Hey, there! Log in / Register
New Orange Line cars make it super easy to summon assistance
By adamg on Thu, 01/23/2020 - 9:22am
Too easy, in fact. JMEightDigits reports from one of the new cars this morning:
Orange line was just held for a min at N Station when someone accidentally pressed the assistance button. Someone sauntered by and informed us we had to be careful to not accidentally press the assistance button.
Karen adds:
I was on that train. The buttons are placed in a spot where they are going to be accidentally hit all the time on crowded trains.
JMEightDigits suggests:
Needs to be (1) a recessed button, or (2) a two-step process (lid over the button; or think your stove- press & turn).
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Any photos?
Photos of the button? The low floor GL trains have such a button at a low height, and they don't seem to be triggered easily. Curious how the new ones compare.
Surprisingly hard to find a photo
The best I could find is the first photo at the top of this Herald article - looking from the outside of a new OL car through a door, I think the emergency call button is on the far side above the fold-up seats.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/08/14/mbta-rolls-out-new-orange-line-t...
Hire Andy Byford. Fire Stephanie Pollack. Get things moving!
Enough shoddiness! ENOUGH! Andy Byford just resigned from NYC Transit. This is Baker's chance to correct things after the LaHood & crew safety report. Fire Stephanie Pollack immediately. Hire Andy Byford immediately. Give Byford super-secretary status like Romney did with his cabinet members.
I wonder by Byford resigned?
Perhaps because the agency is cash starved and he saw no way to make NYC Transit functional. Yeah, he'll definitely want to come to Massachusetts to run the T.
By the way, Stephanie Pollack does not run the MBTA. It's Steve Poftak. Two different people.
Meddling from the governor
If you think it was bad in NY, imagine it here!
I think I missed the obvious
What does the head of the MBTA, the head of MassDOT, or any other high level administrator have to do with the location of the call button?
But allow me to rant. Having been on the new cars three times, all during rush hour, I don't have anything good to say about them other than their newness. But this issue today brings me to one of my criticisms. The fold down seats, which is where the telecom and button are. I get their point (possible space for those with wheelchairs or perhaps strollers) but those that can sit mess things up. I got on a train during evening rush, found all 3 seats still up, and sat on one of them. The woman standing next to me stood the whole time, blocking the 2 other seats despite seeing that there were seats behind her. Sitting properly would keep the button from being pushed. Standing with your back leaning on the button could only cause trouble.
Goodness gracious, what do
Goodness gracious, what do you want the new trains to do, rub your feet? The point is to have faster and more reliable service, not to impress you with the interior decorating. When all the trains are replaced, there will be real, appreciable gains in throughput. It doesn't happen overnight, but let's look forward to the day.
As for people who refuse to sit, even on crowded trains... I agree with you, that's super annoying. You could do what I do, which is say out loud, "somebody please take a seat."
What do I want?
Interior design that makes sense. And while I can blame my fellow riders for not realizing that those seats are seats, that they can't figure it out is a sign of poor design (and of course, as reported today, there are issues with those seats.) NYC Transit is about to make the same mistake with their subway cars of the future.
It's like the newish (for a 30 year rider) buses. I get the importance of the low floor design, but due to the nature of the riders, people bunch in the front, blocking access to the empty seats in the back of the bus.
YES!!!!!! Lahood would approve too!!!
Lahood and Byford have worked together before. Who knows. Maybe Lahood has already called Baker. This is a great way for Baker to correct five years of fail while one-upping Cuomo and NY!
Comparable to bringing Belichick to Boston. However
The Governor would have to layoff most of his current patronage staff to make room for Byford and his crew. I don't see that happening anytime soon.
In the last two days,
on the three commuter rail trains I have been on commuting between South Station and Back Bay, twice the assistance button has accidentally been pushed. On my trains, everyone is squeezed into one coach, so the vestibules are full of standees (and leaners).
That's inexcusable. They
That's inexcusable. They should open a second coach long before there are enough people to cram the vestibules of the first coach. And there's no reason not to -- even if there's only one conductor, he or she can get the doors on two coaches.
Seems to be common
This happened on my way into work yesterday. We were held up at Tufts for a few minutes before the announcement came over the loudspeaker.
*slowcap* World-class city
*slowcap*
World-class city
Disconnect the buttons in typical MBTA response?
How long before the T just disconnects the buttons like all of the broken escalators? Or make the help buttons a placebo, like the pedestrian crosswalk buttons? In many cases, the pedestrian button does nothing to influence the light but makes people feel good that help (or the pedestrian signal) is on the way. After all, help will eventually arrive on all trains whether there's a button or not.