Here’s Your Chance to Get Updates (and Gripe) About Green Line Projects

Green Line Photo Uploaded by Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism on Flickr

MBTA passengers are going to get a chance to air their grievances about riding the Green Line during a special forum where state and elected leaders will outline the progress of different projects along the system, and update riders on what’s coming down the tracks in the next few years.

Hosted by State Senator Will Brownsberger, the two-hour “Green Line Forum” will be held from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, at the Boston Public Library’s Rabb Lecture Hall. The second-annual forum will focus on Green Line improvements and address concerns riders might have about the reliability and safety of the transit line, according to the agenda for the event,

Attendees will be able to ask questions and bring those concerns to the attention of senior MBTA staff members, as well as T General Manager Beverly Scott. “I appreciate the response we have received from the T. Dr. [Beverly] Scott has been great, and there is a group of folks that have interest at heart to improve service. Hearing what they’re working on is always interesting to me, and interesting to the public,” Brownsberger said. “[The forum] supports and builds momentum to see certain changes.”

At last year’s forum, Brownsberger said State House and MBTA officials got an “outstanding opportunity” to listen to riders’ woes, as well as hear from a full panel of personnel versed in answering questions about particular projects. Brownsberger said he’s looking forward to another opportunity this year to hear the progress being made to address service challenges and to give feedback to the MBTA. “The conversation I expect to be a civil one. I think once people get in the room and realize that, it becomes a civil conversation, I tend to expect it will constructive conversation,” he said.

Besides taking questions from the audience, officials plan on going over short- and long-term ways to possibly improve service for Green Line passengers, like increasing the number of trains in service during rush hour, bumping up the number of three-car trains available at rush-hour, “a frank discussion” about general Green Line operations, and what improvements are on the way to better accommodate T-accessibility.

“The Green Line is a very—well all the T lines are essential—but the Green line is essential in the busier areas that it serves. Getting people in and out of those areas on the T itself is important. It’s really, really clear the Green Line is totally at capacity, it’s beyond capacity during rush hour, and if it wasn’t so jammed up, more people would be trying to get on it,” Brownsberger said. “I think people will be interested in understanding the new prospects…and hearing about some short-term progress to report as well.”