Another email to TRadio

This letter is inspired by the comments that Ed McMann is making, assuring us that T-Radio will be back after some "tweaking":

Dear T-Radio,

Thank you for suspending the program. My compliments. Please keep it suspended permanently.

I'm pessimistic, however, when I read things like this in today's Metro:

Ed McMann, program director for T-Radio, said Pyramid expected they would need to tweak the product after hearing feedback.

"We invented a new format and, like any new product, it has got to go through a testing phase before it is finalized," said McMann, who believes many of the complaints came from supporters of the subway performers. "Whatever adjustments that need to be made, we will make them."
I have some suggestions for tweaks: No music. No ads. No T-Raio, period. T-Radio is a violation of the sanctity of public airspace, buskers notwithstanding. We the public are complaining because we don't want to hear lame music, obnoxious DJs and ads while we wait for the train.

Get it?

Thanks.

T-Radio shelved?

I got this email yesterday:

Dear MBTA Customer:

Thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts on T-Radio. As we stated at the launch of this pilot test, MBTA riders would determine the fate of T-Radio. We have heard from a number of riders on a wide range of issues including the content and style.

Consequently, as of Thursday, October 25th, T-Radio will be suspended. While it is suspended, personnel from the MBTA and Pyramid Radio (the operator of the pilot program) will review and discuss the hundreds of emails received. Following a sufficient period of consideration, MBTA staff will present a recommendation on how the comments and suggestions might be addressed and whether a resumption of the pilot program is advised.

As always, we will continue to try and make your commute better through various means, and always ask for your feedback.

Thank you again for taking the time to write and have your voice heard. Its appreciated.

----

"Following a sufficient period of consideration..."? Resumption? Let's hope not. Bob Oakes on WBUR announced that the T is shelving T-Radio due to the overwhelming amount of negative response it got. I don't trust Rich Balsbaugh to give up on this so easily, though.

Case in point: the Globe reports that the project is "shelved" but that it'll be back in one form or another:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/26/t_radio_hits_wrong_note_with_riders/

I don't think we're out of this yet.

My suspicion is that the T and Pyramid Radio will lean hard on the data gathered by Emerson students, and try to build a case to bring it back:

"Programmer Ed McMann said in an interview that the "quiet phase" is temporary. He said feedback gathered by Emerson College students who surveyed riders was mostly positive, though he declined to release the findings."

I argue that these findings are not a sufficient enough sample of public opinion, and probably necessarily biased, because it's Balsbaugh and Grabauskas who are conducting the analysis - and determining the rules for which data can be discounted or disregarded. We'll never know, for I doubt that they will be transparent about the findings. The fix is in, folks.

Bottom line: the T is a public space. It might even be a legal issue - the T and Pyramid Radio may not even have the right to inflict this on us. What's next? The Boston Common? The Public Garden? The BPL?

We'll see. I think we need to remain vigilant and ready to complain again, should this travesty re-emerge in some other form.

To the Governor:

Dear Governor Patrick,

I am writing to ask that your office intervene on behalf of the public. The MBTA has rolled out a "pilot" program for T-Radio, but from reading the press releases and the comments made by Dan Grabauskas, I fear that T Radio is a done deal, and we can all look forward to having our thoughts intruded upon by this awful use of the public airwaves.

Although subway stations are noisy places, filled with the sounds of trains, safety announcements, conversations and street musicians, one can still choose to enjoy one's thoughts. T Radio robs us of that ability to concentrate, think and read. Moreover, it is essentially radio: a medium used chiefly for the delivery of advertising messages. I'd rather pay more to ride the T than to have to suffer through the constant yammering of a disk jockey.

Let me ask you: if you were to be sitting on a bench in the Public Garden, admiring the Swan Boats on a beautiful day, would you appreciate it if Classic Hits from the 70s were piped in from the branches of every tree? I'm sure you would agree that it's an offensive idea.

The same holds true in the subway stations, where we are a captive audience, waiting for the next train. Once T Radio is rolled out, there will be no escaping its endless stream of mediocre musical choices and commercials.

I beg you, in the common interest, please don't let this happen to us.

Most sincerely,

[j. etc]

-----------------------

By the way, I found and posted to an interesting discussion over at Pink Slip...

One from My Pal Viv

Dear MBTA --

Please abandon forever the idea of T-Radio (aka Pyramid Radio, Inc). It is an invasion of every commuter's privacy and an insult to our intelligence. It is akin to blaring MUSAK and obnoxious advertisments into the Boston Public Library.

Curious about Pyramid Radio, Inc.,I went to their website and was horrified by what I found on their home page:

"Pyramid Radio creates customized audio enterntainment designed to entertain your customers and drive sales in your store. This gives you, the retailer, the opportunity to influence consumers inside your store, before they reach the cash register. As a Pyramid parnter, you will receive powerful and targeted messaging and branding delivered by the nation's top radio personalities and sent dailly via the latest in digital delivery. Music, commercials and customized jingles are seamlessly integrated. Most importantly, as a Pyramid partner you will share in the revenue generated by the advertisments which we sell."

The MBTA is not a shopping mall, it is a Public Transportation System. T-Radio strikes me as the MBTA's way of saying: "We've got you all in a pen and now we're going to pump in music you don't like accompanied by obnoxious ads and seamlessly integrated commentary by Ed McMahon!" Give me a break, Mr. Grabauskas! Will we buy more products? Will we stand docilely on the platform chewing our cud? No, many of us will stop riding the T.

Please don't continue with this ill-conceived idea. It is a disgrace.

Sincerely yours,

[viv etc]

Stop T Radio

A stretch perhaps, but I'm thinking that this blog can become a journal of things T-related. I have little to share with you about my bike accident or the progress of paving over the tracks in JP, but I have some observations I'll post soon.

Meanwhile, as the Sox go to the World Series, the T has hatched a nefarious scheme to replace buskers with Muzak. Here's an email I just wrote them:

Dear MBTA,

T Radio - possibly the worst idea that you've come up with yet.

I beg you, please do not roll this misconceived atrocity out to all the stations on the T. It's an invasion of public privacy. It will discourage and ultimately silence the rich tradition of street performers in the subway. It will be yet another uncontrollable source of advertising, targeting unwanted products to the young. And, in order to accommodate the tastes of many, the resulting programming is so bland and overplayed that it's an insult to the public ear. Do I really need to hear Bob Seeger sing "Against the Wind" once more in my lifetime? I think not. It's enough to make me consider driving to work.

You should be attracting riders, not shooing them away.

Respectfully,

[name and email etc...]


You too can write to the T about this at TRadio@mbta.com. Read their press release here. Sign a petition here on the buskers site.

No official responses, yet

It's been a little over a week since the accident, so it's time for an update.

The day I started this blog, I wrote an email to the Better Transit Without Trolleys web site. Although the site does not appear to have recent postings, I got a prompt response from one of its members, who suggested that I write to the Mayor of Boston, who has begun cycling recently himself.

I did so, and urged His Honor to have a look at this blog. I did not get a reply, not even an automated "Thank You." Either my message ended up in a spam filter, or nobody in the Mayor's office has time to respond to emails from constituents.

Yesterday I emailed a letter to the editors of the Jamaica Plain Gazette. I followed protocol and included my home address and telephone number for verification purposes. I haven't heard from them yet, but I hope to soon.

Last week, an attorney friend asked me if I had collected the names and numbers of witnesses at the accident scene. Unfortunately, I was so rattled, it didn't occur to me to do so. I was just happy to be ambulatory, and was panicking a little about the size my fingers were swelling up to. My friend suggested that if I were considering a law suit, it would help to have witnesses. It wasn't until that point in time that the idea even entered my head. I am not inclined to sue the city. All I want is to get some sort of acknowledgment or response from the city on this issue. I'd like to know when those tracks are coming up.

Last night, another friend suggested writing to my City Councilor, John Tobin. She has heard that Mr. Tobin has an excellent reputation for replying to letters and emails from his constituents. I'm planning on referring him to this blog today.

I am still experiencing lower back pain and pain in my right shoulder. The knuckles on my left hand are still tender, but overall I feel like I'm in pretty good shape. I went for a ride last weekend, and the bike is good and I felt alright afterwards. I'm fairly sure that I did not sustain a major injury due to this accident, but I'm keeping a watch on my lower back, which started acting up a few days after the impact incident.

I've joined the club

Last night, September 11, 2007, I joined The Club. I took a header on South Street, the tire of my bicycle caught in the groove of the unused trolley track.

I tried to keep control of the bike, and managed to hang on to the handlebars until I had planted the bike sideways, skidding another good ten feet or so. I landed on my right side, bruising my right knee, right hip, and right elbow. I also have some hard to describe muscular pain under my right wing, so my shoulder is somehow involved as well. In addition, I have massive bruising in the knuckles of my left hand - I think that the handlebar came smashing down across my hand. I managed to ice it down pretty quickly, but it swelled a nasty amount nevertheless. There's a bruise in my left instep - I think the pedal poked me there pretty hard.

Conditions were not good at the time: it was dusk, and it had rained earlier, so the pavement was slick. The rails were slicker than the pavement, of course, and I think it was my rear tire that got caught in the groove. I was probably going a little too fast for the conditions, but in my defense, I was very aware of the proximity of all traffic around me. I was travelling west on South Street, had just passed Herb's TV Repair, and was planning to turn left on Child Street. I knew I had to at least get between the right rail and the left rail in order to be in place to make the turn. There were no cars behind me or in front of me for about a block, so I decided I had the time to make an attempt. I recall seeing my front wheel skidding sideways left and right before I went into my slide - this is how I've deduced that it was my rear wheel that got caught.

I lost all traction, veeered from side to side, went over to my right and ended up sliding into the oncoming traffic lane, which would have been a very hazardous issue if there had been oncoming traffic. As it was, there was a car approaching about a block away when I went in to my slide, and the woman driving it stopped well before me and asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital. I got up off the pavement and quickly dragged my bike to the sidewalk, mentally checking my limbs and trying to determine if anything was broken. Two other passers-by were asking me if I was alright, and I asked for a moment to keep checking myself out. My left hand was beginning to swell, and felt pretty useless. One of the bystanders, a fellow named Rick, tossed my bike on his bike rack and gave me a lift home. Thanks, Rick. You really helped me out, and I appreciate it. If I ever run in to you again, I'll try to return the favor.

I'm thankful I'm alive.

Say what you will about the trolley returning to Jamaica Plain - something must be done about these tracks. I'll come out and say it: I am firmly against bringing the trolley back to JP. I was planning to start this blog anyway, but last night's event has finally pushed me to do it.

The tracks need to be paved over. End of story. They're a danger to cyclists, they're contributing to the deterioration of the pavement on South and Centre Streets, and the city has been promising to do something about it but sitting on their duffs for too long. I reckon there's only about six to eight weeks of asphalt-laying weather left this year, and there's no sign that anybody's going to make a move to pave over these tracks, despite published common consensus from both the anti-trams and the pro-trolleyistas.

I was lucky. I hope nobody else gets seriously hurt.