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Friday, March 29, 2024

Here are three times the sign gurus at the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority might face a rebuke from their proto-rider, Charlie, since he might be relying on these very signs to finally escape the transit trap:

Your eyes are not failing you. Nor has the image above been Photoshopped. It’s just an oddly worn red line map seen this month that ideally won’t still be around next month.

Once again, your eyes are not deceiving you, and nor are we. The above map of the entire rapid transit system has been posted upside down — helpful in case the MBTA suddenly decides to run things Fung Wah style and you find your train in a high-speed flip that ends with it resting on its roof. This sticker has probably been corrected, though; it was found a year ago.

What’s wrong with this picture? Nothing, really — it’s a perfectly ordinary map of the T, posted correctly. But if you stare at it long enough and with a cynical enough perspective, keeping in mind such things as the “temporary” removal of green line service into Jamaica Plain or the lackluster, barely there effort at the Night Owl, your mind will likely wander to memories of how the silver line was essentially pitched as another train (a replacement for orange line service through Roxbury) and wound up being a bus line. Since everything on this map represents light rail except for the silver line (which, lacking dedicated, bus-only lanes for significant stretches of road, isn’t even proper bus rapid transit) it seems like just an ongoing effort by the state to convince us the silver line is rail … and winds up being an ongoing reminder that we all thought the silver line was going to be rail. But it’s not.

Do you have a Nice Shot? Take aim, explain why (and where) you chose your target and send it along to [email protected].