Boston’s subway system: some students fear riding the T

Zoe Eppli missed her classes the day after a shooter opened fire in Ruggles Station near her dorm because she didn’t feel safe walking to get to campus.

“I saw the shooter running away and the cop following him with a gun as the pedestrians ran from Ruggles,” said Zoe Eppli, a first-year Northeastern student who watched the incident from her window. Eppli lives in International Village, a dormitory that is accessed most often by walking through Ruggles Station.

In April 2022, two incidents in Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway stations caused panic among riders and citizens, calling attention to the safety of the city’s main transportation system.

On April 10, a man was killed by a red line train after his arm was caught in a door and he was dragged through the tracks. Just a week later, on April 18th. A man was shot in Ruggles Station right next to Northeastern University's campus.

“My roommate and suitemate were walking in the direction the shots were going and my roommate, Annika, saw the man get shot so they ran” said Eppli.

Another student, Noelia Campos, said “Because the train station is on campus, I always felt it was a safe place to be and it was the middle of the day so I just don’t want to have the fear for my life every time I walk through.”

Northeastern is known for being have a semi-urban campus that assists students in immersing themselves in a city atmosphere but having a busy MBTA station on campus creates new risks that students didn’t know they would have in college.

“It definitely made me feel a little bit more worried and more cautious of taking the T. I haven't been on the orange line since that incident, so I've been mostly sticking to the green line. But it definitely makes you stop and think and think what you would do if you were put in that scenario,” said Annah Chaya, a first-year student at Northeastern.

Chaya lives in student housing in the Westin Hotel, which is a mile from campus. Considering how far it is, the university provides students housed in the hotel with Charlie Cards so they are able to take public transportation to get to class.

Although she takes the T to get around Boston almost every day, Chaya says that she often feels uncomfortable with the people in the train cars and around the stations. When referring to another specific incident, “There was an individual who was screaming profanities at us personally, we did not feel safe at all. We then got off the train and waited for the next line,” said Chaya.

Other students have had similar experiences, like third-year student Anna Schiesser. Schiesser works in Back Bay but lives in the Mission Hill neighborhood. When she first began working at her job, she took the T home every evening, but after multiple frightening experiences, she now pays for costly Ubers to go home.

“I've been in Boston for three years and I would say there's definitely been some people who will like ask for money, they'll walk straight up to look at your face, they'll sit right next to you and be like ‘you're pretty’ and it's kind of uncomfortable. And then the other week I was in the T station in Back Bay and I was with one of my coworkers and there were two men who had like a bunch of bricks of what looked like cocaine” said Schiesser.

While it is normal for subways in large cities to be home to suspicious characters, it is worrisome for students. According to the Huntington News Crime Logs, disruptions occur frequently in the station during school hours, most of which are handled by Transit Police. But some incidents, such as the shooter that opened fire in the station, are not handled in a timely manner and leave the local area in fear.

Disturbances in T stations have had deadly consequences for years. MassDOT’s Annual Performance Management Report, Tracker, reports the number of fatalities each year on MBTA rail lines. They have reported that in 2015 there were nine deaths, in 2016 12 deaths, in 2017 26 deaths, in 2018 27 deaths and in 2019 19 deaths. Many of these deaths, including the man who was killed by a red line train malfunction, have been a result of outdated transportation systems.

“I feel as though I have to be extremely careful, more than I should be, when it comes to being in and around T stations,” said Schiesser.

The MBTA has acknowledged its failing systems and has recently launched the Capital Transformation Program, which will ultimately aim to improve safety and operational efficiency.

The most important component of this project is the transformation of the Orange Line, which includes new technology that will prevent people from being injured or even killed by getting stuck in the doors. The new Orange Line trains include “Modern visual and audio communications systems, including new audio and visual door open and close warnings” according to the MBTA.

This new technology on subway cars will diminish the likelihood of riders being injured or killed by getting their limbs caught in closing doors when conductors are negligent. In order to prevent the deaths of riders, this technology must be become widespread throughout all trains in the 125 year old subway system.

The MBTA Transit Police is significant element when looking at their history of safety issues. According to the MBTA website, The Transit Police “is a civil service police department with full police powers within the cities and towns in the MBTA’s service area.” Furthermore, the MBTA has the role of investigating itself when disturbances occur.

While the MBTA is making efforts to improve the technology of their trains to improve the experience and safety for riders, little is known about any productivity toward tightening security measures.

“The T is super easy to take. I still do want to travel around Boston and it's much cheaper to take the T than to pay for Uber or to walk about an hour to get from one end to the other, I just wish I felt safer,” said Chaya.