Residents still waiting on MBTA improvements
By Charlie Breitrose
watertown@wickedlocal.com
Posted Nov. 24, 2014 @ 11:14 am
The Town Council wants some answers about when Watertown will receive some relief for its transportation woes, and it got some details, but no clear timeline.
In the spring, an effort led by concerned citizens and joined by town officials came to a summit in May when they were able to make their concerns clear to the MBTA during a visit by T General Manager Beverly Scott.
The main focus was the crowding and lateness of buses on the 71 and 73 lines heading to and from Harvard Square. MBTA officials returned to town in August where they head concerns about the 70/70A line that serves the Arsenal Street corridor - an area where a number of large development projects have been proposed. They told the town officials, business leaders and members of concerned community groups that a study would be undertaken to look at the Arsenal Street area.
Recently, the Town Councilors discussed how they have not heard anything further from the T about how the town’s public transportation will be improved. Councilor Aaron Dushku raised the issue and asked whether to try to arrange another meeting with the MBTA.
Town Council President Mark Sideris said he would rather continue the process that started in the spring.
“I appreciated Councilor Dushku’s and other residents’ frustration with the lack of action,” Sideris said.
Instead, he suggested sending a letter to the MBTA asking for an update. The Council voted 8-0 to approve this approach.
This week, Councilor Angeline Kounelis received a response to a letter she sent to the MBTA in September. MBTA Assistant General Manager David Carney provided information statistics about ridership and on-time rates for the 71 and 73 routes.
He noted that both routes are among the busiest in the MBTA system. Route 71 has 5,548 weekday riders, making it the 22nd highest out of 168 bus routes in the MBTA. The Route 73 has 6,424 weekday riders, or the 17th highest ridership.
Both routes had on time rates in the top 20-25 percent of routes in the system, Carney wrote. The 73 did have a period in late 2013 and early 2014 when it dropped to about the 50th percentile due to construction in Belmont and in Harvard Square.
Some short-term goals would be to adjust the schedule to improve on-time performance.
In the medium- and long-term, Carney said, the MBTA would support reviewing traffic at the intersection of Mt. Auburn Street and Fresh Pond Parkway in Cambridge. Another step could by collecting fares off buses - particularly at Harvard Station.
Adding more buses during commute time has been a request from town officials and residents. Carney said this could be hard.
“There are times of the day when Route 71, and Route 73 are crowded and warrant additional service,” Carney wrote. “We have a proposal under review to increase the amount of off-peak service on these routes pending identification of additional resources. However, adding peak service will be a challenge since all peak buses are in service, and adding peak service will mean reallocating service from other peak routes, which are also usually crowded.”
Town Councilors said they would continue to keep an eye on transportation issues - existing ones and those coming down the line. Dushku said he is concerned about the realignment of the Mass. Turnpike, which would remove tolls at the Allston/Cambridge exit. Also, the West Station in the area will become a hub for transit for the communities west of Boston, he said, including Watertown.
