Re: T construction news
T removing Red Line seats
Overcrowded riders will have a cow
By Hillary Chabot
Thursday, December 4, 2008 - Updated 4h ago
Red Line riders will be packed like cattle starting Monday as part of an MBTA plan to herd more passengers into already crowded cars by ripping out seats in the region?s overloaded subway system, the Herald has learned.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will run Red Line trains with two retrofitted cars that will leave only four seats on each for elderly and disabled users, according to a state official briefed on the plan.
The move, which will be discussed at today?s MBTA board meeting, will cut seating by half on some trains, which usually have four to six cars.
?Obviously people who want to sit down will have to find another car,? said the state official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan had not been formally announced.
?These cars will be clearly marked and the T is prepared to undergo a publicity campaign,? the official added.
The middle two cars on the busy North-South line will be transformed into so-called ?high capacity cars? meant to be used during rush hour to cram roughly 27 more people aboard. The official was unsure if seats would be restored during lighter commuter periods on the trains, which run from Cambridge to either Dorchester or Braintree.
A train attendant will let riders know some cars don?t have seats and the cars will have special posters alerting passengers, according the official.
The pilot program follows an unpopular $2 hike in commuter rail parking lots statewide and a push for a subway fare increase to bail out the embattled agency, which is burdened by $8.2 billion in debt and interest payments.
MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas also handed out a 9 percent raise to top-level staffers in August, only to rescind the raises at the request of Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen.
Ridership on the T skyrocketed this year when the cost of gas surpassed $4 a gallon. Grabauskas has made other changes to accommodate the surge, such as increasing the number of buses and train cars. Ridership in August surged 2.3 percent past the number of riders in August 2007.
Commuters will be encouraged to weigh in on whether MBTA officials should fold or expand the program, according to the official.
The program is fashioned after ones in other cities such as New York that implemented seatless sections in four of 10 subway cars last summer. After rush hour, workers simply unlock flipup seats for riders to use.
http://bostonherald.com/news/region...d_riders_will_have_a_cow/srvc=home&position=0
