Orange Line riders brace for longer commute during 30-day shutdown

BOSTON – For many who ride the MBTA’s Orange Line routinely, Wednesday’s news of a 30-day shutdown is more than a simple inconvenience. 

Bisrat Woldeghiorgis said he picks up the ‘T’ from the Forrest Hills station six days a week as he makes is way from his home in Roslindale to his job at Logan International Airport. 

It’s a commute that he said generally takes him around an hour to make but fears that time could double later this month when the Orange Line goes out of service for a month. 

“It is shocking,” said Woldeghiorgis as he reacted to the news the Orange Line will close for a month starting on August 19. “It really affects the daily commute of each and every individual that uses the T.” 

Russell Girouard lives in Jamaica Plain and uses the orange line multiple times a day. 

The 38-year-old said he works in Back Bay and does not own a car and rideshares are out of the question. 

“Uber is way too much,” said Girouard. “For where I need to go, Uber is 20 to 25 dollars one way. So that is not an option.” 

Girouard said he will have to take the shuttle bus for now. That means more planning and longer commutes. 

“It’s going to add at least half an hour,” said Girouard. “Forty minutes tops on my commute and I am not even going all the way through town.” 

Jarred Johnson is the executive director of TransitMatters, a non-profit focused on public transit advocacy and access. 

“The thing that is concerning to us is the short notice riders were given,” said Johnson as he pointed out many riders had already purchased month long passes from the MBTA, only to be told their line would be shut down the back half of the month. 

“The Orange Line serves a lot of low-income riders, a lot of minority riders, a lot of folks that we called essential workers during the height of the pandemic,” said Johnson. “These service impacts are going to fall disproportionately on them.” 

TransitMatters wants to see a priority bus lane established to help get shuttle buses in and out of the city more easily. The organization is also looking for the MBTA to increase Commuter Rail and Green Line services, along with Governor Charlie Baker to push the business community to increase work from home options for employees impacted by the shutdown.