Audio for Digital J

Boston has been using buses to replace trains that are out for maintenance, causing delays and overcrowding. The increased traffic from the buses is a problem, especially during rush hour when students are trying to get to school. This solution is particularly impacting lower-income families and students who rely on public transportation. People are calling for the transit system to fix the issues and stop raising fares. The word busing carries some pretty heavy, short connotations, which might be why Boston avoids using it when discussing their use of them to replace trains out for maintenance. But as of a few weeks ago, for many Boston-area students who rely on the T, that word might be a more fitting way to describe what's happening than city officials would care to admit, connotations and all. Starting October 8th, buses replaced service between Forest Hills and Back Bay slash Copley. According to the NBCA, there is an end in sight. Work will last until October 20th, and make commutes faster. Yeah, it makes me late for school. A Dorchester resident echoed a similar complaint. I'm in college, and I have basketball practice. And we have study hall at 4 o'clock. It's currently 353. And all the buses have to run back. So it's kind of been hard to get on the bus. I'm pushed to elaborate. Complaints centered on the buses being overcrowded and delays from traffic. With traffic levels back to pre-pandemic levels, and then some, the last thing Boston needs is more vehicles on the road, especially at rush hour when students are trying to get to school, and especially at the quantities needed to replace the Orange Line, a central artery within a system that served over 350,000 riders last month alone. And that figure only accounts for weekday ridership. Yeah, it makes me late for school. Do you think the busing is an effective solution? I mean, it's working, but I don't think it's fast enough. But what's the big deal if students are a little late to class? Like, 40 minutes. That's how long that same Dorchester resident reported having to wait for one bus. 40 minutes is not a little late. That's a missed class. And that's a big deal. Especially when these disruptions are happening, as he and everyone else said. The problem becomes more profound when you consider the disproportionate impacts these disruptions are having across communities. First and secondary education students who lack the luxury of a non-working parent or one with the sufficient schedule flexibility to drop them off at school, often students from lower income families, are disproportionately impacted, as are higher ed students who can't afford to Uber, live close to campus, or own a car and thus rely on the T. One thing everyone did seem to be in agreement on was the statement they'd like officials at the T to hear. Stop raising the fares, unless they really got this in order. The commute's in order. Make everything free for a little while, not just the buses that go through their way. Fix your problems. Stop raising the fares. Make everything free for a little while.