MBTA

Majority of T riders report feeling unsafe at least once in new survey

From fires to derailments, the MBTA's safety concerns are well documented, but the T has been undergoing major maintenance projects lately in hopes of boosting safety and reliability for riders

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A majority of people who ride the MBTA said they felt unsafe at least once while taking the transit system, according to a new survey from MassINC Polling.

The survey comes following the release of two safety reports released last week — an internal investigation and an independent review. The investigations found that some of the people inspecting the tracks are inexperienced and unqualified.

The MBTA has announced a number of service changes for September. Here's what to know.

In another survey question, only 28% said that the MBTA provides good or excellent service on subways or trolleys. In terms of whether things will improve, about 45% said they believed the T would be better 10 years from now.

The probes last week also identified a lack of clarity regarding roles and responsibilities within the division, and found work that was incomplete.

A portion of the Red Line will close for 16 days this fall, the MBTA announced Thursday.

MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said that changes would be made.

“I will say if you go and look around many agencies have gone through similar challenges from a safety perspective, service perspective and public confidence perspective," Eng said. "And what really comes out of it is right now we are committed under this administration to make the changes that we need and that’s what we are doing.”

The MassINC survey asked 1,000 people who live in 175 communities served by the MBTA.

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