The 30-day shutdown of the MBTA's Orange Line has begun. Stacy Thompson, executive director of Livable Streets, joined WBUR's Weekend Edition to discuss its impact.

“The MBTA’s ability to execute this successfully or not will determine the mood going forward,” Thompson says. “If this project is successful, we can turn a corner in terms of public confidence. We’re just not there yet.”

“I honestly don’t think it’s a big deal,” said Stacy Thompson, LivableStreets executive director. “Everyone leaves the state of Massachusetts at some point.”

“To make the entire system free, including the commuter rail, we’re talking about a minimal expense in the grand scheme of things,” Thompson said. “I understand not everyone is on board for free fares all the time. I would say this is a suspension of fares to alleviate stress during the crisis.”

“There’s been a good faith effort to create a diversion plan that is as efficient as you can be with roadways and shuttles,” Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, said in a phone interview Friday evening. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t gaps.”

“Whether you drive, whether you take the T, whether you bike – we are all in this together for the next month,” said Thompson.

"I think that the T should consider suspending fares for the entire month of the Green Line and Orange Line shutdowns," said Stacy Thompson, Executive Director of Livable Streets Alliance.

Stacy Thompson, executive director of the Livable Streets Alliance, agrees the 30-day shutdown will speed along repairs, but she too is concerned about the bus shuttles.

Catherine Gleason, program and policy coordinator at transit advocacy group LivableStreets Alliance, said riders would be “paying the price” for the “long-overdue” nature of the repairs being performed during the shutdown.