General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

[Delvin4519]

Large spans of the day I watch my TrainTrackr board show the central subway as wall to wall trains between Hynes and Government Center. It’s not scientific by any means, but the central subway is at capacity.

The Green Line already has a 10% weekday service cut compared to pre-COVID. The Green Line has never recovered it's pre-COVID service levels, unlike the Red, Orange, or Blue Lines. On weekdays and Saturdays, fewer trips are scheduled across all 4 branches compared to pre-COVID.

The T under Phil Eng continues to lie about there being a "full T ahead". The bus network still have 10-13% (weekday) service trip cuts and reduced service hours of 1-4% still in place. Green Line trips are 10% less frequent and slower than ever before post-TIP. Bus and Green Line commutes are the slowest and longest it's ever been. The Summer 2023 bus service cuts under Eng are mostly still in place with additional cuts since then on routes like the 47, 57, and 89 buses, due to worsening traffic congestion.

 

[RandomWalk]

Nothing in what you have said about the Green Line precludes the possibility that the central subway is at capacity. Given the propensity for rear endings and the fiasco with the GLTPS 1.0 installation, the safe capacity of the central subway is likely lower than it was run at in the recent past.

 

[BeansTheCat]

Wouldn't installing crossing gates remove that 10 mph restriction?

The restriction is entirely self-imposed from what I understand. Gates, lights, or even fencing that forces pedestrians to slow down and look in the direction of tram (pictured below, I don't know the actual name for this) could increase crossing safety. However, I was given the impression by BPD planners (technically second-hand from the T) that the T was fine adding these features, but still very hesitant about changing speed limits.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Nothing in what you have said about the Green Line precludes the possibility that the central subway is at capacity. Given the propensity for rear endings and the fiasco with the GLTPS 1.0 installation, the safe capacity of the central subway is likely lower than it was run at in the recent past.

Decrease speed limits, add more caution pauses, and outlaw/discourage close following in the most congested core of the Central Subway, and you absolutely reduce its overall capacity in a way that will cut trips to a degree that people will notice.

This isn't a freaking conspiracy by the Eng T to stealth-cut services. This is the natural endpoint of the NTSB being up their asses for years on end about the rash of operator-error accidents that has not slowed despite repeated warnings. Of course there's going to be service-affecting consequences to that! All of these restrictions will go away when GLTPS Phase II is up and running, and that will be excellent because overall system capacity will be higher than it's been in decades. But in the meantime we've got some non-optional pain and suffering to slog through. This is it. This is what happens when operators habitually don't operate safely...there's an overcorrection.

 

[TheRatmeister]

This is what happens when operators don't operate safely.

This is what happens when operators operate like humans, doing stupid human things, without a mechanical failsafe. Humans are terrible at judging risks. What's a few MPH there, a close follow here, etc?

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

However, I was given the impression by BPD planners (technically second-hand from the T) that the T was fine adding these features, but still very hesitant about changing speed limits.

Some of that hesitance may be related to GLTPS. While it's mainly a train-to-train collision avoidance and signal adherance system, it also has general-purpose collision avoidance features with a built-in camera + radar that can detect obstacles (human or car) in its line-of-sight. So it will improve the general safety of the more chaotic surface-running branches and at grade crossings too. Right now they're scared enough of the NTSB that they're probably saying no to any potential speed limit increases anywhere until they get the GLTPS implementation down right, and just sticking to that story with any outside agencies. I'd even hazard a guess that GLTPS Phase I's warning-only (alarm and flashing light in the operator cabin) protection might not be enough to relax it they're so paranoid, so we might be waiting until Phase II is fully in-effect to get a relaxing of all paranoia restrictions.

 

[BeansTheCat]

This is what happens when operators operate like humans, doing stupid human things, without a mechanical failsafe. Humans are terrible at judging risks. What's a few MPH there, a close follow here, etc?

Humans are always going to be worse at following rules than computers, but how much worse they are depends on so many factors. Two of the most important being enforced consequences for non-compliance (which sounds much higher than its been in decades) and pressure to decrease trip times. Given the microscope the T has been under by the Feds, I would assume operators are being told to prioritize safe procedure over trip times, to predictable results.

 

[themissinglink]

Federal officials press MBTA for details on how it’s tackling crime on the rails - The Boston Globe

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sent a letter to the T’s General Manager Phil Eng dated Sept. 18 demanding a response within two weeks.

www.bostonglobe.com

The letter states that the T must provide “information about all MBTA fiscal year 2025 budgeted and fiscal year 2026 planned funds allocated to reduce crime, the homeless population, and fare evasion on the transit system, including a comparison to prior year funding for such expenses.”

 

[as02155]

I believe part of this is going to be increased dwell times. The TM dashboard *includes* dwell - which, given the number of stations and the accumulated dwells, would definitely be a reasonable increase in total travel time over this time frame.

 

[wicked]

Dwell times are increasing. I ride the Green Line into work twice a week and I’ve definitely noticed it.

 

[sm89]

Federal officials press MBTA for details on how it’s tackling crime on the rails - The Boston Globe

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sent a letter to the T’s General Manager Phil Eng dated Sept. 18 demanding a response within two weeks.

www.bostonglobe.com

Was the recent announcement about the fare evasion crackdown related? Were they trying to preempt this? It's like the feds demanding action (because they assume nothing is happening), but they send their letter out after the T already announced how they're addressing these things on their own terms. Seems silly/out of touch with reality, but alas what else is new.

 

[bakgwailo]

Was the recent announcement about the fare evasion crackdown related? Were they trying to preempt this? It's like the feds demanding action (because they assume nothing is happening), but they send their letter out after the T already announced how they're addressing these things on their own terms. Seems silly/out of touch with reality, but alas what else is new.

It also makes no sense since the feds don't exactly fund the operations side of the MBTA or other public transit agencies for that matter (excluding maybe DC?). Are they going to pull, what, capital projects funding? Fairly certain we weren't getting anything there anyways.

 

[FormFollowsBudget]

Was the recent announcement about the fare evasion crackdown related? Were they trying to preempt this? It's like the feds demanding action (because they assume nothing is happening), but they send their letter out after the T already announced how they're addressing these things on their own terms. Seems silly/out of touch with reality, but alas what else is new.

The fare engagement initiative has been in the making for about a year, so they're not related. The feds are just looking for a reason to bully a blue state/city.

It also makes no sense since the feds don't exactly fund the operations side of the MBTA or other public transit agencies for that matter (excluding maybe DC?). Are they going to pull, what, capital projects funding? Fairly certain we weren't getting anything there anyways.

I'd venture to guess less than 10% of the population knows how federal funding plays into the T's budget formulas, so to the general public, they see that this admin is pulling money in the name of crime, regardless of what the money is going to. The recent announcements about the feds taking over South Station shows how they play on the general public's ignorance of how things around them work.

 

[HenryAlan]

The T under Phil Eng continues to lie about there being a "full T ahead".

It's hard to take your analysis seriously when it so often involves statements like this one. People in this very thread have explained why the capacity is limited, but you decided to go with conspiracy.

 

[HenryAlan]

It also makes no sense since the feds don't exactly fund the operations side of the MBTA or other public transit agencies for that matter (excluding maybe DC?). Are they going to pull, what, capital projects funding? Fairly certain we weren't getting anything there anyways.

It makes perfect sense, unfortunately. They do not particularly fund the MBTA, but they do regulate it. All they have to do if the intent is to plant the authoritarian thumb on things is utilize regulatory review to declare that we are out of compliance and require a federal response. If the compliance relates to crime, the federal response might involve armed government agents patrolling platforms and harassing anybody who doesn't look the right way to them.

 

[JeffDowntown]

It makes perfect sense, unfortunately. They do not particularly fund the MBTA, but they do regulate it. All they have to do if the intent is to plant the authoritarian thumb on things is utilize regulatory review to declare that we are out of compliance and require a federal response. If the compliance relates to crime, the federal response might involve armed government agents patrolling platforms and harassing anybody who doesn't look the right way to them.

Also, don't forget that this administration if fulling willing to use unrelated regulatory pressure points to achieve objectives (think like a mafia boss). If the administration want unfettered access to T stations to make ICE snatch and grabs, they might sic the DOT safety people on the T and slow down ever line to 10 mph, for "reasons" as pressure.

 

[Jahvon09]

This is ridiculos!!!They claimed the there werer no more slow zones on any of the lines!!! So it seems that thet weren't teling thr truth. That's a lie!!!!!!

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

This is ridiculos!!!They claimed the there werer no more slow zones on any of the lines!!! So it seems that thet weren't teling thr truth. That's a lie!!!!!!

Did you even read *a little bit* of the discussion before popping off with another wad of impotent screaming?

These aren't "slow zones". They're new operating rules designed to prevent collisions and blown signals, because Green Line operators habitually can't seem to prevent themselves from getting into collisions and derailing due to blown signals over switches. "Slow zones" are due to bad track conditions. There are no bad track conditions on the Green Line right now, only a too-unsafe ops culture that can't be reformed enough to appease federal regulators until the Green Line Train Protection System closes the loophole forever on overspeeding and getting in collision range of another vehicle. Then and only then will the restrictive operating rules will go away. Until then they've got no choice but to overcorrect on the side of being overly cautious.

It was already well explained that this was not "lies", a conspiracy, or malicious intent on the part of the T. There is a well-documented series of events that led us to the point where Green Line capacity got choked off by new operating rules to the point where service had to be cut. It is completely unlike the situation on the other 3 lines that do have foolproof train protection systems where service has been able to improve after the real-deal slow zones have been fixed. The slow zones have been fixed on the Green Line. The regulatory pressure on the Green Line's safety has not, and won't be for a few more years until GLTPS is fully deployed. That's what's going on here. Sorry if that enrages you, but screaming "lies!" is not productive and is not a remotely accurate characterization of what's going on.

 

[Delvin4519]

There are no bad track conditions on the Green Line right now

That dashboard says "last updated December 2024". The T seems to be no longer updating it. We've got to go back to TransitMatters here. TransitMatters does show the new restrictions as slow zones at all of the locations the GL operator here has mentioned.

It's hard to take your analysis seriously when it so often involves statements like this one. People in this very thread have explained why the capacity is limited, but you decided to go with conspiracy.

Well because the T continues to hide service cuts secretly with very slightly misleading statements. Why should the MBTA continue to get away with it? This is to expose every single instance where the MBTA has failed to admit that a particular bus or subway line has fewer trips and not advertised as such (i.e., covert service cuts without the advertising of "we've reduced service").

The MBTA is now posting this very large banner that says "get on board" on their home page.

Within the banner, it opens a page where the T says they "increased the number of weekday subway trips on every line". This statement is false because the Green Line has 10% fewer weekday trips than pre-COVID. TM's regular dashboard backs this up if you view the scheduled trips in weekly data (less than 729 days data range to display it on TransitMatters)

If the MBTA wants to be honest here, they should say "on every heavy rail line", or "on three of the four main subway lines", but not "every line" because it is not true on "every line". I'm inclined to say that "subway" includes the Green Line in colloquial, common people usage. Therefore "every subway line" includes the Green Line even if the Green Line is light rail/streetcar.

How can they say that "service is the most frequent and the shortest it's ever been", if trips are taking longer? If the Orange (and Red) Line is the fastest it's ever been, then say that the "Orange and Red Lines are the fastest they've ever been". I can attest to the OL being faster, but the GL is just getting slower and slower and the GL commutes longer and longer.

And for buses, we're only at 96.5% of pre-COVID bus service hours, and Saturday trips are still lower than pre-COVID despite the new late night bus service (the 57 in particular still has 15% weekday and Saturday service cuts from pre-COVID). So this "increased bus service", is still a service cut. The 1 bus in particular was promoted to BNRD and weekday trips are still fewer than pre-COVID. You can't reduce bus service hours by 3.5% and then call that "we have increased bus service hours". What the T actually did here was that they partially restored, and then re-allocated bus service, and so they should say "we've mostly restored, and re-allocated bus service".

The T's advertising is clearly trying to hide their service cuts covertly. Aside from the 14 bus routes that received BNRD "improvements" (or just partial restorations in some cases, ex: 1 bus), many bus routes still have 15-35% bus service cuts and longer wait times to this day. The bus system is still in rough shape with less service than before. It's still a worse experience than 2019 by a long shot outside of Everett, Lexington, and Roxbury (though I suppose those areas have the highest ridership).

 

[Delvin4519]

The MBTA continues to have back to back OL and GL weekend shutdowns on October for signal and GLTPS "upgrades".

MBTA Announces October 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

I thought the GLX shutdown was going to mean that there will only be 1 branch serving North Station, but the MBTA GTFS data says they will still service North Station with 2 branches.

We've dodged a bullet with this one with the broken downtown transfers. The MBTA seems to intend on 10 minute headways between North Station/Haymarket and Kenmore during the GL shutdown.

Does anyone know what the capacity of the North Station turnback is and whether it can handle sub-5 minute headways of 2 branches?