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T, the

The Boston subway system. Represents the triumph of fuzzy logic, or something, because it does not actually stand for any single word. Cambridge Seven Associates thought it up in the early 1960s when the state hired them to design graphics for the then new MBTA. Their goal was to come up with something as recognizable as a cross that also evoked the idea of transit, transportation, tunnel, etc.

There are four lines: Red (because it used to end at Harvard, whose color is crimson); Blue (it runs along the ocean); Green (it goes to the leafy suburbs of Brookline and Newton) and Orange (because it used to run above what was once known as Orange Street).

You'll sometimes hear references to the Purple Line (collectively all the commuter lines) and the Silver Line (a fancy-shmancy bus line that the T pretends is as good as a subway, running along the route of the old Orange Line elevated).

Comments

The Green Line has nothing to do with the 'burbs. The Green Line passes by (through? under?) the famous Emerald Necklace designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (who did Central Park after he did the Emerald Necklace). That's why it's called the Green Line.

Eric Gittleman on February 27, 2004 06:38 PM.

You forgot "Yellow Line," the unofficial name for the T bus lines. (This is due to T livery--buses are/were painted with black and yellow stripes, akin to the purple line, I mean commuter rail car's purple stripe.)

BTW, the "Silver Line" is a joke, and everyone knows it.

MF on July 15, 2004 05:39 PM.

As far as I know, the "T" means "Tube".

Chris on July 29, 2004 05:41 AM.

I always thought "T" stood for Transportation. As in, Massachusetts Bay TRANSPORTATION Authority.

Jeff on July 26, 2006 11:20 AM.

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