The American Public Transit Association (APTA) has ranked Boston first on its most recent list of cities where you can save money by taking public transportation. (We beat NYC by $5 per month--that'll buy a Guinness!) The APTA compiles the list regularly, based on the cost of a monthly transit pass, local parking prices, current gas prices (in this study, $3.678 per gallon, assuming an average 23.4 mpg and 15,000 miles of driving per year),......

Wired updates us on the MIT Charlie card hacking situation. A restraining order was issued and the students' talk at Defcon was canceled. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which represented the students, criticized the ruling as limiting free speech. Ironically, the students' vulnerability assessment report that the MBTA filed with its lawsuit contains even more compromising information than the students planned to present in their talk. So, basically, by filing a lawsuit, the T raised more......

Universal Hub points out that three MIT students who hacked the Charlie Card system are scheduled to give a presentation at Defcon tomorrow about how they went about it. The T, while not interested in its hearing about security problems when the students first brought them to the authority, has now filed a lawsuit designed to stop the MIT students from presenting their findings at Defcon. The students insist they will not reveal information specifically......

You definitely know what a Charlie Card is, and you might even know a little about the folk song, "M.T.A.," that inspired the cards' name. But do you know all about the charged political environment surrounding the tune? Dissent magazine has a detailed article relating the history of everyman Charlie of the "M.T.A." song to Cold War politics in Boston. It's full of hard facts and fascinating trivia--did you know Charlie's original name was Angus?......

--As if it couldn't get any worse for the MBTA. Hackers have been playing with the Charlie Card. [Boston Herald] --The owner of Tai Ho Restaurant, where Boston firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne died, wants to reopen. It's worth remembering that the fire gathered in the ceiling because grease accumulated in the vents. [WBZ] --A task force has decided, after much back and forth, to take down the homemade signs on highways thanking......

Last night, Bostonist received the unsettling news that the add-value machines at T stops weren't accepting credit or debit cards. On the last day of the month. As in, prime time for adding passes to their Charlie Cards. A tipper said that, after delivering the news, an MBTA employee yelped, "Don't kill the messenger!" The employee had reason to be concerned, as finding out one's card has been denied repeatedly makes people snippy. Real snippy.......

--The Executive Director of the Turnpike Authority wants to CharlieCard everything so that you can use your card at the tolls. While we're all for not having to save spare change, automation might make it easier to miss fare hikes. [Boston Herald] --Massachusetts Bay Community College has been accused of spending money like a drunken sailor. While $450,000 may sound like peanuts in a city whose private schools roll in money, some staff aren't......

Charlie Card machines throughout the MBTA service area completely crapped out at rush hour. The system crashed intermittently for five to seven minutes at at time. Nothing like not being able to add value to your card on the first of the month, is there? Some T employees left one gate wide open like a hooker, realizing that things were going to get all Gattica fast if they didn't. And, what did the little......

Cooling fans in T stations! Hooray! Next step: Febreeze. In today's Globe, Mac Daniel reports that the MBTA will start installing "special cooling fans"* in T stations across its service area this month. They're even going to put misting fans at a few of the busier bus hubs. Check out the Globe's map to see if your favorite subterranean stank hole is on the list! Meanwhile, the Herald is totally harshing our T lovin’ buzz......

"Charlie Card" from korrileigh04.......

The MBTA recently set into motion their newest advocate of the CharlieTicket/Charlie Card system – the Charlie Truck. The official spokes-truck of the fare collection system will now roll to public events and locations across the MBTA service area to promote the use of the new fare collection system. Fare collection has been confusing to tourists and locals alike ("Charlie down, arrow up.") The T administration hopes that the customer service vehicle will help to......