This is the shortest notice that the MBTA has published a schedule change, being 2 full days before the schedule change (last fall was the Wed. before schedule change).
Here's a debunk of the MBTA's schedule changes:
Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com
MBTA:
"The Red Line will see departure time changes throughout the day on weekdays."
Each Red Line Branch will actually see 1 fewer weekday trip. Each branch drops from 83/84 to 82/83 weekday trips, respectively. A 1.2-1.3% service cut.
MBTA: "
The Blue and Orange lines will see departure time changes throughout the day on weekdays, Saturday, and Sunday."
The Orange Line will see 4 fewer weekday trips, 125 -> 122 trips. a 2.4% service cut. Saturday and Sunday service will increase by 3 trips from 119/91 to 122/94 trips each, a 2.5 and 3.2% increase.
The Blue Line will see increase in service 7 days a week, from 169/120/108 to 173/129/124 trips, weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. A 2.3%, 7.5%, and 14.8% increase.
The MBTA also claims that 3 bus routes will see service increases, 1 with service decreases, and 27 with "departure time changes". In actuality?
Since the 34 and the SL3's changes only occur in 1 direction, it's not reflected in the total number of trips. For the 137 bus, this service increase is reflected, increasing service by 1 trip. (I evaluate service totals based on the direction with less service if each direction has differing number of trips on the schedule).
The 35's service cut only affected 1 direction with higher service, therefore, the service cut isn't reflected in the total number of trips.
Now the most egregous bit, bus routes with "departure time changes". How many bus routes saw service cuts but were not announced as such? 3 bus routes. The 90, 430, and 450 bus routes. Let's see how many service cuts the T implemented.
Route 90: Service decreases from 21 to 19 trips weekdays, a 9.6% service cut.
Route 411: The inbound direction only, loses 1 weekday trip, 20 -> 19 trips, a 2.5% service cut.
Route 430: Service decreases from 20 to 18 trips weekdays, a 10% service cut.
Route 450: Service decreases from 32 to 28 trips weekdays, a 13.5% service cut.
Therefore the following routes are all seeing reduced weekday service: Orange, Red, 35, 90, 411 (inbound only), 430, 450 lines.
This is a total of 7 routes, 2 subway routes and 5 bus routes (inbound only on 1 bus route).
And finally; an updated MBTA frequency map. Since Blue Line service levels have exceeded 121 trips on Sundays (increasing from 108 to 124 trips), therefore, the Blue Line will now be marked as a "Every 10 minutes or better" route, an upgrade from "Every 10-12 minutes". There were no other transit routes that crossed any other service threshold on Sundays.
This updated and revised MBTA frequency map will be effective for SPRING 2023. Commuter Rail schedules update in late Spring, as such, there may be changes then.
