TRANSIT ADVOCATES STATEMENT ON MBTA SCHEDULING CHANGES
THAT PRIORITIZE EQUITY AND SAFE ACCESS

We commend the entire team at the MBTA for their hard work and quick response during the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis. 

We would like to specifically express our support for the MBTA's recent announcement that its Fall bus service schedule will prioritize increasing service in communities with the highest bus ridership, and with the most need for transit access. Many of our organizations called for this approach in a letter to the General Manager on June 24, 2020.

This decision will continue to ensure that essential workers get to their jobs and enable thousands of people to access health care, get to the grocery store, and carry out other necessary tasks safely and efficiently. 

This is just one of the many positive steps the MBTA has taken in recent months. Other important changes the MBTA has made include: 

• Agile scheduling, recently profiled by national experts at Transit Center: Transit Ridership Is Shifting Constantly During the Pandemic. Here’s How the MBTA Keeps Up.
  
  
• New Crowding Definition + Re-defining Key Bus Routes: This new crowding definition and focus on continued ridership has allowed the MBTA to adjust which routes are receiving more service. These include prioritizing routes such as the 111, 116/117, 28, 22, 23, 1 -- routes that serve majority Black and Brown communities and who have more riders who are reliant on the T. 
  
  
• Real-time crowding information has provided those that can adjust their travel times the ability to choose when they can most safely travel. 

The MBTA has always been essential to keeping Massachusetts running; that is true now more than ever. The MBTA, partners in federal, state, and local government, and advocacy groups all have more work to do to instill confidence that riding the MBTA can be -- and is -- safe. The MBTA’s announcement about Fall scheduling is an important step in the right direction.

We look forward to continuing to work with the MBTA to ensure it remains a safe and essential service for residents of the Commonwealth. 

• Allston Brighton Health Collaborative
• Alliance for Business Leadership
• Alternatives For Community and Environment (ACE and T Riders Union)
• Conservation Law Foundation
• Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
• Gateway Cities Innovation Institute at MassINC
  
• Greenroots 
• Kendall Square Association
• LivableStreets Alliance
• Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition
• Massachusetts Public Health Association
• Massachusetts Sierra Club
• MASSPIRG
• TransitMatters
• Transportation for Massachusetts
• Transportation Working Group of 350Mass.
• WalkBoston