ViciousCycle

Copypasta of my story suggestion from the original thread:

Here's a story idea: know that sign at the front of MBTA buses that says something to the effect of "no riders allowed forward of the yellow line, $250k fine"? Guess what, MBTA buses frequently commit egregious violations of this rule.

Try taking the 57 from Kenmore square at 6pm on a weeknight -- some bus drivers will allow people to pile onto the bus until it is dangerously, illegally, cattle-car full. This then compounds the problems with buses bunching up, because a full bus has to take more time to let its riders squeeze past each other to get on and off.

In a recent article I read, someone at the MBTA said that they simply don't have more buses. The fact of the matter is that the MBTA operates in an illegal manner, and my hope is that by making a huge stink about this, some government entity with the power to do so decides that it would be a better option to acquire a sufficient number of buses so that the MBTA can legally fulfill its mission of transporting people in a timely manner.

What are screeners instructed to do regarding suspected weed? Do any look the other way? Does looking for drugs distract from looking for weapons?

The government only gives grants for a certain number of buses.

Well that number needs to go up. Right now the MBTA seems to have things calibrated such that they barely fail to meet demand. The public deserves better and should loudly demand better.

The last 10 years have seen reductions in the quality of public transportation in many cities, and this trend needs to be reversed -- we need a new era of major investment in public infrastructure. Bleed the 1% I say.

My thought is that if people start taking pictures and ratting the MBTA out to whichever federal agency is in charge of enforcing the rule, we'll see those buses much sooner.