General MBTA Discussion Thread

[Rover]

Somebody who drinks at work is indicative that alcoholism is a problem in this society. It is by no means something restricted to MBTA employees nor is it the fault of the MBTA that they hired a closet alcoholic. Why should we take this as an indication that highways need to be subsidized by general operating funds? The two things are completely unrelated.

No they're not because this the like one billionth example of well connected T workers pulling shit like this. From the article, the guy who isn't a lawyer has double the salary of the woman who was that he replaced. If its not his credentials getting him double the salary, then what is it?

In no way am I voting to give more money to these people to waste. I for one don't believe for a second that the T has the same level of personnel problems of any other organization. Its a shitty run fiefdom of unemployable relatives of politicians who only occasionally show up for work, and I say this not as a conspiracy theorist but as a regular rider since 1990 and a pretty liberal guy. Either clean up the T or continue to suffer from the (real, in my opinion) perception that any additional dollars will be going to waste.

 

[Riverside]

Its a shitty run fiefdom of unemployable relatives of politicians who only occasionally show up for work, and I say this not as a conspiracy theorist but as a regular rider since 1990 and a pretty liberal guy.

Wow, I didn't realize riders could view employee timecards or could keep tabs on the comings-and-goings at the offices.

(I say sarcastically.)

 

[Rover]

Wow, I didn't realize riders could view employee timecards or could keep tabs on the comings-and-goings at the offices.

(I say sarcastically.)

It helps if you hang around at local bars 2 hours after lunchtime. Usually the only people still there work for the T!

 

[whighlander]

This is 100% of the reason why people won't sign on for gas tax hikes, congestion pricing, or anything else until the entire MBTA is overhauled. Does anybody really think this guy is a one off issue? Or is he indicative of the entire organization - unaccountable, overpaid, and politically connected.

Put the MBTA through an orderly bankruptcy and clean it up from the debt to the pensions to the useless employees and start putting those $$$ towards system improvements. If any of us took 3 hour lunches and came back with booze on our breath regularly over 2 weeks time we'd be fired immediately. This is the kind of behavior that drives people nuts.

Rover -- you can't put the T through an orderly or disorderly bankruptcy without putting Massachusetts through the same

The T is not a corporation chartered by Massachusetts -- it is organized as an independent authority -- in fact it is a department of the Commonwealth in the same way as the Department of Conservation and Recreation

Ultimately all of the T-s bonds are backed by the Full Faith and Credit of the Commonwealth aka the Tax Payers of Massachusetts --

However -- the desire to control what is happening at the T is why we now have another layer of bureaucracy on top of the T -- in other words the T's Financial Control Board -- which was given relatively extraordinary powers by the Great and General Court as signed by the Governor

BUT -- the Financial Control Board is a temporary measure and some of the most agregious aspects of the T were not released to their control as certain members of the Legislature are still strongly linked to the T Unions -- remember even though Whitey [err Billy] Bulger is gone -- the MBTA still hearkens back to days when the translation of MBTA was Mr Bulger's Transit Agency and people poured quarters into their pants in the counting room

 

[Johnnyrocket891]

This is 100% of the reason why people won't sign on for gas tax hikes, congestion pricing, or anything else until the entire MBTA is overhauled. Does anybody really think this guy is a one off issue? Or is he indicative of the entire organization - unaccountable, overpaid, and politically connected.

Put the MBTA through an orderly bankruptcy and clean it up from the debt to the pensions to the useless employees and start putting those $$$ towards system improvements. If any of us took 3 hour lunches and came back with booze on our breath regularly over 2 weeks time we'd be fired immediately. This is the kind of behavior that drives people nuts.

Well said. Drastic times require drastic situations.

 

[Rover]

Rover -- you can't put the T through an orderly or disorderly bankruptcy without putting Massachusetts through the same

The T is not a corporation chartered by Massachusetts -- it is organized as an independent authority -- in fact it is a department of the Commonwealth in the same way as the Department of Conservation and Recreation

Ultimately all of the T-s bonds are backed by the Full Faith and Credit of the Commonwealth aka the Tax Payers of Massachusetts --

However -- the desire to control what is happening at the T is why we now have another layer of bureaucracy on top of the T -- in other words the T's Financial Control Board -- which was given relatively extraordinary powers by the Great and General Court as signed by the Governor

BUT -- the Financial Control Board is a temporary measure and some of the most agregious aspects of the T were not released to their control as certain members of the Legislature are still strongly linked to the T Unions -- remember even though Whitey [err Billy] Bulger is gone -- the MBTA still hearkens back to days when the translation of MBTA was Mr Bulger's Transit Agency and people poured quarters into their pants in the counting room

did some digging and this is what I came up with:

http://www.westcoastbk.com/blog/2011/07/can-a-state-county-or-city-government-file-for-bankruptcy/

"Chapter 9 provides that municipalities may reorganize their debts. The Bankruptcy Code defines a municipality as a “political subdivision or public agency or instrumentality of a State.” Municipalities include cities, towns, villages, counties, taxing districts municipal utilities, water districts, school districts, bridge authorities, highway authorities and gas authorities. "

While not knowing if anything specific in Mass law would prevent this, it looks like its kosher under federal law.

 

[Arlington]

Misfit employees can form the basis of an organizational critique: It says something about how productivity is measured.

 

[Arlington]

Does the start of weekend Red Line work mean that weekend Orange Line work is complete?

 

[Rover]

Misfit employees can form the basis of an organizational critique: It says something about how productivity is measured.

Kinda makes me wonder how 1) nobody missed the guy when he was off drinking during work hours, and 2) nobody noticed the whiskey on his breath after he put away 4 drinks in two hours then went back to work. Unless that sort of thing is par for the course at MBTA headquarters....

 

[stefal]

Does the start of weekend Red Line work mean that weekend Orange Line work is complete?

Yes. Weekend shutdowns on the Orange Line are complete; red line shutdowns begin now and end in about a month, with the exception of the weekend after Thanksgiving. Significant work is completed on the Orange Line, but smaller improvements that don't require weekend shutdowns will persist.

 

[Arlington]

Kinda makes me wonder how 1) nobody missed the guy when he was off drinking during work hours, and 2) nobody noticed the whiskey on his breath

I'm putting it down to bad personnel processes. Sombody needs to decide what's important to measure, and somebody has got to make sure it is being consistently measured.

 

[stick n move]

No human organization is. It isn't unique to government. I could sub out "MBTA" in your post for literally any company, organization, or government agency. I'm not really loving this "an alcoholic drinking during the day is proof that the MBTA is trash." An alcoholic executive isn't indicative of an institutional problem at the T, it's indicative of a dude with a problem. Jesus Christ.

Of course the T has problems, but this is a really really fucked up take.

Literally nobody is saying this one incident is indicative of all the larger problems within the organization... the millions of examples which this is the millionth and 1 is whats indicative of an institution with much larger problems...

 

[Brad Plaid]

No human organization is. It isn't unique to government. I could sub out "MBTA" in your post for literally any company, organization, or government agency. I'm not really loving this "an alcoholic drinking during the day is proof that the MBTA is trash." An alcoholic executive isn't indicative of an institutional problem at the T, it's indicative of a dude with a problem. Jesus Christ.

Of course the T has problems, but this is a really really fucked up take.

Well that there is some really really holier-than-thou speechifying George, dang. None of my criticism was directed at his sad alcoholism it was a general statement of contempt for the Banana Republic that the MBTA too often resembles. He wasn't busted for being an alcoholic, he was busted for bad behavior on the job. Now that he has had to face some consequences maybe that will be motivation for him to get the help he needs, I hope so. But the apparent enabling tolerance of this kind of behavior is only one more example of the culture rot at the T and why they need to always have their feet held firmly to the fire in the hope they can reform their fucking-up-too-much organization to something less dysfunctional. Oh wait that would require pols with backbone, never mind.

 

[George_Apley]

Speechifying? I wrote like three sentences.

If there's one thing we do in western society it's enable alcoholism. So many workplaces tolerate unacceptable levels of alcoholism, especially from higher-ups. I'm not saying that the MBTA isn't a bureaucratic mess, but this guy drinking at 2 hour lunches isn't the proof in the pudding. I wonder what the investigative reporters would find if they polled everyone sitting at downtown bars at 2:00 on a weekday. Probably a wide variety of people in a wide array of jobs who should probably be spending their time doing something more productive than pounding back booze.

 

[Riverside]

There may be another thread to mention this in, but since I haven't seen it yet, I just wanted to draw everyone's attention to the fact that our own Vanshnookenraggen has updated his MBTA and NYC Subway track maps, which are both a sight to behold. http://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_index/2019/11/updated-nyc-and-boston-track-maps/

 

[whittle]

btw, you can tag people now @vanshnookenraggen

 

[Riverside]

btw, you can tag people now @vanshnookenraggen

Ah, I thought so, but couldn't get it to work. I was posting from Chrome on an older version of iOS so maybe it just didn't work the way I expected. In any case, thanks!

 

[guitarguynboston]

This whole news report reminds me of all those Big Dig workers drinking on the job.

 

[HenryAlan]

This whole news report reminds me of all those Big Dig workers drinking on the job.

Which is totally why we should defund the highway department!

 

[Coyote137]

It helps if you hang around at local bars 2 hours after lunchtime. Usually the only people still there work for the T!

Wait, are you saying that you're in local bars every day around 2 - 3 PM?