The Silver Line is typical of the public transportation system in Boston: almost good enough, but frustrating in its compromises that passengers have to live wi

The Silver Line is typical of the public transportation system in Boston: almost good enough, but frustrating in its compromises that passengers have to live with every day. For people west of town, it's a great convenience to park or be dropped at Alewife station, ride the Red Line to South Station, then the Silver Line to the airport. This is versus the old system where you had to change twice. We're thankful for small things. And yes, the lengthy stop to change over from electric to diesel is logical yet seems poorly implemented. Many times I've watched the driver climb out to manually operate the electrodes. Surely it's possible to better automate this process, given that people headed toward the airport are usually in a huge hurry? Maybe eventually they can just make the Silver Line buses completely electrical; batteries propel them above ground, the third rail propels them and recharges them underground, perhaps with hybrid-diesel supplemental power.