Reading Legislators Call On MBTA To Halt Service Cuts

Reading MA

20 November, 2020

11:34 AM

Description

READING, MA — Reading legislators are expressing their opposition to proposed service reductions and other cuts in the MBTA's Forging Ahead plan, including those directly impacting the town's residents. In Reading, the 136 bus is slated for elimination, while routes 352 and 354 will be consolidated. Several other lines will likely see reduced service, and bus service will stop at midnight. Click here for a full map. For Commuter Rail service, the MBTA is proposing to stop service at 9 p.m., stop weekend service beginning in January, and reduce the number of peak and midday service trips from 505 to 430. Both the Haverhill and Lowell lines have proposed service cuts. In a letter to the MBTA, state Sen. Jason Lewis and state Representatives Brad Jones and Richard Haggerty said the proposal will cut Reading's bus service in half and "significantly challenge" the town's longstanding economic development and housing production efforts through reduced Commuter Rail service. "While we understand the global pandemic has caused a significant decline in public transit ridership and reduced fare revenue for the MBTA, we firmly believe these proposed cuts go way too far, are premature, and will inflict major harm on Reading," the legislators wrote in a letter Friday. "We call on you to immediately shelve this plan or, at the very least, to significantly scale back these cuts." Lawmakers said they are concerned about the disproportionate impact the cuts could potentially have on lower-income residents, persons with disabilities and small businesses, as well as people who need to get to work, school and medical appointments. Reading has pursued zoning reforms and transit-oriented development, and legislators worry cuts will come just as a vaccine becomes available and the economy starts to rebound. "Large portions of the population in Reading commute to Boston using the Commuter Rail on a regular basis," the letter continued. "While many of those jobs are currently remote, the proposed reductions in the commuter rail schedule will kick in right when folks are starting to go back to work in Boston." The MBTA will hold a public hearing Dec. 1 on proposed cuts in Reading and all of Merrimack Valley. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. You can register for the online meeting here. A final vote on the proposed cuts is scheduled for Dec. 7.