The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) released a series of proposed changes to transit service aimed to match service to new ridership patterns resulting from the pandemic.
The proposed changes are part of the T’s Forging Ahead effort to define and protect its core essential transit services.
A letter from MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak to riders regarding the Forging Ahead process and the proposed service changes can be found on the MBTA website. The public is also encouraged to view these proposals and participate in the public engagement process, which is now underway and runs through Dec. 4, 2020.
This comprehensive public engagement process includes a series of virtual public meetings, a public hearing, a team of community liaisons who are already gathering feedback directly from riders and an online comment form for customers to voice and share their thoughts with the T. Specific details of these proposals and the public engagement processes are available online.
As a result of the decline in ridership that is similarly impacting transit agencies across the country, the MBTA is now only transporting 330,000 trips on an average weekday – but is continuing to run the same high levels of service as it ran to serve 1.26 million daily trips prior to the pandemic, an unsustainable level of service delivery.
“COVID-19 has had a significant impact on ridership and the MBTA is releasing these proposed changes to adjust to the realities created by COVID-19, while protecting service for those who depend on it most,” said General Manager Steve Poftak. “I want to reassure our riders that these service changes are not permanent, do not include any fare changes and will not take effect immediately. We are carrying out a comprehensive outreach process and encourage all members of the public to provide comments and feedback, as we want to hear from riders to help us identify and protect the services that support transit-critical populations and communities.”
The MBTA is proposing a series of service changes in addition to preserving its base-level service, or its minimum level of service as determined by the Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB). The MBTA will continue to provide sufficient service for the current, reduced ridership on all modes except the ferry system, which is being proposed to be temporarily closed. The proposed base service levels are designed to ensure adequate capacity for all essential services as well as a reduced level of non-essential service that is still viable for most of those who are currently using the T. The T’s base service includes approximately eighty essential bus routes, The Ride, the whole of the rapid transit system including subway and the Fairmont Commuter Rail line.
“The vast majority of MBTA service will continue, and these service adjustments are being proposed to preserve and protect service for those who depend most critically on the MBTA by reducing primarily non-essential services,” said Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack. “Using limited resources to operate nearly empty trains, ferries and buses is not a responsible use of the funding provided to the MBTA by riders, communities, and taxpayers, and does not help us meet transportation needs of our region. We look forward to working closely with the public to ensure we continue providing essential service and help the MBTA afford the growing service we will need to support our customers and communities in the future.”
The proposed service changes will not be in effect immediately. While some service changes on the Commuter Rail could take place as early as January 2021, the changes to Commuter Rail would be made in March, rapid transit changes would be made in spring 2021 and bus changes would happen later in the summer. This will allow the MBTA to adjust the proposed basic service if warranted by changes in ridership and if additional, durable revenue becomes available.
Service levels will be continually reassessed based on the status of the state of emergency, commuting patterns and ridership and fare revenue recovery in 2021 and beyond. The MBTA is also proposing service packages that will include options to increase service once ridership returns and the T’s revenue improves.
The FMCB is scheduled to vote on the changes on Dec. 7, 2020, so that planning can begin for making the changes in 2021.
Subway
The Red, Orange, Blue and underground Green Line stations are experiencing approximately 120,000 gated entries on weekdays, which is about 24 percent of its pre-COVID numbers. Proposed service level changes for the Red, Orange, Blue and Green lines and Mattapan trolley include:
- Weekday and Saturday service will operate from 5:00 a.m. to midnight (currently until 1:00 a.m.), and Sunday service will operate from 6:00 a.m. to midnight (currently until 1:00 a.m.).
- Reduce peak frequency by 20 percent and reduce off-peak frequency by an additional 20 percent on all lines.
- The Green Line E Branch will terminate at Brigham Circle with customers able to transfer to Bus Route 39, which mimics E Branch service from Brigham Circle to Heath Street.
Bus
Buses are experiencing about 171,000 weekday boarding, which is approximately 41 percent of its pre-COVID ridership. Proposed service level changes include:
- All bus service will stop at midnight, though early service will continue on essential bus routes.
- 80 essential bus routes will see an average change in service of five percent and routes with high ridership will not be changed.
- 60 non-essential bus routes will operate 20 – 30 percent less frequently.
- Approximately 10 routes will be consolidated or restructured.
- Approximately 25 routes that served less than 0.5 percent of pre-COVID riders (about 1,700) will be eliminated.
Commuter Rail
The Commuter Rail is experiencing approximately 13 percent of its pre-COVID ridership with about 8.5 percent of its normal ridership during morning peak periods. As a result, the following changes are proposed (except for the Fairmount Line):
- No evening service after 9:00 p.m.
- No weekend service (except for the Fairmount Line, which will be bused).
- Decreased weekday peak service and some midday service, reducing from 505 trains (Fall 2019) to 430 trains.
- Close six (out of 141) stations based on low ridership, operational impacts and availability of alternatives.
Specific service levels by line will consider ridership patterns from adjusted Fall 2020 schedules with more balanced service throughout the day.
Ferry
Ferry ridership is approximately 12 percent of pre-COVID ridership, averaging seven passengers per boat, and passengers have either bus or commuter rail service as an alternative. As a result, all Ferry service (F1, F2H, F4) is proposed to be stopped.
- Charlestown/Boston service (F4) has experienced very low COVID ridership and highly redundant bus service is available on Route 93, an essential bus route which currently has minimal crowding and can support diverted ferry riders.
- Hull and Hingham service has also experienced very low ridership due to COVID-19 and passengers can use the Commuter Rail Greenbush Line.
The RIDE
With changes being proposed to the area and hours of operation of fixed route services, some RIDE trips may become “premium trips,” though RIDE service boundaries would not change.
Some trips will be able to be booked forty minutes from request time instead of the current thirty minutes.
Local coalition and A Better City react to MBTA’s proposed changes
A diverse coalition of business, labor, transportation and environmental justice organizations is calling on the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board to pause on making any permanent service decisions this year and is urging the legislature to act to fully fund the T, which is facing a budget shortfall caused by COVID-19.
Speakers at a press conference organized by Transportation for Massachusetts and LivableStreets led a “reverse ribbon cutting” – cutting a large cardboard bus in half – to demonstrate the long-term damage of any permanent service cuts on rider and employee safety, air quality, equity and economic recovery in local communities.
The press conference kicked off a campaign, “Transit is Essential,” that will underscore the importance of keeping the T accessible and affordable to all. After the event, organizers visited key MBTA stations to distribute flyers and ask riders to share their stories about why the MBTA is essential to their lives.
“The MBTA has proven itself as an essential service through the pandemic, and it will be essential to the commonwealth’s economic recovery. We need the State Legislature to step up to prevent drastic cuts that will leave people stranded,” said Angela Johnson-Rodriguez, statewide organizing director for Transportation for Massachusetts.
The MBTA is facing a $300-$600 million shortfall in the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2021. Fare revenue, the MBTA’s second-largest source of funding, has declined as ridership has dropped during the pandemic. But the agency is still serving essential workers such as doctors, nurses and other health care professionals, as well as people making essential trips to grocery stores and medical appointments.
The coalition is urging the legislature to support the MBTA and transit statewide before the conclusion of the legislative session, by addressing the MBTA’s budget gap and backing that up by passing a package this session that includes dedicated revenue. The Massachusetts House of Representatives is expected to debate the Fiscal Year 2021 state budget this week. An amendment filed by State Rep. Jonathan Hecht (D-29) (Amendment #700) would allow the MBTA to avoid service cuts.
“A reliable public transportation system is essential to keeping businesses operating safely, efficiently and profitably during and after the pandemic,” said Chenelle Brown of the Alliance for Business Leadership’s Board of Directors and CMBG3 Law. “We cannot allow public transportation, the lifeline of Greater Boston, to become a casualty of COVID-19. Pulling the rug out from under the MBTA now will put us further behind in meeting the long-term infrastructure and service improvement goals that are key to making Massachusetts a desirable and affordable place to do business.”
A Better City President and CEO Richard A. Dimino is urging the FMCB to establish the following three principles during the Forging Ahead Process:
- The MBTA should pause for three months before voting on service reductions that impact FY22. This schedule would allow for clarity to emerge from the federal government on additional federal relief legislation that should include another round of transit funding. A three-month pause would also give the state legislature time to finish their work in the current legislative session. In the interim, the MBTA should continue to implement strategic redeployment of resources and transit service that best meet current demand and allow the T to quickly redeploy services this spring and fall to support the commonwealth’s economic recovery.
- There should not be any permanent cuts or transit service changes with long-term impacts. The MBTA must avoid transit service cuts that will harm Massachusetts’ economic recovery and weaken the commonwealth’s ability to meet increased ridership as workers return to the office. Results from a recent A Better City employee survey indicate that steady increases in workers returning to workplace could begin as early as next spring and summer; and commuters would like to return to the same mode they used prior to the pandemic. It is imperative that robust transit service is available in FY22 to effectively respond to increased commuters and workforce, avoid roadway congestion and address equity and environmental goals. This includes ensuring the T retains the highly skilled and specialized transit professionals it relies on to maintain and run service across all modes that can take upwards of 18 months to replace and be fully operational.
- The safety and integrity of the system must come first. The MBTA must move forward to address the State of Good Repair (SGR) backlog and sustain progress to create a safe, reliable, modern system. Furthermore, the MBTA needs to advance important, unfunded capital projects in the likely event additional federal infrastructure funds become available under the Biden Administration. The FMCB should call for a focused, accelerated effort to move capital projects through the design phase so projects are ready to receive federal construction funds and we are not caught flat-footed when federal funding becomes available.
