Need Boston-local transit fu

[drwex]

This ought not to be as ridiculously time-consuming as it seems. I'm hoping someone has a clever answer.

I want to go from where I work (more or less near Bentley College in Waltham) to downtown to meet a friend for lunch. (Assume the target destination is 1 international place, which is near enough for mapping purposes.)

Parking down there is, I'm told, impossible. It's not a bad walk from South Station, but to get to SS from where I am would be a drive+T (assuming I could find a place to park near a T stop) or drive to a bus to Harvard. Which is not only ridiculous but makes the transit time something like an hour. Each way.

There has to be a better way. Anyone got ideas?

Comments

[catness.livejournal.com]

Drive, and park in a garage.

I would but

[drwex]

Parking down there is, I'm told, impossible

The person I'm supposed to meet informs me that "impossible" applies to the garages down there, as well.

Re: I would but

[catness.livejournal.com]

That word probably doesn't mean what they think it means. ;)

Re: I would but

[drwex]

Indeed. Well said.

Paging Doctor Obvious!

[meadmaker.livejournal.com]

My first thought is that you could drive in to Alewife, and then park at the Alewife station itself - it has a garage with over 2700 parking spaces, so it may well have room during the middle of the day (I've never tested this, though). That puts you on the red line, which goes directly to South Station. The T website guesses that it'll be 20 minutes on the train itself.

Another option would be to have your friend get on the red line and meet you somewhere closer to you. I'm sure there are some good places to eat around Alewife, or you could meet her at, say, Harvard Square.

A third option might be to drive downtown, and park under the common. It fits 1300 cars, so it may have some space available. (I've never tried this out, either.) Once there, you could take the red line for two stops to South Station, or you could decide simply to walk it.

Finally, a cab may be a good option. It'll drop you off exactly where you want to be.

Here's hoping that someone who knows your actual area better than I do can help better.

Re: Paging Doctor Obvious!

[drwex]

Alewife parking mid-day is SUCKTASTIC, unfortunately. The Commons garage is not a stupid idea. I wonder what their rates are...

Re: Paging Doctor Obvious!

[meadmaker.livejournal.com]

http://www.mccahome.com/bcg_rat.html

$8 or so.

Re: Paging Doctor Obvious!

[ceo]

The Boston Common garage is surprisingly inexpensive (as downtown parking garages go) and surprisingly un-full the times I've had to park there... none of which have been midday during the week, however.

An alternative might be to drive into Davis Square, park in the lot behind the Harvard Pilgrim building (or any other meter space) and take the Red Line from there. Meters are only good for 2 hours, though.

Crazy thought

[meadmaker.livejournal.com]

Maybe drive to the airport T stop, and take the blue line to Aquarium?

Ideas:

[marius23.livejournal.com]

1. Eat at Bertucci's at Alewife. There is usually space in their lot across the street.

2. Attempt to park at Alewife and coordinate with me for backup in case of failure. I work about two minutes walk from Alewife and our parking lot is less than half full; it's keycarded, but if I were available and you coordinated with me, I could let you in.

[lifecollage.livejournal.com]

You're going to spend a while on a bus, but there's a 2.5-seat ride option:

#70 bus (http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/bus/routes/?route=70) from downtown Waltham to Central Square, Red Line in to South Station.

The .5 seats is the minimal amount of time you'll need to spend in the car to park downtown in Waltham to catch the bus. The 70 is a decent bus, and something of a straight shot east-west.

[lifecollage.livejournal.com]

To elaborate, I once took the 70 from the corner of Western Ave & Market Street (a 15-minute walk from the Stack) to Waltham center, then walked to Bentley (a half-hour walk) to attend a conference at the college.

I also not infrequently will hop on the 70 after work to head to Central Square and the Red Line, because the 70 goes straight up Western Avenue & stops a few blocks away from the library.

Public transit...it works sometimes....

[lifecollage.livejournal.com]

[goes back and reads your post again for clarity]

Nearly 20 years of experience with the T has taught me one thing: it will get you where you want to go, but it will usually not get you there very quickly. I always budget an hour plus for T transit time - it's just the way it works.

Do check up on the garage under the Common. That's probably your best bet if you want to get there with any speed.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

There are express buses to downtown, like the 554. There's also the commuter rail from Brandeis/Roberts and Waltham Center (takes you to North Station, from there you can walk or T)

Try the MBTA Trip planner. 1 international place didn't work for me, but "oliver street at high street, boston" worked (175 forest street, waltham ma was the starting address).

The MBTA has exactly the tool you're looking for. mbta.com, look at the "trip planner" box. I usually do that, find the bus/train/whatever it suggests, and then look at the different times for them, to minimize waiting time.

If you're more of a "browse" person than a "search" person, look at the system map:
http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/system_map/

You could call a few garages. That area is right near Fanueil Hall; how to do the tourists cope? There's a really big parking garage at the Aquarium, you can likely call and ask if it's usually full around noon at a weekday.

And in a pinch, could you work remotely for part or all of the day? Maybe your friend can give you a seat and some 'net (I can, as my office only has 1 person in it, and 6 desks.....and I'm right in Central Square, with $1.50 per hour parking in a garage that's always got spaces, and about 10 steps from the entrance to the inbound red line).

If you're willing to pay $20 or more for parking, what about taking a cab? Or paying an un- or under-employed suspect to chauffer you there and back

That's all I got, but if you can't find a solution in there, then there ain't one.

[skreeky]

FWIW, the trip planner tool on mbta.com is very good. I don't think I've ever managed to come up with a better route plan than it does.

that's a clever idea

[drwex]

The 554 is about an hour (53 minutes) each way - http://mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/bus/routes/?pt=1&mode=bus&direction=I&route=554&timing=W&stime=3:50:00%20PM&sdate=6/17/2009. Good to know it's there, though.

I like the "under-employed suspect" plan. Clever lateral thinking.

(Normally I would work remote part of the day but I'm already taking Friday off this week and work is nuts.)

[buxom-bey.livejournal.com]

The location you mentioned is caddy corner across the street from my office. I can tell you from experience that the garages are not impossible, and while I wouldn't rely on street parking, it does sometimes happen.

I usually use the garage under 125 High St, which can be accessed from 125 Purchase st, right next to the fire house. They charge $32. If you want cheaper, Pilgrim Parking at Fan Pier (http://www.pilgrimparking.com/facilities/fan_pier/index.php) is much closer and at $12 is only slightly more than commons (or same, if you go over an hour the Commons charge goes up).

This looks like a win

[drwex]

According to that page there are three lots along Northern Ave. I'm guessing I can find a space in one of them for the hour or so I'll need.

Thanks!

[skreeky]

OK, I lived for 10 years in Boston car-free, but I did it by never even CONSIDERING living or working anywhere that was not on an actual subway/trolley line. Waltham?? Seriously?? Also, you need to get rid of the assumption that you ought to be able to get anywhere from anywhere in under 45 minutes, even if you are already on a proper T line, which you are quite definitely not.

I know that's not helpful, but you are really starting out with the wrong mindset. Using public transit exclusively, you do not just "pop over" to somewhere else for a "quick" anything. It is an undertaking that shapes your entire day.

This is precisely why Zipcar is such a smashing success.

It is also why I had to purchase a car for a 4 mile crosstown commute once I did move off the subway due to housing prices - so I would be able to get to work somewhat faster than if I were walking.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

From Waltham you can drive into Watertown square. There are long term parking spaces in the lot behind CVS, something like .25 and hour for up to 8 hours. They are designated by a specific color post, (I can't remember the colors off the top of my head, but there is a sign.)The #70 or #70A bus will take you to Central Square. The #71 to Harvard.

[golux-org.livejournal.com]

An option to consider is route 504 - Watertown Yard express bus to Downtown Crossing - 25 minutes each way, runs every 30 minutes midday. It gets onto I-90 right away at Newton Corner, without the long local loop that 554 makes through Waltham and Newton. I don't know how close you are to Watertown Yard (just across the river from Watertown Square), or if parking is available in that area.

The other high-speed option is the commuter rail from Waltham or Waverly, but that commuter rail line has infrequent service.

Express bus 554 passes by Bentley (as noted in an earlier comment) but as noted, it makes a long local loop through Waltham and Newton before getting on I-90 to run into downtown Boston.

Aside from that, we have the local bus options (70 from Waltham Center, 73 from Waverly, etc) but a full bus route plus subway transfer can really add up in time.

[moechus.livejournal.com]

Check out this map: http://wikimapia.org/#lat=42.3625197&lon=-71.0579878&z=18&l=0&m=h&v=2

Use the garage on Congress Street whose entrance is on New Sudbury Street (the link above is centered on the garage entrance). Take your ticket with you. Before returning to your car, go to the convenience store on the corner of Hanover Street and Blackstone Street, buy a bottle of juice or some such and have them validate your ticket. The price with a validated ticket is only $1 per hour (up to three hours).

As far as driving in town goes, unless there's some way to take back roads through Waltham and Newton to the Pike, the fastest might be to backtrack to 128 and take that to the Pike.

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

Also, Alewife is no longer an impossible parking situation. They raised their fees to $7 a day just before the recession hit and many people lost their job. I have been parking there regularly after 8am, when anything after 7am used to be impossible.

[quezz.livejournal.com]

There are express busses from Watertown Center or Riverside in Newton that wouldn't take too long (they take the Pike):

500 from Riverside downtown
556 from Waltham Highlands downtown
504 from Watertown Yard via Brighton Center downtown

I'd check their maps and schedules. I take the 504 occasionally from Brighton Center, and even at rush hour it takes at most a half-hour because it's inbound. Outbound rush hour would take longer, but it sounds like you don't need to worry about that.