The Platforms of JFK/UMass

The Red Line T stop at JFK/UMass is bizarre. Being that it is where the Red Line splits into two different lines, the Ashmont and the Braintree line, in the south, it has four different platforms, plus additional rails adjacent for the commuter rail to run through. Two of the platforms go inbound and other two head outbound to Ashmont and Braintree respectively. When commuters need to take a train inbound, they need to wait at the top of the platforms within the station and head towards the flashing white light that indicates which track the train will arrive at. Thankfully, the lights usually allow enough time for us to wander downstairs to the appropriate platform...but how bizarre. Couldn't they have improved upon this somehow?

I now catch a ride with my classmate from Boston College to the JFK/UMass station, and take the Red Line to Kendall Square. Somehow, riding in a car via 93 South then taking a train on the Red Line is faster than taking any of the Green Line trains then transferring to Park Street to get to Kendall Square. It takes an hour and 45 minutes for me to go this route, whereas if I board the train at JFK/UMass, it takes only an hour and 10 minutes. What a difference this circuitous route can make.

Ironically, today's Computer and Information Systems lecture discussed reengineering of processes within a company, using or not using IT. The T would be the perfect example of something that could use reengineering. Implementation would be challenging...it was just a thought...