General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

what would you do - challenge a teenager to a fight?
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I'd tell his mommy he's doing bad things on the computer again..
 
My mommy tells me not to go to this site because you guys are mean
 
castevens said:
My mommy tells me not to go to this site because you guys are mean
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LOL!!!!

Seriously, all of you...don't make me pound your faces in to get you back on topic permanently.
 
BosDevelopment:

Just wondering what the benefits to keeping it token based would be.
 
The Globe said:
Commuter rail snags prompt a showdown

By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff | July 27, 2006

The head of the MBTA plans to meet today with officials who run the T's commuter trains to complain about abysmal on-time performance and unhelpful employees and to call for quick improvements on stifling-hot coaches, failing equipment, and late or canceled trains.

It is the most serious conflict yet between the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, which took over in July 2003 under a record $1.07 billion, five-year contract. The meeting is so important that T officials said the head of the commuter rail consortium was summoned from vacation.

While subways, ferries, and buses are handling a surge in passengers since the fatal collapse July 10 of a Big Dig tunnel ceiling and subsequent road closings, commuter rail service is worsening, Daniel A. Grabauskas, the T's general manager, said yesterday. The 13 commuter rail lines serve about 140,000 passengers on an average weekday, but that number has increased since the Big Dig closings.

On-time performance for commuter rail dropped from 91.8 percent in May to 89.4 percent in June, the first time below the 90 percent required in the contract since November 2005. So far in July, 84 percent of trains have been on time out of North Station, and 88 percent on time out of South Station.

``I have no explanation which satisfies me why performance has been on a steep decline for the last several months," Grabauskas said.

``I'm very disappointed that it's not just the maintenance of the equipment, but also the conduct of MBCR personnel to go above and beyond and meet our customers' expectations," he said. ``I score their performance very low in this crisis."

MBCR is a consortium of Veolia Transportation, Bombardier, and Alternate Concepts Inc. It runs and maintains the tracks and trains, while the T owns them.

A spokesman for the commuter railroad consortium, which has acknowledged the drop in service, declined to comment on today's closed-door meeting.

Equipment shortages appear to be a key problem for the commuter railroad, which on Monday had 24 of 80 locomotives in the shop for service or maintenance, above the maximum of 20 that the contract with the MBTA allows. On Tuesday, Grabauskas said the consortium had 90 coaches out of service, more than double the 41 the contract permits.

When it took over commuter rail from Amtrak, the consortium had 536 mechanics. But on July 17, MBCR had just 473 mechanics, Grabauskas said.

Customer complaints have risen as on-time service has declined, with 533 complaints in May, 654 in June, and 900 so far in July.

``Overall, it's the inconsistency that's really frustrating," said Joe Fischer, 44, a commuter from Sharon who rides the Worcester-Framingham line to work. ``Sometimes the service is spot on and the conductors are doing their jobs, and other times it's not."

Fischer said no one checked his monthly pass on three recent trips. On July 16, he said, his train had four of six coaches closed off because of faulty air conditioning. The next day, his train home was 20 minutes late out of South Station, he said.

Grabauskas said he is most aggravated by the commuter railroad's lack of progress after the MBTA board last year gave the consortium $23.5 million to replace air conditioning units, windows, and bathrooms on the aging coaches. Those improvements are scheduled to be complete in the next 18 months or so.

``For well over a year we've prioritized for MBCR what our customers want and then gave them the money to do it," he said. ``These guys who bid on this project three years ago, they didn't buy a pig in a poke. They knew what they were getting into."

Grabauskas said that yesterday morning, the first three transit updates on his pager listed the Plymouth line being 15 to 20 minutes late, a Kingston train delayed because of signal problems, and a Worcester-Framingham train 25 minutes late into South Station.

Yesterday afternoon, two runs on the Newburyport-Rockport line were canceled because of an equipment shortage, while Fitchburg and Haverhill trains were running 30 to 38 minutes late, also because of an equipment shortage.

Many commuter rail riders say that the drop in service is nothing new.

``All winter it was great; in the summer, it's just awful," said Mike Lynch, 30, who takes the Framingham-Worcester line from Natick to his job at Fidelity Investments in downtown Boston.

He said that about two weeks ago, heading out of South Station, his train pulled out 200 yards and shut down, with all lights and electricity off. He arrived home 45 minutes late.

Kelly Lockberg, 20, a finance intern who takes the same line from Wellesley, said such delays are frustrating. ``But it seems like they're working out the kinks," she added. ``It's gotten a lot better the last week."

Les Chan, 48, a risk assessor from Beverly, was waiting at North Station when the announcer said that his 6 p.m. Newburyport-Rockport train was delayed. ``I'm frustrated, but what can you do?" he asked. ``I'm not happy about it, but everyone else is in the same situation. Things like that add to the misery of the commute."

Over the last five years, the T has offered an on-time refund to passengers who arrive more than 30 minutes late or when a scheduled trip is canceled, costing the authority $1.3 million last year. The T paid out 140,317 claims last year, 90 percent of them for commuter rail passengers.

After noticing that the claims did not decline despite better on-time performance thanks to milder weather in January and February, officials in March announced a crackdown on false claims, rejecting a quarter of claims handled in January.

Globe correspondent Yuxing Zheng contributed to this report. Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.
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They don't aready?!? :shock:
The Globe said:
All T stops will have security cameras

By Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Globe Correspondent | August 11, 2006

Every subway station will have security cameras by April after the MBTA Board of Directors voted yesterday to install almost 200 new cameras funded by a $3 million grant from Homeland Security.

``It's a proven way for us to improve safety and security," said MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas.

The cameras will be placed at stations on the Red, Orange, Blue, Green, and Silver lines.

Some 300 cameras already in place at Boston stations have also monitored safety and crime, Grabauskas said.

A camera captured the image of a passenger falling onto subway tracks last year in time for a dispatcher to radio the conductor to stop the train, he said. The cameras have also caught vandalism on tape and have been used to settle disputes between subway staff and customers.

The images will be monitored from the MBTA Operations Control Center, the Transit Police Department, and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency's bunker in Framingham.

The purchase will also convert all of the T's analog cameras to digital, allowing the agency to store images for 30 days.

The unanimous vote was an easy one because someone else was footing the bill, joked board member Baron Martin .

It was a tumultuous meeting at times as board members met lively criticism from dozens of riders protesting a fare increase that could be voted on as early as next month.

The board also voted unanimously yesterday to buy $5.7 million in spare parts such as touch screen displays and fare gates that will be stored as replacements for the MBTA's new fare-collection system. The additional parts bring the Automated Fare Collection system's price tag to more than $89 million. The system is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

``It's another example of being prepared for the future," Secretary of Transportation John Cogliano said after the meeting. ``It's important to have the necessary equipment to make those repairs."

Riders are having trouble making the transition to the new electronic ticket system, said Khalida Smalls, an organizer for the T Riders Union, the group protesting a fare increase.

``Once you transfer money to the new system, you may not be able to use it," she said, adding that half the stations still use the token system. ``People are having to pay twice."
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In first post, I'll be cautiously positive about the T and the Charlie Card:

Some of you may know the T is installing the new fareboxes at Hynes/ICA (or, "Auditorium," as was written on all the equipment tags last week), and both the Mass Ave and long-closed southeastern Boylston Street entrance are getting machines.

One assumes this means the MBTA is opening the Boylston entrance, though every T employee I've asked says, "Yeah, well, we think so ..."

This would be great customer service if it actually happens.
 
I am mad at the T for not providing transportation from Boston to Foxboro for the Rolling Stones concert. I was still able to go, but it was very complicated and involved waking up at 4:30 am the next morning to get back to campus.

But, when I e-mailed them about it (and keep in mind I e-mailed like boss of the commuter rail), he got back to me quickly with a good excuse (the Foxboro contract is with the Patriots, and this was just a venue for the Stones, had nothing to do with the Pats).
 
The Globe said:
T has an offer for riders: Take a cup of kindness yet

September 26, 2006

MBTA officials will be out and about today looking for something rare and elusive in Boston, especially on the T, passengers being nice.

If they should find any, Transportation Secretary John Cogliano has supplied T employees with $2 gift cards to Dunkin' Donuts to say thanks.

Twenty-five T employees will be handing out 500 of the caffeinated kudos on buses, subways, and commuter rail, part of a new Courtesy Counts campaign aimed at improving the conduct of T employees and riders.

``By and large, riders of the T are courteous," Cogliano, a rider himself, said yesterday. ``And MBTA employees are courteous, by and large. But this campaign at the T is meant to heighten everyone's awareness that they need to be more courteous."

In interviews on the Red Line and at South Station during yesterday's afternoon commute, some passengers scoffed at the effort, while others praised it.

``Anything that's going to result in one kind act being rewarded by another is a good thing," said Karen Shea, 33, of Newton. ``But if the T gave out free tickets instead, you'd probably see more of it."

Niki Hill, however, recalled having to ask a passenger to give up a seat reserved for the handicapped while she stood next to him with a full leg brace and a cane.

``There will be many complete books of Dunkin' Donuts gift certificates because there will be no acts of kindness on the T," she said. ``I don't think they could solve it with $10 gift certificates." MAC DANIEL
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Today I was waiting for the train at Saint Paul on the C Line when I noticed a crew spreading crushed gravel around a shelter. Can you guess how many there were? 12! That's right! There were 12! I couldn't believe, so I took some pictures. I will post them later. Only two crew members were actually working. Meanwhile, all of us riders were standing on a cracked, bumpy, narrow piece of asphalt waiting for a dirty slow train to come rolling in.
 
This is encouraging then:

http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/local_story_343220423.html

Dec 9, 2006 10:08 pm US/Eastern
6 MBTA Managers Fired For Skipping Work, Slacking

(AP) BOSTON Six MBTA managers were fired after private investigators hired by the agency found them skipping work, running side businesses and generally slacking off.

Two of the workers were having a love affair, and were caught on camera spending time during the work day in official cars and area hotels, the Boston Herald reported.

"The activities of each of these individuals would absolutely be characterized as egregious," said Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority General Manager Daniel Grabauskas. "These were not isolated incidents. They were repeated, sometimes happening day after day and night after night."

The supervisors were fired on Tuesday, Grabauskas said.

The MBTA did not identify the six people fired, but said they all worked for the agency for between 10 and 32 years and earned between $69,000 and $82,000 a year. Grabauskas said some of the supervisors were directly responsible for ensuring the T's safe operation.

The terminated employees included a top supervisor of a subway line, a superintendent in charge of maintenance, a supervisor of maintenance, and four assistant superintendents responsible for bus operations on nights and weekends.

The supervisors were followed for several months by private investigators, who were hired when other MBTA managers raised concerns. The investigation was part of a broader probe into absenteeism at the T, which was straining resources at a time of critical funding shortages at the agency.

Grabauskas said two supervisors were caught working other jobs while they were supposed to be working at the T, and others were found engaged in activities that had nothing to do with their work. He refused to give details to the Herald.
 
I know someone through work (he comes to where i work as a part time job representing a vendor) who works for the mbta and brags about how he does absolutely nothing in his job. He works as a "business analyst" in Corporate, in the automated fare collection division. Basically, when they're installing a new turnstyle, they'll do like one in a day. It's take two hours, and after that he's free to go. He's salaried, of course, and makes upwards of $60k a year, so he gets paid for 8 hours every day regardless.
 
JoeGallows said:
Didn't know where else to put this, but it seems the T debuted their new website. So far, much, much better.

For the lazy: http://www.mbta.com
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Great new "interactive maps."

Update: Somehow it is back to the old site. Since it will be gone forever, here is a screen shot for comparison.

 
I like the new site. It's really nice.

If only they put this much effort and thought into the actual transit system...
 
It was great this morning at 9 am, but it's not anymore. I don't know what they changed since then, but they need to go back.
 
ZenZen said:
I like the new site. It's really nice.

If only they put this much effort and thought into the actual transit system...
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Maybe they will...

If I were Deval Patrick, I'd give Dan Grabauskas another couple of months, maybe a year to see what he can do. He worked wonders for the RMV. Maybe he's just not visionary enough to fix the MBTA, but we shall see.
 
It's not about vision when it comes to public transit. It's about lobbying - lobbying at both the Federal and state level in order to secure funds for maintenance and operations.
 
ZenZen said:
It's not about vision when it comes to public transit. It's about lobbying - lobbying at both the Federal and state level in order to secure funds for maintenance and operations.
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Actually I think it's more about dealing successfully with the Carmans union and trying to get them to see the bigger picture. Also, they needs to bring about a wholesale change in the 'corporate' culture of the T. That is a very, very difficult challenge. If they can somehow stop the T from hemmoraging money, getting new federal and state dollars will be a lot easier.
 
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