Ahhh...Cambridge...

It's been a while now since I have posted to this site. Since the last post, a few changes in my life have occurred. The biggest change that affects my interaction with the MBTA is I no longer live on the Green Line in Allston. I have managed to scrounge up enough cash in this ridiculously expensive city to purchase a condo of my own in East Cambridge this past summer, in close and equidistant proximity of the Lechmere station on the Green Line and Kendall station on the efficient Red Line, and along a few bus routes.

Because of the change in location of my residence, I have been relegated to what I am convinced is the most efficient form of transport in this city: the bus. I take the 69 bus route on a daily basis up Cambridge Street to the Harvard Square area, where my current project is. I expect this commute to last until March, when I will be transferred to a different jobsite. The 69 bus runs on a schedule for the most part, with a few omissions here and there [maddening when I am on time for an early bus in the winter and it never arrives], since it is a few stops away from the terminus. However, the bus runs only every 20 minutes during peak hours, and the peak hours are well after 7.00am. Since I start work early, I can never get there on time, unlike when I used to take the 66 bus route from Allston into Harvard Square.

I still am attending school on a part time basis. Moving to East Cambridge has horrendously lengthened my commute from Boston College. Thank you to my wonderful classmates who drive me part of the way or all the way home on those nights. Taking the B line along the Green Line at 9.30pm when my classes let out, then transferring to the Red Line for a couple stops and walking home takes about an hour and 45 minutes. Unfortunately, the B line does not ride all the way to Lechmere; since construction and talk of extending the Green Line to Medford has started, only the E train goes to Lechmere.

The North Point master plan indicates that the historic Lechmere station [which the department store, Lechmere, which is no longer in business, is named after] will be demolished and relocated to the renamed North Point station where the high-rises are being constructed adjacent to Museum Towers. The Green Line will be extended to include several more stops, including Union Square in Somerville, and Medford. Information can be found here:

Executive Office of Transportation
Green Line Extension
North Point Master Plan

Very ambitious...but let's get the Green Line working efficiently enough to serve these additional stations first.