Why the T needs a blog
18
May
Posted by: Bryan in: Blogging, Boston, Who should be blogging
The MBTA needs a blog.
I can’t be the only rider of Boston’s public transportation system who doesn’t yet have a full grasp of some of of these pressing issues and questions:
- The proposed substantial fare increase in January 2007, only three years after the last hike
- The difference between the CharlieCard and CharlieTicket
- Why some stations now accept a token as payment for a ride but not the CharlieTicket, while others accept the CharlieTicket but not a token
When boarding the subway at a token-but-no-CharlieTicket Orangle Line station this morning, I asked a T (we locals much prefer the single letter to four) officer when the CharlieCard and CharlieTicket machines would be installed there.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Nobody tells me these things.”
And take a look at the MBTA website. You may eventually find answers to some of your questions, but you’ll have to work your way though a non-intuitive navigation to do so.
Information on the proposed fare hike? You need to check the “Hot Spots” menu. A list of the T’s public workshops/hearings to discuss these potential changes? Try “Latest News.” The difference between the CharlieTicket and CharlieCard? Visit the FAQs page.
This content is scattered all over the site, when one blog could house much of it in a single location.
Benefits of a T blog
Here’s how an MBTA blog could also help:
- It could open a transparent online dialogue between the organization and its riders, who have plenty of other questions and who want easy-to-understand answers
- It could provide summaries of the public workshops and hearings. An article in today’s Boston Globe noted that that the T sent some 20 officials to the first workshop, in Newton, last night. Identify a web-savvy person from that group to blog about those discussions the next day, and carry the conversation forward.
- It could quickly publish information on delays and schedule changes
- It could explain in a human voice how the T is arriving at its decisions on issues such as fare increases, service changes, station upgrades, etc., and demonstrate how customers’ needs and opinions are impacting the thought processes behind those decisions
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4 Responses
Kristine
23|May|2006 1I definitely agree with you. The MBTA could benefit from a blog. Right now they just seem like this faceless organization who doesn’t really care about their customers. Chicago Transit Authority has a blog and I think it really helps them to have a human voice.
Lyss
23|May|2006 2The POlice Dept has a blog and it serves them well. I think that it’s a good idea for the T to have one as well for info purposes.
Bryan
23|May|2006 3Kristine and Lyss, thank you for your comments. There’s no doubt that the T would be well served to launch a blog, for the human touch, to keep readers/riders better informed, and to get a real online conversation going with the public.
I’m hoping I can attend one of the T’s workshops/hearings in the next week or two to pitch the idea.
I’ll have to check out the Chicago Transity Authority’s blog, as well as the one published by the police department!
T Rage! » Where can I get a piece of the ROC?
29|May|2006 4[…] I agree wholeheartedly with Bryper that the T needs a blog. But where’s the ROC’s blog? Where are the riders’ unions’ bogs? […]
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This work by Bryan Person is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.