Transportation

MBTA Riders Required to Wear Face Coverings

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Riders of MTBA buses, subways and other public transportation must wear face coverings as part of the Governor’s order to stop the spread of COVID-19. The following announcement was provided by MassDOT:

Effective Wednesday, May 6, MBTA customers must wear face coverings when using the MBTA. This requirement is pursuant to the Executive Order issued on May 1, which takes effect tomorrow. The Executive Order applies to any person over the age of two who is in a place open to the public, and expressly requires masks or face coverings when using public transportation or when in an enclosed or semi-enclosed transit stop or waiting area. The Department of Public Health notes that mask use by children two years of age and up to the age of five is encouraged but also at the discretion of the child’s parent or guardian with full information available via the Department of Public Health.

Transportation

Three MTBA Bus Drivers Test Positive for Coronavirus

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The following announcement was provided by the MBTA (Note the Cabot bus facility is located in South Boston):

Following three confirmed employee cases of COVID-19, the MBTA took immediate steps to protect its workforce and riders by enacting its facility maintenance protocols to clean and disinfect all exposed work areas, vehicles, and equipment at the T’s Cabot bus facility. The three confirmed cases are MBTA Bus Operators and were reported yesterday. “We ask the public to keep our employees in their thoughts, and I continue to express my deep gratitude to the women and men of the MBTA workforce who are serving a vital purpose in combatting COVID-19,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “To ensure we can protect the health and safety of our workforce, we strongly urge essential travel only, and we will continue our enhanced protocols for cleaning and disinfecting all vehicles, equipment, and surfaces.”

Consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), the MBTA has enacted its COVID-19 outbreak plan. We are disinfecting the employees’ workspace, vehicles, and equipment that they may have come into contact with. 

Through the public health tracing process, public health officials alert close contacts of the individuals who tested positive and will provide them with instructions for self-quarantine. Under health information privacy laws, the MBTA is prohibited from providing identifying information about a particular employee’s medical status.

Transportation

MBTA Reducing Service in Effort to Curb Spread of Coronavirus

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An MBTA bus in Watertown. The MBTA announced Monday that beginning March 17, service will be cut back in an effort to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, also called the Coronavirus. Most buses and trains will be running on a Saturday schedule, and the 504 express bus from Watertown Yard will also be impacted (click here to see the schedule). The T will also be cleaning vehicles and stations, according to the announcement. The MBTA released the following announcement:

Reduced Service for March 17, 2020

Updated Monday, March 16, 2020, 2:49 PM

At the start of service on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, trains and buses will run with reduced service to support efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Around Town

MBTA Installs Electronic Sign in Watertown to Give Real Time Updates

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The MBTA’s new electronic signs will provide riders with live updates on buses. Watertown bus riders have a new electronic sign that tells them when they can expect buses to arrive. The solar-powered sign in Watertown Square is one of 18 E Ink (electronic ink) signs installed by the MBTA in several communities, including Watertown, Belmont, Cambridge, Boston, Chelsea and Everett. “The signs display stop-specific real-time information — bus arrival predictions and service alerts,” the MBTA announcement said. “This is the same information that’s available today on our website, in the Transit App, in Google Maps, and more.”

Bus

OP-ED: Sen. Brownsberger on MBTA Bus Bunching

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An MBTA bus in Watertown. The following piece was provided by State Sen. Will Brownsberger, who represents Watertown, Belmont and parts of Boston:

I often get complaints about bunching and related gaps in service on MBTA buses.  Sometimes you’ll see 4 buses go through together and sometimes you might wait 30 minutes for a bus that is supposed to come every 5 or 10 minutes. Bunching is a perennial challenge for MBTA bus operations, especially on the trolley lines (71 and 73) where buses cannot pass each other.  I recently sat down with senior bus operations managers at the MBTA to get an update on their efforts to keep service properly spaced. Current technology is a major barrier to addressing the bunching problem.  Other than the farebox, everything on the bus is run by a system originally procured almost 20 years ago called “Transit Master.”  Transit Master keeps records on who is driving the bus, displays the route signs on the bus, provides radio communications, makes the stop announcements, counts passengers and, most importantly, tells the driver in real time whether the bus is ahead or behind schedule. When the driver sits down in the bus at the start of their shift and logs in to the system, a schedule is loaded for their whole shift.  That schedule doesn’t change dynamically to reflect traffic conditions.  Congestion is built into schedules, but traffic is not entirely predictable and when traffic is especially bad, buses fall behind schedule.   Even if a bus is running behind schedule and the trailing bus has caught up, the trailing bus driver is being told by the system to keep pressing to stay on schedule, even if that means staying right behind the lead bus.

Transportation

See How MBTA Projects Will Impact Subways, Trains in 2020

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The following piece was provided by the MBTA and MassDOT:

Today the MBTA announced its plans to accelerate infrastructure projects for several subway lines and the Commuter Rail during calendar year 2020 to improve service, safety, and reliability on a faster timeline. These projects will include additional diversions of weekend service on all rapid transit lines and several Commuter Rail lines. In addition to a number of weekend diversions on the Green Line, the MBTA is planning for two one-month shutdowns on the Green Line: the C Branch in July and the E Branch in August. 

The 2020 Infrastructure Acceleration Plan will deliver these projects eight years faster than originally planned, and will result in track replacement, upgraded intersections, and station improvements. In 2019, the MBTA executed a plan to expedite projects for customers, delivering projects 2.2 years faster than originally planned across the Red, Orange, and Green Lines. Much of this work was completed through ten weekend shutdowns on the Red and Orange Lines through the core of downtown Boston. During those shutdowns, the MBTA was able to accelerate improvements by expanding traditional work windows and increasing the number of work activities that took place.

MBTA

Discount MBTA Passes Now Available for Watertown Youth

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Buses like this one on the 71 bus will get priority heading toward Harvard Square on Mt. Auburn Street in the new Cambridge-Watertown Bus Priority Pilot program. State officials announced youth from Watertown can receive discount passes to ride the MBTA buses and trains through the Youth Pass program. The program is aimed at people between age 12 and 25 who are not enrolled in school or college (they already qualify for passes for school or college students). Students over 18 must be enrolled in an alternative education program (such as GED), a job training program, or a federal benefit program, including MassHealth and SNAP.

MBTA

See the MBTA Schedules for New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day

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An MBTA bus in Watertown. The MBTA will be running special service on New Year’s Eve, including free service in the evening. Find out more details below. The following information came from the MBTA:

New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2019

Fares will not be collected after 8 p.m.

All modes will run on a weekday schedule. 

Subway will have additional, late-night service.