While some commuters around Boston found it took them at least twice as long to get to work Monday, it appeared to be a successful first weekday for the most part as both the Orange Line and part of the Green Line were closed. The real challenges are still ahead, however, officials warned.
It appeared to be a similar story during Tuesday's morning commute. Major problems hadn't yet materialized on the fourth full day of the shutdown — the second weekday commute of the weekslong overhauls, but one that officials had said could see more congestion due to unusually light traffic on Mondays since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Green Line Service Problems Tuesday
There were a few minor problems Tuesday morning, however. The MBTA reported some problems early with the Green and Red lines. Shuttle buses were replacing service on the Green Line between Boston College and Babcock Street due to "a power problem."
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The power was still out at 6:45 a.m. according to an NBC10 Boston reporter in the field, who said approximately 100 feet of power lines came down causing an outage.
The transit agency told NBC10 Boston that some of the Green Line's overhead catenary wires at Commonwealth Avenue and Washington Street came down early Monday morning, adding that repairs had been completed. Trolley service resumed on the B branch around 7:15 a.m. with delays.
The MBTA also said earlier that the Red Line was experiencing delays of up to 15 minutes due to a train with a "mechanical problem" approaching Alewife.
Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver told NBC10 Boston that Monday may not have been the best judge of how things are going during this unprecedented shutdown, given that Mondays have been a little different the past couple of years of working from home, and that Tuesday and Wednesday could be the real test.
Poftak agreed, and reiterated officials' prior request that anyone who can avoid heading downtown do so. He is urging drivers to stay off the roads as much as possible.
"I'm hopeful there's not more people out on the roads tomorrow, but I also don't want the message from today to be, 'OK, things went relatively well, I guess it's OK to drive to work tomorrow," he said.
MBTA Making Progress on Orange Line Repairs
The 11-mile subway line that runs from the city of Malden north of Boston to the city's Jamaica Plain neighborhood shut down for 30 days on Friday night so the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority can make track and signal repairs that would normally take a year. To complicate matters, a section of the MBTA's Green Line also shut down for a month on Monday for the completion of construction work.
The Orange Line normally handles about 100,000 trips per weekday, according to the MBTA. In addition to bringing commuters to work every day, visitors also use the Orange Line to access many top tourist destinations.
Orange Line riders said Tuesday they are getting used to ‘shuttling off’ to work or school, instead of hopping on the train – with only a few hiccups along the way.
Orange Line rider Paulette McNamee said, “You have to give yourself enough time in order to be on your destination. Unfortunately I didn’t leave on time so I’m going to be late.”
“Obviously you’re so used to the routine and you’re getting out of it, everybody’s frustrated. I mean it is infrastructure, it’s just Orange, it’ll get fixed,” said Joachin Joashenel, a lifelong Orange Line rider.
The MBTA says so far the progress on fixing the Orange line is going as planned – with five years of repairs still scheduled to be completed in the 30 days it’s shutdown.
MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak has shared updates on how much work has been done so far, with 2,400 feet of rail replaced on the Orange Line, including between Downtown Crossing and State Street, which eliminates one of six slow zones.
Demolition of the old track near Wellington Yard is continuing, along with demo work at Jackson Square and Tufts. Signal work is ongoing at Oak Grove and repairs are underway at Sullivan Square. And in-station lighting is being upgraded at Forest Hills, Mass. Ave, Stony Brook and Assembly stations.
“We have an active work zone up and down the Orange Line, and we are taking full advantage of this 30 days of unencumbered access to the Orange Line to get lots of important work done,” Poftak said.
The T continues to encourage people to avoid driving in the area of the Orange Line shuttles, if they can, to try to help ease any added congestion on the road. Many in and around the city have opted to use the shuttle replacement service, Commuter Rail or even free BlueBikes to get around.
The work on the "Orange Line super surge" is on schedule so far, Poftak said. He still expects the T to finish five years' worth of Orange Line projects in 30 days, he said. Asked what he thinks of riders skeptical it will all be finished on time, he noted that the work schedule was made so that some projects can be "put to the side" if they aren't completed by Sept. 18, but also that, if work ends early, there is more work that can be added to the schedule.
What would push back the project's end date is "a critical safety issue" arising, according to Poftak.
Orange Line Riders Adjusting to New Commute
For those keeping tabs on their morning commute, it depends on who you ask and where they're heading.
“I come from Malden to Cambridge Center yesterday, was terrible," said Eddie Urbina heading to work. "Think today I’m going to be too early.”
“Oh man it’s been awful a lot of legs," said Michael Reid. "I'm just trying to go to jury duty. Don’t even want to be here.”
“I’m very lost," said Lesly Nerette. "I just moved here so it’s definitely a lot harder for me to navigate.”
The second full weekday morning of the Orange Line shutdown started off with riders seemingly adjusted -- or at least working on it. One major issue still remains drivers paying attention to the many marked changes on the roads.
With so many designated shuttle lanes in place, MBTA officials and even riders say those will make the difference to how smoothly this all goes. This is also important to note because these bus lanes will eventually be used by emergency vehicles moving forward, as well.
The MBTA says Transit police will be out along the shuttle routes to educate drivers and even issue warnings. While they are issuing warnings now, be aware that fines from $50-$200 are also possible.
It's definitely a project that has most in the region recalculating.
"I saw them making the bus lanes. No way they’re goin to listen to that …all through here though. It’s too much," Reid said. "Just congestion.”
"Overall, I'm very hopeful that it seems like much of the planning and all of the details we have discussed have been implemented, and so far, so good," Mayor Michelle Wu said at a press conference Monday.
She said there were plenty of shuttles and plenty of T staffers at the stations, but some additional multilingual signage definitely needs to be added.
"We're still tweaking things as we go and updating it day by day," the mayor added. "MBTA riders are always ready for anything. If you are on the system every day you could be prepared for anything to happen, and so I think people are used to having to navigate the complexities, and the goal of this surge period is we will eliminate some of that need to be resilient on a day to day basis as an MBTA rider."
Still, she said the true test of the MBTA diversions will be when school is back in session next month. Wu was expected to hold a press conference later Tuesday alongside Boston Public School officials to discuss the mitigation steps they're taking during the shutdown.
Wu has encouraged people to take the Commuter Rail in the meantime.
"It is fast, it comes on a regular schedule," Mayor Wu said. "They've increased the frequency being made at each of the stops."
The mayor said historically, she hasn't frequented the Commuter Rail, saying it's "usually so expensive to ride." She called it "probably the best alternative" to getting around quickly during the Orange Line's closure.
Gov. Charlie Baker said on Twitter that he rode the Haverhill Commuter Rail line on Monday morning and everything went smoothly. He was riding the rails again Tuesday.
"The team and I have been in close contact with the T over the weekend and today to monitor the diversion and construction progress," he said. He also thanked T employees and riders for their hard work and patience.
People Encouraged to Take Commuter Rail During Orange Line Shutdown
Riding the commuter rail is an option for many people -- and the price is right.
All riders need to do for the free service during the shutdown is show a CharlieCard or CharlieTicket to the conductor on the Commuter Rail train. It doesn't even need to be loaded with money. This includes Zones 1A, 1, and 2 on all Commuter Rail lines. The city distributes CharlieCards at Boston Public Libraries through its CharlieCard Access Initiative.
NBC10 Boston's Monica Madeja spent the morning on the Commuter Rail Tuesday to find out what riders think about this option. During the second weekday morning commute, commuters were deciding if the options they chose Monday will work again. We found the Commuter Rail looked a little more like a subway train around 7 a.m. Tuesday.
On another day of navigating a new commute, a medical student named Ashley said it was her first go through without the Orange Line. She opted for the Commuter Rail to get to work in Jamaica Plain.
"So normally I take the Orange Line from Haymarket to Forest Hills but today I just walked to South Station to take the Commuter Rail so we’ll see how it goes," she said.
Rail riders told us the trains are a faster alternative to shuttles while the Orange Line is shutdown. We found out for ourselves it's a 15-minute ride between Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain to South Station.
"The train was packed there were tons of people in there, but it was a fast ride luckily enough," Edwin Melenciano said.
"It’s only a temporary thing and hopefully things will work out the best," Rauf Rashid said.
Mayor Wu said officials are watching ridership numbers.
"We are looking very carefully to see what it means for ridership when commuter rail is actually affordable to everyone and therefore what the fare policy should be,” she said.
“I actually had those thoughts, I said, 'you know if I could sort of get away with not having to pay to get to South Station I would take this constantly. Or at least pay for the same price,'” Melenciano said.
But with the trains coming every hour or so, riders are hoping more can be added to make the Commuter Rail an even better option.
Kristie Stiasny said with the Orange Line, she's normally home by 6:30. On Monday, she didn't get home till 7:30.
“We need to see more frequency of the stops being made on the commuter rail,” Wu said Monday.
How are the Orange Line Shuttle Buses?
The Commuter Rail isn't the only alternative to Orange Line service that's being offered. Shuttles are also in use along the line during the shutdown, and there are free passes available to use the city's bike sharing service, Bluebikes.
NBC10 Boston's Matt Fortin was riding the Orange Line shuttles both Monday and Tuesday morning, checking in with commuters to see how they thought things were going.
One commuter told NCB10 Boston she finds this all very stressful, she's been frustrated to see her commute to school and work take longer with the shuttle buses -- meaning she has to wake up earlier and gets home later.
"It's a lot slower than my usual commute," she said of her travel time that has nearly doubled from Chelsea. "It's definitely been frustrating having to wait for the shuttle buses and then obviously they're a lot slower than the trains...kind of annoying."
"I feel like today's been a lot busier," she noted of Tuesday's morning commute compared to Monday.
Fortin also noticed the shuttles were more full than Monday, though some still had room. And he observed more police on the streets and at busy intersections.
Orange Line Shutdown Stories
The Associated Press contributed to this report
