By Scott Malone and Ross Kerber
BOSTON (Reuters) - The head of Massachusetts' transportation authority on Tuesday defended the decision to shut Boston-area subways and rail service after a record-setting string of snowstorms that has hammered the northeastern United States in the past two weeks.
Schools around the Boston area also remained closed as crews struggled to clear roadways after a three-day storm dropped about 2 feet (60 cm) across the region and warned that the weight of the snow could result in roof collapses.
Beverly Scott, chief executive of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said she had no choice on Monday afternoon but to order all rail services shut down, an announcement that came right before the evening rush hour and a few hours before the 7 p.m. shutdown.
"Everyone who needed to have information, to our knowledge, had it with regard to the conditions we were facing," Scott told reporters, visibly angry about criticism of her handling of the storm. "We do not control Mother Nature."
Limited bus service continued on Tuesday but Scott said it was too soon to say when full transit services would resume on the system, which carries about 950,000 riders on a typical weekday.
Commuters expressed exasperation at the shut down, intended to allow crews to clear snow from above-ground tracks after three trains loaded with commuters were evacuated due to snow-related troubles.
"I was surprised at the MBTA shutdown. You can't just shut down the city," Ariel Freiberg, 32, of Somerville, said as she waited at the main train station for an Amtrak train to New York. The Amtrak service was running at full capacity despite the MBTA's shutdown.
"The people it hurts are the people who really have to get to work," Freiberg said.
Heavy snow on tracks had caused trains to lose contact with the electricity-carrying third rail across the system's 800 miles (1,290 kilometers) of tracks, prompting the shutdown, Scott said.
'DOESN'T MAKE A LOT OF SENSE'
Nearby, 49-year-old software engineer Steve Holmes questioned the decision to shut the trains when the city is struggling to clear roads before another expected snowstorm on Thursday.
"They're asking people not to drive into Boston, yet they?re shutting down the trains. It doesn't make a lot of sense," Holmes said.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh began talks with the city's teachers union on how to make up some of the eight school days canceled so far this year due to the repeated storms that have hit the region in the past two weeks.
This has been the area's snowiest 30-day period on record. Much of eastern Massachusetts has received more than 6 feet of snow so far this year, making for the ninth snowiest winter on record.
The repeated snow days were taking a toll on parents. Kelsey Wirth, 45, a climate change activist who works out of her home, said she was running out of ideas to occupy her 8- and 9-year-old daughters.
"Work never ends. Even if Boston shuts down, life goes on," Wirth said. "When I heard school was closed again, I said, 'OK, today is project day,'" referring to lining up chores for her children.
A Massachusetts State Trooper delivered a baby in a car stuck on a Boston highway early on Tuesday morning, police said.
The school district in Pentucket, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Boston canceled classes for the rest of the week as crews worked to remove snow from building roofs.
Jury selection for the trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and the murder trial of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez were postponed for a second consecutive day due to the storm.
(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Barber; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Bill Trott)
