MBTA bus riders still waiting for better service

Yawu Miller

While the MBTA invests millions of dollars in its commuter rail lines, three-quarters of Greater Boston bus riders surveyed by the T Riders Union report seeing no improvements to their service since the January 1 fare hike that raised the cost of a ride from $0.90 to $1.25.

Nearly three-quarters of the 762 bus riders surveyed by the public transit advocacy group say they would be willing to stage a one-day boycott of the MBTA.

The survey, released on the same day the MBTA announced plans to invest $14 million in improvements to its commuter rail systems, underscores widespread dissatisfaction among bus riders in the system.

“We feel that the MBTA once again has promoted the needs of commuter rail over those of inner-city residents,” said Pamela Bush, a member of the On The Move coalition, a group dedicated to improving regional transportation.

MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas told the Metro last week that the T is investing millions to upgrade the bus system and that funding for buses has outpaced investments in commuter rail coaches by a 4:1 ratio recently.

Those present at the T Riders Union disagreed with Grabauskas’ figures and said bus riders are receiving inferior service.

“Currently the commuter rail is on time 95 percent of the time and many of the buses in these communities are on time only four percent of the time,” said Bush.

Bush and others who turned out for a press conference before the meeting of the MBTA board last Wednesday called on the agency to invest more in service in the inner city.

The predominantly black and Latino communities of Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan are served primarily by buses. Those bus riders routinely receive substandard service, according to members of the T Riders Union.

Dudley Square, which is the commercial heart of Roxbury, is home to one of the MBTA’s busiest transit hubs — Dudley Station — which has the most traffic of any bus station in the system.

It is also served by some of the most notoriously late and unreliable buses in the system, including the 23, which makes its way along Washington Street to Ashmont Station.

“You often see three or four buses riding behind each other and not another bus for another half-hour,” Bush said. “Sometimes I would just walk from Ashmont to Four Corners. The bus is always overcrowded. A lot of the collection boxes don’t work, slowing down boarding passengers.”

Bush, a Hyde Park resident who for years depended solely on MBTA service, broke down and bought a used car for nearly $2,000, after taking a job along the 23 route.

The $14 million MBTA officials are investing in the commuter rail system angers transit activists for two reasons. For one, the system’s bus routes provide 30 percent of the MBTA’s revenue but receive just 10 percent of its investment, according to T Riders Union activist Lee Matsueda.

The other reason is the MBTA’s 2003 pledge to add 100 new buses into the system — a promise the transit authority has yet to fulfill.

“They talk about how they’ve invested money into the system,” Matsueda said, “but the riders don’t see it. The buses are still late. And they’re still crowded.”