Anyone noticing the 39 bus has been extra delayed lately? + does anyone know why?

Submitted by Birdtutorial t3_124t7o9 in boston

I take the 39 to and from school every day and I’ve noticed a bigger wait between busses. It’s not as bad as some routes, but it’s seeming that the 39 (especially toward back bay) has like 15-25min waits between each bus. Maybe I am just misremembering but I feel like that number used to be closer to 5-10min. If there has been a change, does anyone know why/if the busses will become more frequent again?

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PilotAdvanced t1_je11wbk wrote

Is that run by the MBTA? That could be the issue.

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TurnsOutImAScientist t1_je16gbg wrote

39 toward Forest Hills has always been bad. So much loading and unloading along Huntington -- we really ought to at least have the infrastructure in place so that buses and trains never wait at lights.

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schorschico t1_je1z1ac wrote

I'm not an urban planner but they should make Huntington just for pedestrians, bikes, buses and the T from the J-way to the MFA. The current situation trying to please everybody is a death trap for cyclist, a mess for public transport (with some of the worst and most dangerous stops in all the T network) and an eyesore.

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joshhw t1_je4tvh2 wrote

They do currently have a bus lane from Brigham to mass ave.

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TurnsOutImAScientist t1_je1zmb5 wrote

💯... but as I've come to find out more and more, much of MA politics is people being afraid of slippery slopes and thus pedestrianizing Huntington (and don't get me started on Newbury) would be quite a battle.

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particular-potatoe t1_je24y08 wrote

Some of the stops are only a few blocks away from each other. I always thought it was ridiculous.

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christmaszeev t1_je1cqv1 wrote

I’ve noticed too. Peak frequency used to be about every 4-6 minutes on the 39 but they’ve cut it back a lot due to driver shortages. Even with the reduced schedule though, they don’t have enough drivers to run the reduced schedule so some trips are canceled minutes before they’re supposed to run, leaving bigger gaps between buses.

Further, they don’t have enough bus dispatch staff, so operators often leave the terminal before or after they’re supposed to. This is further compounded by the fact that most of the 39’s route runs on Centre and South Sts, which are congested for large stretches of the day. That’s hard to plan around. This part has gotten a little better with the new bus lanes on Huntington, but the 39 still gets caught in a lot of traffic, making headways less reliable.

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NEU_Throwaway1 t1_je2on46 wrote

MBTA: "Having three buses come in a motorcade is the same as having three buses come evenly across the span of 30 minutes."

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Rough_Mission3547 t1_je1g2wx wrote

It's definitely much worse,not that it was great to begin with

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