Some MBTA users continue to be unaware or uninformed about the changes taking place, with Friday night's Orange Line shutdown less than 24 hours away.
“It will be impossible to avoid chaos all together,” Boston City Mayor Michelle Wu acknowledged during a press conference on Thursday.
Officials like Wu recognize that the month-long shutdown will be difficult for commuters, especially as many remain unprepared.
“People’s lives will be unpredictable, especially for the first few days as we all try to sort out what the schedules are, what the options are,” Wu said.
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The MBTA’s messaging about all the stops, transfers and options to get from point A to B has been a bumpy roll out. For example, signs posted at North Station Thursday had the wrong date of the start of the shutdown. They were later removed.
“This wasn’t like something that happened on Thursday morning and said: ‘oh my god we have to scramble.' These are things that they knew was going on,” said Boston resident Garry Farancis. "The choices to advise and alert the public came a day late and a dollar short.”
Some T users interviewed by NBC10 Boston weren’t even aware the entire Orange Line was shutting down for repairs.
“I don’t know what is closing when so I just show up to the T that day and if some part of the line is closed, I’ll just check my phone that day to see what I can do because it’s been changing so much, I stopped keeping track,” said Natasha Muromcew.
While others plan to avoid public transit all together.
“The situation of the shutdown is kind of complicated for me to just commute to work,” said Sandra Lara Ramirez. “It’s just commuting with Uber now.”
At Orange Line stations like Tufts Medical Center and Chinatown, signs about the imminent shutdown are posted only in English. The challenge for the MBTA is to try to get that same messaging to all riders in a language they understand by Friday night.
In the meantime, city governments and organizations will be handing out flyers in multiple languages hoping to reach as many people – as soon as possible.
“I think there’s a real challenge around timing,” noted A Better City CEO Richard Dimino.
The transit advocate believes the shutdown was too rushed.
“I think it’s a lot of work in a short period of time and sadly I think there’s going to be gaps and absences in people’s understanding of this,” he added.
The MBTA points to its website to find the most reliable and updated information on schedules and shuttles.
For those needing help in person, the MBTA and City of Boston will have personnel on hand to guide people.
