Text this!

Nice of the MBTA to enter the 21st Century by letting riders know about delays.

Of course, I didn't think cell phones worked in the subway system. And I'm not sure that I want to constant text alert chirps whenever a bus or subway is behind schedule. Noise pollution.

And what constitutes "behind schedule"? When two Green Line trains arrive virtually simultaneously, followed by a 20-minute gap? When the 66 bus travels in packs?

Maybe they should send alerts when elevators and escalators actually work?

Good thing Dan "Must Go" Grabuaskas says the T isn't charging (yet) for sending the text messages. But they will stand add up to quite a piece of change for anyone who signs up to receive them.

The T still doesn't get the fact that good customer service isn't telling you how late you are going to be. Good customer service involves getting you there on time in a bus or train that doesn't do double duty as a cattle car and with operators who don't close doors in your face.

But then again, how would Dan know? The T is inconvenient for his schedule. Maybe if he got a text page when his train was ready?