Did You Miss This? MBTA Has Been Cutting Rides, Hiding It

For some of you, welcome back from a long weekend. In case you missed it, the Herald ran a shocking story about the MBTA cutting rides from its schedule without telling riders about it. They did it on purpose to save money, effectively punking riders who are told a bus or train will come at a certain time, only to wait for a ride that will never arrive.

Bostonist already posted on the subject when the original story got out, but, if you disengaged from your computer over a three-day weekend, you probably should know. Fellow bloggers are understandably annoyed.

Fried Bagels considers the impact on GM Dan Grabauskas:

Now [Grabauskas] has got the worst of both worlds: the scandal is out and everyone above and below wants his head on a platter. The MBTA comes off looking even worse than usual (that's no mean feat, itself). And worst of all, there's no groundwork laid to leverage this scandal into embarrassing public officials into providing more funding that the T desperately needs...instead there will be just be demands that the T end the practice regardless of the impact on already-overtaxed resources.

Speaking of Grabauskas' head on a platter, Michael Pahre at Brighton Centered reminds readers of the time Grabauskas admitted that he didn't ride the T because "it tends not to be convenient to me."

As for us, we won't be trusting timetables anytime soon. People may as well bring a folding chair and a tent with them as they wait for the next ride. Be comfortable.