How not to be a jerk on the MBTA
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
The MBTA is seeing higher ridership and longtime commuters know what that means:
- More crowded trains and more riders blissfully unaware that they're blocking the doors, their backpack is in someone's face — or that they're just in the damn way.
Why it matters: Many riders haven't experienced a jam-packed Red or Orange Line train since 2020 and may have forgotten the traditional rules of rider courtesy, or are new to Boston and need a lesson on how to treat fellow T passengers.
- Moving into the train car, not taking up extra room and letting riders exit first help the T fill up and empty faster, leave the station sooner and generally decrease commute time overall.
Friction point: T riders have always been frustrated with fellow passengers' behavior.
- Some out-of-towners say crowding at the doors and refusing to move out of the way is part of ingrained New England recalcitrance.
- Others see generational splits between MBTA veterans and younger students who are unaware of the protocol (and who have the biggest backpacks).
State of play: Etiquette expert Lizzie Post, co-president of the Emily Post Institute, told Axios the common courtesy of taking up as little space as possible is tried-and-true subway decorum.
- Removing a backpack is also common sense, according to Post.
- "Someone with a bag full of books turns around and just clocks somebody in the head or the knee," Post said, adding that riders may not be "as visually aware of it, because it's on our back."
Post's great-great-grandmother, the iconic etiquette writer Emily Post, couldn't have imagined the social damage Bluetooth speakers would cause on trains, but Lizzie said any out-loud audio is a strict no-no.
- "We have a blanket rule in public space: earphones, headphones, earbuds, whatever you've got, you need to be using those in public spaces. Your phone in a public space should never have anything coming out of its speakers," Post said.
Zoom in: MBTA general manager Phillip Eng knows how big a role rider courtesy plays in operating an efficient and less stressful transit system.
- As the T tries to improve travel times, the ability to get passengers on a crowded car so they don't have to wait for the next one is just as important as improving train frequency, according to Eng.
What they're saying: "I'm going to do everything we can to encourage that courtesy and make sure that we're doing our part to remind folks, and then let the goodwill carry over and be as infectious as it can be," Eng told Axios.
- Eng listed blocking the doors and those pesky backpacks as the two biggest rider courtesy issues he'd like to see change.
To do that, Eng expects the T to continue using announcements as well as physical and digital signs reminding riders to huddle in, let people out and put backpacks down.
- "As we are bringing more riders back, that backpack actually takes up an extra space where someone could be standing," Eng said.
What's next: Eng says the T will continue to update riders with new messages on courtesy while staff monitor social media for riders' sentiments.