The rollout of chartered shuttle buses wasn't completely smooth, but the service is going well nearly a week into the Orange Line shutdown project, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said Wednesday.
He said there were "a handful of growing pains," including an anecdotal report of a shuttle bus driver getting directions from a passenger, but there have been several days without reports of major issues, Poftak said.
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"I think the drivers of the buses now very much understand their routes," he told reporters during a briefing on the project he's referred to as "Orange Line super surge" at the Ruggles Station Commuter Rail platform.
While some people have reported longer than normal trips to work, the first three weekday commutes during the shutdown have gone pretty smoothly. About shuttle buses, specifically, Poftak said, "we haven't had any significant issues so far."
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Work is still on schedule, but the general manager noted, "we still have 25 days to go, there's a lot of work to be done."
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 T is providing shuttle buses between stations, and the city has set aside designated bus-only travel lanes on some streets. Commuter trains are also running with increased frequency — and Poftak said some heavily used trains would be getting more cars as the agency adjusts to ridership levels.
The T has also deployed hundreds of workers to help commuters navigate the new system. Traffic nightmares that had been anticipated with more vehicles on the roads and reconfigured streets did not materialize, but the full impact won't be known until after Labor Day, and with the start of school.
"I think there's going to be an ongoing need to have systems available for people," Poftak said.
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.
The MBTA has experienced a series of problems in the past year that prompted the Federal Transit Administration to launch a review of the system, and the shutdown for repairs is in response to that review.
More upcoming service changes
Also announced Wednesday are a series of service changes for fall, which the MBTA says will help them meet the FTA directives surrounding staffing shortages.
There will be service changes on all the T lines except the Blue line, including fewer service runs on the Green Line branches during the week and weekends, effective on August 28. Many bus lines are also affected on the same date.
The MBTA also warned there will be changes to the Commuter Rail and ferry coming in October.
Officials said these changes will help maintain safety and service.
For the full list of changes, click here.
