Has this ever happened to you?
* You are on the way home to Randolph at the end of the Red Line at Ashmont Station
* You see the BAT #12 bus and the route says it runs the length of Main Street so you get on
* When you get to North Main Street, you're not allowed to get off!
* The driver points to a sign with an official statement saying that you can't get off until South Main Street
* So you get off there and have to walk a mile back to your home -- how come?!

Regular riders know this rule, and have to decide if it's worthwhile to walk back north from Crawford Square. It doesn't matter if you tell the bus driver "You can see my house right there" (as I can, from North Main Street!) -- you have to stay on the bus and walk back. New riders get frustrated and angry, thinking they were getting home, but then realizing they have a long walk! So... how come?

Here's how come:
* The MBTA, which is a larger transit system than the BAT, disallows "competition" from the BAT north of Crawford Square.
* The MBTA considers Crawford Square and south to be "BAT's territory" so riders can get on the inbound bus there, and get off the outbound bus there.
* But north of Crawford Square (including the Milton and Dorchester part of the #12 route) is "MBTA's territory" so BAT riders can't enter or exit there.
* I have tested this rule dozens of times, while awaiting for the #240 MBTA bus on North Main Street, if a #12 BAT bus passes, I flag it down -- but the driver never stops!
* The bus drivers don't like this rule, because they have to enforce it -- and riders often get frustrated and angry -- and take it out on the bus driver!
The bus drivers would like to change this rule -- according to Local 1547 President John Troxell and Vice President Guy Pierre
* I spoke to those two union representatives at Brockton City Hall on June 17, 2021 about this issue and how we could get the BAT #12 bus to stop along North Main Street.
* Their answer: "Write a petition to the BAT." The union representatives say that our collective voices will be heard where their individual voices won't.
* The BAT doesn't like this rule, but they need support to change it, because the MBTA requires them to enforce it. This petition is the support they need!

Petition to the Brockton Area Transit Authority and the MBTA

WHEREAS, the current rules for the BAT #12 bus disallow getting off while traveling from Ashmont Station on North Main Street in Randolph, or getting on a bus traveling toward Ashmont Station; and
WHEREAS, Randolph residents in the north half of town are excluded from using the BAT #12 bus when they could and would otherwise use it; and
WHEREAS, additional Randolph usage of the BAT #12 bus would bring in substantial revenue for the Brockton Area Transit Authority via increased ridership on the #12 line; and
WHEREAS, the MBTA #240 bus, which runs the same route on Main Street, is often overloaded at rush hour, and riders would greatly benefit from a second available bus line; and
WHEREAS, BAT bus drivers currently must enforce this unpopular rule, and would prefer to serve the people of Randolph rather than exclude them from riding the BAT; and
WHEREAS, automobile traffic on North Main Street would be decreased by mor bus ridershiup, especially at rush hour when that stretch of road often suffers traffic jams;
WHEREAS the post-pandemic re-opening of transit services and transit usage provides an opportunity to change the rules as part of the re-opneing;
THEREFORE, we, the below-signed residents of the town of Randolph and surrounding areas, hereby request that the Brockton Area Transit Authority change the rules to allow using the BAT #12 bus on North Main Street in Randolph; and
THEREFORE, we request that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) allow the BAT #12 bus to pick up and drop off passengers on North Main Street in Randolph.