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The Orange Line has gotten so much better it has a new problem: Traffic
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Happy Friday. Heads up: Today's the recommended deadline if you're buying a frozen turkey for next week.
But first, the news:
The T's traffic problem: Anyone who rides the Orange Line has felt the dramatic improvement over the past couple of years. Slow zones have been erased from the map. Trains are going as fast as 55 mph for the first time in recorded history. And this fall, the MBTA ran 422 scheduled trips a day — up from just 282 a year and a half ago. But in a slightly ironic twist, the Orange Line has a new problem: congestion. As T officials explained at a meeting yesterday, the line is running trains so frequently and so fast that they are often encountering a bit of a logjam at each end of the line. In an interview, Deirdre Habershaw, the T's deputy chief operating officer, described the situation as "sort of an unintended consequence" of all the improvements.
- The problem: The issue began last spring and intensified in August when they started running Orange Line trains up to 55 mph north of Boston, Habershaw said. During peak hours, trains arriving at Oak Grove and Forest Hills were coming in so hot on the heels of the previous trains that neither side of the platform was free. So they had to stop and wait, often erasing the gains of all the improvements. According to Habershaw, one in every 10 trains arriving into Oak Grove saw about an eight-minute delay as a result. "Anyone who's heard that we're standing by for a schedule adjustment, that is because there isn't another location for the entering train to arrive," she said.
- The solution: While the T was able to ease the issue a little this fall via schedule tweaks, they began testing out other ideas. Enter "the dropback." Typically, when an Orange Line train reaches the end of the line, the driver has to walk to the other end of the train to drive back out in the other direction. To speed up the turnaround, the dropback adds another driver into the rotation. Now, when a train reaches its terminus, there's another driver waiting to hop on and drive it out, while the current driver gets out and "drops back" to the next train. (If you, like some MBTA board members, find it confusing, just watch this animation.)
- Now what? Habershaw said the dropbacks will be implemented at Oak Grove when the new winter schedule takes effect on Dec. 15. She estimates it will save an additional two minutes. "It seems small ... but if you think about the folks that are on that train, that means making a bus connection or not," she said. "It can be precious minutes." Habershaw said there's an added benefit of giving train drivers an informal break to stretch their legs, use the restroom or simply reset before getting back in the train cab. "Not everything that we do needs to be a big, expensive capital [project], like new trains and all that stuff," Habershaw said. "We can tweak these operational things and have some really good payoff."
- In related news: T officials said yesterday they expect the final two new Orange Line cars of its 152-car order to arrive next month, following delays due to federal reviews of the Chinese-manufactured train shells. But there's still a long way to go before we get the full 252-car fleet of new Red Line trains.
The fallout continues: Former Harvard president Larry Summers and his wife briefly visited convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's private island during their honeymoon in 2005. The Harvard Crimson broke the news yesterday, less than a day after Summers announced he would go on leave from his teaching position at Harvard in the wake of newly released emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Epstein years after he was convicted for sex crimes. (Summers has not been charged or implicated in any criminal activity related to Epstein.)
- On campus: WBUR's Suevon Lee reports that Harvard faculty members are praising the university's decision to launch a new investigation into the connections between Epstein and school members like Summers.
- Meanwhile: The recently released emails also show that Epstein had a tight friendship with MIT professor Noam Chomsky. As WBUR's Christine Willmsen reports, the two chatted about politics, music and vacation.
PSA: If you've been thinking about adopting a dog, now is the time. Following two large police seizures of neglected dogs, the MSPCA says its shelters are at capacity. So the organization is offering prospective dog parents a discount with a "pay what you can" adoption event today and tomorrow. (Usually, adoption fees are up to $500.) MSPCA facilities in Boston, Salem, Methuen and Centerville are all taking part.
P.S. — The EPA recently finalized its plan to clean up a local body of water. Do you know which one? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of the stories we covered this week.
