MBTA Bus Route 89

This bus goes between Sullivan Square and Davis Square or Clarendon Hill in Somerville. It is therefore useful if you want to go to any of those places. It is relatively unuseful if you want to go to other places, such as Watertown, North Scituate, Fredericton, or Kuala Lumpur.
The bus runs fairly often compared to other MBTA buses because it has a high ridership. However, its route has many traffic lights and is very slow, and the bus is often crowded.

The 89 used to be alright. Suddenly, when the route changes were made all over the MBTA, the 89 was deemed the route to get all the old busses. What does this mean? It’s always broken down.
Consitantly in the morning the bus to Davis that goes between Winter Hill and Powderhouse between 8:00 and 8:30 (it’s scheduled for 8:11 but doesn’t usually come until 8:20) is non-​existant. Often there are alerts in the early hours stating there are delays due to a disabled bus, then it’s back on time mysteriously after 8:30. All the other busses are on time. There isn’t a delay, it’s a broken bus. Replace the bus!
In the evening getting out of Davis from work sometime after 6, the busses don’t show up. They stack and all come at the same time. Last night I waited until 7:50 for a bus. That’s over a half hour wait for everyone who lives on Broadway during rush hour! I feel sorry for the folks with mobility issues, one who regularly rides in and out with me. The MBTA is making us late. I’m going to buy a pair of walking shoes and send them the bill.

Makes a lot of stops but is super convenient running up and down Broadway. Bus times on the Catch The Bus app are usually spot on. No complaints with the 89.

For a bus that attracts the clientele it does, you’d think I’d be less thrilled every time I buck the odds and emerge from the Davis escalator to find it sitting patiently, almost as though waiting for me like Cinderella’s coach.
Do scuzzy folks ride this route? Have I thought I was in conversation with someone only to find they were schizophrenic? Do people put their kid-​filled strollers in the middle of the aisle and give you a look that dares you to not make them punch you in the face? INDEEDY DO, 89!
That said, such salty co-​riders are a small price to pay for getting dropped off a few steps from my Ball Square front door in the middle of the winter, and thanks to my trusty Pocket MBTA iPhone app, I’ve never waited for it longer than I thought I would. Why walk when you can be carried?

I’m 2 for 2. The first run at 4:33 am was right on time. But be warned: if you’re not a regular on the route, you really need to wave your arms and make a huge scene if you want the bus to pick you up.

The Davis Square 89 route is more reliable than the Clarendon Hill route. While waiting for the Clarendon Hill 89 I can remember a couple of times where I have been stranded in Teele Square for over an hour waiting for a bus that will never come. I’ve even called the MBTA while waiting and have actually been told «Sorry the 10:00 bus has been canceled.» When the bus only comes once every hour this is very inconvenient. Fortunately I am young and in shape and can just walk to Davis Square in 10 – 15 minutes, people my grandma’s age not so much.
I think somebody at the MBTA needs to take a hard look at the 89 bus route. It’s split nature just isn’t working out and its on time rate seems terrible. Maybe increase the frequency of service on the 90 (Wellington-​Sullivan-​Davis) and then only run the 89 (Sullivan-​Clarendon) and scrap the 89 (Sullivan-​Davis) route.

The other day it was cold, waited for 89. Waited from 8:50am to 10:15am. No 89. It was a Tuesday.
This bus is never there on time. I walk to Davis now, this bus sucks.

I rode this bus every day for three years when I was in high school. I had to, if I wanted to get there. I would never voluntarily ride the 89 again. But thanks to the 89, I have so many great memories:
The strange older man who waited with me each morning and made inappropriate comments about my appearance (I was 14)…
The unruly grade-​schoolers from the PowderHouse Community School who flood the bus and make hearing, conversing, and reaching the door nigh impossible…
The St. Clements students who get on at the rotary and begin verbal turf wars with the Matignon kids who got on near Clarendon Hill…
Slalom-​ing down Winter Hill toward Lower Broadway to avoid the double-​parked cars and timid left-​hand turns…
Not having the mental energy to deal with it and spending the hour to walk to Davis, take the Red Line to Park, and then the Orange to Sullivan…
Now I remember why I was so happy to get my license!

I hate this bus. I hate this bus. I HATE THIS BUS. Why? Because it’s the reason the 101 is always late. I do enjoy it’s Davis Square variation. But sorry, MBTA, I don’t need to go to Clarendon Hill. Kthxbai!

Yet another bad service by the MBTA, their bus routes need to be revamped all around and the drivers need to be better trained and accounted for.
When I moved to Davis Square, the 89 bus worked well for me getting to Assembly Sq for doctor appointments since the 90 wasn’t always working with my appointment times (I would take the 90 there and the 89 back home.)
I quickly found walking to the Broadway/​Indiana intersection stop (2^nd stop on the route) was a shorter walk than walking to Sullivan Station which is the start of the route. But the driver who left Sullivan Station shortly after 2pm on weekdays would usually drive right by me standing at the bus stop waving at them almost all the time. Now what is the point of having a bus stop that no buses stop at?
I would then have to walk over to Sullivan Station and find a different bus to take which would become more frustrated each time. This past Spring I tried taking the 89 bus a dozen or so times and it stopped for me only a couple of times.

Oh 89 you can’t help the way you are. Coming once an hour on Sundays. Yes you read that correctly. And forget going to Davis Square after 6:45 on weekdays and not at all on Sundays! No one would want to go there right? Of course we do MBTA. What is the deal with the schedule? It’s not like we’re out in the boonies here. We’re right smack in the middle of Somerville here and the buses blow. Please give us more service! On the plus side, there is a stop right in front of my house and the drivers are very awesome.

I call this bus the elusive 89. It never comes when it is supposed to. In fact, it is usually about 20 minutes later than scheduled. How is that okay? When the 89 bus does finally come, there is usually another 89 bus directly behind it because the first one is THAT late. I hate the 89.

Is there any passenger control. I can handle a dog wanting to hump my leg, but a sixty plus strange dude drooling into a cup is always on this bus (this is the perfect route for all my activities). He stairs at you like no tomorrow and spits on the floor. I mention it to the driver and he asked me to complain since his complaints are not being listened to. I have called and written the MBTA, and will probably get some sniveling answer via snail mail by the time I’m ancient. Well if you see my dude, say hay for me, but girls watch out he will pat your ass on the way by.

Clarendon Hill or Davis, but not both. Choose wisely…
Once upon a time I was mad at the 89, because it stranded my ex-​gf up on Winter HIll for an hour and a half one Sunday, waiting for a bus that never came.
Now I’m mad because I wish she’d been on that bus before it disappeared from the face of the earth forever.
Ball Square —) The Cock Block —-) East Somerville
It gets the job done, but barely. The 80 is still my bus of choice for Broadway