THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, August 19, 2022 Page 3 NEWS ANALYSIS: MBTA gets lots of flak for shutting down Orange Line this week... but what is the alternative? Criticism, potshots fl y, but Malden Mayor Christenson & Everett Mayor DeMaria spend their time trying to ease adverse effect on local riders images on televised news or print and online reports have been jarring and disturbing. • A woman jumping out of a burning Orange Line train car and off a bridge into the Mystic River below • Another day, another fi re this week when a bus caught fi re in a maintenance facility • A man died in April after being stuck in the doors of the Red Line and then dragged to his death • Several high-profi le derailments in the past 12 months that have resulted in serious injuries, in at least one case MBTA | SEE PAGE 10 Gary Christenson Mayor By Steve Freker I t is easy to throw rocks when you do not have to go pick them up afterward. MBTA offi cials do not have either option. Tasked with being a key provider of everyday, inexpensive transportation for over 500,000 commuters and others on varying forms of ridership, MBTA employees do not have the time to listen very hard – they are too busy working. For quite some time now, the MBTA has drawn a lot of attention for a lot of reasons – not much of it positive. Some of the SKIPPING STOPS: Shuttle bus service will replace Orange Line trains, but Chinatown, Tufts Medical stations NOT included on list Many local residents who use those stops for business; medical & social reasons will be affected by move During the Orange Line shutdown, the MBTA plans to use shuttle bus service to get riders back and forth between stops/ stations, but four existing stops in downtown Boston are not included in the transit plan: Chinatown, Tufts Medical, State and Downtown Crossing Stations. (Courtesy/MBTA) By Steve Freker A decision by MBTA planners to skip the two Chinatown Orange Line stops in downtown Boston when they devised the shuttle bus plan which is designed to mitigate the eff ects of the August 19-September 19 service shutdown is being challenged. The plan now in place – where the bus shuttle service would bypass Chinatown and Tufts Medical Stations – would also have an impact in Malden and surrounding communities, due to the large immigrant and Asian-American community in this region. Both of those stations, along with the Downtown Crossing and State stops, are the only four Orange Line stops now excluded from the transit plan. Many Malden residents and others in the greater Boston region make frequent trips to SERVICE | SEE PAGE 18
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