The birds are chirping, the sun is lingering a bit longer, baseball is back (and so are allergies). This can all only mean one thing - spring is here, despite the seemingly endless rain. And what comes with this change of the season? Changes in MBTA service, of course.
The MBTA announced its spring service changes on all of its lines starting Sunday April 7th. So, what does this mean for you, rider?
More frequent subways
The Red Line will increase frequency every day due to the track improvement projects (and their associated closures) that have allowed for increased train speeds and safety.
The Orange Line will see an increase in weekday frequency, from every 8 minutes to every 7-8 minutes during peak times with the addition of more trains (note: you can see just how many trains are running with the TransitMatters New Train Tracker or this Live MBTA Subway Map by Stefan).
On the Blue Line, weekday frequency will also increase, but specifically between the hours of 8-11:30 PM as a response to increased rider demand at that time. And in order to increase reliability of the schedule, trips will shift throughout the day.
The Green Line will see a number of changes to its various branches.
On weekdays, the B and D lines will see an increase in frequency during morning and evening peak times, and the C and E lines will see an increase in frequency throughout the day.
On the weekends, Saturday trips will be shifted throughout the day to improve the reliability of the Green Line schedule, the B, C, and D lines will see increased frequency on Sundays while the E line will see decreased frequency to balance the number of trains across the four lines, and weekend capacity will increase in the morning and evening across all four lines due to the addition of two-car trains.
Bus service sees modest increase
For bus riders, there will be routes with increased frequency (buses 1, 7, 9, 21, 32, 47, 57, 65, 111, 117, 455, 501, SL1, SL3), decreased frequency (buses 34, 116, 121), and route changes (buses 83, 91, and 120).
About a 60 other routes will have other minor scheduled departure time changes. For more information on the specifics of these bus route changes, visit the MBTA spring 2024 service changes website.
According to an MBTA spokesperson, these schedule changes represent an increase of 17 daily service hours, or a 0.2 percent increase in scheduled bus service.
While modest, this would represent one of the first increases in scheduled MBTA bus service after several years' worth of service reductions.
Last year, in response to chronic staffing shortages, the MBTA reduced scheduled service on dozens of routes because it didn't have enough drivers.
That problem is slowly turning a corner: the T now has 1,631 bus operators, 236 bus operator vacancies, and 116 recent hires who are actively in training.
Ferries return
Ferry service will resume, starting with the East Boston ferry that resumed starting April 1st, followed by the Lynn and Winthrop ferries that will resume on April 29th, and the Weekend Hingham/Hull/Logan to Boston ferry will resume May 25th for Memorial Day weekend. Ferry schedules can be found here.
To be announced
Commuter Rail spring and summer service changes are still in progress, so be sure to check back in to the MBTA spring 2024 service changes website for more updates. Commuter Rail schedules can be found here.
There are no planned service changes for The RIDE at this time.
The MBTA is collecting public feedback on these spring 2024 service changes, so be sure to email publicengagement@mbta.com with feedback if you have any. And to request more information, accommodations, and/or language services, you can email publicengagement@mbta.com.
Where are you hoping to go this spring with the help of the T? How will these spring service changes affect your commutes? Sound off in the comments below.
