had many delays so add generous >> time to get into Boston. >> >> The evening route was truly horrible-one of the worst of any public >> transportation system I have experienced. First, you have to get to >> Alewife from Boston and there are many delays so add a lot of time. If >> you miss one of the infrequent evening busses and by then crowds of people >> were waiting to cram onto bus and you have to stand outside to keep your >> place for at least an hour. Regularly, the driver did not know the routes >> and riders were coaching along the way. Once when I as really desperate, >> I took Bedford bus and got off at I-95 overpass and walked to parking >> space in Lincoln. But it is very dark,heavy traffic and there are few >> sidewalks on 2A and it took a lot of time. >> >> >> Regards, >> *Stephanie Smoot* >> >> 857 368-9175 work >> 781 941-6842 personal cell >> *617 595-5217 *work cell >> >> >> >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >> Browse the archives at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> >> -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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