MBTA Staffing Shortages Lead to Cutbacks in Service

Staffing shortages have resulted in the MBTA cutting back services in the Boston area.

The MBTA is cutting back service on 43 bus routes during different times of the day, nine buses will have route changes and more than 30 will see departure time changes.

The agency blaming staffing shortages, saying it’s having a hard time finding new bus drivers. The MBTA still needs to hire 300 drivers and is even offering $4,500 signing bonuses.

There are also staffing shortages in the T's Operations Control Center, which is forcing the MBTA to continue reduced service on a number of train lines. A former transportation secretary says reduced service is the T’s biggest problem.

“That's going to continue well after Labor Day until the MBTA is able to finish hiring and training new dispatchers for their Operations Control Center,” former Massachusetts transportation secretary Jim Aloisi said. “This is the hidden issue that is frankly being a little bit obscured by all of the attention on the Orange Line."

It’s unclear at this point exactly when regular service will resume.

“Our priority is always going to be safety and we are prioritizing safety in this case, so until we feel we have an adequate level of staffing at the OCC we’re going to keep the service level in place that we believe we can run safely,” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said.