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MBTA cancels all service on Sunday after 8 a.m.
By adamg on Sat, 08/27/2011 - 6:56pm
UPDATE: MassDOT announced after the T announcement that trains and buses would run until 8 a.m. to let health-care workers get to their jobs.
No subways, no trains, no buses after 8 a.m., the MBTA announced tonight:
After a careful review of the most recent information from the National Weather Service, the MBTA has decided to suspend all modes of service for the entirety of Sunday, August 28th. For The RIDE, only trips of a necessary medical nature will be made. A RIDE customer, who meets this criteria, should contact his/her specific provider. With severe winds, heavy rain, and flooding forecast for metropolitan Boston, this decision has been made with the safety of customers and employees being the MBTA's top priority at all times. The suspension of service will also allow MBTA and MBCR personnel to concentrate all of their efforts on making sure the transit system, from subway to bus to commuter rail, is up and running at the start of Monday morning's commute.
As part of the T's strong commitment to public safety, buses will be on stand by to assist in any evacuations that may be necessary throughout the region.
The MBTA apologizes for any inconvenience, and asks for the public's patience and understanding as we combat the effects of this storm, and work hard toward restoring full service on all modes Monday morning.
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Comments
What a crock of shit.
What a crock of shit. Pre-emptively announcing at 19:00 that all service 11 hours in the future is cancelled, including busses?
The T barely runs on Sunday's as it is. This is ridiculous.
Damned right this is a crock.
Who the F takes a monumental decision like this and does not begin to publicize it until after 6 pm on Saturday? This is Romper Room style.
Bloomberg and the MTA may or may not have been justified in doing what they have done in and around NYC, but at least they decided early, and widely publicized it. As of this writing, (19:15), the T shutdown is not even being reported on Boston.com. It is only getting a small banner at the top of the T's webpage (and thefF#$%ing link doesn't even work!), while the main portion of the page still says they're monitoring the storm.
There are going to be a lot of people who are caught out by this, and that's going to be on the T and by extension, the Governor.
You are correct sir.
"Normal operations" was what was said on Friday. At least they could have warned of the possibility of service disruption or a change depending on updated weather reports.
I agree that Mayor Bloomberg
I agree that Mayor Bloomberg and the MTA handled their rail shutdown appropriately -- it was announced early and bus service continues.
The T closes everything, including bus and paratransit, down for the equivalent of a Nor'Easter (sub rain for snow)? I thought Brian Williams was gonna fall out of his chair laughing at Boston when it came across MSNBC.
My head is bobbling right off my scrawny little chest.
No buses in NYC, either
People should not attempt to travel on the MTA's public transportation network.
Ya, saw that after the fact
Ya, saw that after the fact (thought I read there were busses).
The T just backpedaled and will indeed run service until 08:00 though.
Who the hell is in charge over there?!?!?
Amtrak, Greyhound, Peter Pan
Amtrak, Greyhound, Peter Pan Bus, P&B Bus, Bolt Bus, Megabus, Dattco Bus, Concord Coach, Dartmouth Coach, C&J Bus, Boston Express Bus, Lucky Star Bus, WRTA in Worcester, and PVTA in Springfield have also cancelled all service in Massachusetts for Sunday. Most of the other smaller transit authorities in Mass don't even run on Sunday to begin with.
No word from Fung Wa.
Fung Wa
While the others are canceling, Fung Wa is adjusting their schedules for tomorrow to account for the "tail wind" their buses will be experiencing from NYC to Boston.
Rain should be heavy enough
To put out any of the routine fires they have.
Also...
This will be the safest time to travel on Fung Wah. The hurricane should put out your bus's fire in under 5 minutes at which point you can continue on to your destination.
By destination do you mean
By destination do you mean the wrong city or a ditch?
50/50 proposition.
Not only that
They frequently make it into VT before figuring out they need to head south to get to NYC, so you'll effectively be out of harms way by the time the storm hits.
On dozens of bus trips I've
On dozens of bus trips I've taken between Boston and NYC, on all the companies that serve the route, exactly once has the driver gotten lost. It was on Greyhound.
I don't know if I should be
I don't know if I should be impressed or horrified of their... dedication.
Kidding
I was just kidding... not sure if you're kidding too or if you took it seriously :-)
Update to the update
MassDOT says there will be service until 8 a.m. so hospital workers can get to their jobs.
New statement
picard
[img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SLhcQfuSGcE/TbC9VER0R9I/...
We really do have two monkeys running the MBTA control center, don't we?
Nice to know were ready for a terrorist, chemical or natural disaster attack. They'll let us know a few min beforehand and hope for the best.
But hey, The transit cops sometimes check bags and stuff!
Utterly absurd!
This is absurd! The T cancelling all service before the fact. It didn't even do that during the Blizzard of 78! I have never heard of them doing this. They must be taking a cue from New York, where it was also an absurd thing to do. These people should be fired. The city cannot come to a complete standstill. I guarantee you, the hurricane is NOT going to be as bad as you think in the city itself, and it is going to wind down. It's not an all day affair. But the T decides ahead of time to close down all day? The T needs to learn not to freak out at every little raindrop and learn how to handle these things. People need to get around. This is going to cause more problems than it is going to help.
Why risk the lives of all
Why risk the lives of all those employees? It's not rubbish. What's rubbish is anyone who is dumb enough to go out in that weather. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't want my friends, family risking life or death so someone can be a complete a$$, it's not worth it. And as it is, a skeleton crew will still have to work to explain this to all the idiots....
Maybe the reason has less to
Maybe the reason has less to do with their ability to run subways and trains safely -- and more to do with the people who will need to come into work to drive them and manage the system. I do agree, however, that they haven't had particular problems with this in the past.
Are you crazy?
The T floods after an inch of rain. They are right for shutting the subways down, but bus service should've remained, and they definitely went about this badly.
Doesn't look good for Monday then.
Sounds like the union didn't want people doing their jobs. Safety of customers my ass. Lazy bums.
Oh fuck off
Most of the deaths so far have been from debris falling on people, people crashing trying to get places, and one heart attack.
Needless deaths that would have been prevented if idiots stayed the frak home.
While they way the T went about this is piss poor, the decision to do so was the correct one. It's worried about safety all around.
what the hell?
Fantastic.
If you don't have a car, and need to get somewhere (yes, people still need to get places! Say, to "essential" jobs, to help a friend with storm damage, for urgent-but-not-emergency medical issues, etc)...what the hell are you supposed to do? Walk? Yeah, that's safer. I've had it up to my eyeballs with the ivory-tower city and state officials who are driven around in their SUVs by personal drivers, who don't understand the realities of John Public.
They could AT LEAST keep the subways running...
subways run underground
Last time I checked were looking towards 6-12 inches of rain in a matter of hours.
Planning on bringing a snorkel?
People should be telling their employers to shove it. As long as the govnah' declares a state of emergency, there's no reason to go into work. Period.
unless you work an "essential" job
Like, say, taking care of equipment, people, or animals? Or who work security positions? Or maintenance jobs, like maintaining building systems for large buildings?
As they just showed one good example: health care workers.
Oh, and: how are hospital workers supposed to get HOME? Dumbasses.
Right
But if you're an essential worker, you already should have some sort of plan to get to work in an emergency, right?
After all, you know you'll need to get in come hell or high water.
yeah, like a public transit system that never shuts down!?
You do realize that a large percentage of hospital workers can't afford a car, right?
Are you really arguing
That the MBTA should be relied on to be punctual and always operational Brett?
Again, what if there was a chemical attack on the MBTA? Doctors say the hell with it, since they can't get to hospitals via a shut down service?
I'm calling BS. If you're an essential worker, you {should} have some sort of backup plan for these situations. If you're not really that essential, you call out.
It part of your freaking job.
The MBTA stops sometimes
Look, it's a hybrid subway/bus/trolley system that hasn't had a real budget to fix itself in about a decade....not a magic carpet. It shuts down in severe weather conditions.
If the hospitals around here are anything like the hospitals I've worked in down in Maryland, they have a contingency plan (like guys volunteering or hired to go pick people up with 4x4 SUVs and drive them in).
Good point
Unless they already know that they can't operate reasonably safely, I'd prefer that they told people they will try to operate, but that they will cancel services at short notice if necessary.
Then each individual can make the call if they're going to try to get to work, and if they want to risk getting stranded away from home.
You call a cab. It's not
You call a cab. It's not ideal, but neither is being trapped in a flooded tunnel in an electrified tin can.
Good decision
Let's be safe rather than sorry. Hopefully businesses will also shut down adn therefore nobody has to come into the city. I do, of course, hope my favorite breakfast place is open in the morning.
They didn't shut down for Gloria or Bob
so why for this? It will cause a lot of businesses to close due to short-staffing, and will also unwisely encourage people to drive cars in the storm.
you're all whacked!
Might be fine for the core subterranean lines to run
but do you really want to be on a green line trolley or a red line car going across the Charles?
Or on a Blue Line going along Revere Beach?
Or any other line where there are trees or other debris that could block the rails!
Remember when the Muddy River overflowed and flooded the Green Line?
Bet if there's a chance for that they'll sandbag again.
Any of these scenarios could play out, then you'd tweet & complain you were stranded on the T
Maybe they should run till 11AM or something, but during the core of the storm, I'll be at home watching my property.
Monkey See Monkey Do?
Why oh why did we need to be like NYC? WHY?!
why?
Because they manage their transit system better than Boston does? "We're special, we're Boston" is a tired excuse for mediocrity. The fact is, New York has 800 miles of track, many of those miles underground. If Downtown Manhattan floods, so does the subway. They were absolutely justified in making sure it was closed before that could happen. They gave the announcement on Friday when people were still at work. There was ample time to plan. Boston, on the other hand? Wait until the might before? After an insistance on running normal service? Not smart. I understand the frustration with no public transit, but it is a dangerous storm. Stay inside. Don't be a hero. Boston continues its steadfast inability to function as a rational people. Step it up.
Recent trend
This recent trend of closing and cancelling things ahead of time needs to stop. Remember this past year when all Boston schools were cancelled a day ahead of time for a predicted snowstorm that ended up not coming? Not one snowflake. The T was operational for MOST of the Blizard of 78, all of Gloria and Bob,and it could have managed this storm that is expected to last less than a day in the urban area. I saw one of the meteorologists on TV (I don't know which one, they all kind of blur together)saying there would even be periods of SUN during lulls in the storm. People could have made it to the T, and should expect the T to be running. I might just be getting older, but I seem to recall we used to be sturdier about these things and carry on instead of rolling into a little ball.
Yup! Work well
For Katrina!
Being prepared for the worst is much (and ITLR less costly) better than getting caught with your cock swinging in the breeze.
Sorry to inconvenience you. Hopefully our rescue services won't be bothered to put themselves in harms way and save your ass when you get stranded doing something reckless, stupid, and avoidable.
Yeah, the T needs to be lambasted for the sudden late night change and not notifying people properly or having a plan in place on Thursday.
But this is the right call for safety if you even moderately been following the storm, winds, and rain totals.
Lessons Learned: Katrina
I'm actually really glad to see a government agency that's had some lessons learned from the complete horror of mishandling that occurred in Katrina. What I *wish* though is that they had gotten their stuff together in time to have announced this *much* earlier. Those who depend on the T to get to essential jobs or even to the grocery didn't have much time at all to make alternate arrangements.
We aren't New Orleans.
We aren't New Orleans.
You're right, we're not New
You're right, we're not New Orleans. That means hurricanes can't devastate our city. Wow, thank you for this revelation, truly enlightening.
Orleans
doesn't have underground tunnels and utilities. Nor tons of old growth, over gown forests in super saturated soil.
The rain, flooding, and saturation issues are going to be the big story for us.
And Irene isn't Katrina.
And Irene isn't Katrina.
Yup
It's much bigger, the strong wind is spread out much further, storm surge is over a greater area, and it's putting down a hell of a lot more rain.
Meaning 1 of 3 things...
When it was announced yesterday that the MBTA would continue with normal operations:
1) They were paying no attention whatsoever to the weather forecast.
2) They had no real appreciation for what the forecast actually meant.
or
3) They were just out-and-out lying to us.
Or they realize that
Or they realize that projections change every two hours, and yesterday the storm was predicted to hit around springfield but now has shifted east meaning a much more direct hit on the coastal area?
This comments page shows how clueless this city is about hurricanes.
Protip: its not just the wind, its the rain. Last I checked, a northeaster dumps snow, not 12 inches of water.
Hurricane have rain?
6AM and it isn't even raining here. Someone better get busy. Rain already.
Only, it didn't.
The predicted path had consistently shifted west towards Springfield up to Friday, then stayed pretty much steady once the storm hit the Carolinas. This announcement was made after the confidence level in the path had become fairly high.
The responsible thing would have been to announce at first that they hoped to be able to have normal service, but weather developments could effect things, stayed tune and be prepared for outages. But no, instead we got a lot of boasting about normal service, then a complete shut-down with less than 12 hours notice, then a concession of 2 hour service. Highly unprofessional.
That was me
Got logged out somehow.
Yup
The Gov and Governor seemed pretty well prepared, if on the safe side.
The MBTA get's a F. It's apparent that they either don't have an action plan worth anything, or didn't bother to stick to it.
WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE
The T is open the T is closed, This was a big mistake by the T because it illustrates when Public Transit is needed most they chose to shut it down. The sad fact is there should be an investigation into how much overtime is spent today.
By all means - let's wait until Monday morning - when
our maintenance people are on their regular shift - to clear the trees and debris and flooding from our lines.
It'll inconvenience the hell out of our passengers by having the system all but closed for an additional day, but if we can save a few bucks by not paying overtime, that's all the "justification" we need.