The Boston Globe - 30.08.2019

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019 The Boston Globe Metro B

By Chris Lisinski

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

More than two dozen MBTA

bus routes will change this

weekend — ranging from the

elimination of some trips to the

addition of new weekday ser-

vice — as the transit authority

begins implementing wide-

spread and customer-driven

changes to the entire bus sys-

tem, officials announced this

week.

The alterations include the

addition and subtraction of

stops, new weekday service,

and the elimination of a hand-

ful of trips. Designed with in-

put from officials and thou-

sands of public comments over

the past year, the modifications

are the first as part of the MB-

TA’s Better Bus Project to rede-

sign and modernize the bus

network.

MBTA officials say that

while the adaptations may re-

quire some passengers to travel

to different stops or alter their

commutes, they will help in-

crease reliability and frequency

of service across the bus net-

work.

“The modifications to these

selectroutesarethefirstwave

of changes to improve service

for close to one-third of MBTA

customers who depend on our

buses to get to work, school,

and other activities,” the MB-

TA’s general manager, Steve

Poftak, said in a press release.

“These modifications represent

the most significant changes to

our bus service in over a decade

and are the results of both a

comprehensive analysis of how

our bus routes perform, and an

unprecedented level of engage-

ment with our customers.”

A total of 29 routes will

change effective Sept. 1. Five

different routes — the CT

across Boston and Cambridge,

the 5 through Dorchester and

South Boston, the 448 and 449

running from Boston to Mar-

blehead, and the 459 covering

Boston to Salem — will be per-

manently cut.

However, T officials said

most of the lost service will be

covered by additional trips on

similar bus routes.

The Route 16 bus to JFK/

UMass and the McCormack

housing development will see

new weekday and Saturday ser-

vice. The Route 90 will no lon-

ger travel to Wellington Station,

instead stopping at Assembly

Row, while the Route 92 in-

stead will begin and end at Sul-

livan Square and will not travel

to Assembly Row.

A full list of the changes is

available online on the MBTA’s

website.

The T’s oversight board ear-

lier this year approved an addi-

tional 24 route changes, and

those will go into effect in the

winter or later, T officials said.

Buses across the entire MB-

TA system host an average of

more than 340,000 riders every

weekday, according to data pre-

sented in June. When announc-

ing the new changes, the MBTA

said about a third of all public-

transit users rely on buses.

Changes to dozens

of T bus routes

start this weekend

the commuter rail, they’re usu-
ally exempt from things like
this,” she said.
Two outbound Haverhill
trains from North Station were
also canceled Thursday because
of disruptions on the Lowell
line, while one inbound Haver-
hill train was also canceled for
the same reason.
The rig in Somerville was be-
ing used to help construct a
new bridge over Broadway as
part of the billion-dollar exten-
sion of the Green Line, which
will share portions of a rail cor-
ridor with commuter trains.
The mechanical failure left the
rig “immobile near the com-
muter rail tracks,” the T said.
The agency brought in a
crane to stabilize and remove

uCOMMUTING
Continued from Page B

the drill rig, and by 6:30 p.m.

the T said service along the

Lowell line had resumed.

Meanwhile, delays contin-

ued into the evening on the

Newburyport and Rockport

lines because of a “drawbridge

issue” that prevented trains

from crossing the Danvers Riv-

er and forced the T to run shut-

tle buses between Salem and

Beverly. Multiple trains had de-

lays of more than 30 minutes.

The T announced that the

bridge problem had been re-

solved around 7:30 p.m., but

cautioned commuters that de-

lays could continue.

MBTA subways in particular

have experienced a string of in-

cidents, most notably the June

11 derailment on the Red Line

that badly damaged its signal-

ing system and has caused

weeks of delays as trains oper-

ate at lower speeds. The T has

been slowly rebuilding the sys-

tem since, but doesn’t expect

the Red Line to return to nor-

mal service until October.

That disruption came days

before the T imposed a fare

hike on the subway and com-

muter rail lines, leading to pro-

tests from riders and lobbying

by activists and some legisla-

tors to increase funding for the

system to speed improvements.

That frustration was again

evident among riders Thursday

at North Station.

“There are plenty of other

countries that don’t have this is-

sue,” said commuter Chris

Chung as trains were canceled.

“I spent four months in Japan

and the trains never broke

down. Someone or some people

aren’t doing their jobs or there’s

not enough funding.”

Earlier in August a fire on

the tracks along the Orange

Line caused service to be sus-

pended. That came one day af-

ter passengers riding the Green

Line between North Station

and Lechmere were diverted to

shuttle buses. And a Riverside

trolley that jumped its tracks in

early August was the fourth de-

railment on the Green Line

alone this year.

In July, a power failure on

the Blue Line disrupted the

morning commutes of hun-

dreds of riders.

Danny McDonald can be

reached at

[email protected].

Follow him on Twitter

@Danny__McDonald.

T rail service disrupted north of Boston

BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF

A crane stabilized a second, crippled crane that disrupted service on the MBTA commuter rail’s Lowell line Thursday
afternoon, causing the suspension of service between North Station and Woburn.

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