General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Paletexan said:
No idea where to post but learned of an mbta gift store on mass ave where I got an amazing wall decor (original sign is 6ft from decommissioned Quincy Adam’s station). Super excited!
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Is this Ward Maps by any chance? Great little store, lots of very cool maps too if you're into that sort of thing.
 
notthemonthaugust said:
Is this Ward Maps by any chance? Great little store, lots of very cool maps too if you're into that sort of thing.
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Love ward maps. I just wish they could have gotten some of the Type-7 Kinki name plates on the rehabs. Would have loved to have one.
 
Orange will be shut down on Sunday from North Sta to Ruggles.
Hopefully (and presumably) to fix the various track issues.

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https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1546857269136134145

MBTA twitter posted about this track work that lifted a speed restriction which has been in place since 2016. This may be related to the FRA investigation into the T. Mind-numbing that track work isn't prioritized for making trip times faster. I have a feeling that if a stretch of I-90 had damage so that cars could only traverse it at 10mph, that it would be fixed....in an hour?
 
ulrichomega said:
Wait, so in a single day they were able to fix a speed restriction that's been in place for 6 years?
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Yep, just like that they can raise the limit from 10 to 25, and apparently we'll even see 40 before too long. It is just astounding that this was never a priority. There are at least two more slow zones like this one. Can we expect to see those fixed quickly, too, now that they are bothering to care?
 
Are there any other areas on any line where existing infrastructure doesn't allow for top speeds?
 
737900er said:
What was their plan otherwise? Just wait until it the end of time?

It's especially notable given the number of weekend closures the Orange Line had right before COVID in late 2019 and early 2020.
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Obviously wait until the track fully fully disintegrates, in reality before the end of time - in MBTA time beyond the sun's life. In all seriousness though, I do enjoy how most outlets are reporting this as the FTA finding it and reporting it. But, seriously - how many years ago was this first discussed on this very forums? Madness. Great they finally fixed it, but, it's not like it was a this mystery for all these years as to why it was dog slow going through there.
 
bakgwailo said:
Obviously wait until the track fully fully disintegrates, in reality before the end of time - in MBTA time beyond the sun's life. In all seriousness though, I do enjoy how most outlets are reporting this as the FTA finding it and reporting it. But, seriously - how many years ago was this first discussed on this very forums? Madness. Great they finally fixed it, but, it's not like it was a this mystery for all these years as to why it was dog slow going through there.
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We didn't have the power to compel the T to do things.
 
Wash said:
We didn't have the power to compel the T to do things.
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Wait, active oversight with teeth in it can make the MBTA not be constantly failing?!? It's almost as if instead of getting rid of the FMCB they should have beefed it up even more, but I guess Baker & Co. had lost interest in that whole "fix the T" shtick by now.
 
Brattle Loop said:
Wait, active oversight with teeth in it can make the MBTA not be constantly failing?!? It's almost as if instead of getting rid of the FMCB they should have beefed it up even more, but I guess Baker & Co. had lost interest in that whole "fix the T" shtick by now.
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I agree with the sentiment, but — as I recall, one of the conclusions of the (largely overlooked but rather alarming and now quite prescient) safety report from a few years ago was that the FMCB was actively contributing to a bad safety culture at the T, with accounts of safety and state-of-good-repair maintenance being neglected in order to keep up with the frequent reporting and presentation requirements for the board. (I can try to locate the report if you have trouble finding and are curious.) While I agree with the need for increased oversight, to me it’s pretty clear that the FMCB was not effective for improving day-to-day ops.

Also — and I really should dig out this Globe article — it’s clear that the Baker admin has been very actively involved in MBTA affairs, including micromanaging announcements of (for example) derailments in what (to me) looks like a pretty clear effort to obfuscate. I’m not sure what Baker’s goal has been with the T, but I don’t think it’s a lack of interest per se.
 
Wash said:
Oh, *loads*. Check them out for yourself at https://dashboard.transitmatters.org/slowzones
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Wow - had no idea they were publishing this data. 5-6 mins lost per red/orange line trip is >10% loss in system capacity (a 45-min end to end trip taking 50 minutes). If headways are limited by lack of rolling stock (as in the case of orange at times) doing track work will literally be the equivalent to having a full extra train on the tracks.
 
737900er said:
Lechmere Viaduct too (still don't fully understand this one, especially inbound)
You could argue the entire D has been under speed restriction for 15 years :ROFLMAO:
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Talked to a trolley operator about that one; he said it was an issue with the overhead wires, not the structure itself. Apparently (need to confirm this), someone forgot that they were supposed to be zig-zagged above the tracks when they were first installed (so the pantograph wears evenly). The re-installation is still being broken in, hence the restriction.
 
sneijder said:
Wow - had no idea they were publishing this data. 5-6 mins lost per red/orange line trip is >10% loss in system capacity (a 45-min end to end trip taking 50 minutes). If headways are limited by lack of rolling stock (as in the case of orange at times) doing track work will literally be the equivalent to having a full extra train on the tracks.
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They aren't publishing this data, but they are releasing trip time information. Transitmatters is simply comparing those trip time numbers with a baseline.

Sidenote: the fact that the T does publicly release this kind of data and has for years is a genuinely good thing which the agency should be commended for doing.
 
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