BOSTON — Commuter rail, shuttle buses, vans for those with accessibility challenges, and free use of bicycles that are part of Boston’s bikeshare program are all part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s plans to provide alternatives during the month-long closure of the rapid-transit Orange Line that begins this Friday, Aug. 19.
The MBTA released its plan last Friday, Aug. 12.
The Orange Line work will overlap another closure on part of the Green Line, Aug. 22-Sept. 19, with the MBTA providing shuttle buses between that line’s Government Center and Union Square stations during the closure.
Free shuttle buses will operate between the Oak Grove and State Street stations, and South Station and Forest Hills. They will not operate over a four-station central segment between State Street and Tufts Medical Center, where passengers can transfer to the Green Line. Commuter rail, meanwhile, will offer alternative service between Oak Grove and North Station, and South Station and Forest Hills. Those with transit CharlieCards or CharlieTickets will be able to ride those segments free. The MBTA’s full “Rider’s Guide to Planning Ahead” for the closure is available here.
Jarred Johnson, chief operating officer of advocacy group TransitMatters, told the Boston Herald the plan is “not adequate, but it is what it is. We have to deal with what we have in the short period of time, but I think that the amount of bus lanes and the communication between [the Massachusetts Department of Transportation], the MBTA, and municipalities is pretty unprecedented.”
The MBTA announced its plan to close the Orange Line on Aug. 3 to address deferred maintenance, leaving officials scrambling to plan alternative service for a route that carried more than 100,000 riders a day as of last October, and more than twice that prior to the pandemic [see “MBTA to shut down Orange Line …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 3, 2022]. Plans for the partial closure of the Green Line came two days later [see “MBTA to close part of Green Line …,” News Wire, Aug. 6, 2022].
1. Isn’t Boston the home of the phrase “You cahn’t get theah from heah.”
2. Google shows 1.2 miles from North Station to South Station. Could walking 1/2 hour beat the shuttle bus?
That’s true on many commuter lines. Even the NE Corridor has not returned to the previous riderships
So MBTA ridership is down 50%? How is the sustainable?