MBTA Bus Route 111

I want to give the 111 more stars but riding this route makes me cringe depending on the time of the day.
If you travel at particular times the bus is packed, the passengers are a nightmare and the drivers are so strapped for time that they haul around Chelsea which makes the ride uncomfortable.
That being said, the route is so convenient to my wife’s family home in Chelsea which makes it perfect for traveling to the North End.

Let me begin by saying, I am only giving this two stars due to it being an extremely convenient bus, and most of the bus drivers don’t speak to you, so it’s not like I ever have much of a bad experience. Honestly, it’s just the people ON the bus that usually make this a bad show. But this time things are different.
For the past few weeks, I’ve gone on the bus and each time, have had a terrible experience. Operator #70 398 has been driving the bus the past few times I’ve gone on, and let me tell you, from the first minute I got on the bus, I’ve hated this woman.
A very elderly woman got onto the bus, tapped her card, and assumed she had extra cash in her card, as she sat down. After she sat down all of us already on the bus couldn’t believe what was witnessed next… the operator SCREAMED and would not move the bus til the woman put .40 cents into the machine. This was strike number one. She could have been much more polite.
Strike two. I travel on the bus with my 3 and a half year old daughter. This woman drives like a maniac!!! She speeds over the bridge and through the tunnel, and she is extremely impatient. A lot of the people on the bus WITH me were holding on to their seats and mind boggled.
Strike three. Taking this bus after work two nights ago was the biggest mistake of my life. The bus is packed, as the 111 normally is, and this operator was driving over the bridge. In my last paragraph, I explained this lady was a terrible driver. Well, she has massive road rage too. Not only does it seem like she’s always honking the horn, as I was standing speaking to ny boyfriend, she CUT someone off, OVER the bridge!!! Does she not understand She’s responsible for our lives??? Everyone standing almost fell, luckily I’d been holding the pole to not fall, but I did kick the man behind me while my boyfriend grabbed me extremely fast by my shirt.
She could have driven us off the bridge. This woman not only does not deserve to drive a bus responsible for people’s lives, but doesn’t deserve her license.
I have never felt so passionately that someone lose their job. But she literally could have killed us due to her road rage.

Ah what can I say about the 111 bus? I take this bus twice a day, to and from work.
Pro’s
Schedule — This route is great for timing. Unlike many buses that can have a 15 – 20 minute (or more) wait time between buses. The 111 runs every 5 minutes or less during rush, 7−12mins mid-​day, 10 – 15 minutes late evening or off peak. This means you won’t wait for one to call at all. (Sunday, however, can be a bit slow). This is also one of the few buses that starts and ends outside of normal operating hours for the T. The first bus leaves Woodlawn at 4:50am, and Haymarket at 5:15am. The last bus leaves at 1:30am (waits for last train). So it’s always there when you need it.
Frequency — As I said before, this bus route has a very high frequency associated with it. No waiting.
111C — There is one variant of this route called the 111C, which, instead of going all the way to Woodlawn and turning around. The 111C turns around at Cary Square (just north of Bellingham Square), and does a return trip.
Key Bus Route Project — The MBTA this year (2013) announced that they will be doing major improvements to the 111 bus. Relocation of stops, 60′ articulate buses, and using such things as ITS and GPS tracking to monitor and adjust when the bus is late/​early. (Yes I consider this project a good thing, as it will greatly improve service)
Con’s
Popularity — Since this is identified by the MBTA as a «Key Bus Route», it has VERY high ridership. During rush hour, they just can’t seem to run enough of them to accommodate all the passengers. Many buses are packed like Sardines in a can. I often will use the NextBus app to see how long the next one is, because if its coming in a minute or two, why wait and stand on a crowded bus when another one will be along shortly.
Schedule — This is a con also. Because it is so popular, this route often has many delays. I’ve stopped looking at the schedule and solely relying on NextBus, as the schedule is typically wrong, and NextBus is more accurate.
Overcrowding — This is a big deal on this route. As I said above, they just cannot run enough buses and/​or keep them on to the schedule. Some afternoons when I get to Haymarket to catch it, the platform is so full of people waiting to get on.
Tobin Bridge — This is the big downfall of this bus. In no traffic, a ride from Bellingham Square to Haymarket can take less than 10 minutes. But because of the bridge painting they are doing on the Tobin Bridge over the next few years, is causing traffic to back up. Now my 10 minute ride becomes a 20 – 25 minute ride.
Patrons — Yes I have issues with many of the riders of this bus line. First off, getting ON the bus is a challenge when it picks up at Haymarket. There’s so many people waiting on the platform usually, other people PUSH you onto the bus. People also will cut you in line and no one lets you have any sort of personal space.
And then of course the whole stroller issue. On the 111 bus, there can be as many as 4 – 6 strollers on one bus (if their’s room). They fold up the seats, and block aisles so no one can get on or off. Its very frustrating.
AND. my typical complaints about normal T riders… body odor, too much cologne, dirty clothes, talking loud on their cell phone etc etc, all apply here. (And I think in some ways due to the high ridership on this route, it’s even worse here).
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Overall I am ‘meh’ about the 111 bus. However, the frequency of the bus route is great, and I can’t really complain, as I’ve lived where the bus runs every hour on weekends… the 111 is a god send. So I’ll still give it three stars.

Beep Beep. MBTA Bus Route 111 doesn’t make me want to sing «The Wheels on the Bus» but it is a convenient ride. It starts in Haymarket and zips through Chelsea. As Aimy said, there are some strange folks on the bus but what bus doesn’t have a few of those?
The drivers vary. I got on the 111C once and was unsure of its stops, asked the bus driver and she seemed completely ignorant of her route. Maybe she was just going through the motions but it certainly wasn’t helpful (the two teenage boys sitting across from me were able to help though). Other times, the bus gets a little crowded, full of rowdy teens and people with shopping bags.
My only real annoyance with the bus (other that it’s not a limo service used at my discretion) is its loop. Due to all the one-​way streets in Chelsea, the stop you get on may be different than the one you choose to get off. For example, you may choose to start your trip by getting on the bus on Broadway St (heading toward Haymarket) but on the reverse commute (leaving Haymarket) you may choose get off on a stop along Hawthorne St. This can make it a little complicated to explain to people unfamiliar with the area. Thankfully, Chelsea uses numbered streets and doesn’t have too many twisty roads.
Hold on tight, your stop is next.

I take the 111 in the morning to get to my class at Bunker Hill Chelsea, and it is always crowded and full of weirdos– guy who looks like he hasn’t showered in 6 months, junk boxes, dumb teenagers swearing about school… Today the man behind me went from being yelling and being agitated on his cellphone to laughing loudly and hysterically during the course of our 10 minute ride.
111 also doesn’t seem to run on any kind of schedule so ignore the one you’ve got!

Let me just tell you about my most recent trip home.
I got on the bus, and the one open seat was filled with some unidentifiable and horribly disgusting substance.
When a seat finally opened, I sat down, only to discover I had planted myself behind two junkies who were sooooooo in love with one another that they had to make out the whole time, until they stopped, so that the girl could pick the guy’s zits off his face.
GAG!
Obviously I couldn’t make this stuff up.

If you are taking this bus during they day, the schedule is nothing more than a vague suggestion. Don’t expect it to come on time, don’t expect a seat, don’t expect anything pleasant. But me, I take it into town after 8pm. IT IS BLISS. No one rides it, plus it starts its’ route at Broadway and Park Avenue in Revere, which is much easier for me to get to to pick this bus up. Never gets crowded at all. Taking it outbound is hell on earth every day no matter what the time unless its before 6am. Yes, that bad. But 4 stars, for being such a gentleman of a bus during the evening.