BOSTON (AP) - The advisory board for Boston’s public transportation authority is questioning whether the transit system needs to make the major cuts to service that they say they do.
The Advisory Board for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is contesting some of the assumptions that the MBTA has made to justify major cuts to service to be phased in over the next year, the Boston Globe reported on Thursday.
The proposed cuts announced in November would eliminate weekend commuter rail services, 25 bus routes, all ferry service and subway service after midnight over the course of 2021 because of the drop in ridership and revenue during the pandemic.
The Advisory Board represents the towns and cities served by the MBTA and has the right to review major changes to fares and service, the newspaper reported. But its recommendations are not binding on the agency.
“We evaluated everything they’ve put out there. We’ve tested their assumptions,” said Brian Kane, the advisory board’s director. “Our board came to the conclusion that it’s not as dramatic or draconian as they think it is.”
In particular, Kane told the newspaper the elimination of ferry service and weekend commuter rail service goes too far, a view that riders have echoed in public forums over the proposed cuts.
MBTA general manager Steve Poftak said the feedback is “helping inform priorities for maintaining essential service and restoring service in the future.”
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