Kenmore Klowns

Ah, Kenmore Square: a bustling center of entertainment, shopping, dining, and culture. After living in Boston for the past three years, I've also noticed something else about this most popular of squares. There exists a breed that is indigenous only to the Kenmore Square area. These specimens are like some rare breed of bacteria that can only be found on the underside of a platypus' duck-bill. That bacteria on the platypus, however, aren't wearing backwards Red Sox caps and "Jeter Swallows" t-shirts. Who are these oft-intoxicated lurkers of Landsdowne? They're Kenmore Klowns.

Before I continue with this post, I need to make something clear. I like Red Sox fans. Most of my best friends are Red Sox fans. What I am about to discuss has nothing to do with fans of the Red Sox or the actual Red Sox team itself, but more about an issue regarding their means of transportation to Fenway park.

Fenway Park is located in one of the most densely packed areas of Boston. Free parking is unheard of. Since most people that live outside of Boston aren't as keen on how to navigate around the city on foot, there leaves only one method of travel left: the T.

So it's game night. I'm trying to get on the T at Boylston. Or Arlington. Or Copley. Or Hines. My destination is far outbound on the B line. But when that first B train squeaks to a stop, what is the first thing I see? A packed train full of Red Sox fans. People are crushed into the train like sardines. A man's faced is flattened against the window of the train's door, barely able to breathe. People struggle to reach for the nearest bar to hang onto. I look at their eyes and they all give me the same nonverbal message: "This train is full. Go away."

So, I'm left waiting for train after train after train until finally there's one that has slightly more space for me to enter. What annoys me most is that these people don't care what train they're getting on. They all get on at park street, get on any non-E train, and go. They could care less that it's a B, C, or D train. But for citizens of Boston like myself who work, eat, and sleep in this city as permanent citizens, it does matter. A lot. And we're left to wait for our trains so we can go to our post-Kenmore locations.

Now, I know that there are plenty of hardworking citizens of Boston who live in the Kenmore area. I feel your pain. I cannot imagine how annoying it must be to spend the entire summer trekking through huge crowds just to get home and take a hot shower. It's not the citizens that I'm annoyed with: it's the tourists, the red sox crowds, the out-of-towners that congest the trains and prevent real citizens from boarding.

But it's not as if I want to relocate Fenway park to free up more space on the trains. I love Fenway right where it is. So I propose a revolutionary idea. First, there should be silver-line size buses that continually go express from Park Street to Kenmore on game days. This will allow more room on the trains for citizens who require a trip longer than just to Kenmore.

Second, there should be certain trains underground that are allotted only for Park Street through Kenmore transportation. These trains would be for people who know that they are going to Kenmore and not further. Then, the rest of the trains would all go express from Park Street to the first above-ground stop on each respective line. That way, long-distance commuters who live near stops at above-ground locations (the majority of MBTA users), won't be given the shaft.

In the end, it's all about sharing. This city doesn't belong to any one person or group in particular. But I think it is important that the MBTA address the fact that Fenway Park is far too popular of a New England destination to be accessed solely by our meager subway system.