Photo courtesy of King TransitMA / CCY BY-SA 4.0

The lackluster reliability of MBTA buses, particularly those on smaller local routes, drew sharp criticism by one T oversight board member Monday who described the system’s performance as “beyond unacceptable.”

The rate of “other,” non-key buses departing on time – defined as within one minute before and six minutes after the scheduled time – fell to 60 percent in September, according to a presentation MBTA Deputy General Manager Jeff Gonneville gave at a Monday Fiscal Management and Control Board meeting.

The rate was the same as it was in June and is only six percentage points below the six-month peak of 66 percent on time in March 2019.

Fiscal and Management Control Board Vice Chair Monico Tibbits-Nutt said she was concerned that the numbers “are not getting any better,” despite implementation of the Better Bus Project that revamped more than two dozen routes.

“We continue to have more diversions, more diversions, more diversions [where trains are taken out of service] that just continues to put more of a strain on the local bus service,” Tibbits-Nutt said, requesting an “actual plan” to address poor performance. “It feels like kicking the can, kicking the can, and hoping some of these adjustments for the Better Bus are actually going to improve this. I can’t imagine the riders have any patience.”

“Right now, we are at a peak of 66 percent in March,” she continued. “This is just beyond unacceptable.”

Gonneville said he agreed that the numbers were a concern, and he said MBTA officials will return at a board meeting this fall with additional information on how to boost local bus service in particular.

As the MBTA seeks to aggressively amp up its efforts to repair its dilapidated subway infrastructure, from tracks to signals, and as trains break down mid-commute, buses are pulled from regular routes to provide a shuttle service to bridge the gap. However, because the T has no more space in its garages and storage areas, it is unable to buy enough buses to create a mobile reserve that could ease the strain on local bus service. One solution floated by transit advocates is to have the agency partner with commercial developers to build mixed-use buildings on the same site as new or renovated bus garages, whose revenues can help subsidize the garages’ construction.