The NY subway system is clearly superior to Boston’s mostly because of its reach and hours. Though there are a few things that are better about Boston’s: cleanliness, price, transit-to-the-airport, and sophisticated website.

The reasons for Boston’s subway deficiencies are too complicated to go into entirely now, but one of the key reasons is the infrastructure is so old (first in the nation) and major overhauls are currently prohibitively expensive. There are serious budget issues that were exacerbated by years of Republican governors who didn’t care about public transit. The new Democratic governor, however, is far more committed, the MBTA is (very) slowly improving, and the Governor is preparing a long-term transportation vision for the state.

The reference to the Green Line that “stops at every block” is referring — I’m guessing — primarily to its ‘B’ branch. Some of those stops have thankfully been consolidated — further consolidation would underserve too many people. The first subway in the nation, the Green Line, as pointed out, are not rapid transit vehicles, but “trolley” or “light rail”, which puts technical limitations on its efficiency. Nevertheless, a larger Green Line fleet and nicer cars have improved the experience.

I actually much prefer the experience of getting to the airport in Boston than NY. Both the Blue Line and Silver Line take you to the Airport nowadays, without any extra train ride fair.

An air train hooking up each of the major terminals (like No. Station and So. Station) to the airport would be nice to have as well. This would greatly reduce car traffic around Logan. Transferring 3 different times is a pain and very time consuming.

I know hundreds of people in New York, I know maybe 2 who own cars. Everyone walks or takes the subway.

I lived in Boston. The T does not run 24 hours, and stores are not as conveniently located so I had resisted but eventually got a car. I’ve been living in New York for 11 years and it’s a far more pedestrian friendly city than Boston.