An MBTA shuttle bus was supposed to go to North Station. Instead it went 10 miles north of Boston.
It was a rough start Thursday to the MBTA's Orange Line shutdown.
A shuttle bus was supposed to take riders from Wellington station in Medford, Massachusetts to North Station in Boston. Instead, the confused driver took them north of the city to Stoneham before finally turning around.
"I was hoping it would be a good commute. It turned out to be one of the worst ones that I've ever seen in my life," said passenger Yaseen Sajjad.
Passengers who spoke to WBZ-TV said they started to get worried when the driver took back roads and then got on Interstate 93 north. The shuttle bus driver mistakenly drove to Stoneham, 10 miles in the wrong direction.
"One of the passengers yelled 'It's 135 Causeway Street. While he's driving on the highway he's putting it on his GPS," Sajjad said.
The story gets even more shocking. At one point, the driver told passengers he had never even been to the city of Boston before.
Alex Rodde was on the bus heading to work and had to start giving the driver directions.
"He explains to us he's never been to Boston, like in his life, and he is driving this bus for the first time," Rodde said. "And I was like a little nervous about it because I was like, 'Okay well, if I'm being relied upon for instructions, I should probably give good ones, and I did my best and I think we got where we were going to go."
The shuttle buses are being used because of the 11-day Orange Line shutdown that started on Thursday.
In a statement to WBZ, an MBTA spokesperson said, "The MBTA apologizes to these shuttle bus passengers for this inconvenience. The matter has been addressed with the shuttle bus vendor, and the driver of this shuttle is no longer working on this service."
Commuters said they just want a reliable way to get to work.
"It is a crazy, crazy frustration to get to Boston. It shouldn't be," Sajjad said. "Let's fix this issue. There is something going on. Let's fix this issue. I should have a good commute."
