It has been a semester of change for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the organization in charge of Boston’s buses and subways also known as the T.
From a controversial decision to limit the noise made by station musicians fare hikes and station improvements, the T has made Boston headlines and altered how Boston residents and BU students get around the hub.
MBTA AND THE MUSIC DEBATE
One of the most controversial decisions MBTA officials made this semester came in November when MBTA officials tried to silence subway musicians who use electric amplification devices and horn instruments.
The authority said noise made by trains and musicians together made the stations too loud, and that intercom announcements were inaudible. After a post-Sept. 11 security team said the announcements needed to be audible for safety reasons, the MBTA changed its policy.
Initially, officials said electronic amplifiers would not be allowed as of Dec. 1. However, the decision was changed on Dec. 4, after both commuters and musicians appealed musicians are now allowed to amplify their music to 80 decibels.
‘We put together a team of safety officials after 9/11, and they came up with 100 recommendations that would enhance the MBTA safety initiatives to make commuters feel safer,’ MBTA spokeswoman Lydia Rivera said. ‘We needed to make a choice do we enable our customers the ability to hear announcements or music?’
And according to Rivera, the dispute is over.
‘That is a closed case,’ she said. ‘We have an agreement and it will work out.’
But School of Management senior Jason Eaves said the new limitations are worthless.
‘It’s stupid I mean you can’t hear the announcements because the trains are loud,’ he said. ‘The speaker system also sucks it doesn’t have anything to do with the performers, its just ridiculous.’
BUS IMPROVEMENTS
The most expensive investment the MBTA made this fall was half a billion dollars toward an environment-friendly improvement to Boston’s mass-transit system: more than 500 new low-emission, handicap-accessible buses.
The new buses replaced almost one-third of the authority’s aging diesel bus fleet that has been in service since the late 1980s.
‘They were researched significantly and recommended for the streets of Boston due to congestion,’ Rivera said. ‘They’re capable of [using a global positioning system] and run on natural gas.’
In addition to updated the bus fleet, the MBTA is building new bus maintenance facilities and new bus station shelters and signs to help improve riders’ experiences.
SUBWAY IMPROVEMENTS
The T subway system also received numerous improvements during the 2003 fall semester track, station and train improvements were made to the B, C and D branches of the Green line.
The opening of the BU Central and BU East T-stops was one of the more significant improvements to the streetcar system this fall both stations opened on Nov. 29 after complications with contractors pushed the station construction projects 14 months behind schedule.
The prolonged project caused additional headaches for BU students, as many Warren Towers residents were woken or disturbed by construction noise coming from Commonwealth Avenue.
‘The noise definitely bothered me during class you couldn’t really hear,’ said School of Social Work junior Tamar Sekion. She said she thought the MBTA should have built one station instead of remodeling both BU Central and East.
However, MBTA officials said to do so would have been impossible because handicapped laws would not permit them to make the change.
‘There were always two stations. and we just mirrored what had been done there in the past,’ Rivera said.
The new platforms are part of two initiatives in which the MBTA is participating the platforms were primarily designed to make boarding Green Line trains easier for handicapped riders. They also are part of a Commonwealth Avenue improvement project that will eventually improve both the avenue’s transportation arteries and improve its overall appearance.
IMPROVEMENTS COME WITH COSTS
The MBTA system improvements that were completed this past fall do not come without cost, however on Nov. 6, the MBTA approved a fare hike that will take effect on Jan. 1, 2004 in an effort to cover improvement costs and offset deficits.
Subway fares will increase from $1.00 to $1.25 and bus fares will increase from $0.75 to $0.90 at the start of the new year. One-way Commuter Rail tickets will be raised no higher than $6.00, and the MBTA’s handicapped accessibility program, ‘The Ride,’ will increase fares to $1.50.
According to a MBTA newsletter, the fares will specifically help the authority deploy two-car trains during late night hours on the Green Line, make bus service more frequent, help cover costs associated with the new buses and fund station improvements on the Red and Blue Lines.
‘The MBTA has been affected by the economy as with other agencies and is in debt,’ Rivera said. ‘In an effort to move us out of the situation and continue present service, we needed to propose fare hikes.
‘The public reaction was negative, but we came to an agreement with them that we would go with the hike,’ she said.
But College of Communication senior Amy Jozakiewicz said she did not understand the need for the increase.
‘I think that fare hike is unnecessary because I feel like they make enough money already with fares and parking tickets,’ she said. ‘I don’t think they should hike it.’
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT
The MBTA has no plans to cease improving its system it is currently adding new low-floor trolley cars to the Green Line, and will be adding new subway cars to the Blue Line in 2004.
The T also will be rebuilding the Ashmont, Shawmut, Fields Corner, Savin Hill and Charles stations on the Red Line and will be extending Blue Line station platforms to accommodate new six car trains.
The MBTA is furthermore planning to install a new automated fare collection system for its subway stations and will be finishing its ‘Silver Line’ rapid transit, underground bus service in 2010.