Commuter rail lines need to be electrified and add express schedules to Boston. Add station connection to the blue, green and orange line (North of Boston). Mbta has a long way to go.
Doing this at a time when there isn’t traffic really stacked the deck. You should try again when there is and driving takes twice as long but the train is the same.
Very interesting video with Onica (car) vs Tracy (train). The costs at 3:16 show that car is only marginally cheaper (maybe we don't think of car as costing anything due to not paying for gas each time we drive and how train tickets are all an up-front lump sum). But Tracy is able to enjoy ("relax her shoulders") on the train in part due to her profession. Onica works at MGH; would she be able to do any part of her job remotely on that 1.5 hour commute like Tracy? Does Tracy spend less time at the office because she works on the train? It makes me wonder what the type of professions are of the people riding the commuter rail. Are they typically "remote-workable" positions, while "exclusively-in-person" positions are who need to drive to downtown?
This is a pretty damning indictment of why people tend to ditch transit for their cars. That said, the fact you can relax more on the train is definitely a good selling point, which I think is one of many reasons that the commuter rail is either back to -or has even exceeded- per-pandemic levels.
It's actually even quicker by car. Depending on where you are in Worcester it would be another 10-15 mins just to get to the train station. If the train is not express it's really not worth it.
It is worth in the sense that you aren't putting that added wear and tear on your car. And in the case of the woman showcases riding the train, you may not even need a car. That's thousands of dollars saved every year. You also don't have the added stress of sitting through traffic. You can work, read a book, nap, etc. On top of that, your argument would also equally apply to getting onto the highway. Unless you live right off an I-90 onramp, you must still drive to get to it. So ultimately whether or not it's worth it depends on what you value. But one thing we can both agree on is that the commuter rail really ought to be faster.
Really...I live in Shrewsbury and have to meet a client in Cambridge for 9:00. I left my home at 6:58 am hoping to be in Cambridge by 8:30 am I live 15 minutes away from the Mass pike. It took me 1 hour and 58 minutes to get my destination with no prior accidents on the roads I travelled.
@@LimitedWard His logic doesn't equally apply into getting onto the highway because this video already took that time into account in this specific demonstration. Thats why a lot of these "train vs car" race videos are misleading because they usually start/end at train stations when in reality no commute begins/ends at a train station. The lady in this very video said she she had to make the 6:45am train to be in her office by 8. This means she probably left her house at least as early as 6:15-6:20 which makes for a nearly 2 hr commute. Yikes
@@LimitedWard Well the train costs $400/month for a monthly pass so I wouldn't say that ditching your car would save people thousands of dollars per year. Especially since the train can't take you everywhere and you'll still need to either driver, uber, bus or bike for everyday errands or random trips outside of your work commute. I'd say best case for most people is that they either break even or lose money by giving up their car for the commuter rail, especially for people who paid of their car loans and have no monthly payments. I used to pay under $100/month on average on driving expenses and have the advantage of using my car to take me directly from point a to point b every time i leave my house and go wherever i want, whenever i want. Unless you live directly in Boston or the other inner cities it's probably not worth ditching your car.
A full Worcester Line trip is scheduled for 90 minutes. We're using diesel locomotives that are slow to start and stop on track that is bendy and has too many clustered stops - Wellsley has three, West Natick probably shouldn't exist between Natick and Framingham. Electrifying Commuter Rail and adding on sidings would make it easier to run a local service faster all day long. As for right now, even as it wrecks logistics and scheduling, Heart to Hub may be worthwhile to bring back, especially as a political carrot.
I take the train in preference due to the variability of the drive. If you leave way before 6 then it's mostly ok but you still hit traffic. Train is pretty predictable and you can reuse the time for work or relaxation. Yes the train could be a lot quicker (electrify it!!!!) and the schedules should be a lot more frequent. The times I take the car are when I need to leave late or need more flexibility in the day.
They really need to add more commuter rail services, even on the weekday. Every hour or two hours is so long to try to work around the train schedule. Taking the train could be convenient if they just ran more often
I grew up in Sydney, Australia. The idea of "commuter rail" is "suburban rail" there, and then they also have "intercity rail". Suburban rail there runs as often as every 3 or 6 minutes in peak and every 15 minutes off-peak all day. The Intercity lines run every 15 minutes in peak and every hour or 30 minutes off peak all day. All electric, all running up to 80mph.
I do this commute daily, leaving around the same time too. I would love to take the train, but as proven by this video generally speaking it is slower and more expensive.
For the cost of driving, they also didn't factor in wear and tear/maintenance on thr car too thag builds up with every mile you drive. Plus, as the train commuters mentioned, there's no need to have a 2nd car (so a 2nd car payment, registration fees, and insurance). So for 20 minutes more, train definitely is better. Just a shame that MBTA and shooting themselves in the foot.
How about trying this from the North Shore? Where the old B&M took 17 minutes from North Station to Lynn and then after Dukaksis era "improvements" Took 21 minutes. Now all the potential rail transit corridors are placating NIMBYs by being converted to bike paths while the highways get widened again.
They stopped Express during COVID for the Fitchburg Line but recently reinstated it you can go from Porter to Acton in 30 minutes I couldn't do that driving
It's 2:38pm on a Friday and the commute from Boston to Worcester is 1h35m, much of which is soul crushing, rage inducing traffic on the pike, which would cost most a $3 toll and $7 fuel (at 25-30mpg). Those saying driving is still the better option are so cucked by the automotive industry. But to a better point, we shouldnt be commuting that distance in the first place. Your life would be so much better with a short commute, so either find another job or move closer to the city you work in. I live 5 minutes from my office and every day is a dream. Get some.
You see why train infrastructure will never be fixed until the price of car driving is more expensive than the price of the train. Either the Worcester to Boston ticket prices have to be cut in half (which probably would cut revenues for the MBTA) or gas prices has to increase to $4 a gallon (which is a political third rail for voters) via the gas tax for transit to work.
Where in Boston is she parking for $7.50? Anywhere near Back Bay or South Station is minimum $40. Unless it is a work-subsidized parking situation, that cost is unrealistic
Do you make this commute? Tell us how long it takes you:
If you have to leave later, say at 7:00, it can take 2.5 hours to get into Boston. I'd rather take the train anyday.
Commuter rail lines need to be electrified and add express schedules to Boston. Add station connection to the blue, green and orange line (North of Boston). Mbta has a long way to go.
It's corrupted by unions and other beurocrats
The car may be faster but the train is more mentally and environmentally sustainable
More comfy too. Just imagine if they made it faster too.
For $500/month it better be mentally sustainable. 😆
Doing this at a time when there isn’t traffic really stacked the deck. You should try again when there is and driving takes twice as long but the train is the same.
Very interesting video with Onica (car) vs Tracy (train). The costs at 3:16 show that car is only marginally cheaper (maybe we don't think of car as costing anything due to not paying for gas each time we drive and how train tickets are all an up-front lump sum). But Tracy is able to enjoy ("relax her shoulders") on the train in part due to her profession. Onica works at MGH; would she be able to do any part of her job remotely on that 1.5 hour commute like Tracy? Does Tracy spend less time at the office because she works on the train?
It makes me wonder what the type of professions are of the people riding the commuter rail. Are they typically "remote-workable" positions, while "exclusively-in-person" positions are who need to drive to downtown?
Also? I'd also argue that it's still cheaper, as my family would need to buy another car for me to commute by car.
@@tracynovick Yeah the cost of owning a car (buying it, insuring it, maintaining/repairing it) is ignored.
@@colerainey-slavick Yes and it shouldn't be, you can't ignore costs you don't want to think about.
With real investment in the rail line to bring it on par with foreign counterparts, it could be more than twice as fast.
This is a pretty damning indictment of why people tend to ditch transit for their cars. That said, the fact you can relax more on the train is definitely a good selling point, which I think is one of many reasons that the commuter rail is either back to -or has even exceeded- per-pandemic levels.
It's actually even quicker by car. Depending on where you are in Worcester it would be another 10-15 mins just to get to the train station. If the train is not express it's really not worth it.
It is worth in the sense that you aren't putting that added wear and tear on your car. And in the case of the woman showcases riding the train, you may not even need a car. That's thousands of dollars saved every year. You also don't have the added stress of sitting through traffic. You can work, read a book, nap, etc.
On top of that, your argument would also equally apply to getting onto the highway. Unless you live right off an I-90 onramp, you must still drive to get to it.
So ultimately whether or not it's worth it depends on what you value. But one thing we can both agree on is that the commuter rail really ought to be faster.
Really...I live in Shrewsbury and have to meet a client in Cambridge for 9:00. I left my home at 6:58 am hoping to be in Cambridge by 8:30 am I live 15 minutes away from the Mass pike. It took me 1 hour and 58 minutes to get my destination with no prior accidents on the roads I travelled.
@@LimitedWard His logic doesn't equally apply into getting onto the highway because this video already took that time into account in this specific demonstration. Thats why a lot of these "train vs car" race videos are misleading because they usually start/end at train stations when in reality no commute begins/ends at a train station. The lady in this very video said she she had to make the 6:45am train to be in her office by 8. This means she probably left her house at least as early as 6:15-6:20 which makes for a nearly 2 hr commute. Yikes
@@LimitedWard Well the train costs $400/month for a monthly pass so I wouldn't say that ditching your car would save people thousands of dollars per year. Especially since the train can't take you everywhere and you'll still need to either driver, uber, bus or bike for everyday errands or random trips outside of your work commute. I'd say best case for most people is that they either break even or lose money by giving up their car for the commuter rail, especially for people who paid of their car loans and have no monthly payments. I used to pay under $100/month on average on driving expenses and have the advantage of using my car to take me directly from point a to point b every time i leave my house and go wherever i want, whenever i want. Unless you live directly in Boston or the other inner cities it's probably not worth ditching your car.
A full Worcester Line trip is scheduled for 90 minutes.
We're using diesel locomotives that are slow to start and stop on track that is bendy and has too many clustered stops - Wellsley has three, West Natick probably shouldn't exist between Natick and Framingham.
Electrifying Commuter Rail and adding on sidings would make it easier to run a local service faster all day long. As for right now, even as it wrecks logistics and scheduling, Heart to Hub may be worthwhile to bring back, especially as a political carrot.
Now do it at noon
I take the train in preference due to the variability of the drive. If you leave way before 6 then it's mostly ok but you still hit traffic. Train is pretty predictable and you can reuse the time for work or relaxation.
Yes the train could be a lot quicker (electrify it!!!!) and the schedules should be a lot more frequent.
The times I take the car are when I need to leave late or need more flexibility in the day.
It’s faster by car from Worcester to Boston but returning in the afternoon, it’s much slower by car.
try 8:30 am. 1.5 hrs sometimes to cambridge
yup Left my house at 6:58 am in Shrewsbury and I had to meet a client at 9:00 am in Cambridge . I got there at 8:58 am.
They really need to add more commuter rail services, even on the weekday. Every hour or two hours is so long to try to work around the train schedule. Taking the train could be convenient if they just ran more often
I grew up in Sydney, Australia. The idea of "commuter rail" is "suburban rail" there, and then they also have "intercity rail". Suburban rail there runs as often as every 3 or 6 minutes in peak and every 15 minutes off-peak all day. The Intercity lines run every 15 minutes in peak and every hour or 30 minutes off peak all day. All electric, all running up to 80mph.
I do this commute daily, leaving around the same time too. I would love to take the train, but as proven by this video generally speaking it is slower and more expensive.
I used to take the train from Worcester to Boston. It was nice not to drive, but the train broke down a few times.
For the cost of driving, they also didn't factor in wear and tear/maintenance on thr car too thag builds up with every mile you drive. Plus, as the train commuters mentioned, there's no need to have a 2nd car (so a 2nd car payment, registration fees, and insurance).
So for 20 minutes more, train definitely is better. Just a shame that MBTA and shooting themselves in the foot.
How about trying this from the North Shore? Where the old B&M took 17 minutes from North Station to Lynn and then after Dukaksis era "improvements" Took 21 minutes.
Now all the potential rail transit corridors are placating NIMBYs by being converted to bike paths while the highways get widened again.
Luckily they’re bringing back an express train for Worcester soon!
They stopped Express during COVID for the Fitchburg Line but recently reinstated it you can go from Porter to Acton in 30 minutes I couldn't do that driving
It's 2:38pm on a Friday and the commute from Boston to Worcester is 1h35m, much of which is soul crushing, rage inducing traffic on the pike, which would cost most a $3 toll and $7 fuel (at 25-30mpg). Those saying driving is still the better option are so cucked by the automotive industry. But to a better point, we shouldnt be commuting that distance in the first place. Your life would be so much better with a short commute, so either find another job or move closer to the city you work in. I live 5 minutes from my office and every day is a dream. Get some.
There's too many stops. I ride the train on weekends. It's relaxing, but there's 18 stops or so.
I'd take the train
You see why train infrastructure will never be fixed until the price of car driving is more expensive than the price of the train.
Either the Worcester to Boston ticket prices have to be cut in half (which probably would cut revenues for the MBTA) or gas prices has to increase to $4 a gallon (which is a political third rail for voters) via the gas tax for transit to work.
It already is if you include the costs of owning and maintaining it.
Not only that, no one loses elections screwing transit users.
Where in Boston is she parking for $7.50? Anywhere near Back Bay or South Station is minimum $40. Unless it is a work-subsidized parking situation, that cost is unrealistic
MGH might have their own private parking lot idk
Bring back heart to hub 😢
$24.50 for the train has to be a multi ride ticket.
it is round trip
This obsession with speed is bad when comparing 2 modes. I bet the car only won because of traffic.
MBTA - biggest taxpayer waste on the planet