The Boston Subway

(http://urbanhabitat.org/node/325)

The T, as it is known the subway network by Bostonians - the nick comes from MBTA, which means something like Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (so the T is not circumscribed to the subway; light rail and buses, the trolleybuses, along with the commuter rail, come under the same umbrella). I remember the voice of the subway conductor, every time I was approaching the end of Red Line at Alewife, thank you for riding the T; don't forget your belongings!

Phil Beach shared with us on Facebook a very cool video, dedicated to the T. The alert rhythm of images calls in my mind the movies of Wong Kar-Wai & Chris Doyle.

(video by timosha21)

There is an average of 628,400 weekday boardings on Boston subway and light rail, explains the author of the video, and he continues, the Orange Line is so named because it used to run down Orange Street (now lower Washington Street), the Green Line because it runs adjacent to parts of the Emerald Necklace, the Blue Line because it runs under Boston Harbor, and the Red Line because its northernmost station used to be at Harvard University, whose school color is crimson. I wonder how many people living now in Boston area know all this stuff. Anyway I learned it first time (and I am also kind of Bostonian, well, only kind of, it's complicated).

The author of the video, timosha21, is a New Yorker who likes trains and trams, says he, they are just cool and creating videos is also fun. And he created a whole youTube channel dedicated to trains and trams, also, says he, the occasional cities, buses, trolleybuses, and airplanes do wander in on this channel from various places visited; most of the train and tram videos are from the US, Russia, Germany, Spain, Sri Lanka, and fresh videos from Singapore!... US Cities include Houston, New York City, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Washington DC, and the state of NJ... just type in a keyword in the search on the channel and you'll find a video suited to your taste (whether it be SEPTA or Russian trams, Sri Lankan trains etc.).


(Boston)