MBTA Bus Route 87

This bus goes to Lechmere, Somerville, and additionally during peak hours extends to Arlington. Therefore it is useful if you want to go to any of those places. It is relatively unuseful if you want to go to other places, such as Watertown, Framingham, Las Vegas or Nepal.
The 87 bus runs moderately often compared to other MBTA buses.

First the good:
The drivers are all quite friendly, nice, helpful and conscientious. Thank you drivers!
It comes near my house which is awesome.
New quiet buses with silent brakes!
Problems:
RUSH HOUR: My issues with this line come in that it does not run enough buses during rush hour. It is absolute torture to ride this bus from Davis to Arlington between 5:00 and 7:00 at night. It always seems like a longer wait at the Davis T than other lines and when they finally arrive invariably there are more people trying to get on than is possible and the drivers have to turn some away. Folks are always super cranky and rude during this length of the trip too because of waiting and crowding. The young and spry rarely yield seats to folks with canes and mobility issues. grrr
Limited Weekend lines: Since they stop short and do not come to Arlington on Sundays, getting to the Davis T to do any errands or weekend activities is sucky. I end up going to porter or harvard sq on the 77 instead.
The announcement volume. I can hear it loudly all the way inside my house!

This is why people don’t take the bus. I’ve had good luck, with the #77 on mass Abe, but today’s fiasco getting to Teele Square from Davis with arm loads of produce from the farmers market may force me to swear off busses to/​from busses. A 40 minute wait looked as if it was over, only to have the bus roll on by. We all started walking, only to have the bus stop ahead and discharge passengers. I opted to keep on walking, and within the next 10 minutes, 6 busses passed me, but I was on the other side of the street by then, and decided not to waste the bus fare for the final three blocks

So, I hate buses. It’s nothing personal. I just find that more often than not, they are crowded, dirty, inexplicably humid dens of woe on wheels. Unless it’s hurricane-​ing outside, I will always choose to walk. However, I have to admit that, as buses go, the 87 is pretty great. I’ve never had a problem with any of its drivers, it’s usually on time, and the route is super convenient for me. It’s my magic carpet ride to weekend errand domination: Market Basket, Target, Marshall’s, and Cambridgeside are all right on the 87.
Minus one star for the occasional crappy bus — I’m sure you know exactly the one I mean. It’s the one that’s all dark and super loud. You know, with those crazy rear doors that you have to tackle open? Yeahhhh, that one! Those are gross. Other than that, no complaints.

I recently learned that route 87 service to Arlington Center ends at 7:40 PM on weeknights and Saturdays, and that there’s no service to Arlington at all on Sundays. I think that merits a two-​star deduction. Not cool, MBTA, not cool!

The 87 is just like the 1 bus. Stops every few seconds and everybody and their mother gets on at every stop. I abhor the 87 bc I feel like even if it arrives early/​on time, I’m still late by the time it arrives at the destination. They definitely need to run more often if it’s always going to be such a shitshow.

The 87 would be perfect — it just needs to swing by more often. I understand that unforseen circumstances can make a bus late, but how does the very first bus of the day get so delayed so often? Also, it would be great if I could get a lift at night — how about running until 9 pm or so?

Dear 87 bus,
you have the potential to be such a mighty route, yet you stop your epic journey to Arlington center after 7 or 8pm at night leaving those of us that live just outside the city destined to ride the overcrowded and off schedule 77 bus down Mass ave. I love how you take a lesser route to Davis sq making my commute to the «T» short ride away, but If only you could extend your journey hours a little later so I could give you another star, and if you upped the number of times you come around I’d give you 5 stars no problem!

Runs every half hour, supposedly. Usually at least 10 minutes late. Screaming children. Cranky drivers and old people with large bags. Only slightly better than walking your groceries 2 miles home.

I’m glad the 87 exists, because without a car it’s the most comfortable way to get from Porter to Union. But it seems like the damn thing only comes every half hour. I used to work in Union, so I’d wait for the bus at the time the MBTA said it was supposed to come, and if it didn’t come in 10 minutes, I’d walk to Union. (I always got covered in slush biking in the winter.) In 25 minutes of walking, I wouldn’t see a single 87 go by. If you do catch the bus, it’s fast and heated. In my experience it just never comes when it’s supposed to. Also, avoid the bus stop outside of Target on the 87 line… I’ve been sloshed with waves of rain/​snow/​slush there many a time.

I for one think the 87 Bus is grrrrrrrrrrreat! As Tony the Tiger would say.
I park for free on the side streets on Arlington or on Broadway itself,
down by Clarendon Hill Towers.
and hop on the 87. in about 15 min I am at Davis Square, get off and go on the Red Line 20 min into Boston
it saves you time hassle and money, and free pahhkin’ in bahhstin.
Can’t beat it.
:-)
— Jeff–
Winchester, MA

You want to go from Davis Square to Lechmere.
A simple ride… but you have a choice… the 87 or the 88.
You grab a Dunkin’s coffee and wait outside for the bus to arrive.
The 87 comes your way… and it says «Lechmere.»
So you board, thinking it’s the same ride.
WRONG. FAIL.
Surrounded by screaming, unattendend children, I made this mistake with some friends, and ended up on the bus ride from hell.
The 87 takes like a half hour to get to Lechmere from Davis. It was a nightmare.
Take the 88… wait the extra 5 minutes to catch it… and trust me, you’re life will be better in the end.

You stop right in front of my house on weekdays and the commuters think it’s okay to leave their trash on our front steps and front lawn. I wish the MBTA would provide a trash can or something (though I doubt people would use it, still).
But on lazy weekdays when I need to run into the city quick, it is nice that I can just wait on my front stoop for the bus to appear.
Though the 87 doesn’t run terribly frequently it seems to be relatively on-​time. For the MBTA this is rather miraculous.
But major plus: you don’t stop by our house on the weekend or at night. Thank you for cutting us a break. It’s kind of annoying to be woken up by the automated bus announcer «Route eighty – seven– service to – Lech-​meeere» and I’m glad I don’t have to hear it on a Sunday morning.

There are two reason why I take the 87:
1. Going to the nearest T accessible Target. I REFUSE to buy toiletries from evil markup stores such as CVS even if it is only a couple of dollars difference. It’s a matter of principle. It’s also Jessika’s weekly places to visit!
2. Watching/​getting food porn at Devon’s:
and
and
(who knew banana bread can be sexy!)

This is the bus we take everyday, back and forth to the train. It’s a pretty good line, and very rarely do I feel like we have to wait an excessive amount of time waiting for the bus. It’s usually on time, if not, we walk up to where all three buses go by-​the 87, 88, and the 80. Somerville is the best place to be, and getting around is pretty easy.