Tell us: Are MBTA riders getting ruder?
Plus, help us create a definitive guide to common courtesy on trains and buses.
When it comes to taking public transportation, there should be one golden rule: Keep quiet and keep it moving. But if you’ve ever been pushed aside while trying to exit a train or forced to listen to another rider’s morning playlist on a packed bus, you’ll know not everyone is on their best behavior.
We don’t have to tell you that riding the MBTA comes with its headaches. With extended T closures — and system failures on top of that — it’s been a particularly rough month of commuting for many Greater Boston residents. And more closures are on the way as the agency aims to get rid of all slow zones by the end of 2024.
New leadership has promised to bring us a more efficient public transit system in the (hopefully) not so distant future. But what’s being done about an increasingly bad-mannered ridership?
With tensions high on trains and shuttle buses, there’s more shoving and less courtesy. Riders are taking up spare seats with bags, boarding before passengers have gotten off, having loud phone conversations, leaving garbage behind, and losing all sense of spatial awareness.
There are, of course, official MBTA rules for smooth riding: no unleashed animals on the T, bans on bulky items like furniture and bikes, and no vaping, to name a few. But judging by the public confusion around the ban on eating and drinking on T, much of the public isn’t aware — or doesn’t care — that these regulations are in place.
And it’d be unfair to just blame MBTA riders for this rise in rudeness. Americans in general are less civil in public than they used to be, according to a study by Georgetown University management professor Christine Porath. This has the most negative impact on service workers, but we’re all experiencing the downsides of a less polite public.
We want to know: Do you think Bostonians are losing their public transit etiquette? Tell us what rules you wish every MBTA rider would stick to by filling out the form below or e-mailing us at [email protected] and we may feature your response in a future Boston.com article.
Be civil. Be kind.
Read our full community guidelines.To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address