Tell Us

Readers: Are you scared to ride the T?

Tell us if recent incidents at MBTA stations have you second-guessing your commute.

A utility box became dislodged at the MBTA Harvard Square red line station on the inbound platform and struck a passenger in her early 30’s in Cambridge. Nathan Klima for The Boston Globe

By Zipporah Osei

May 3, 2023

2 minutes to read

Safety concerns continue to plague the MBTA even as officials say they’re focused on regaining rider confidence with infrastructure fixes.

Earlier this week, a woman was injured after she was hit by a falling support brace at Harvard Station. This is the second incident of falling debris at the station. In March, another woman had a close call when an aluminum panel weighing an estimated 20 to 25 pounds fell from the ceiling.

These are just the latest in a series of MBTA mishaps that have riders concerned about T safety. In 2021, after a Dorchester man said he was nearly hit by a footlong piece of step at Savin Hill station that fell to the ground in front of him, we asked Boston.com readers how safe they felt riding the T and at the time, readers said they were concerned the transit system’s safety issues weren’t being appropriately addressed.

Since then, the MBTA has been forced by a federal transit authority to take big steps toward improving safety. Part of those improvements included a monthlong shutdown to make track upgrades to the Orange Line and, more recently, the hiring of Phillip Eng as the new MBTA general manager.

Ridership is down since the start of the pandemic as riders contend with falling objects, buckling train floors, derailed trains, and even getting caught on fire.

In light of this, Eng has said his biggest priorities are safety, reliability, and communication.

“To people who have lost faith in the T, I’d tell them, ‘Stay tuned,’” the general manager said. “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.”

We want to know: Do you feel safe riding the T? Are you riding the T less because you’re worried about accidents on trains or inside MBTA stations?

Let us know if you have any concerns by filling out the survey below or emailing us at [email protected] and we may feature your response in a future article.

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