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Shuttle buses replaced the Blue Line, but not nearly enough of them
By adamg on Wed, 03/16/2022 - 8:17am
There was a "medical emergency" at Maverick serious enough that the T had to bring in shuttle buses to replace service, only as RadRebe shows, there weren't enough of them. Here, she's at Airport, where she got on a Silver Line bus to downtown - where she was further delayed by Red Line problems.
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Comments
Was it a person struck by a
Was it a person struck by a train?
I ask because "medical emergency" is sometimes code for such a thing.
I doubt they would run shuttles if it was just a passenger who had taken ill.
Will they ever return?
Everyone wondered if passengers would return when the pandemic ended. No one asked if the trains would run on time or if the stations would be safe. Until the MBTA can answer those two questions the majority of riders will never return.
The Blue Line stayed pretty busy.
Lots of people in "essential" service jobs live in Eastie and don't have cars to drive to work, so they're gonna be riding the Blue Line. The Silver Line is a pretty crappy option unless you're going to the Seaport or South Station area.
Same for the 111 -- many workers in low-paying "essential" jobs live in Chelsea and that's their primary connection to the public transit network.
I ride the Blue Line at this
I ride the Blue Line at this time (around 5:30AM) and can confirm:
1. Shit's poppin'
2. Deploying shuttle buses, especially in the morning, is always a hot mess. One time I ended up directing people where to wait and we still waited 20-30+ minutes at 5:30-6AM for a bus. Inexplicably, there were no Spanish-speaking T workers around (but one who spoke Portuguese! Very helpful for 3 of about 300 people).
It makes sense that there
It makes sense that there aren't enough buses and drivers for an unplanned subway problem. If there were, it would be a big waste the majority of the time.
A better solution would be reducing the number of subway problems, and figuring out how to reroute trains around a blockage or run trains back and forth on the unaffected stretch. How do other two-track subway systems around the world handle this?
Messy
I catch a bus in front of Government Center, at the same place the shuttles were picking up. The whole situation was messy.
First, messages were playing inside the station saying it was closed. This station also serves the green line, that I had just disembarked from and was running. Many, many people heading into the station were confused. I felt bad for the poor (redshirt) guy in the station doing his best to help people.
Outside I caught a couple of interactions between the shuttle bus drivers and the T inspectors "directing" the shuttles - there were 4 of them for some reasons. One of them was giving commands to bus drivers in a way that sounded a lot like yelling. One of the drivers, after being yelled at for a few minutes, said he didn't know how to get to the next station.
Kinda hilarious for me, at the time, as someone not relying on the blue line. But also sad as I know that will be me next time, with either the green or red lines. I luckily missed the earlier problems at Ashmont (the start of my commute).
As convoluted as downtown is
The plan for bustitution on the Blue Line (if the tunnel under the harbor can't be used) should really just be providing a non-stop shuttle between Airport/Maverick and State. You probably need a half-dozen buses of capacity to replace just a single Blue Line train so the goal should be getting as many people from one side of the harbor to another. If the other stations must be served for accessibility, then run a circulator from State to Gov't Ctr/Bowdoin/Aquarium in a loop.
I choose State rather than Gov't Ctr for the downtown end mainly because it simplifies the return trip to the Callahan Tunnel (i.e. Congress to New Chardon to tunnel ramp). Bowdoin and Aquarium are both ~3/10 mile from State so it's not an unreasonable walk for most people.
Government Center is like MBTA first class
I catch the 354 bus at Government Center. I could catch it more or less at State - the first stop on the outbound trip is at Washington mall by the Staples.
But the upstairs portion of Government is heated!! So I choose to wait there instead. State is also a particularly yucky station, so that's another good reason to avoid it. Government Center still has some shine on it.
I do get off at State on the inbound trip (it's the only in-Boston stop), but then walk to DTX and get on the red line.
In any case - judging by the questions people were asking the inspectors and Mr. redshirt, having shuttle buses that do anything but stop at every stop may be too confusing for a lot of passengers.