T service slashed as ridership tumbles
Ridership is nosediving at the MBTA, forcing the transit agency to cut back service as social distancing and telecommuting keep people out of the city and off the streets.
The number of people taking the subway plummeted last week, dropping significantly each day and getting down near half the normal number of weekday riders by Friday.
“Last week, ridership really started to drop beginning Wednesday as people began working from home and events got canceled,” the T wrote in a blog post on Monday, presenting the ridership numbers as compared to the last week of February, which the T said was a normal week.
Across the board, the normal weekday ridership had dropped 48% by Friday. The Red Line was down 51%, the Orange Line 47% and the Green Line 52%.
Starting today, the T will run trains less frequently, in part to fight the spreading coronavirus and also because of those sharp drops, General Manager Steve Poftak wrote in a Monday memo to staff.
Red Line between Alewife and JFK/UMass will run trains every 7 minutes, and on the Ashmont and Braintree branches every 14 minutes, the T announced Monday.
The Orange Line will run every 9 to 11 minutes, and the Blue Line every 9 to 13 minutes.
The Green Line will run trolleys every 7 to 13 minutes on the branches, with more frequent service on the downtown trunk.
Buses will run their Saturday schedules, with the exception of express bus routes 325, 326, 351, 352, 354, 501, which will run as normal.
The bus system’s ridership drop was smaller than the subway’s, but still major at 32% as compared to the last week in February.
Ferry services are canceled.
The RIDE paratransit service will run a normal schedule.
The Commuter Rail will run reduced schedules, and the T urges riders to check online for those.
The T said complete Commuter Rail data isn’t available yet, but the parking lots by Friday were 69% less full than normal.
“The MBTA plays an important role in slowing the spread of the coronavirus while continuing to provide critical services to medical professionals and other employees in key industries that rely on public transit,” Poftak said. “While some of these changes are inconvenient, they maintain a responsible balance between protecting the health and safety of the MBTA workforce and our customers, and our goal of continuing to run safe and reliable service without major disruptions.”
The T said it will continue assessing ridership needs with a particular focus on workforce access for hospitals, as well as food distribution locations operated by Boston. The T says it may add capacity as necessary, and continues to take heightened cleaning measures.