The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority began the consolidation of four Green Line B Branch stations on Boston University’s campus last week.
The Saint Paul Street and BU West Stations will be consolidated into the Amory Street Station, and the Babcock Street and Pleasant Street will be combined into the Babcock Street Station.
The new stations will be longer, with accessible boarding and exiting, as well as upgraded reliability and security for both stations and trains.
“The consolidated stations will improve safety and save time for riders traveling on Commonwealth Ave,” according to an MBTA press release.
For the duration of construction, the MBTA will operate shuttle busses in place of typical train services, with an expected completion time of 12 months.
Leah Yim, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she welcomes the introduction of the new stations.
“I think that it’s a nicer option because I heard that they are going to make actual platforms and it is going to be a better waiting area,” Yim said. “Before, it used to be if there was rain or severe weather, it wasn’t a good place to wait.”
Yim said she was a frequent user of public transportation on campus and the construction would benefit students.
“Even if it might be a little more distance,” she said, “I think that it would be a better option for us.”
Questrom School of Business junior Victor Cadaoas said he would prefer having more MBTA stations on campus and dislikes the inconvenience caused by construction.
“I am not a fan,” Cadaoas said. “It happened my sophomore year and it caused so much congestion like a bottleneck.”
Cadaoas added the operation of shuttle busses as temporary replacements to trains isn’t ideal for commuting students.
“It doesn’t seem like that positive of a deal,” he added. “The buses could always be stuck in traffic but with the T, you could reasonably expect it to come up.”
Ronald Freeman-Carter, a freshman in the College of General Studies, said shuttles are a less predictable mode of transportation compared to the train.
“It’s kind of hard to tell when the shuttle is going to arrive,” he said. “It’s not like the T when that information is available online, you can just go on the MBTA website.”
Freeman-Carter said he understands the construction may have differing impacts on students compared to commuters outside of the BU community.
“Sometimes it can be inconvenient and you have to stop multiple times,” Freeman-Carter said, “especially if you don’t go to BU, obviously that’s kind of superfluous.”
He said the previous stops were beneficial to students, especially in the winter months.
“As a BU student, it is really useful having multiple stops,” Freeman-Carter said. “You don’t have to walk in the cold.”
College of Engineering junior Nicholas West said he was concerned over the new construction because as an off-campus student, he uses public transportation every day to commute to classes.
“Public transportation’s a big part of just getting around Boston,” West said. “I mean, who wants to navigate this traffic?”
He said having more stops was convenient for students getting across campus because they allow flexibility for when you get off of the train.
“It might be beneficial in terms of time,” West said. “But personally, I prefer the four stops because you can get out at any point in time.”
The difference between stops, he added, could mean the difference in getting to class late or on time.
“In my best interest,” West said, “I would find that this is kind of a pain, honestly.”
Oh boo hoo, you need to walk another 400 feet! For 70K a year, you can buy a heavier jacket. I suggested this 25 years ago when it would take sometimes 30 minutes to get from Harvard Ave to The science building for morning classes. Maybe if they had taken my suggestion the, it would have been done long ago as opposed to tearing up Comm Ave every 5 years. Also, you should have asked for a dedicated bus lane vs a bike lane with those stupid islands. Some of the area traffic is caused by someone on a blue bike ignoring traffic signals to make it to a 9 AM bio class.