The MBTA name game

Rep. Marty Walz, a Democrat representing Boston, actually filed legislation to change the name of an MBTA subway station. He wants to change the name of the Copley station, appropriately at Copley Square, to Copley/BPL. The BPL is the Boston Public Library, but how the heck would you know that unless you lived here? Yep, just what we need are more confused tourists.

He said it would give recognition to a prominent landmark at Copley. Why single out the library? The BPL is a pretty cool place, sure. But so is Trinity Church, the John Hancock Tower, and the Old South Church, all located in the square.

Man, this Walz is a big thinker, isn’t he? Think of the time and expense of changing the name of the stop just because this joker thinks it would be a good idea to give recognition to just one of the landmarks in Copley Square. You’d have to change all of the signs in the subway system, all the brochures, Web sites, and any and all forms of communication. Suddenly everything in the public domain will be out-of-date, and if you don’t think that’s a big deal, Google a few words about the MBTA and see what you get, and then think how suddenly a lot of what you get will be out-of-date and misleading.

How about instead of spending all that money just to “give recognition” to the BPL, er, I mean the library, how about if the MBTA uses it to improve service, or make the stations more internationally friendly? All communication on the T is in English, but if you walk around the street of Boston, even during low tourist season, all you hear are other languages besides English.