T riders don't plan on winning marathon

MBTA passenger advocates plan to call for better bus service next week by putting on what they call Boston's first bus marathon.

The day after the historic foot race, 15 riders will leave Chelsea, and 10 will leave Roxbury during the Tuesday morning rush hour to travel seven T bus routes for exactly how long as it takes the men's winner to finish the marathon.

Organizers and riders, who will wear numbered bibs, said yesterday that they believe that in the two-plus hours the riders will be on the buses, they will cover fewer miles than the 26.2 miles the runners traversed from Hopkinton to Copley Square. That's proof, they say, of an inefficient bus system.

T buses make 15,300 daily trips on 190 routes.

Support tables at Dudley Station in Roxbury and at Bellingham Square in Chelsea will monitor the progress of the passengers. It's all meant to get support from gubernatorial candidates and legislators for better service in Boston neighborhoods where residents depend on buses, as well as a subtle protest of a pending fare increase scheduled to start next year.

But Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, wasn't buying it yesterday.

''Didn't Rosie Ruiz prove that the T moves marathoners faster?" he quipped, referring to the runner who took the T to her false victory in the 1980 marathon.

''If our buses had a clear right of way, never had to stop, and had police escorts, then of course we'd be going a lot faster. But we stop at traffic lights. We have to stop to let people on and off.

''I do not think it's a fair comparison," he added. ''I actually think it's a silly exercise. I don't know what the point is."

Lee Matsueda -- community activist for Alternatives for Community & Environment, of which the event's sponsor, the T Riders Union is a part -- said: ''We completely understand there are limitations. . . . We're trying to use that to prime the discussion.

''Our message goes not only to the MBTA, but really to our next governor and legislators," Matsueda said. ''It's a challenge to the T, but it's really trying to let people know what people on a daily basis experience while taking the bus."

The bus marathon is scheduled to end with a rally at the State House. The T Riders Union is also seeking donations to support the bus marathon and its advocacy work.

The group cited the T's 2006 preliminary service plan, which says that less than 3 percent of bus routes stay on schedule weekdays. By contrast, subway trains meet their schedule 75 to 95 percent of the time.

But new MBTA statistics indicate improvement. On an average day, the number of buses that did not make a particular route run dropped from about 340 per day in December 2004 to 34 per day in December 2005, said Grabauskas. Such ''dropped trips" have been blamed for shoddy bus service and contribute to buses being late or uncomfortably crowded.

A shift in personnel to increase the number of bus drivers helped the effort, he said. Twelve new bus drivers will start May 1, said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

Ramona Richards, 51, of Mattapan, who will be participating in the bus marathon, said she hasn't seen the change. ''Right now, service is not so great," she said.

Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.