Boston.com reporter Sara Morrison has a knack for making MBTA maps. Specifically, maps that depict the current state of the system, hampered by icy tracks, snow-filled right-of-ways, and nearly impassable Boston streets.
“This is not something that we an just throw magic dust on and make it be all OK tomorrow,” the outgoing general manager of the T, Beverly Scott, told reporters in a Monday conference call, referring to the work that still needs to be done to restore regular system operations – a task which could take another 30 days.
The T is providing – like it did on Monday – a limited schedule Tuesday; Morrison’s map at the top (a follow-up to her first creation), which she says was inspired by a bout of “cabin fever,” is a hilarious depiction of what Tuesday’s approximately half-open system looks like.
“Cabin fever makes me a little silly,” Morrison writes in an email to BostInno.
The map below is what riders are accustomed to seeing. It also includes FY2013 ridership data (number of entries) for each subway and trolley station on a typical weekday. And when the T is operating like it is on Tuesday, about 200,000 of its 1.3 million daily riders are either stranded or forced to find another way to commute.
To be precise: when the subway system looks like Morrison’s map, 203,938 riders – which represents about 32 percent (not 68 percent, as this post originally stated) of Boston’s entire population – have to either enter at a different station, or figure out another way to get around the city.
Morrison, who drives around Boston when the T is busted, says she’s had to deal with an uncooperative transit system before – while living in New York in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. But the T’s prolonged inability to get Boston’s system back up to full speed in Winter 2015 could be worse, she suggests, patting herself on the back for a savvy purchase:
When I moved to Boston last summer, I had to decide if I was going to rely on the T or buy a car. I bought a car. I’ve never felt smarter! But as someone who has relied on public transportation in the past, I know the frustration and sadness that comes when the system fails you. Of course, that was in New York during [Hurricane] Sandy and they got most of the subway back up and running in a few days.
When asked to describe, in one word, the T’s performance this winter, Morrison offers two possible choices: “Can I use the poopmoji? If not, I’ll go with ‘nope.'”
Here’s a look at how many riders have to change their commuting plans by line when MBTA service is limited:
Red Line: 60,559
Orange Line: 91,791
Green Line B Branch: 26,310
Green Line C Branch: 12,466
Green Line E Branch: 12,812
Combined Total: 203,938
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(Note: The Orange Line’s Assembly Station is not included in the FY2013 ridership data.)
