Boston University students expressed frustrations after Green Line B service between Kenmore and Babcock Street was suspended on Monday.
The suspension, which is part of the MBTA’s Track Improvement Program, is aimed at removing speed restrictions across four lines by the end of 2024.
“The current service diversion on the Green Line supports the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s commitment to accelerating improvements at the T and providing better service to MBTA riders and the public,” Monica Tibbits-Nutt, secretary and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, wrote in an email.
Tibbits-Nutt wrote that the scheduled improvements will be completed “faster than if the work was performed during nights and weekends alone.”
BU Spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email that there is “no change in the BU Shuttle service” already offered to students on campus.
MBTA shuttle buses, running between Copley and Babcock Street, will be deployed during rush hours and based on anticipated ridership and on-site field management who make decisions in real time, MBTA Deputy Press Secretary Lisa Battiston wrote in an email.
The Green Line B will reopen Dec. 5, according to the MBTA.
Even with the shuttle service in place, BU students expressed concerns regarding the suspensions.
“I think that it’s not the greatest time to do it, especially considering winter is coming,” said Peter Emero, a freshman in the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences. “It’s a college environment where many people who are coming from out of state aren’t used to the cold.”
Emero also shared his concerns about the construction blocking crosswalks, causing a “big, big inconvenience” for students getting to class.
Ariel Seong, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she is still getting used to transportation on campus and does not want the “hassle” of figuring out how to ride shuttle buses.
“I’m pretty foreign to the area,” Seong said.“It took me a really long time to get used to riding the T because of how irregular it is, and I still am not comfortable riding the BU bus.”
Jack Wang, a junior in Questrom School of Business, said the walk to class is far from where he currently lives.
“It’s personally impacted me in some ways because, as you know, the walk from Allston all the way to Questrom is quite far,” Wang said.
Wang said the suspensions have not affected him much as there is a shuttle stop nearby and the free shuttle buses are convenient.
“It’s an extra 10 minute walk to get on the shuttle and that brings you basically right to Questrom,” Wang said. “I don’t think it’s bad in that way.”
Kyle Armstrong, a freshman in the College of Engineering, said he could have been late to class because he was unaware of the suspensions.
“I personally didn’t know that the cancellation was happening until Monday morning when I left to go to my 8 a.m.,” Armstrong said. “I couldn’t take the T, and then I had to run to class to make it on time.”
Too difficult to figure out how to ride a shuttle bus? A college freshman, presumably about 18? Well, you, the prospective passenger, will stand at the location where the bus will stop. Ascend the steps into the bus and take a seat. After the bus reaches the stop of your choice, descend the same steps to the curb.