General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Allegedly, some of the track work planned in April (announced today: https://www.mbta.com/news/2023-03-2...s-perform-track-improvement-work-the-red-line ) will address some of those.

Does anyone have any inside knowledge that could shed light on what "alleviate" means in that press release? For example, the T didn't say *which* speed restrictions in the closure areas will be "fixed" (my probably-pollyannish interpretation).

  • Accessible shuttle buses will replace service between Braintree and JFK/UMass Stations during the weekend of April 1-2. This service change will allow MBTA crews to perform critical rail and tie replacement work along the track in multiple areas along the Braintree Branch that will alleviate speed restrictions.
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  • Accessible shuttle buses will provide service between Kendall/MIT and JFK/UMass Stations during the weekend of April 22-23. This service change will allow MBTA crews to perform critical rail and tie replacement work along the track in this area that will alleviate speed restrictions near South Station.
  • Accessible shuttle buses will provide service between Kendall/MIT and JFK/UMass Stations during the weekend of April 29-30. This service change will allow MBTA crews to continue rail and tie replacement to alleviate speed restrictions near South Station as well as perform work near the First Street gate in Cambridge.
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  • Evening weekday trains will be replaced with accessible shuttle bus service between Government Center and Orient Heights Stations beginning at approximately 9 PM on April 10-13. Shuttle buses will not serve Bowdoin station. This service change will allow MBTA crews to begin rail replacement and track alignment work on the Blue Line that will alleviate speed restrictions.
  • Evening weekday trains will be replaced with accessible shuttle bus service between Government Center and Orient Heights Stations beginning at approximately 9 PM on April 24-27. Shuttle buses will not serve Bowdoin station. This service change will allow MBTA crews to continue rail replacement and track alignment work on the Blue Line that will alleviate multiple speed restrictions.
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Aprehensive_Words said:
Does anyone have any inside knowledge that could shed light on what "alleviate" means in that press release? For example, the T didn't say *which* speed restrictions in the closure areas will be "fixed" (my probably-pollyannish interpretation).
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al·le·vi·ate
/əˈlēvēˌāt/
verb

make (suffering, deficiency, or a problem) less severe



Make speed restrictions less severe. No promise of "speed restriction go away". Yes...in PR-land that wording is intentional. :(
 
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77% of the Blue Line under speed restrictions. From 10 stretches, including a nearly three-mile-long segment at 10 mph from Bowdoin to Orient Heights (!). (You need to expand the chart by "Path" to see the full extent of that one, see second screenshot.)

1679602344535.png


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The Red Line has a lower percentage of impacted track, but a much higher number of individual restrictions. As far as I can tell, there is at least one slow zone between every station pair except:
  • Central -> Kendall
  • Fields Corner -> Shawmut
  • North Quincy -> Wollaston
  • Quincy Center -> Quincy Adams (though there is a restriction within Quincy Adams)
  • Downtown Crossing -> Park St
  • Charles/MGH -> Kendall
  • Kendall -> Central
  • Porter -> Davis
  • Central Ave -> Milton
  • Cedar Grove -> Ashmont
As far as I can tell, every other stretch goes through at least one slow zone. And while (as far as I can tell) it is not possible to download this data into a spreadsheet to do actual analysis, my quick scan of the list suggests that as much as 5.6 miles of Red Line track is at a 10 mph restriction (excluding Mattapan Line).

The Orange Line looks like it has more 25 mph restrictions than 10 mph ones. But, there is a restriction of 10 mph 0.19 miles long between Tufts Med Ct and Chinatown, and a whopping 0.4 miles from Sullivan to Community College (which would take almost two and a half minutes to traverse at that speed).

Not even gonna look at the Green Line right now.

But uh yeah. All those headlines about "speed restrictions being lifted"? I know most of them were technically about the systemwide restrictions being lifted, but, to be clear, a substantial fraction of the T currently is under a speed restriction due to either a) poor track conditions or b) lack of documentation about maintenance of the system.
 

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Riverside said:
Not even gonna look at the Green Line right now.
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Most of the speed restrictions are located within the central subway tunnel, the portion between North Station and Kenmore. There aren't many on the street running branches (only a very few). The D branch is lined with restrictions, though.

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beck4537 said:
commonwealthmagazine.org

Pause the search for a new GM at the MBTA

THE SEARCH for a new MBTA general manager and all the hype around it is at best a distraction and, at worst, obscures the difficult work needed to turn
commonwealthmagazine.org commonwealthmagazine.org
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There is no rational management theory that suggests a rudderless agency in free fall is benefited by also being leaderless. And whatever directional corrections are needed, a new GM needs to be part of that process.
 
Agreed. From the outside, it looks an awful lot like a lot of things are getting punted until a new GM arrives. But that doesn't immediately suggest that Gonneville couldn't do the job -- just that he's being wise and waiting for a new boss to make major policy decisions.
 
kmp1284 said:
www.boston.com

Healey taps former Long Island Rail Road president to lead MBTA

Phillip Eng, a 40-year transportation veteran, called for "a new way of doing business" at the embattled public transit agency.
www.boston.com
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Understanding the ins-and-outs of NYC public transit always seems daunting to me. So I definitely don't know the inside baseball here. The sense I've always gotten is that the LIRR has a less-than-stellar reputation. But perhaps Eng is credited with turning the agency around in recent years? (If there has been a [semi-]successful turnaround?)
 
Riverside said:
Understanding the ins-and-outs of NYC public transit always seems daunting to me. So I definitely don't know the inside baseball here. The sense I've always gotten is that the LIRR has a less-than-stellar reputation. But perhaps Eng is credited with turning the agency around in recent years? (If there has been a [semi-]successful turnaround?)
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I'm out in NJ now. LIRR was pretty terrible, like the MBTA Commuter Rail, until very recently. I am not sure what happened, but soemtime around 2018 the system 180'd. OTP went from like 65% to over 90%+. Fares go t easier. Timetables became amazing and then they started interlining the LIRR.

It was the worst 5 years ago. But I would say it is easily the best of the 3 (NJ Transit, LIRR, MTA North). Easily.
 
I think that a new GM is needed asap. Things have been falling apart. Literally! This :poop: started with the Orange Line needing to be fixed up last summer, & before you know it, it spread like a disease to the other lines, what with the track work being updated & repaired. Now there's damn slow zones all over the place!! When with this end?!! :unsure:
 
Massachoicetts said:
I'm out in NJ now. LIRR was pretty terrible, like the MBTA Commuter Rail, until very recently. I am not sure what happened, but soemtime around 2018 the system 180'd. OTP went from like 65% to over 90%+. Fares go t easier. Timetables became amazing and then they started interlining the LIRR.

It was the worst 5 years ago. But I would say it is easily the best of the 3 (NJ Transit, LIRR, MTA North). Easily.
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Well then. My guess is "what happened" was that Eng took over -- 2018 is when he became president. So. That's actually very promising.
 
bakgwailo said:
Yeah, looks like he got it to 100% OTP in the AM and 90+ in the PM rushes which sounds impressive to me and took it through the pandemic.
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Honest question, is that OTP the result of actual improved operations, or less freqrency, schedule padding, loosening the definition of ‘on time,’ ect, ect. Obviously hoping for the former. Maybe Massachoicetts could weigh in?
 
Massachoicetts said:
I'm out in NJ now. LIRR was pretty terrible, like the MBTA Commuter Rail, until very recently. I am not sure what happened, but soemtime around 2018 the system 180'd. OTP went from like 65% to over 90%+. Fares go t easier. Timetables became amazing and then they started interlining the LIRR.

It was the worst 5 years ago. But I would say it is easily the best of the 3 (NJ Transit, LIRR, MTA North). Easily.
Click to expand...

Well that, right there, is a very positive indication about Eng since he came in over there in the 2017-2018 timeframe. So far, I'm excited about this appointment. The T needs an asskicker and it seems that Eng has a resume for that.
 
A new GM is about to be named soon!!

commonwealthmagazine.org

CommonWealth Beacon

A trusted nonprofit, non-partisan source for in-depth news analysis, reporting & opinion on policy, politics, & civic life in Massachusetts.
commonwealthmagazine.org commonwealthmagazine.org
 
Highwayguy said:
Honest question, is that OTP the result of actual improved operations, or less freqrency, schedule padding, loosening the definition of ‘on time,’ ect, ect. Obviously hoping for the former. Maybe Massachoicetts could weigh in?
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From my understanding, the LIRR was slow, constantly delayed and had a shtty schedule. I think it was always 24/7 to an extent on some/most lines, but there were some non-LIRR factors that impacted OTP / Reliability... like Penn Station in of itself. Which is so under capacity and prone to delays and cancellation throughout all operations since its an Amtrak ROW. LIRR started utilizing connection points at Jamaica more, which really helped their OTP. Im not too familiar with LIRR, more so NJ Transit, but service frequently definitely did NOT decrease. It seems like there were operational changes and realignment of funds to make the overall LIRR experience better. I mean in 2019-2020, LIRR interlined with MTA North Fares, severely improved signaling and fixed a slew of maintenance concerns all while improving OTP and keeping the same/increasing service. I think this is promising. Here in NYC, we know LIRR was bad a few years back.. but now we know its pretty damn good if we had to take it. So to best answer your question, operational changes. I think LIRR learned to better work with the horrid Penn Station all while trying to make the overall service more reliable and a better experience for commuters. There are a lot of recent articles about the LIRR that frame it in a negative light because of the recent Grand Central Station connection that just finished. This is more of a NYC DOT thing than LIRR. It just opened and LIRR needs to work out the kinks. The whole project cost $10.6 billion and was a whole mess... but I am glad they are looking for service improvements. This is also promising.

Here are two recent timetables:

But for Boston, this is a good sign imo. I WOULD want someone who worked on the LIRR from 2017 to 2022 on my transit system that is in shambles. I just hope he brings a good team and the City/State of Massachusetts are on board at making public transportation a priority. He may be great, but he will need help to achieve great results.

One thing that irks me about the MBTA that I am worried about its that one of my colleague's works with the MBTA in Boston, and she said that 'they only work around election time' and then the rest of the time (80-85%) nothing really gets done. So it seems BIG structural changes need to be made at the MBTA before we address the operational ones. Those words have haunted me for a while now....
 
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