General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

[stick n move]

^ The fact still is the orange line was torn down and there was no replacement to the people who now lost a means of rapid public transit.

 

[whighlander]

I get what you are saying about a possible racial tinge to transit expansion/serving Dudley (that's a very real concern considering the housing & highway planning of the past), but while Somerville is indeed the "yuppiest part" of the metro area, it is also the densest part of the metro area. That fact of density plus the fact that the Big Dig directly impacted that area of Somerville, led the GLX to be included as mitigation. The GLX wasn't about serving wealthy people. It was about damage control on the area affected by the Big Dig.

Datadyne -- actually the GLX was all about wealthy-- specifically the guilt-ridden liberals -- aka the CLF and their sycophants -- knowing better what everyone needs than they could know themselves.

So -- yes the Ted Williams Tunnel now speeds us North Western Suburbanites on our way to Logan -- but it also took the majority of west to airport traffic that used to go through the middle of the city and moved it out of the way. Similarly the burial of the Central Artery with its far fewer on/off ramps than the Green Monster has tremendously reduced the surface level pollution of the formerly near-permanent traffic jam.

However, such tangible improvements in the environment were not sufficient for the CLF who decided that not only did we need the GLX, but we also needed a train to New Bedford and also to Fall River.

Instead of ideological posturing -- What needs to be done is what Governor Baker and Secretary Polock have initiated: fix what is broken to get the T up to a good state of operations with some improved robustness and resiliency. Only then, contemplate in a purely analytical way, divorced from political "bread and circuses," such as "One seat rides," what needs to be done to enhance the system. Any such enhancement has to based on a financially realistic framework including not just the capital costs but also operational, planned maintenance and expected updates over a realistic time frame -- such as what the US Navy does when they "buy and Aircraft Carrier Battle Group" including planes, pilots, etc. over a 50 year horizon.

The Why do it this way is fairly straightforward -- you need to have a consensus amongst the governed and the taxed -- that means a lot of people in the suburbs and even Worcester who don't care much about the T -- have to be convinced and educated as to its benefits [real -- not imagined] to the Commonwealth as a whole and them personally.

In this context -- you don't actually do your cause any good by casting aspersions on every decision and position statement with which you are not totally in agreement. Feel free to rebut the logic and challenge the assumptions -- but at least give the Gov. and Sec. of DOT the benefit of the doubt as to their good intentions.

 

[whighlander]

^ The fact still is the orange line was torn down and there was no replacement to the people who now lost a means of rapid public transit.

Stick -- Not defending Gov. Sargent -- but a whole lot of money was spent to build the New Orange Line -- mostly as a surrogate for the non-built Southwest Expressway and the non-built Inner Belt

That New Orange Line alignment in turn made the street running portion of the Green Line E-branch fairly redundant.

so what came out of the Killing of the Southwest Expressway:

• Some of the need for the current widening of Rt-128 south of Rt-9
• Much improved opportunities for connectivity between the Orange Line and Amtrak, and Commuter Rail
• Bus replacing the E-branch
• Bus replacing the elevated
• much more aesthetic and potential upscaling of Washington Street all the way to Dudley
• improved Orange Line reliability and robustness
• new, modern stations
• much better transit support for Northeastern and WIT

those are mostly big positives with the two bus substitutions somewhat negative

What should never have been part of the story was the promise of the "One Seat Ride" from Dudley to Logan -- that was pure political posturing and could have led to enormous expense for marginal benefits. Note that today with the Silver Line and even with the chimeral Red-Blue the ride by transit from Lexington to Logan necessitates at least 3 seats

Instead of that kind of meaningless rhetoric -- the Silver Line plans should have included a direct underground route to/from South Station to Silverline Way and a private connection to the Ted Williams Tunnel --- getting the Silver Line out of the street traffic. These can still be done -- but as each new project gets built in the Seaport / Innovation District the costs and complexity continue to escalate.

Overall -- what the Politicians and the Planners need to remember is the old AT&T tagline -- the System is the Solution -- and that means: Commuter Trains, Heavy Rail, Light Rail, Silver Line, Regular T Buses, other Private and Public Buses, parking garages, bike garages, and of course the riders/fare payers and tax payers

 

[dwash59]

CSTH-- you're surprised -- this is the same T that used to have wholesale theft from the counting room when you used to put a quarter in the turnstyle

Come to think of it -- this is the same DOT that has had an ongoing problem with wholesale theft by the Toll Collectors on the Pike for generations

Not to be pedantic -- But the heritage is Mr. Bulger's Transit Agency

Sure, this isn't about private sector parking attendants stealing from a private company (LAZ parking). It is about theft by public sector employee theft such as DOT toll collectors and MBTA counting rooms.

Pretending like theft of cash is solely a public sector problem is just sticking your head in the ground.

 

[metasyntactic]

Didn't see this posted yet. Boston Globe article by Nicole Dungca about the inefficient warehouse service for the MBTA. Any insiders or T experts here who can shed more light on this?

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...-operations/E0Rj5IHzoY8mv7qC1wBhaP/story.html

Could outsourcing fix this T problem?
By Nicole Dungca
June 12, 2016

When maintenance workers at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority request spare parts from the T’s central warehouses in Everett and Charlestown, it generally takes more than three days for those parts to arrive — part of a “completely broken” system that officials want to privatize, the MBTA’s chief procurement officer said.

T officials Monday plan to make the case for privatizing the sprawling warehouse department, which employs about 38 employees for approximately $4.2 million annually. Officials say it could lead to major improvements to the T’s maintenance operations and will represent one of the first efforts by Governor Charlie Baker’s administration to test the suspension of the so-called Pacheco law, which puts up hurdles for outsourcing state jobs.

Gerald J. Polcari, chief procurement officer for the T, said outsourcing the warehouse operations to a more efficient company could be a “game-changer” that would eventually improve service for riders.

“We are wasting a lot of time and effort,” said Polcari, who was hired last May. “The No. 1 complaint we receive is from the mechanics: They can’t do their job because they don’t have the parts.”

The MBTA has more than $62 million worth of spare parts in 21 locations that store inventory for its rail and bus operations, officials said. But Polcari said the MBTA often doesn’t know what it has in storage: An audit has discovered that warehouse workers across the system are accurate in reporting their inventory only about 56 percent of the time, a rate that a consultant said is shocking. The industry standard for accuracy is more than 95 percent, the T said.

T officials hired Ernest Miller, a managing partner at consulting firm Optio Tempore, to evaluate how the agency could better improve its warehouse operations, so that they could better support the T’s maintenance work. Miller said he was floored by the dysfunction within the system.

“It was kind of shocking that every single element of the process that you would look at inside of a warehousing and materials management operation was not functioning well,” Miller said. “There wasn’t one thing where you said, ‘That’s pretty good, we’d like to keep that and build on it.’ ”

The majority of the T’s inventory — about $38 million — is at two central warehouse locations in Everett and Charlestown. Maintenance workers usually call upon the warehouses when their own supplies — for things as simple as cables, brake rotors, and air filters — at their garages run out.

T officials say that process, which can take up to 80 hours, should take about 12 by industry standards. That’s partly because the main warehouse is only open for eight hours a day, five days a week, compared with the maintenance department, which is working around the clock.

Because the warehouses operate only until early afternoon, workers don’t usually transport parts during the evening, unlike many private-sector warehouse operations.

The audit also found that the T has about $22.7 million in excess inventory, an amount that the agency could be saving. In addition, officials say the entire inventory doesn’t get used for about 24 months — a rate that is high, even for transit authorities. Miller described seeing parts on the shelves that haven’t been used for 10 years, or parts for decommissioned vehicles that are no longer being used.

Officials also said the productivity of the workers — measured by how many types of parts they gather for delivery to maintenance workers every hour — is about five times below the industry standard. On an average day, officials say, a worker will gather about 6½ types of spare parts per hour. On a peak day, that number jumps to 20.2. At other companies, workers would gather 95 to 265 different types of spare parts per hour.

Officials say fixing the system internally could prove to be too expensive, especially as the agency looks for ways to balance its books. Polcari said the T would need to upgrade its warehouses and equipment, which could cost about $14.5 million.

Officials hope the agency’s fiscal control board will sign off on a timeline that would allow the T to put out a request for proposals later this month, then select a bidder by the middle of August. But the agency will find staunch opposition from the unions representing the workers, who plan to flood Monday’s meetings with supporters.

Brian Shortsleeve, the MBTA’s chief administrator, said the agency has been focusing on outsourcing areas where the T does not have “core expertise.” He said private companies can often deliver such services at a better price and with more reliability.

That’s why the Baker administration pushed for the Legislature to lift restrictions required by a law that puts up hurdles to privatization. In addition to the warehousing operation, the MBTA is also targeting aspects of its fare collection department, where workers count cash fares.

But James O’Brien, the president of the Boston Carmen’s Union that represents 34 of the warehouse positions, said the T needs to invest in the services to improve them.

He agrees that the warehouse system at the T is broken. But he says the workers are not the problem: The T and its managers have not set up a successful operation and have continually kept the system understaffed, he said.

O’Brien said the workers have asked the T to add extra staff and shifts to the system, but the agency has not listened. The system currently has three unfilled positions and hasn’t moved to fill them, he said.

“There’s been no investment to really build this department up so that they can handle a 21st-century transportation system,” O’Brien said.

Jeanne Breare, who has worked in the stockroom at the Quincy bus yard for about 15 years, also said that she doesn’t understand why the T doesn’t run the warehouse operation with extended hours to match the system.

“It seems like we’re taking the fall or they’re making us the scapegoats in a system that’s not working,” Breare said.

 

[Charlie_mta]

Whighlander,

Sorry I offended your tea party sensibilities. The Green line serves the lilly white western part of the metro area. Blacks from Roxbury had to be confined to the Orange Line. Enough said on that.

 

[underground]

Seems like the warehouse's problem could be solved with... I dunno, a spreadsheet maybe? But sure, let's privatize the whole thing.

 

[The EGE]

That doesn't sound like a case of "the lower level workers are lazy"; it sounds like "whoever's managing the place needs a kick in the ass and some training in inventory management software".

 

[Semass]

That doesn't sound like a case of "the lower level workers are lazy"; it sounds like "whoever's managing the place needs a kick in the ass and some training in inventory management software".

I looked at the presentation on this on the T web site. It does look like a disaster but the actual workers do not seem to be the problem. I wonder if they could have an arrangement by which the workers can remain with the T but the management its outsourced. Kind of like the commuter rail contract. Not perfect by any means but in this case, bringing in an experienced operator to overhaul the thing would probably more than make up cost savings.

 

[Digital_Islandboy]

Sure, this isn't about private sector parking attendants stealing from a private company (LAZ parking). It is about theft by public sector employee theft such as DOT toll collectors and MBTA counting rooms.

Pretending like theft of cash is solely a public sector problem is just sticking your head in the ground.

I don't know about LAZ. But anything an MBTA Employee is "short" is taken out of their paychecks. I used to distribute the "shorts" which informed how short they were and what would be coming out of their pay.

 

[Digital_Islandboy]

Seems like the warehouse's problem could be solved with... I dunno, a spreadsheet maybe? But sure, let's privatize the whole thing.

Getting people to use spreadsheets is futile. People will do as-far as their job description and no further. Just the way it is. But if you're the type of person that likes to do your work and other's work I'd wish you luck in spearheading that.

 

[whighlander]

Didn't see this posted yet. Boston Globe article by Nicole Dungca about the inefficient warehouse service for the MBTA. Any insiders or T experts here who can shed more light on this?

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...-operations/E0Rj5IHzoY8mv7qC1wBhaP/story.html

Metasyntactic --- this is par for the T's Course

By the way -- what does someone who drives a bus know about fixing it?

Why is the Carmen's Union involved at all?

Is this a hopefully last vestige vestige of the "really bad old days" when a driver could only drive to the lip of the garage apron, a mechanic drove the bus into the garage, and a certified union sheet metal worker lifted the hood?


Well -- Here's a solution -- 2 words -- Hire Amazon

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Why is the Carmen's Union involved at all?

DRINK!

 

[whighlander]

DRINK!

F-Line -- Couldn't come up with a counter to Amazon -- too much focused on consumer things perhaps

-- well then try Grainger

Grainger is a leading distributor of industrial supplies, MRO equipment, tools and materials. With access to over 900,000 industrial supply products available online and in our print catalog, we provide maintenance, repair, and operational solutions for your business. MRO, manufacturing, supply chain, tools, and more – for the ones who get it done.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

It's adorable that you think parting out the usual schtick into separate posts across separate threads mere minutes apart provides any sort of plausible deniability that the forum isn't under an active and ongoing whighjack alert. Frequent visitors can see it unfolding in real-time on that great big "New Posts" toolbar button that's usually much easier than navigating the forum tree.


Aren't free market efficiencies the best?

 

[datadyne007]

Getting people to use spreadsheets is futile. People will do as-far as their job description and no further. Just the way it is. But if you're the type of person that likes to do your work and other's work I'd wish you luck in spearheading that.

Uh, add it to the manager's job description.

Also, it sounds like all they need is...

Microsoft Access:

 

[Blackdog]

Also, it sounds like all they need is...

Microsoft Access:

No, Access would be a poor choice here. They need a real database with a custom front end or they need to buy an enterprise maintenance management program.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

No, Access would be a poor choice here. They need a real database with a custom front end or they need to buy an enterprise maintenance management program.

First person who says "agile development" or "Oracle front-end" will have their sleep drowned out forevermore by the tormented screams of a million corporate implementation staffers whose weary souls occupy the plane of existence between life and afterlife.

 

[Blackdog]

First person who says "agile development" or "Oracle front-end" will have their sleep drowned out forevermore by the tormented screams of a million corporate implementation staffers whose weary souls occupy the plane of existence between life and afterlife.

Agile development is so last week, we are using scrum now.

 

[whighlander]

It's adorable that you think parting out the usual schtick into separate posts across separate threads mere minutes apart provides any sort of plausible deniability that the forum isn't under an active and ongoing whighjack alert. Frequent visitors can see it unfolding in real-time on that great big "New Posts" toolbar button that's usually much easier than navigating the forum tree.


Aren't free market efficiencies the best?

F-Line -- just think of it as a 'Free" Course -- since its free don't worry if you miss some of it -- but you just might learn something

for example:"parting out" -- I think the usage you want is parceling-out

another one -- New Posts -- thanks F-Line I never knew such a button existed

I'm learning a lot about the Forum as I get more experienced, Smilies, proper ways to post links and images from Google Maps -- no end of things to learn about