Green Line D line- Riverside T Station

I see all the complaints people have written when using this station as a commuter rail. I don’t use it that way though so have a different perspective.
I live in Western MA and my son flies in to Boston to visit, often spending a day or so in the city prior to coming home. He takes the green line to Riverside and I pick him up there so I don’t have to drive all the way in to the city. There is free short term parking and I always find a spot. This is really easy and convenient, and I recommend it for anyone doing a Boston pick up.

This place is not nearly as sketchy as some have made it out to be. There is, indeed, an immense amount of parking, so you don’t have to worry about not finding a space if you’re running late to the train. It kind of sucks that it costs $ 6 to park here each day, but I guess they have to find some way to pay for the upkeep of this great expanse of concrete they will never fill with cars each day.
Trains leave about every 7 minutes. It takes about 45 minutes to get into the city. Don’t rely on the time estimates on the MBTA website; they’re never right.

As a system, overall, I think the T is capital-​A Awesome! For the most part, it’s clean and safe and easy to navigate. It’s super reasonably priced, too, and the trains are regular and get you where you want to go. Man, I wish Seattle had a system like this!
This said, we as tourists to your fine city encountered quite a few problems with this Riverside station, the three days we used it:
–on the first day, we were taken aback that we had to pay for parking here. Sure, it’s only about $ 6, but still, I had never heard of having to pay to park at a park-​and-​ride/​metro parking lot. Even in Seattle, where they milk you for every dime, parking at the transit stations is free, as the City is encouraging people to take public transit and not drive into the city. Furthermore, here at Riverside, there was a long line of cars waiting to pay prior to entering the parking lot. Seems there is only one attendant at the one booth at the lot entrance. (And the lady manning this booth when we arrived was fairly surly to boot. Not pleasant). All in all, seems to be an inefficient system here when it comes to encouraging people to take the T.
–again, on our first day here, we couldn’t figure out how to get our tickets at the ticket kiosk. I’m not a stupid person. I have multiple degrees. Yet the instructions posted on the machine were as confusing as hell. I wanted round-​trip tickets for me and my two kids (who are students). We asked a party of folks at the neighboring ticket machine for assistance but they, too, were stupefied. All of us then looked around for someone to help us. There were no transit folks to be seen. We all collared some locals who said they weren’t sure how the machines worked, as they had transit passes and don’t buy tickets. Other folks joined our growing party, saying they needed to get tickets too but weren’t sure how. The machines were prompting us to input destination zones (?), or other info we weren’t sure of, and after a few seconds, they all timed out and reverted back to the initial screen. None of us could figure this out, and none of the locals we asked knew, too. We finally walked up the stairs and found an employee who reluctantly brought all of us to a ticket machine upstairs and explained how to purchase the correct tickets. It WAS NOT EASY for the uninitiated!!! Boston, we tourists implore you, please post easy-​to-​follow instructions! Thank you!
–on our second day using this station, we arrived feeling confident that we knew how to purchase our tickets (yay!), but the downstairs self-​serve ticket kiosks were mysteriously locked off and unavailable, and there was a HUMONGOUS line of people waiting going up the stairs, to purchase tickets upstairs. I gather there was a baseball game that day as most folks were in Red Sox clothing. The line was moving super slowly and once we got upstairs, it was clear only one ticket machine was in use, for this huge mass of people. So the transit guys said anyone with exact change can pay at the turnstile. My kids and I did so, although we didn’t have the exact amount (I had to just chew the extra 75 cents or so) and we were not able to get tickets for the round-​trip (or the way home). Again, very inefficient. No-​one knew why the downstairs ticket kiosks were locked up; had they been open, it would have relieved all this congestion.
–I’m not sure if all the T stations are like this one, but we were shocked to see people crossing the track in areas where they clearly shouldn’t, where posted signage warns about live wires and the hazards of crossing in these unauthorized areas. Wow. Shouldn’t there be attendants posted in these areas to prevent people from walking across the tracks here, if the wires are indeed live? Or better yet, perhaps create a barrier to prevent people from crossing here? I’ve not seen this type of dangerous situation in any Westernized city in the past 15 years or so…
Other than these caveats specific to this Riverside station, we really did love using the T. Our experience on day three was totally uneventful, thankfully! :)

I give this place a three star review because it had a long line at the entrance of the parking lot, and only one lot attendant working. I had to wait in my car in a long line for like 15 minutes… If you’re trying to make a train at a certain time, make sure you leave yourself plenty of time for parking.
Aside from that it is an easy station to commute into Boston to catch a game at Fenway Park. The facility seemed to be updated and indecent working condition.
Also unless you get in Lot A your going to have a long walk…

I use it all the time on the weekends to get into boston. It does its job pretty well.

Lets just say I’m just glad I was never robbed and that the T never broke down when I took it during the wee hours of the night.

Much of the time this is my way in and out of the city. It makes more sense than driving to Fenway and certain other points. If your main destination in Boston is within a few blocks of a T stop why wouldn’t you take the train?
The worst experience I had on the Green Line was when they were doing maintenance on the line. This was preplanned maintenance that was not mentioned at the station or anywhere else that I knew of.
We had to stop at a certain point, get off the train, board buses that took us a few stops down and then get back on the train. In short, it sucked. There was little communication from MBTA employees on where to go and what to do. I felt more than a little unsure that we were going to get where we were supposed to go without some major red tape or confusion.
In that case, even after paying to park, had I known what lay ahead I would have driven into the city.
On an average trip it takes around 30 minutes from Riverside to the steps of Fenway.

I wouldn’t normally write a review about a train station, but this one deserves some props.
My cousin and I paid about $ 5 to park in a spacious lot with the intention of taking the green line to Boston. I think that’s a deal.
Being used to the Chicago public transportation, station I did not expect the following:
1) A clean public restroom.
2) Free, reusable Charlie Cards in a stack near the pay station.
3) People walking across tracks.
The pay stations were not nearly as easy to use as I would have liked. For one thing, I have no idea how someone is supposed to get discounted rates for seniors or students. For another thing, a kind, non-​English speaking commuter was kind enough to help my cousin get a paper ticket. We were clueless about how to load a specific amount onto the card (e.g. $ 4 for two rides instead of an even $ 5 for the bill she entered). I used a Charlie Card and got $ 0.30 off for each ride, but that was only after watching a few commuters work their magic at the machine.
The next problem had to do with how to get onto a train. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, except there were two rows of trains and people jumping across tracks. A nice conductor told us to cross at the designated place and board the far train.
It was nice that there were free Charlie Cards available for the taking as well as helpful commuters and friendly conductors. Props for the clean bathroom too!

I use this line every day to get in to work. The trains run generally on time, and how else can you travel in to the city for this little money?
The T may not be paradise, but it is a cheap, efficient, reliable way of commuting.
Suggestions:
1– I would like to see more of a MBTA staff presence in the booth. There never seems to be anyone there.
2– Install a traffic light at the entrance to the station. It is nigh impossible to turn left when leaving, and there is almost always a back up. It would cost far less over time to install a light rather than have a police officer here so often earning traffic detail money.

I know it’s look like i am crazy because i am updating my review like four times but it’s not my fault that they change my opinion.
finally somebody hear my complains about not opening door. Now on each stop u can see employers of public transportation who ask your pass before the train comes. And it awesome. Really. In this case the drivers of the train are not asking some crazy people to pay for their ride. Remember: NOTHING IS FREE IN THIS WORLD. All door is train are open. I love that.

I have used this MBTA station many times, but the past two times I have dealt with this station have been awful. First of all, we dropped my friend off at the station at midnight on Saturday (the last train runs at 12:30), no one was working there (sketch), and her pass didn’t work and she had to call us to come get her because buying a Charlie ticket would have meant missing the last train. The fact that no one was working in the booth really made me mad.
Today, I used my Charlie Card to get in and the screen said «See Agent,» but also proceeded to take $ 1.70 off of my balance anyway. One of the so-​called MBTA employees said I held the card on the sensor too long, proceeded to talk rudely about me to another MBTA worker, and I never got a refund. To add injury to insult, my Charlie Card is totally defunct now and you can only buy those at a few places in the city (plus, they save you 30 cents a ride). I like public transportation, but today, the MBTA can just go screw themselves.