MBTA

MBTA Considering Restoring Some Recent Service Reductions

MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak wrote to U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch that the transit agency is rolling back plans to lay off about 40 rail conductors

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NBC Boston

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is considering restoring some recent service reductions that have met with criticism from riders and members of the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation.

MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak wrote to U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch that the transit agency is rolling back plans to lay off about 40 rail conductors and will “commit to increasing service levels as quickly as possible on the bus and subway while running the spring schedule,” the Boston Globe reported on Friday.

Poftak did not say which service levels will be increased.

The MBTA has reduced service in recent weeks, eliminating weekend commuter rail trains on several lines, reducing subway service by up to 20% on the Green, Orange, and Red lines and reducing service on several bus lines and the ferry system.

The MBTA has pointed to concerns about how quickly ridership will return to pre-pandemic levels.

Critics of the cuts, which include U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have also pointed to the more than $1 billion the MBTA has received in new funding through the two COVID relief bills that have passed Congress in recent months.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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