Marblehead selectmen oppose bus cutbacks

MARBLEHEAD – Read the selectmen’s lips when it comes to MBTA bus service to the town: no cutbacks.Selectmen discussed the MBTA’s proposed 50 percent cutback in rush hour bus service Wednesday, two days after Selectman Judy Jacobi read a board letter opposing the cutback at a hearing in Lynn.The cutbacks affect the 441 and 442 routes from Haymarket to Marblehead. On weekdays, half the afternoon rush hour buses would only run from Wonderland in Revere to Phillips Beach in Swampscott and not from Haymarket to Marblehead.Selectmen oppose the cutback because of the effect on commuters traveling to and from Boston. School Committee Chairman Amy Drinker also opposed the change at the hearing, because of its potential effect on Marblehead’s METCO students.Jacobi said another speaker opposed the change because of its potential effect on persons living in affordable housing.Jacobi said the MBTA is still taking written comments.Selectman William Woodfin noted that the MBTA only studied bus ridership for a single day before making its recommendations. "When the train service went in 1960 the MBTA said we’d get full bus service," he said.