Work trip to Boston without car rental

September 23, 2018 4:21 PM

I will be in Boston in two weeks for work. One of those days I will need to get myself from downtown (near Federal/Franklin Street intersection) to North Shore Medical Center in Lynn. What is the easiest way for me to make this trip without renting a car?

Is there any super obvious and simple way to use public transportation for that distance? If not, can I Uber or Lyft that distance without difficulty? I will need to arrive by 9 am on a Wednesday morning in Lynn, so if you also have advice about how much time to allow for this journey I would appreciate it.

posted by little mouth to Travel & Transportation around Boston, MA (10 answers total)

I have uber'd from Boston to Woburn before and I know people frequently uber from woburn to the airport, so I think you'll be fine for that because it's a similar distance. It will be pricey though - the last time I did Boston to Woburn, it was $65. Others can speak better about the time line but 9 am is a busy time on 93 both directions....
posted by Tandem Affinity at 4:26 PM on September 23, 2018

uhh..sorry, the rest of my answer holds but please ignore the bit about 93, which won't be relevant to you. THe roads in the Boston area will all be busy at 9 am on a Wednesday, regardless of which highway...
posted by Tandem Affinity at 4:28 PM on September 23, 2018

Best answer: Ive been traveling to boston for 18 months for work and haven't rented a car once. Uber (and lyft) are everywhere and work just fine. Uber even has an uber estimate tool on their website (just google it) to find out ahead of time how much. And of course, if you arent comfortable waiting, schedule it days ahead of time in the app and it will request it early enough based on current load and traffic conditions etc.
posted by chasles at 4:31 PM on September 23, 2018

You should be able to get an Uber the whole way, or you could take the commuter rail (from North Station) or the 450 express bus (from Haymarket) to Lynn and then take an Uber/lyft/cab to the tour destination (you can take the 436 bus right there but suburban bus connections can be tricky).

Haymarket and North Station are maybe a half mile and a mile, respectively, from Federal and Franklin.

Oh or you could maybe take the Blue Line to Wonderland and get a car from there, save yourself the bridge traffic.
posted by mskyle at 4:36 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Check out www.mbta.com/trip-planner. You can enter in your departure location, destination and preferred time of arrival and it will give you several routes via public transit.
posted by prewar lemonade at 4:52 PM on September 23, 2018

Best answer: Seconding taking the Commuter Rail from North Station to Lynn (take the Newburyport Line), then Uber/Lyft from the Lynn train station to the hospital. The commuter train is an easier ride than the bus option and cheaper than Ubering from downtown to Lynn.
posted by briank at 5:40 PM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]

and cheaper than Ubering from downtown to Lynn.

To say nothing of about at least an hour faster.
posted by Melismata at 7:04 PM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]

Yeah, definitely do the commuter rail section first and then uber/lyft within Lynn, especially if you're doing this at rush hour. The commuter rail is great.
posted by lunasol at 7:18 PM on September 23, 2018

Like everyone has said- taking the commuter rail or Blue Line to Lynn is your best bet. Boston road traffic is a beast, and I don't trust getting somewhere by 9 am when you would have to cut across the city with terrible traffic. You could walk up to Government Center and take the Blue Line to Wonderland in Revere, and grab a Lyft from there, or you can take the NEWBURYPORT/​ROCKPORT commuter rail from North Station to Lynn, and again take a Lyft. You can catch a green or orange line train there from close to where you are staying to North station, but it isn't a terribly long walk from where you will be staying. I would say in order to get to your location by 9 am, you would want to get going by 7:45.
posted by momochan at 8:36 PM on September 23, 2018

Best answer: The MBTA, selecting OUTBOUND to go from North Station to Lynn, says:

The 7:37 am Newburyport train will get you to the Lynn commuter rail station at 7:57 am.
The 7:50 am Rockport train will get you to the Lynn commuter rail station at 8:11 am; I would take this train or the one before it. You'll still need to Lyft 4 miles to get from the train station to the hospital, and then figure out where in the hospital you're going after that.

It will probably take you about 20 minutes to get to North Station from your hotel, whether walking, Lyfting, or taking the T. I'd aim to get to North Station 10-15 minutes before whichever train you choose for a couple of reasons: 1. If you end up taking the Orange Line there from your hotel, it's still another 5-7 minutes walk following the signs to get from the Orange Line to the Commuter Rail. 2. You can grab Dunks if you need coffee. 3. If you end up Lyfting there, you need to make sure that where they're dropping you off is the CAUSEWAY ST entrance to the COMMUTER RAIL station, not the other entrance to the subway.

Summary: you probably need to leave your downtown Boston hotel around 7:10-7:20 am to get to your Lynn destination by 9 am.

To save yourself some time, you can download the mTicket app (scroll down to find) and buy your commuter rail tickets ahead of time, then just go directly to your train when you get to North Station. You can't use this to buy subway or bus tickets, though.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 7:08 AM on September 24, 2018