A plan to reorganize city bus routes would limit direct connections to Downtown for the 55 bus, a primary transportation route for Fenway residents.

The proposed 55 route would begin in the Longwood Medical Area, travel down Boylston Street and Massachusetts Avenue and ending at Kendall Square in Cambridge. The new route will also bring several changes to the number of stops.

The 55 bus would no longer stop at Copley, but it would stop at Hynes to connect to the Green Line. Also, it would no longer go through Kilmarnock or Queensberry and Jersey Streets. Residents would need to travel less than a quarter mile to Boylston Street to catch the bus.

Ishraq Boutaleb, the Fenway Community Development Corporation’s (CDC) community organizer, says residents are not fans of these changes.

“While we appreciate the MBTA’s efforts to increase the service of the route by extending the hours and making the route more frequent, a lot of community members, particularly seniors and folks with mobility issues, are disappointed in the proposed route changes,” said Boutaleb.

Although the CDC knew there would be general route changes across the city, they were not aware of the specific changes to route 55 until the rest of the public learned about them on May 16.

“I think it came to the community as a great shock, at least for the folks that we have been in communication with. It was not something expected, and it sort of has been causing a lot of confusion because it feels like none of the feedback that has been offered in other MBTA meetings has been taken into consideration,” said Boutaleb.

Kenzie Bok, the District 8 City Councilor, stands in support of her Fenway constituents, and while there is some good to come out of the proposal, things could be changed.

“You have to balance the high-salary commuter network, which is important that the MBTA serves with our long-term anchored communities. Especially our senior and disabled resident communities who need service to the places that are critical for them,” said Bok.

She added, “Think about the Copley square farmers market, the Copley Square library, and the connections Downtown. Those are really important for the people I represent, so I definitely think the MBTA can do better by them and is a conversation we will have over the coming weeks.”

This reaction follows the public meeting announcing the new plan last week. David Panagore, the MBTA’s Chief Administration Officer, described the potential changes as a “Once in a generation opportunity” to improve the city’s bus network.

Under the new map, bus service would increase by 25%, and weekend service would rise by 70%. In addition, the proposal would increase the number of residents near high-frequency bus services by 275,000.

High-frequency service for buses running at least every 15 minutes, 5 to1am seven days a week would be more accessible to low-income residents.

“To make these improvements, there are going to be changes and trade-offs. Changes can sometimes be challenging, but we think the benefits are clear,” said Panagore. He also emphasized that the current iteration of the map is simply a draft.

The plan is to implement the new bus routes next spring following outreach phases that will monitor public sentiment “We are doing three months of outreach that has already kicked off this month. Then we plan to take in all of the input we are getting and come back with a new plan to present to the board and the public in the fall,” said Caroline Vanasse, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) Manager of Transit Planning.

The MBTA and MassDOT urge residents in downtown neighborhoods to attend the virtual community meeting on June 2 to voice their opinions about the future redesign.