FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bus riders present their own service improvement agenda items at MBTA board meeting

August 14, 2007 Boston, MA – At the MBTA board meeting today bus riders maintained their claim that more must be done especially for communities of color and working class families.

“Every month the MBTA board reviews their agenda items and rarely will you find anything to do with bus service improvements. It’s time for riders to propose their own agenda items on issues that matter to us. And in my community, it’s the 15 and 19 which need weekend service especially with the winter cold approaching,” said Peggy Jarrett of Dorchester.

Although only senior MBTA staff can supposedly add items to the agenda, the T Riders Union (TRU) and the On the Move (OTM) Greater Boston Transportation Justice Coalition proposed five different change orders/amendments of their own for board approval.

Stuart Spina, a 16 year-old from West Roxbury presented preliminary data from a report he plans to release to the MBTA on late and crowded buses on the 15 poorest performing routes. He added that the MBTA can do many things to improve their system, “…from investing more resources in purchasing additional buses for the poorest performing routes to simply monitoring the buses better so that we avoid the chronic bunching problem, it’s time the MBTA gives bus riders the respect and service commuter rail and subway riders seem to get.”

From small to big investments, TRU and OTM said there is so much more the MBTA should do for its bus riders, many who depend on the MBTA to get around. Valerie Anderson of Mattapan described the deplorable conditions riders have to deal with at Ashmont station during renovations, “the lighting is poor, there’s no seating and limited protection from the rain, and it’s so far to walk for seniors and those with disabilities who have to catch the Redline.” Meanwhile Pamela Bush, OTM Coordinator laid down plans for “Project 25/50 in 3 to 6” that aims to improve bus service schedule adherence by 25% in 3 months and 50% in the next 6 months.

In closing TRU and OTM said the groups look forward to the approval of more bus service improvement agenda items during MBTA Board Meetings. They added that they will also advocate for these improvements by requesting meetings with Cheryl Hinton from Bus Operations and Jim Folk from Service Planning.

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