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Boston's Morning Newsletter
The MBTA's CharlieCard website is getting a refresh. Here's what that means for riders
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
It’s a new week, and Orange Line riders can kiss those bright yellow Yankee shuttle buses goodbye (for the time being.)
Let’s get into the news:
The MBTA is putting its current, decades-old CharlieCard website out to pasture this week — and replacing it with a new “MyCharlie” site. While the upgraded website offers new benefits, the change will require some users to take action to keep their cards loaded. Here’s what to know ahead of the new website’s launch this Wednesday:
If you currently pay for a monthly T pass through the MyCharlie site, you’ll need to log into the new version to create a new account, sign up for auto-pay and get a new card. (Just use the same email you currently have registered.) According to the T, the change affects 30% of the roughly 4,000 riders who use MyCharlie each month. Those already signed up for auto-pay, like reduced-fare card users, don’t have to taken any action right now.
- The pros of the new site: According to the T, it will let users register multiple CharlieCards, offer better security and allow people to more quickly request replacements. It’s also a more “modern platform with more flexibility for future products.”
- The cons: The new site won’t let you make one-time purchases to add cash to your CharlieCard. That means your only option to add a few bucks to your card’s balance is to go in-person. MBTA officials maintain this isn’t a big deal since the “vast majority” of MyCharlie users don’t use that function. Additionally, those who did use it still needed to visit a subway station fare vending machine or fare gate to activate the reloaded values. “Under the ‘add value online’ feature on the legacy site, which was not truly a one-step option, purchased fares were not able to be accessed at a bus or trolley fare box, for example, requiring customers to make a trip to a rapid transit station,” T spokesperson Lisa Battiston said in an email.
- Pro tip: You can reload value onto existing CharlieCards at the same convenience stores and supermarkets you’ve always been able to buy them. Search for the nearest retail locations here.
Speaking of the T: Track work is underway and Red Line riders should prepare for nighttime delays this week. Starting tomorrow, shuttles will replace service between Park Street and JFK/UMass after 8:45 p.m. The service change will go through Thursday.
Boston voters will have to wait to see rent control on the ballot. This weekend, Massachusetts advocates for lifting the ban on rent control suspended their campaign for a ballot question because they were not on pace to receive enough signatures to make the cut.
- “There were numerous opinion polls that told us if the voters have the chance, they will vote to lift the ban on rent control,” said state Rep. Mike Connolly. Connolly expects those who support rent control to show up “in force” Tuesday, when the legislature will hear testimony on several rent control bills.
- Zoom out: The campaign for rent control has been met with little enthusiasm from lawmakers, landlords and real estate developers alike. Despite opposition, here’s why Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is still pressing to lift this nearly 30-year-old ban.
After eight hours of negotiation on Friday, the Andover School Committee and the town’s public school teachers’ union failed to reach an agreement on a new contract, so teachers are back on strike this morning and school is canceled for the day.
- The deets: Andover teachers started their strike on Friday. They’re asking for better pay and improved family leave. Both sides are set to be back at the bargaining table today. (Yes, it is indeed illegal for teachers to strike in Massachusetts, but over the past two years it’s occurred in communities including Woburn, Brookline, Haverhill and Malden.)
- “Nobody wants to be out here, we want to be in the classrooms. We’re passionate about teaching and delivering services,” Matt Bach, a high school history teacher, told NBC10 Boston.
Timber! The time has come to put up chop down your Christmas tree. For those unfamiliar with this old New England tradition, New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest will let you chop down your own tree with the purchase of a $5 permit.
- There’s a suite of rules and regulations you’ll have to follow before heading out, including limitations on the height of the tree and the tools you can use (no chainsaws allowed). Forest officials also suggest visitors bring extra food and water, an overnight survival kit, and winter weather clothing.
- If this all sounds like your kind of adventure, listen to this segment from NHPR where three staffers set out to chop down a White Mountains tree around Christmas in 2018.
P.S. — These next two weeks are busy for so many of us, especially those hosting family and friends in Boston for the holidays. If you’re looking for something to keep your guests enticed and entertained, check out our guide to fall classical musical performances around the city. The Boston Symphony Orchestra has a series of shows this week, Nov. 16-19, that make for an enchanting night out, too.
