Just Cinch It

At Oak Grove station, there are two sets of platforms, one for the Orange Line, and the other that is used once in awhile if the commuter rail uses that stop.
The doors at the bottom of the escalators leading to the Orange Line are made of wood with some type of coating, and are always broken.
Always.
They're look like shite, are either totally unusable, or a door handle is broken. On a side note, how does a metal handle get broken? There's always a T inspector on the platform, who is apparently not doing too much inspecting if someone can have enough time to break metal with their bare hands.
The doors to the rarely used commuter rail platform are in perfect shape, and are made of stainless steel and glass.
So one day I'm coming down the stairs, and I see two T workers fixing the door yet again.
So I asked them, "Why don't you guys just switch the doors from the unused platform to this platform instead of duct taping these doors up all the time?"
The response:
"Uhhhh. They told us this was better."

Uh-huh.

Idiots.

Here a Stop, There a Stop, Everywhere a Stop Stop Stop...Except....

On the bus line I sometimes use, there are stops approximately every 75 yards.
This is kind of ridiculous, especially when you consider the fact that once the bus leaves the main road, and turns onto the MBTA owned and badly maintained access road, there are NONE.
So in a 1 mile trip, there are 5 stops for the first quarter mile or so, and then none for the remaining 3/4's of a mile.
What is wrong with these people?

Stop and Go. And Stop. And Go.

What's with the World Trade Center stop on the Silver Line?
The bus stops to drop off and pick up passengers, drives about 4 feet to a stop sign, stops, then proceeds up the ramp out of the tunnel.
This is isn't a normal tunnel portal, it's more like a huge open garage, and you can see from the station all the way to D street.
Why not make the standard drop off/pick up area at the point of the stop sign?
There's still about 15 feet of station at that point, so it's not like passengers would be walking on the ramp or anything.

Complacency

So I'm on the SL, going to the Courthouse stop.
I don't know if you've seen this particular stop, but it's pretty nice.
In fact, it's TOO NICE. The MBTA probably could've save a few million if this station wasn't so ornate.
I know, I know, I'm known for saying that MBTA architecture is of the Soviet style, but this is ridiculous.
The station is set on 2 levels.
You come in the headhouse, which is a nice glass and steel number, and into a cavernous concourse area. Really, it's like an airport in there. It's got to be 200 yards long, and is COMPLETELY EMPTY, save for the token booths and the turnstyles. Why bother with such a design if that's not even where people would wait for the bus? Anyway...
So I get off of the bus/train thing and go up to the concourse, where I notice that the turning barrier bit of one of the turnstyles is missing.
I walk through and go to the token taker to let her know.
Mind you, this station is about 6 months old, is rarely used, and shouldn't be breaking down already.
So I tell the woman about the broken turnstyle. The conversation went a bit like this:

TA: Hi. Did you know that there isn't a barrier on the turnstyle over there?

MBTA: Yeah. It's broken.

TA: I assumed that.

MBTA: I've actually got the piece right here.

TA: But who is stopping people from just walking through?

MBTA: Uhhh. Well, there are cameras.

Okey dokey.

Hells Bells

Really, now, how old are the Silver Line buses? 6 months? 8 months?
How does a brand new piece of equipment not work properly?
What I'm talking about, kids, is the damned bell on the bus.
First off, there shouldn't even BE a bell.
The SL is supposedly 'Bus Rapid Transit', or BRT, in T parlance. Wouldn't you think that means that it's supposed to work like the trains in the system, i.e., stop at all stops, regardless of the location?
More than once I've gotten on the SL going to South Station, and it's been packed.
No big deal, except that when that happens, they decide that there is no way anyone on the bus wants to get off BEFORE South Station.
How stupid is that?
So I wanted to get off at Courthouse, where I was meeting people, and the bus just sped through the station, no announcement that it was express, nothing.
As I saw that the bus was not slowing down, I repeatedly hit the "Stop" strip on the window frame next to me, but nothing happened.
Of course, that means I had to go to SS, up and around to get to the southbound side, and then wait for another bus, making me 20 minutes late.