Burlington MBTA Riders Face Cuts To Bus Service

BURLINGTON, MA — The MBTA commuter rail is facing major service cuts, but Burlington-area commuters will have a chance to tell transit leaders what they think at a forum on Thursday.

Burlington is served by two bus lines, 350 and 354, and one of them will be consolidated if the proposed cuts go through.

On Monday, the MBTA revealed the extent of the cuts, which are being proposed amid a major drop in ridership because of the coronavirus pandemic. Ridership is at about 26 percent of what it was before the pandemic — 330,000 daily riders in October compared to 1.26 million per day in 2019.

"I want to reassure our riders that these service changes are not permanent, do not include any fare changes, and will not take effect immediately," MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said in a statement Monday. "We are carrying out a comprehensive outreach process and encourage all members of the public to provide comments and feedback, as we want to hear from riders to help us identify and protect the services that support transit-critical populations and communities."

Bus service will stop at midnight, many routes will have frequency reductions, and around 35 routes will be eliminated, consolidated or restructured. The 354 bus line, which stops in Burlington, will be consolidated with the 352 line.

_{(Map via MBTA)}

See a full list of cuts here.

The Burlington meeting begins at 6 p.m., Thursday. It also covers Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Lexington and Medford. You can register for the online meeting here. A final vote on the proposed cuts is scheduled for Dec. 7.

Will you be affected by the cuts? Let Patch know by emailing chris.huffaker@patch.com.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.