MBTA pressures

The Globe has an article about how MBTA ridership is up due to high gas prices. On the one hand, anything that gets people out of cars and onto public is a good thing. But I can't help noticing how Dan Grabauskas tries to take at least some of the credit with an MBTA that's, to quote the Globe, "faster, cleaner, and safer than in past years." Taking the T is no more pleasant or reliable than it was when I moved here nine years ago, at least along the Green Line/Red Line downtown axis. The Blue Line, I'll grant you, is much improved, but it's simply been brought up to "functional" status. Though I'd be interested in hearing exactly what Grabauskas had to say about it; the Globe only paraphrases.

Second, and more importantly, he makes no mention of how the T plans to handle the increase in ridership. People have been complaining about overcrowded commuter rail trains for months. Every time I'm there, I see people physically unable to fit on a Lechmere- or North-Station-bound subway out of Government Center, since only about one in four Green Line trains actually goes past that point. North Station, mind you, is the central routing point for any commuters traveling north of Boston. And if you've ever been on the T during any sort of holiday, sports game, music or cultural event, severe weather, mild weather, construction, duck-related-happenings, light gusts of wind, increased ridership, decreased ridership, or other extreme changes in routine, you'll know that efficiently moving people from Point A to Point B is not really the MBTA's strong point.