General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Longfellow said:
Would like if they audited the project management structure that causes cost blowouts... don't care so much about auditing ops. If anything we need more money for actual employees not consultants.
Click to expand...
From the article:
DiZoglio said the contract between the MBTA and Block by Block was signed “during a loophole period” when The Taxpayer Protection Act— which would have required the MBTA to prove the outsourced service would be at the same or better quality as internal work while saving taxpayer dollars — did not apply.

“Riders, taxpayers and employees deserve better management of a contract worth tens of millions of their public dollars,” DiZoglio said.
Click to expand...
I think the reference to the Taxpayer Protection Act is a good sign that the Auditor is targeting the contract management issues and outsourcing issues throughout the T. Station ambassadors is probably an easier place to start than a wholesale audit of something like the GLX, which hopefully will happen too.
 
jbray said:
Red line derailment at Park Street. Shuttle Bus service from Harvard to Broadway until further notice.
Click to expand...
Just a note: not a train, a maintenance vehicle of some sort that apparently managed to mangle the 3rd rail pretty badly.
 
jbray said:
Red line derailment at Park Street. Shuttle Bus service from Harvard to Broadway until further notice.
Click to expand...
This is the fourth major derailment this year alone. In January the Green Line suffered a derailment on reopening day after the shutdown. Red Line derailment in March. Blue Line derailment in April, and now a new one today.

Surprisingly, the Orange Line hasn't had one. Something about the Orange Line is working as intended, but what on the OL is working as intended quietly behind the scenes?
 
Delvin4519 said:
This is the fourth major derailment this year alone. In January the Green Line suffered a derailment on reopening day after the shutdown. Red Line derailment in March. Blue Line derailment in April, and now a new one today.

Surprisingly, the Orange Line hasn't had one. Something about the Orange Line is working as intended, but what on the OL is working as intended quietly behind the scenes?
Click to expand...
Big difference between a maintenance vehicle derailing in the off-hours and an in-service passenger car derailing. Still not great but probably has more to do with the state of the maintenance vehicle than the tracks.
 
Delvin4519 said:
This is the fourth major derailment this year alone. In January the Green Line suffered a derailment on reopening day after the shutdown. Red Line derailment in March. Blue Line derailment in April, and now a new one today.

Surprisingly, the Orange Line hasn't had one. Something about the Orange Line is working as intended, but what on the OL is working as intended quietly behind the scenes?
Click to expand...
Today's Red derailment was a rented hi-rail bucket loader, not a conventional piece of T equipment. Hi-rail vehicles are not built for running at full speed in rail mode, and need to be handled gingerly. This one happened on the overnight maint shift and only ended up fucking up the morning commute because of the third rail damage it inflicted. It was a crappy confluence of events, not a fault in preventative maintenance practices.

Derailments are not statistically uncommon. They happen most frequently in yard settings with split switches, though that's usually at very slow speeds so it doesn't cause a lot of damage. Most of them go un-reported by the media. Other than the quarter-century ongoing Type 8 fiasco on Green, T revenue fleets are not unusually prone to derailing.

Orange is not an outlier. There's still 2 cars out-of-service for repairs from the 2022 derailment on the Wellington yard switches, as that one was a pretty bad one that took out a bunch of signal boxes at the derailment site.
 
Red Line diversion to begin earlier and has been extended to cover the entire trunk of the Red Line

The diversion will begin at 8pm (20:00) on Friday, July 12th

The diversion will be extended from Park Street to JFK-UMASS, this applies on July 13-14 and July 27-28.

MBTA Reminds Riders of Upcoming Red Line Service Suspension, Announces Update to This Weekend July 13 – 14 and Weekend of July 27 – 28’s Red Line Service Changes | News | 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
 
Delvin4519 said:
Red Line diversion to begin earlier and has been extended to cover the entire trunk of the Red Line

The diversion will begin at 8pm (20:00) on Friday, July 12th

The diversion will be extended from Park Street to JFK-UMASS, this applies on July 13-14 and July 27-28.

MBTA Reminds Riders of Upcoming Red Line Service Suspension, Announces Update to This Weekend July 13 – 14 and Weekend of July 27 – 28’s Red Line Service Changes | News | 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
Click to expand...
Due to the new changes made to the upcoming diversions, here's all the subway service that will operate on July 13th and July 14th
1720646393180.png
 
Delvin4519 said:
Red Line diversion to begin earlier and has been extended to cover the entire trunk of the Red Line

The diversion will begin at 8pm (20:00) on Friday, July 12th

The diversion will be extended from Park Street to JFK-UMASS, this applies on July 13-14 and July 27-28.

MBTA Reminds Riders of Upcoming Red Line Service Suspension, Announces Update to This Weekend July 13 – 14 and Weekend of July 27 – 28’s Red Line Service Changes | News | 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
Click to expand...

OK, this makes sense. I saw in the track bed at South Station this morning that there were rows and rows of new rails laid between the running rails. They stretched the length of the platform, and I just assumed they were there for storage (?) for the upcoming closure elsewhere on the line. Looks like they're gearing up for the shut down now along the main trunk.
 
One consistent outcome of these shutdowns are the crazy infographics. I'm sure the graphics team yearns for the simpler shutdown days.

1720649086919.png
 
Justbuildit said:
OK, this makes sense. I saw in the track bed at South Station this morning that there were rows and rows of new rails laid between the running rails. They stretched the length of the platform, and I just assumed they were there for storage (?) for the upcoming closure elsewhere on the line. Looks like they're gearing up for the shut down now along the main trunk.
Click to expand...

The extended outage during these weekends allows for the installation of over three and a half miles (19,200 feet) of new rail that will allow the MBTA to lift seven speed restrictions along this heavily traveled corridor.
Click to expand...

"More than five miles of scrap rail from past Red Line work also needs to be removed from our right of way areas. By extending the closure to JFK/UMass this weekend and the weekend of July 27 – 28, we’re creating the access needed to bring in new materials and remove old rail efficiently..."
Click to expand...
 
Not only did the extent of the closure expand, but the ambition has shrunk:

Wednesday's press release says "the extended outage during these weekends allows for the installation of over three and a half miles (19,200 feet) of new rail that will allow the MBTA to lift seven speed restrictions along this heavily traveled corridor."

But as recently as June 20, T officials had said that they expected to fix ten slow zones with this closure (see page 6 of this slide deck):

 
StreetsblogMASS said:
Not only did the extent of the closure expand, but the ambition has shrunk:

Wednesday's press release says "the extended outage during these weekends allows for the installation of over three and a half miles (19,200 feet) of new rail that will allow the MBTA to lift seven speed restrictions along this heavily traveled corridor."

But as recently as June 20, T officials had said that they expected to fix ten slow zones with this closure (see page 6 of this slide deck):

Click to expand...
I mean, given there *aren't* 10 slow zones between Alewife and Kendall, I imagine that the 10 mentioned on that slide is erroneous. There's only 7, and the gantt chart on page 2 shows that this stutdown was supposed to address those 7. There *are* 3 slow zones on the Kendall - Park segment, all around Charles MGH, but those were supposed to be addressed as part of the October Harvard-Park diversion. The immediate diversions beyond Kendall are evenings and weekends, and the slide deck says thats about them having access to the 1st st gate, (the truck pad at the Kendall/Longfellow portal) not trackwork in the segment.

That said, the press release did mention the Park segment - hopefully, with the new expanded access down as far as JFK they'll be able to consolidate the shutdowns, or make incremental work on them.
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure where else to put this, but I just found out that the MBTA's new pass / card readers that you might've seen on their buses & trollys will go into effect on August 1st. New cards will also go into effect, but to those of you who are still using the old Charlie Cards (I am), you can do so until the new ones come out. Hopefully, they'll be mailed to us. You can go to the T's website to find out more. (www.mbta.com). :)
mbta card reader..jpg
 
Last edited:
I just came across this in the wild. I want to say it's new, but more of these please! These signs making folks aware of the transit in the immediate vicinity should be everywhere, especially in tourist heavy areas downtown. Only one critique, they should consider including high frequency bus routes as well.
1000034891.jpg
 
Stlin said:
I just came across this in the wild. I want to say it's new, but more of these please! These signs making folks aware of the transit in the immediate vicinity should be everywhere, especially in tourist heavy areas downtown. Only one critique, they should consider including high frequency bus routes as well.
View attachment 52630
Click to expand...
And while we're at it, maybe if we could get some signs pointing to where the entrances to State are? Why does it need to be so hard to find?
 
Stlin said:
I just came across this in the wild. I want to say it's new, but more of these please! These signs making folks aware of the transit in the immediate vicinity should be everywhere, especially in tourist heavy areas downtown. Only one critique, they should consider including high frequency bus routes as well.
View attachment 52630
Click to expand...
This is probably for the shutdown.
 
The GLX work this weekend is interesting. I'm not quite sure where it could be coming from, but they're stockpiling a bunch of soil at Ball Square, bringing it in in small truck loads...
 
stefal said:
The GLX work this weekend is interesting. I'm not quite sure where it could be coming from, but they're stockpiling a bunch of soil at Ball Square, bringing it in in small truck loads...
Click to expand...
I've been hearing the "low-impact" white-noise reverse beepers all day long from my apartment...so soothing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top