Commuters demand more from MBTA

MARBLEHEAD – A panel of representatives from the MBTA including Interim General Manager Frank DePaola, Steve Epps, the head of The Ride for Greater Lynn Senior Services, Assistant General Manager David Carney and others sat on a panel in a packed room at the Marblehead Council on Aging Thursday evening.The event was originally scheduled for Feb. 2 with former MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott. But a massive snowstorm cancelled that event (and Scott’s tenure), so it had to be rescheduled with a largely new management team at the helm and heightened scrutiny of the transit agency.The majority of early speakers thanked MBTA officials for providing bus service to Marblehead ? but couched this with concerns about reduced service over the years, as well as service that was primarily oriented towards getting commuters to and from Boston rather than throughout the North Shore. And despite the turmoil of the last winter, service had been decreasing for a long time.”I used to take a bus from Marblehead to Salem for a job, my father remembers taking a train (from Marblehead) to Boston,” Marblehead resident Don Gardner said.He asked state Sen. Thomas McGee when residents would get increased service – particularly a Blue Line to Lynn.”You have the vision, I just have to find the few dollars and the resources,” DePaola said, noting that early in the day he had been at the Lynn MBTA station with McGee to talk about such expansion.But resident Elaine McGrath said that a lack of money wasn’t the only problem with the MBTA.”You have problems that don’t require more money but a change in attitude,” McGrath said, noting that an “express” bus from Marblehead to Boston traveled 18 miles ? and made 55 stops. And often the bus had heating and cooling systems that didn’t work, windows were locked shut, and a farebox that didn’t work “at least half the time,” McGrath said.Members of the audience applauded and said the fare box didn’t work far more often than that.”I don’t want to hear answers about how more money is needed,” McGrath said. “How can we improve the system with what we have.”Carney agreed that 55 stops on an express bus was excessive, and that the buses with non-working windows should all be replaced by the end of the week.Others expressed complaints about service from The Ride that was consistently late, early, or operated by drivers who were rude.”I can note unforeseen circumstances, why is this in general good weather,” Pam Foye, who runs a program for disabled adults said. “Our program ends at 6 p.m., sometimes we have to work until 7:30 p.m.” because The Ride is late.”McGee told the audience he was glad that they had shown up to share concerns.”There’s total consensus that we need to do something,” McGee said, citing renewed focus on the MBTA after the winter. “The challenge is to find a way to do something that’s fair.