General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

www.wgbh.org

MBTA General Manager Phil Eng says the agency needs to 'stay persistent'

The South Coast Commuter Rail plans to start service on March 24, with passengers riding free on the weekends until the end of April.
www.wgbh.org www.wgbh.org
MBTA ridership has slowly ticked back up in recent months as the agency has made improvements to service, General Manager Phil Eng said Wednesday. He said last month alone, T ridership grew about 6% over the prior month.
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www.bostonglobe.com

MBTA investigating ‘possible human factors’ after Green Line trolley rolled back and ‘hitched’ with other train - The Boston Globe

About 100 riders on two other Green Line trains behind the trolleys involved in the incident were escorted about 250 feet to the nearest station, the MBTA said.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
The MBTA said it is looking at "possible human factors" as part of its investigation into an incident at Park Street Wednesday night when a Green Line trolley rolled back and "hitched" to a trolley behind it.
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Stlin said:
I mean ... In this particular case "crash" = two trains became one; apparently the front train rolled back and coupled onto the one following it. Disruptive to be sure, and one that should be explained as to how a trolley manages to rolls back at a platform, (especially since I'm pretty sure thats the track you're allowed to cross for the winter st concourse) but hardly a major incident.
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Park St isn't a flat station but on a not-insignificant incline north. If the lead train was a Type 7, the foot controls are a bit weird and can roll back if the operator has released the brakes (or not applied them enough) and not got on the power right away. I've been on many a train that has rolled backwards a few feet but those have been out on the surface at places such Warren St and Coolidge Corner Westbound.
 
Notes from the Hi-Rail Tunnel Meeting tonight:
  • The attendees tonight had a significantly more "NIMBY" character than the previous meeting. To some of the people present it doesn't matter if the construction is safe, it just shouldn't happen at all.
    • A common theme was to make it Arlington's problem instead.
    • One attendee insisting on a vast conspiracy from elected officials to hide this project from the people of Cambridge for years, despite the meeting 6 months ago and its inclusion in the CIP more than a year ago now. 🤷‍♂️
  • Asbestos asbestos asbestos, that's what the talk was about for the most part. The MBTA stated that they are now reviewing tenting/venting as an option compared to misting with external consultants. They state they have not come to a determination on if it is feasible, and if it provides a benefit compared to misting.
    • They also stated that the contractor has some amount of input on this decision, the exact level there was not really clarified.
    • Some people with ears actually realized that they are in fact determining the best course of action to follow, not spraying asbestos at kids blindly. Shocking.
  • The meeting was not long enough. There were a lot of good questions that they didn't have time for in a single hour.
  • Combining the project with the garage redevelopment was also brought up again multiple times, it doesn't really work with the projected timeline for the garage, and the tunnel location would inhibit use of the tail tracks for train storage.
  • While they weren't discussing asbestos, we got some nice renders and a detailed diagram showing that the portal will be on Station Access Rd. I don't think this site has any legitimate noise concerns.
 
Does anyone know of a good channel to report customer service or other operational/service issues to the T? (For example, there was vomit on the floor of the Red Line train I was riding on Saturday.)

I used to use Twitter for this, but I'm no longer there, and while the MBTA has an official Bluesky account, it has never posted so I doubt it's actively monitored. I downloaded the See Say app, but that's (as I suspected) specifically for Transit Police rather than for reporting general issues. I also looked in the MBTA Go app, but there's not (yet) any customer service functions there. There's a Customer Support form on MBTA.com but it's pretty cumbersome when all you want to make is a quick report. It also says that you can expect a response within 5 business days, which implies that it's not monitored in real time like their Twitter account is. The only other option I found was their customer service phone number (617-222-3200), but I don't want to be That Person talking on the phone when I'm on the train/bus.

Anyone know of any other channels to do this sort of thing?
 
alewife said:
Does anyone know of a good channel to report customer service or other operational/service issues to the T? (For example, there was vomit on the floor of the Red Line train I was riding on Saturday.)

I used to use Twitter for this, but I'm no longer there, and while the MBTA has an official Bluesky account, it has never posted so I doubt it's actively monitored. I downloaded the See Say app, but that's (as I suspected) specifically for Transit Police rather than for reporting general issues. I also looked in the MBTA Go app, but there's not (yet) any customer service functions there. There's a Customer Support form on MBTA.com but it's pretty cumbersome when all you want to make is a quick report. It also says that you can expect a response within 5 business days, which implies that it's not monitored in real time like their Twitter account is. The only other option I found was their customer service phone number (617-222-3200), but I don't want to be That Person talking on the phone when I'm on the train/bus.

Anyone know of any other channels to do this sort of thing?
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I can’t speak for the actual situation at the T, but from my professional IRL experience, I’m guessing that feedback form probably is actually at least somewhat monitored. My guess would be that the 5-day turnaround is to handle cases where the team has to do some investigation to actually figure out what team can respond to the concern, and/or as a hedge against other parties at the agency taking a long time to respond. For something straightforward like vomit on the train, I’m mildly optimistic that it would actually get a relatively quick response.
 
At last, the T will finally address some of the COVID induced service cuts from Winter 2022 - Summer 2023?

Spring 2025 Service Changes | Previous Service Changes | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com

21 instances of "frequency increases", 1 instance of "reduced frequency", but 59 instances of "to improve reliability".

Note that "to improve reliability" is occassionally used to denote "reduced frequency" in secret, hidden terms. So it is not just 1 instance of "reduced frequency". There are likely more hidden service cuts that are not known about yet, buried behind the words "to improve reliability".

But so far it seems like a service increase on April 6th. More details later (most likely next Thursday/Friday).

The T had 1,604 bus operators on December 14th, 2024. Now they have 1,640 bus operators as of March 8th. No idea how many vacancies the T still has unfilled since this data isn't reported.
 
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Delvin4519 said:
At last, the T will finally address some of the COVID induced service cuts from Winter 2022 - Summer 2023?

Spring 2025 Service Changes | Previous Service Changes | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com

21 instances of "frequency increases", 1 instance of "reduced frequency", but 59 instances of "to improve reliability".

Note that "to improve reliability" is occassionally used to denote "reduced frequency" in secret, hidden terms. So it is not just 1 instance of "reduced frequency". There are likely more hidden service cuts that are not known about yet, buried behind the words "to improve reliability".

But so far it seems like a service increase on April 6th. More details later (most likely next Thursday/Friday).

The T had 1,604 bus operators on December 14th, 2024. Now they have 1,640 bus operators as of March 8th. No idea how many vacancies the T still has unfilled since this data isn't reported.
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The MBTA posted the PDFs and there's a lot of secret hidden frequency reductions in those "to improve reliability" statements.

Look at the 89 bus, 95 bus, 120 bus etc. Fewer trips in the new timetables!

As usual, the service increases are not as advertised. There's more frequency reductions that are always hidden as usual, buried beneath the actual timetables.

Why can't the T just ever straight up admit "fewer trips in the timetable to improve reliability" for once?
 
Delvin4519 said:
The MBTA posted the PDFs and there's a lot of secret hidden frequency reductions in those "to improve reliability" statements.

Look at the 89 bus, 95 bus, 120 bus etc. Fewer trips in the new timetables!

As usual, the service increases are not as advertised. There's more frequency reductions that are always hidden as usual, buried beneath the actual timetables.

Why can't the T just ever straight up admit "fewer trips in the timetable to improve reliability" for once?
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SL5 is included in what you were saying about fewer trips.
 
MBTA DMA said:
SL5 is included in what you were saying about fewer trips.
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The SL5 needs the GTFS files for me to confirm whether it has fewer trips or not, as the PDF files for the SL5 do not list the entire schedule. I have to wait for the actual full GTFS to be released, for me to be able to confirm the findings.
 
www.bostonglobe.com

MBTA is among worst in nation for derailments, records show - The Boston Globe

Boston's MBTA has the dubious distinction of having the most derailments of any metro public transit system over the past five years, according to a Globe analysis.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

Beyond provoking yet another admonition from federal regulators over unsafe working conditions, the sheer number of incidents helped earn the MBTA the dubious distinction of having the most derailments of any metro public transit system over the past five years by a wide margin: more than 100, according to a Globe analysis of federal and T data, nearly three-quarters of which involved maintenance vehicles.

Screenshot 2025-03-23 084818.png


[...]

So far this year, there have been three derailments, all involving maintenance vehicles, according to the T.
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Seems like significantly less of an issue than the headline makes it out to be.
 
With South Coast Rail open and nothing else under construction*, the question becomes: what's the next transit expansion for the region? This is my list of plausible candidates - i.e, those projects that are sufficiently in the public consciousness that them being under construction within a decade seems possible.

* There is BRT-lite planned for Columbus/Tremont between Jackson Square and Ruggles within the next few years, but that's hardly a major project.

Rapid transit:
  • BLX to Lynn
  • Red-Blue Connector
  • GLX to Route 16
  • GLX to Porter
  • GLX to Needham
  • GLX to Hyde Square
  • RLX to Arlington
  • RLX to Mattapan
  • OLX to Roslindale or West Roxbury
  • Tech Square infill
  • Edgemont (Medford Street) infill
  • Port Norfolk/Neponset infill
  • Automation of one of the rapid transit lines
Commuter rail:
  • Lowell Line extension to Nashua
  • Franklin Line extension to Milford
  • Providence Line extension to Kingston
  • South Coast Rail Phase 2
  • Battleship Cove station (technically included in SCR Phase 2)
  • Middleborough-Buzzards Bay shuttle service
  • Old Colony Main Line double-tracking
  • South Salem infill station
  • West Station
  • Everett infill station
  • River Works opened for full public service
  • Infill station(s) in Rhode Island
  • Other proposed infill stations (Weston/128, Montvale, Union Square, Revere, North Abington, Newton Corner, etc)
  • Full electric service on the Fairmount Line (every 20 minutes, all day, 7 days a week)
  • Full electric service on another line
  • NSRL
Rubber tire:
  • SL3 extension to Sullivan
  • BRT on Blue Hill Avenue
  • BRT on Rutherford Avenue
  • Downtown bus corridor (Congress Street)
  • Decent quality BRT on another corridor (Seaver, Hyde Park, ...?)
  • 24/7 bus service on major routes
  • Full completion of Bus Network Redesign service changes
 
My bet is that the following will be complete by 2035: Red-Blue Connector, Battleship Cove, Buzzards Bay, South Salem, Fairmount electric service, SL3, Blue Hill Avenue, BNRD completion.

Those that I wouldn't be surprised about: GLX to Route 16, Edgemont infill, GLX to Needham, Nashua, Kingston, West Station, Everett infill, full electric service to Providence, Rutherford Avenue, another BRT corridor, 24/7 bus service.
 
By 2035, I expect:
  • Blue Line to Charles/MGH
  • South Salem infill
  • One other Commuter Rail infill (North Andover is in the lead)
  • Silver Line Extension through Everett
  • Blue Hill Ave BRT
I wish I was optimistic for more.

I’m not considering things that I consider more operational improvement than expansion (like bus network redesign or electrification).
 
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Tack on West Station there. I agree GL to Nubian is necessary, but I don't think we'll get it. I also never hear any buzz about BLX to lynn either.
 
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