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Here’s why readers are second-guessing riding the T
"All we get is lip service after these horrible and frequent accidents."
With the recent spate of MBTA accidents, readers are feeling apprehensive about their regular commutes, and some have quit riding the T altogether.
“Fires, deaths, crashes, boxes falling on heads, the floor crumbling, assaults — why would I ride the T?” Drew from Mission Hill told Boston.com.
At the start of the month, Joycelyn Johnson, a Harvard University doctoral candidate was injured after she was hit by a falling support brace at Harvard Station. This is the second time this year that a heavy object fell in the station. In March, another woman narrowly missed a corroded ceiling panel. These accidents are part of a pattern of safety issues at T stations that have raised alarm bells for riders, MBTA officials, Gov. Maura Healey, and federal transit authorities alike.
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We asked Boston.com readers if all the falling debris, derailments, collapsed stairs, and fires have them nervous to ride the T and 47% of the 409 readers polled said they were worried about their safety riding the T. Thirty percent of readers are so worried, they’ve stopped using MBTA.
We also asked readers if they felt satisfied with the MBTA’s response to these accidents. Fifty percent of readers said they didn’t get the sense the transit authority took complaints seriously while 43% said the agency was responsive but slow to action. Only 7% of respondents said the T had a good response to public safety concerns.
Do the MBTA's safety issues have you second guessing your ridership?
Yes, I'm worried.
47%
Yes, and I've stopped riding the T.
30%
No, I'm not concerned.
19%
Other
4%
How would you gauge the MBTA's public response to recent safety concerns?
Good: They're responsive and they seem to be taking appropriate steps to rectify the issues.
7%
Bad: You don't get the idea that there's a sense of urgency on their part.
50%
Middling: They're responsive but changes/improvements are too slow to materialize.
43%
Johnson, the woman who was injured at Harvard Station last week, told reporters that she plans to sue MBTA for the incident, saying it was “honestly ridiculous” that commuters don’t feel safe using the T.
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MBTA spokesman Joseph Pesaturo told the Boston Globe that the transit agency “deeply regrets” what happened and continues to “work every day to ensure safety for all.”
MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng reached out to Johnson after the accident. Eng, who started the agency’s top job in April, has said that regaining rider trust is among his top priorities.
“To people who have lost faith in the T, I’d tell them, ‘Stay tuned,’” he said last month. “If we lose faith, then why are we even trying? The real thing is, you have to believe, you have to have a vision, and we do. I know the people at the T … know we can turn it around; I’m going to demonstrate that we can turn it around.”
But Sam S. from Boston said she’s tired of waiting for changes to come to the troubled public transit system.
“The current state of the T is unacceptable. As a young professional starting out, having a car in the city is not financially practical so I rely on walking and public transit to get around. The trains and stations are literally crumbling in front of us,” she said. “All we get is lip service after these horrible and frequent accidents. The new manager said ‘stay tuned’ for good things. I can’t ‘stay tuned’ — I need to get to work today!”
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Below you’ll find a sampling of responses from readers sharing how they feel about MBTA safety and the transit authority’s response to their concerns.
Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
‘I don’t like feeling like I’m taking my life into my own hands just to commute to work’
“I don’t own a car, so I rely on the T to get to work every day. Currently, I live in Quincy, but the Braintree line has been so bad, I’ve decided to move to Cambridge so I can walk to work if I need to. I love that Quincy is building lots of housing, but honestly, if the T doesn’t work and if it doesn’t get us into the city efficiently and safely, none of that really matters.” — Carrie B., Quincy
“I ride the T frequently, often stopping at the Harvard Station, and you can be sure I look up at the ceiling tiles. I trust Maura Healey more than any previous governor to fix this very serious problem. As has been said, Boston cannot survive economically without a fully functioning transportation system. I lived in NYC for twenty years and never, ever experienced the delays and dangerous situations that I see here.” — Kathy, Somerville
“I’m pretty new to using the T — I just started commuting into Cambridge in January. Since then, it seems like every week there’s some issue or another. If I had as many disasters as the T does on a weekly basis, I’d be horribly embarrassed. They seem to just carry on slowly and nonchalantly. I don’t have much of a choice but to use the T for my commute, but honestly, it makes me second guess taking the job I did in the city. I don’t like feeling like I’m taking my life into my own hands just to commute to work.” — Claire B., R.I.
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“I still take the T to get to the office but the improvements that they are working on do not seem to be materializing in any sort of timely fashion. It seems that all of the issues that have been ignored for years are coming to a head all at the same time and it’s hard to feel anything other than unsafe and frustrated because this could, and should, have been avoided.” — Nicole, Somerville
“I have been riding the T for almost 40 years and I believe in public transportation but I have never felt as disgusted with the state of the T as I do now. I work at Harvard and live in Quincy. It takes me ONE HOUR to get there on the Red Line. Then I worry about something crashing on my head? It’s completely shameful since there’s no end in sight.” — Leslie M., Quincy
‘I stopped taking the T years ago’
“I was just telling someone after reading about the panel in the Harvard station falling that I would never again take public transportation because of so many safety issues that don’t stop: falling components, personal safety violations, halted service, delayed service, accidents. It’s worth the money for parking and peace of mind to take my own car.” — S.D., Waltham
“I stopped taking the T years ago when they couldn’t get me from point A to point B. Sad to see they haven’t bothered fixing literally anything since then.” — Kyle, Brighton
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“I live in the suburbs. I have not been on the T since early 2020 (pre-pandemic). Nothing I have seen or heard in the past three years has made me want to get back on it. In fact, it has caused me to avoid it at all costs due to the inherent delays, slow zones, and safety issues. I LOVE public transit. I live a 10-minute walk from Norwood Depot station. I WANT to ride the T again. I WANT to take the commuter rail and Silver Line to the airport instead of a Lyft to Logan Express, but not with the level of unpredictability to my time and safety that it has at present.” — Robert C., Norwood
‘Management has been slack and funds have been insufficient’
“I’m appalled that the T is not a priority to the government. It is a lifeline for many to earn a livelihood. In a time when jobs really need to be preserved, we are creating problems by not allowing people the confidence to ride the T safely, and in a way that they reach their destination on time. If the T were as elite as what Europe and Japan have, it would reduce our traffic congestion. We don’t need a multimillion-dollar report to ascertain that. Focus on the experience and what gives riders a sense of confidence and comfort. It will go a long way to improving congestion in this city and even invite people from outside Boston to want to visit and explore.” — Meena I., Lexington
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“The MBTA has been bled for financial resources for over a decade. It is a public service, not a profit-making entity. Tax dollars need to be made available to address historic deficiencies and ensure that the T benefits both riders and the poor souls on the expressway who are now dealing with riders on the road.” — Michael, Quincy
“I grew up in Cambridge in the 1960s when we took the trackless trolley to Harvard Square, then the red line to Park Street and on to the Green Line or wherever. I used the T daily for school and commuting for over 40 years. It was NEVER like this. Sure, it would break down or be delayed occasionally, but it was basically a safe, reliable means of transport. Never did you EVER think you were taking your life into your hands just trying to get to work.
“Now with fires, deaths, and the most recent events of the past couple of weeks, ceiling tiles and old equipment falling on people’s heads, etc., it has become clear that the T is a systemic failure from top to bottom that goes back a long, long way. Obviously, management has been slack and funds have been insufficient over a period of many years, to the point that now I have no confidence in the safety of its operations. Past administrations have let things slide for too long, with disastrous consequences. It is time for Governor Healey to clean house from top to bottom, and the legislature to vote sufficient funds to bring the T up to the 21st Century.” — Jennifer D., Peabody
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Boston.com occasionally interacts with readers by conducting informal polls and surveys. These results should be read as an unscientific gauge of readers’ opinion.
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