MBTA riders frustrated by speed restrictions
BOSTON - When it comes to speed the MBTA seems to be getting slower by the day, and commuters say they feel themselves chugging along.
"It's for sure slowed down over the past few weeks," said rider Valentina Giorgetti.
"Slow, the Green Line especially," said rider Jax Maven.
Some 27% of all tracks in the system are now under speed restrictions, which is triple the number last month. At least 175 new restrictions have been put in place in just the last 30 days.
It means graduate student Henry Ly is late for class more often than not. "It takes me an extra 30 to 40 minutes to get to work or school. It takes way too much time," said Ly.
The MBTA has a new interactive map for commuters to track the slow zones, somewhere trains can only go 10 miles an hour.
We spoke to commuters on the Green Line out of Park Street station and the map shows at least eight slow zones ahead, which makes it too unreliable for some riders. "I've taken an Uber just to get to places quicker," said Giorgetti.
"It seems emblematic of a dysfunctional bureaucracy not paying attention to what needs to be done," said rider Rick Ranti.
But MBTA Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville told the board of directors this week the slow zones mean the agency is paying attention as it tries to verify the safety of speeds on the tracks with an investigation ongoing into missing or inconsistent documentation. "This is something we take extremely seriously and obviously fully recognize our customers' frustration," said Gonneville.
For riders it's the frustration of time. "You've got to allow for more time or you're going to be way late," said rider Alfred Wolsky.
