MBTA Bus Route 66

You won’t get your kicks on this route.
Extra star is for simply existing and taking people to these important neighborhoods… but we really need a subway line to replace the 666 bus.
Now late at night, this bus is the best thing ever and will whisk you from Allston to Mission Hill in 10 – 12 minutes’ time because there’s no traffic.
Take the bus during the day and you will have to leave 50 minutes for the exact same route… 20 minutes to wait for it to show up and 30 minutes to be stuck in traffic. Forget the section between Brigham Circle and Brookline Village, where the 66 bus shares the road with the 39 bus and the freaking Green Line.
But that’s not even the worst part… the 66 bus also takes a sharp turn to get to Union Square in the center of Allston, adding 10 more minutes to the commute of those going to Harvard.
I once walked 40 minutes from Allston to Harvard; it was still faster than the #66.

I rate my commute as a «one bus,» «two bus,» «three bus,» or even a «four bus» day. Meaning– how many buses pulled up to my stop at once? Usually, it’s the higher number.

[66 — to Harvard — Comm ave & Harvard ave]
Hands down the worst line. I have since moved and even thought he 71 and 73 are crowded the 66 holds as being the worst line. It is frequently late, overcrowded and slow. I would often have to leave an hour early to go 2 miles on the bus. It was even worse on the way back. The T really needs to add more buses during peak hours. Just because the 66 is known for being overcrowded and terrible doesn’t mean that it should continue with sub par service.

Omg, I thought it was bad trying to rely on this bus for my work commute during nice weather… Now that it’s cold and snowy? Fuhgeddaboutit.
Maybe one of my 10 trips on this godforsaken bus each week ISNT delayed by 20 minutes or more. Schedule says every 9 minutes during rush hour haaahahaha too funny.
Have been passed by this bus after waiting over 30 min. Sometimes two busses are bunched together, and I always seem to end up on the slower one.
To those defending the drivers, sure, their job is tough, but that isn’t an excuse for shoddy scheduling /​management.

First, I give the 66 two stars instead of just one because I’ve taken buses in Detroit (don’t ask). When boarding I usually ask myself if I will get into a fist fight with the bus driver. Yes, that’s gum you just stepped on while looking for a seat that isn’t covered with puke. And no, this bus doesn’t stop at the insane asylum. Remember that ride at the amusement park that almost made you puke and you just grit you teeth hoping to get through it praying to the god you don’t believe in? Hahahaha! That was rehearsal. And guess what? The bell to signal the driver to stop at the next stop doesn’t work and you missed your stop! If you have any luck the bus will blow its transmission (happened twice to me) and you will be forced to walk the rest of the way.

Oh boo hoo you guys. I have taking the T for over 40 years and have been all over the city due to also working part time for catering companies in addition to my full time gig. Let me tell you, the 66 is a long, grueling route with heavy traffic, lots of lights and tons of passengers. The bus drivers, at least 99% of them have been polite.
Let me tell you, EVERY bus line in the summer cuts their routes down and we wait forever. EVERY bus line sometimes bunches their buses. EVERY bus line bypasses people if they are packed-​they have no choice.
Overall, the 66 is actually better run than a lot of lines-​and with the exception of the old skinny guy with the dreads-​they do a damn good job.
Don’t want to deal with weirdos and assorted assholes? Text Über.

I am moved that the 66 not only has a Unilocal page, but that it also is approaching 66 reviews.
The 66 is the Knight Bus of Boston. You never know when it will come for you, but when it does come, it will whisk you away to somewhere you needed to go and couldn’t get to otherwise. And you will meet some characters on the bus, especially if you’re taking it at 2 AM on a Friday.

I only moved here a month ago, and I already have a feeling of hatred toward the 66. It SHOULD come about every 7 to 10 minutes during peak times, but on my outbound and return trips lately i have had to wait at LEAST 20 minutes while I see several going in the opposite direction.
Once I managed to get on this afternoon after a 20+ minute wait, we got to my street and were right behind another 66, which I have no idea how, because there had not been one for so long and I have no clue how we caught it.
Because of this jumbled mess, the bus is almost always too crowded and will often pass people by because there is not enough room for anyone to get on. If you are on, it is a horrible re-​shuffling game every time new riders are picked up, and you will end up feeling people up/​being felt up more than you would like.
Overall the 66 is horrible. While the route appears to be convenient, the service sucks and I simply hate it.

I realized upon re-​reading my review that I did not do a full assessment of my experiences on the 66 bus.
Recently, the bus driver got lost! Oh heavens, I feared for my life. The bus was heading towards Harvard Sq. and after the Jamaicaway stop the bus didn’t go to the next stop and then turn right on Harvard St. instead he continued down Rt. 9. Oh hell no – the passengers of the 66 will have none of this! All of a sudden mass mayhem broke out on the bus. People start yelling, dropping f-​bombs, insulting the bus driver! «You motherf** I paid my $ 2!» …okay guys, I think he gets that he is lost now that 25 people have berated him. Now, everyone had the brilliant of idea of TURN AROUND! Well, ok yes this is the obvious choice unless you happen to NOTICE THAT YOU CANNOT JUST TURN AROUND ON RT 9! There is a median! Well, they didn’t get that. So, they continue to verbally assault the driver as I cringe in fear for my safety. You do not want to piss of the riders of the 66. So, I offer up the logical solution of, «how about instead of yelling at him you offer up some direction?!» — oo brilliant idea on my part, if I do say so. So, finally some nice patrons start to help him. So, then he takes a right onto Cypress St to go back to Harvard to get back on the route, but nope people are like WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! Oh well, he is turning around as you asked! Note: We only really missed 2 – 3 stops which yes, is inconvenient but not the end of the world and 90% of the riders are capable of walking ¹⁄₃ of a mile to go back to their stop. So, we get back on Harvard and then someone apologizes to the mother about swearing in front of the baby, ha — thanks buddy! Now, it is true that the driver had no idea what he was doing or where the stops were so we did have to say okay stop, ok stop pleaseee!
Anyway, upon my departure my heart rate finally returned to normal after not having to be afraid for my life. MOST. STRESSFUL. RIDE. EVER.
Oh ps – I have been threatened on this bus. Normal, right?

Holy crap, I didn’t know you could review a bus. I wish I could put the 12 years I’ve spent riding this nightmare into an eloquent, well thought out review, but I can’t. You see, I’m haunted in my dreams by the daily riding I did for 6 years, so the best I can do is give you a random brain dump of mass transit experiences on the 66:
1) I’m only giving it 2 stars because they now have GPS tracking. If not, I’d give it no stars. As it is, it barely works and apparently no one at the MBTA bothers to look, because they might actually attempt to stagger the buses so you don’t have one coming every 3 minutes one way and not coming for 45 minutes the other way.
2) A child projectile vomited on me once. This same child ruined my mornings for over a year by crying every single day.
3) A woman couldn’t wait 5 minutes to exit the bus before eating her «Go-​Gurt», so she squeezed it all over me and then pretended nothing happened.
4) I’ve been yelled at by countless MBTA employees, and only once did they have an actual reason for it… a motorcycle was passing on the right at the stop and if I’d stepped out, they would have hit me.
5) Pretty sure I’ve sat in piss and could have been warned by one of my fellow riders if they weren’t a fucking troglodyte.
6) Crazy yelling people who don’t take their meds
7) Assholes who play their shitty MP3s through the tinny speakers of their phone, because fuck the rest of us.
8) The drivers drive these busses as if they were Honda Civics, instead of huge boxy death traps that require more than 10 feet to stop from the time you press the brakes.
9) Assholes who yell into their cell phones as if the thing they’re speaking into isn’t a technological marvel that amplifies voice and sends it magically through the air to the human you are speaking to.
10) College kids with backpacks. Fuck all of you.

I worked in Mission Hill for a few weeks this summer, and heavily depended on the 66 bus to get to work. It was super convenient– I got on the bus a few blocks away from my home, and it stopped right in front of where I was working. It took about 20 minutes to do the trip, which is significantly faster than it would take to switch between the B and E lines.
That said, the bus trip was usually fine when I went to work (midday) and not so fine when I went home, at rush hour. It’d get cram-​packed and the buses would bunch up, so the whole wait and ride were both miserable. At least, for me, I didn’t have a long ride, but if you had a long ride, it would be miserable.
But the worst part about the 66 were some of my fellow riders. It was full of unshowered people with stained clothes, people who shouted to themselves for no reason, people who carried around shopping bags full of other shopping bags, and people who brought horribly behaved children. I often found myself putting my bag on the seat next to me at certain stops, just because I was afraid to sit next to some of the characters who were getting on.
All in all, though, this route makes it easier to go north-​south when the T goes east-​west. It made it relatively painless to get to Mission Hill, and made it so I don’t have to walk 2 miles to get to the library or the Dollar Tree. So I guess I can’t complain too much about the rolling sketchfest that is the 66.

***UPDATE*******
+1 Stars because the traffic has gotten better. I guess September’s just a bad month.
–1 Stars because there are secret ninja buses that don’t show up on my bus tracker.
I am fresh off a steamy (it was raining) hot 1 ½ hour bus ride on the 666. As sexy as it sounds, the stop-​and-​go traffic pretty much caused me to burst several veins in my temple.
The route is actually quite useful. When there’s no traffic (NEVER), a ride from Allston to Harvard takes around 15 – 20 minutes (NEVER). The bus schedule has the bus come every 5 – 7 minutes (NEVER).
Tips:
— Get a bus tracker app on your phone (if you’re smartphoneless like I am, there’s a texting app, too) to spare yourself the misery of standing at the bus stop for 10 minutes.
— Get on at Dawes at Harvard Square to make sure you have a seat. I’ve waited at the second stop (Brattle/​Eliot St) and had to elbow my way onto a full bus. If you can, avoid waiting at JFK/​Eliot Street since the bus passes it often during rush hours. MBTA: if the bus is full by the first stop, I think this means that it doesn’t come often enough.
— If you’re going towards Harvard Square, don’t bother waiting at the Allston stops remotely close to campus. The bus will be full. And it will not stop. And people like me on the bus will feel smug and gleeful that others are suffering more than we are (sorry).
— Get off the bus and stop by Blanchards (Harvard Ave/​Brighton Ave), get yourself a beer, and get back on the bus. The bus will still be in the same spot because of traffic.
Thank you for my misery, 66!

This bus serves an incredibly useful route to Cambridge. It is better-​used than almost any bus I have patronized (read: it’s often crowded).
Even with the crowds and the delays caused by passenger’s issues (and irrational traffic at peak times Harvard Street), I must give this route three stars. The delays can be bad, but unlike the Green Line, you can get bus feeds for this route and leave just in time to pick it up.

Tried this route once and only once from my place in Brookline Village to my office in Harvard Sq. The bus came on time thankfully, but it was packed like crazy during the morning commute. Had to stand the entire way, over 30 min, in horrible stop and go traffic all the way down Harvard St and Cambridge St.
The way back to BV from HSq was only mildly better since I got on at the beginning of the route where you are almost guaranteed a seat (as long as you get on at the Dawe’s Island first stop and not the Brattle second stop). But the amount of traffic is mind boggling, especially around the Blanchard’s at Harvard Ave and Brighton Ave.
For the last 4 months of my time living in BV and commuting to HSq, I preferred the green line/​red line route. That’s right, you read that correctly, I PREFERRED THE GREEN LINE. Now that says something about the 66 bus!

When children learn about Murphy’s Law in school, there should be a field trip to the 66. I want you to keep in mind that this is a review of a bus. I don’t think buses will ever be recognized by Unilocal as the «it» place to be. That being said I have a serious love/​hate relationship with the 66. Sometimes, I feel like Max and think of it as the 666 bus… but then it magically appears sometimes to save my tuckus!
There are schedules posted and I imagine that maybe a small percentage run on the designated time but I sure as hell don’t rely on it. Sometimes the bus will be chugging along randomly at like 2:15AM when you’re frantically trying to hail a cab. In these rare moments, all its wrongs are forgiven.
It may also be the BEST people watching location in the entire city. Hipsters, drunk college students, frisky couples, senile folks, and the riders who forget that their intimate phone conversations are being broadcasted on the bus.

Five stars for a direct, under-​fifteen minute route between Allston and the heart of Cambridge that runs reasonably regularly.
One star for the complete crapshoot on whether or not the bus is completely packed, possibly passing stops entirely because there’s zero room for additional passengers.
Still, it’s cheaper and an hour+ more efficient than taking the god-​awful Green Line. Not having to ride that trolley’s gotta be worth a good star or two…

Random guy waiting in line with me: Yeah, I live in Allston.
Me: *gasp* DEATH BUS!
Random guy: Yeah, the 66.
If your bus route is synonymous with «death bus» or people immediately know what you’re talking about, you know something is wrong. This bus is convenient. if it ever shows up.

I really need this bus to work. Or at least show up now and then. Never does. Dont rely on it.
If you are planing on taking it somewhere and need to be on time, leave about two (2) hours early.

(Sung in the tune of LCD Soundsystem):
Boston, I love you
but you’re bringing me down
The 66 bus is the cause of my frown
20 mins overdue
this one’s late, next one too
Why does it take so long to get to Watertown?
Boston, I love you
but you’re wasting my time
When you finally come it’s oft three in a line
I enjoy being green
while living in the bean
But my morning commute really should be a crime
—
OK, in all seriousness, I am glad that public transportation even exists in this city. And for $ 40 a month, you’ve gotta acknowledge that you get what you pay for. The 66 is, in my opinion, the best way to get from Brookline to Harvard Square. That doesn’t mean I don’t wish they’d build a subway line that covered the same ground more efficiently, but I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon — so I’ll take what I can get.
Plus, during regular commuting hours it really is much more regular than off-​peak hours. The worst it gets is +/​-​10 mins or so (15 – 20 on very rare occasions) — which is not the end of the world. And if you have a flexible job and can shift your day 30 mins earlier to avoid the rush, I promise you your ride will be much smoother. At night, be prepared to wait an hour, and don’t even think about consulting the schedule — the rules don’t apply outside of the workday.
I will say that I hope and pray every day for summer to come so I can commute by bike again. But until then, the 66 is my buddy. The kind of buddy you like hanging out with but is always late to the movies and makes you miss the previews.
PS — the one thing that DOES drive me crazy about the 66 though is that they re-​route FIVE buses in the morning midroute into 57s (instead of looping around @ union square they keep straight into Brighton). I think they do this to take kids to school (don’t they have school buses?). But they pretty much block off all chance of regular 66 riders departing from Coolidge Corner between about 715 and 730 — key commuting time for some people. Oh well!

The one good thing to come of Melissa M taking the 66 «bus» for a harrowing 6 years?
Buying a bike. Everyone on this bus line should just buy a bike and use it.
Unfortunately, on days, such as today when it’s raw, rainy, and wet, I’m forced to wait out on the street without any bus «shelter» we all stand on a broken down curb, like lemmings.
Hey, here comes the bus! It’s coming! I can see it down the street. Aaaaand, it did not stop. It was not even FULL. It’s pouring rain in November and it did not even stop.
I waited for 20 more minutes. People who were standing with me were getting angry. I consider cabbing it, or walking home to get my bike. NO! NOOOOO! I. will. not. go.
I will not.
Heeeere comes the bus. It’s coming! Aaaaand, it passes by again. Thanks for splashing the puddles onto my pants and shoes. Really, I can’t thank you enough.
I went home. Defeated. Called my boss to explain where I was.
Thanks 66 bus. For getting me nowhere.