BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Starting Tuesday, the MBTA will run buses and subway trains on a reduced service schedule in an effort to combat the spread of coronavirus, the transit agency announced.
"Service changes will help riders and employees avoid large crowds and allow for social distancing," the T said on its website. "These decisions are based on guidance from public health professionals and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health."
Here's what that means for commuters:
- The Red, Blue, Green, and Orange Lines will be running on Saturday schedules. Those individual line schedules can be viewed here.
- All buses as well as the MBTA Silver Line will run on Saturday schedules, while express routes 325, 326, 351, 352, 354, and 501 will run on their regular weekday schedules. View bus schedules here.
- There will be reduced service on all MBTA Commuter Rail lines. Those schedules can be viewed here.
- The MBTA Ferry will not be running.
- The T said there were no planned changes to The RIDE service.
"The MBTA plays an important role in slowing the spread of the coronavirus while continuing to provide critical services to medical professionals and other employees in key industries that rely on public transit," MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said in a release. "While some of these changes are inconvenient, they maintain a responsible balance between protecting the health and safety of the MBTA workforce and our customers, and our goal of continuing to run safe and reliable service without major disruptions."
The T said all MBTA vehicles "are being disinfected on a daily basis," as well as all MBTA property. High-contact areas like handrails, fare gates, and fare vending machines are being cleaned more often, every four hours.
The transit agency urged riders to continue washing their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, covering coughs and sneezes, staying home if sick, avoiding touching their faces, and clean surfaces frequently.
Riders described a "strange" commute Monday morning, with empty cars and quiet stations.
'It Was Totally Empty:' T Riders Describe Commute During Coronavirus
Customers can view the complete service changes at mbta.com/covid19, which will be regularly updated.
They can also get up-to-date MBTA service information via mbta.com/alerts, via Twitter by following @MBTA and @MBTA_CR, and by signing up for T-Alerts, a text and email service.
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