The fat man on the train

Since September of 2007, I have been riding the commuter rail 5 days a week, 2 hours a day. In September, I could potentially have at least a two seater seat to myself, sometimes even a three-seater. By February 2008, I had to come up with new tactics in order to not have to sit next to anyone. I found that if I sat furthest away from the door that usually opened to let people on, and especially if I sat in a three-seater seat with one large man, more often than not, noone asked to sit inbetween us. A sign of the times, was yesterday, July of 2008, when a woman actually requested to be squished between myself and a man that really needs to lose more than a couple pounds.

The fact that the trains are filling up is another exciting aftereffect of the rising gas prices. The MBTA has even started sensational advertising on its website that shows a picture of a gas station sign with the new prices on it and a line through it with the word "no" above it, as well as a picture of the T sign and "brainer" right above that. The MBTA is a "no brainer" they claim. Now the question is, is it really a simple decision to give up the comforts of your car to sit on the vinyl seats of the commuter rail? To some people, it's simple. The train goes to your destination, you have minimal if any change overs, which you do not mind, and the costs are subsidized by your work. To others, the cost seems high, $250/mo. from the furthest destinations, the timing is off, they have to change trains more than they would like, they might have to walk further than they would like, they can't control whether the train is delayed, and the train simply is not time efficient or it does not go to their destination. While some of these problems involve a change in people's mentality, many of these inconveniences should be fixed by the train companies and by government subsidies.

Before the gas prices rose, the $250 a month it costs to come into the city from the furthest points on the train line seemed excessive. However, now with gas at more than $4 a gallon, many people now realize that $250 a month is a lot less than it costs to fill their tank. Although price has become less of an issue, it seems that if the government is going to take environmental concerns seriously, subsidies should be put into public transportation instead of gasoline.

Two problems that must be evaluated by the train companies are the number of trains that run and train delays. The trains run very regularly during rush hour, but there tend to be large gaps in the schedule that render needing to get home to tend to an unexpected sick child impossible in the middle of the day. This is also difficult for people that do not work the 9-5 shift. People need the choice to get home in the middle of the day without having to wait 3 hours for the next train home, a gap that is very real if you live past a certain point on the Fitchburg line and want to get home after 1:25pm and before the next train leaves at 4:40pm.

Delays on trains is also an issue. Train companies need to understand that as a person's primary transportation home, their riders need to feel a demonstrated responsibility towards getting them to their destination on the agreed upon time. Train companies should discuss what is needed to achieve this whether it its having back-ups to the parts that tend to break down, investing in new equipment, or just providing riders with clear, thorough updates on when they can expect to get home.

On the other hand, it is people's mentality that must be changed when it comes to having to walk further or change trains, and on the need to feel in control behind the wheel. Walking further may feel like an inconvenience, but walking has great health benefits that are clearly needed evidenced from my ease at finding a fat man to sit next to on the train. Furthermore, changing trains can often be avoided by finding walking routes (especially in Boston which seems a lot smaller once you start walking it, trust me). Furthermore, the feeling that people have of being able to control when they get home by driving is actually a false sense of reality. One only has to spend a conscious moment driving during rush hour to recognize that the traffic controls the time you get home just as much as the train would. The major difference is your environmental impact and how relaxed you are upon arriving at your destination.

Until the government becomes more concerned with the environment and begins to take care of the public transportation and until the train companies smarten up and improve their service to improve their ridership, the status quo will remain. As for me, I will continue to take public transportation as it serves my needs and has made me addicted to the sleeping, reading, eating, and just complete lack of attention that I can pay during my train time.