BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — On Friday, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced it will no longer provide buses to transport police officers to and from protests, or to take demonstrators into custody.
According to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo, the change reflects an agreement reached by the MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board, which decided on Thursday that the agency "will no longer provide transportation for non-MBTA law enforcement personnel to or from public demonstrations."
The move also comes after staff openly criticized the MBTA for providing the transport to law enforcement, while closing several stations to the public during this week's widespread protests.
"The MBTA can be a wonderful force for good in the city of Boston, especially for its black population," read a letter circulated by dozens of T employees. "Our buses bring economic access, opportunity, and freedom of movement to our bus-dependent riders, who are disproportionately black. For the MBTA to use those very same buses to bring police and their weapons to those very same people is heartbreaking, hypocritical, and embarrassing."
Two hours after the employees' letter was delivered, organizers said the MBTA had announced its buses would no longer be used to transport non-MBTA police during protests.
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