General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

What is the expected interval for wheel truing on the Green Line? What is the backlog?

One of the trains I rode today felt like it had a square wheel from all the thumping. I can’t imagine it was good for sustaining high speeds on the brand new track on the GLX.
 
Saw someone posted the APTA ridership report for Q1 2023 on Reddit. The report compares ridership of all US agencies in Q1 2023 vs Q1 2022, separated by mode (heavy rail, light rail, etc). Most agencies experienced an increase as they continue to recover from Covid.

Comparing MBTA to other agencies nationwide:

Heavy Rail:
  • MBTA is #4 in the US, behind NYC, Washington DC and Chicago.
  • However, it is well below average in growth, at 11.27%, whereas most agencies are in the 20-30% range.
    • Cities with slower growth: Baltimore, LA, Philadelphia and Cleveland.
Light Rail:
  • MBTA is #3 in the US, behind San Diego and LA.
  • However, it had one of the slowest growths, at barely 1.44%. The national average is 18.13%.
    • Cities with slower growth and at least somewhat comparable scale: Salt Lake City, LA and Baltimore.
    • GLX ridership may be under-reported due to lack of enforcement in fare collection.
Commuter Rail:
  • MBTA is #5 in the US, behind LIRR, Metro-North, NJ Transit and Chicago.
  • More notably, MBTA had one of the highest growth rates at 70.81%, well above national average of 42.88% (although the average is pulled heavily by the NYC area agencies).
    • Only 3 systems have faster growth: Virginia Railway Express, New Mexico Rail Runner Express, and Sonama-Marin Area Rail Transit.
Trolley buses:
  • MBTA gets a 0, due to the retirement of trolley buses on routes 71 and 73.
Buses:
  • MBTA is #7 in the US, behind NYC, LA, Chicago, NJ Transit, Washington DC and Philadelphia (narrowly).
  • It had near-average growth, at 21.74%, compared to the nationwide average of 20.04%.
Overall, it appears that compared to similar agencies in the nation, MBTA is experiencing much slower post-Covid recovery on the subway system (including just the Green Line), but is doing really well in Commuter Rail.

This likely has to do with the rapid decline in reliability and increase of slow zones across all subway lines, as well as success of the Regional Rail model (corroborating other reports of healthy growth of MBTA Commuter Rail).
 
Teban54 said:
Saw someone posted the APTA ridership report for Q1 2023 on Reddit. The report compares ridership of all US agencies in Q1 2023 vs Q1 2022, separated by mode (heavy rail, light rail, etc). Most agencies experienced an increase as they continue to recover from Covid.

Comparing MBTA to other agencies nationwide:

Heavy Rail:
  • MBTA is #4 in the US, behind NYC, Washington DC and Chicago.
  • However, it is well below average in growth, at 11.27%, whereas most agencies are in the 20-30% range.
    • Cities with slower growth: Baltimore, LA, Philadelphia and Cleveland.
Light Rail:
  • MBTA is #3 in the US, behind San Diego and LA.
  • However, it had one of the slowest growths, at barely 1.44%. The national average is 18.13%.
    • Cities with slower growth and at least somewhat comparable scale: Salt Lake City, LA and Baltimore.
    • GLX ridership may be under-reported due to lack of enforcement in fare collection.
Commuter Rail:
  • MBTA is #5 in the US, behind LIRR, Metro-North, NJ Transit and Chicago.
  • More notably, MBTA had one of the highest growth rates at 70.81%, well above national average of 42.88% (although the average is pulled heavily by the NYC area agencies).
    • Only 3 systems have faster growth: Virginia Railway Express, New Mexico Rail Runner Express, and Sonama-Marin Area Rail Transit.
Trolley buses:
  • MBTA gets a 0, due to the retirement of trolley buses on routes 71 and 73.
Buses:
  • MBTA is #7 in the US, behind NYC, LA, Chicago, NJ Transit, Washington DC and Philadelphia (narrowly).
  • It had near-average growth, at 21.74%, compared to the nationwide average of 20.04%.
Overall, it appears that compared to similar agencies in the nation, MBTA is experiencing much slower post-Covid recovery on the subway system (including just the Green Line), but is doing really well in Commuter Rail.

This likely has to do with the rapid decline in reliability and increase of slow zones across all subway lines, as well as success of the Regional Rail model (corroborating other reports of healthy growth of MBTA Commuter Rail).
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While the lack of enforcement of fare collection on the Green Line is not currently an important issue for the MBTA, in my opinion, the lack of data collection is! By severely undercounting ridership, it could lead to severe underinvestment in the future, if the bad data is used.
 
Teban54 said:
This likely has to do with the rapid decline in reliability and increase of slow zones across all subway lines, as well as success of the Regional Rail model (corroborating other reports of healthy growth of MBTA Commuter Rail).
Click to expand...
What I found interesting in that report, is that if you consider LRT and HRT together, the MBTA now has the third highest rail rapid transit ridership in the country, only exceeded by NYC and DC. Considering as you note, that ridership is almost certainly depressed due to current service and maintenance issues, the 'T could be poised to put up some really strong numbers when these issues are fixed.
 
HenryAlan said:
What I found interesting in that report, is that if you consider LRT and HRT together, the MBTA now has the third highest rail rapid transit ridership in the country, only exceeded by NYC and DC. Considering as you note, that ridership is almost certainly depressed due to current service and maintenance issues, the 'T could be poised to put up some really strong numbers when these issues are fixed.
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Thats great to see and hopefully the numbers give them a kick in the ass.
 
commonwealthmagazine.org

Healey backtracks on Green Line extension closure - CommonWealth Beacon

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE GREEN LINE'S Union Square stop will remain open this summer after all. State officials on Wednesday announced they will
commonwealthmagazine.org commonwealthmagazine.org

Gov. Healey postpones shutdown of part of GLX until September. She said that she doesn't want the rehab work on the Squire Bridge to clash with the 2-month-long closing & rehab work of the Sumner Tunnel.
 
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They COULD repair the Squire Bridge at night when the MBTA is not on duty!! o_O
 
Article from Boston Globe: The MBTA’s new leader is more optimistic about Boston’s subway than you are

The interview certainly tried to paint things in an optimistic light. But I find a few excerpts intriguing:
What if the T were to buy new subway cars each year, instead of waiting until its old cars were breaking down to place orders, he mused. What if instead of shutting down a stretch of subway for repairs in both directions, one side of the tracks could run a shuttle train back and forth while the other side gets worked on? What if a sign telling riders a station will be closed for “track work” instead told riders what the payoff will be for them? What if the T hired dispatchers and operators from other transit agencies?

Sometimes, when he hears how long it’s going to take the T to finish something (he sees you, Lynn commuter rail station, and thinks seven years is too long), his eyes open wide and he interjects.

A lot of the time, his interruptions include a tale from his days in New York, where he was able to finish projects “no one believed could be done on time,” seemingly in an effort to get his staff to think outside the T box.
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Despite Eng’s buoyant optimism, some of his plans have already been thwarted. On his first day as general manager, he announced the T would soon publish dates of when each speed restriction on the subway system would be lifted.

Soon turned into never.

Each shutdown for track repairs, he said, requires discussions with elected officials and local business owners, and compliance with new federal directives to keep T workers safe, which means his original vision for radical transparency on slow zones is impossible. New slow zones are now cropping up faster than the T is eliminating them, and sometimes crews are discovering more work is required than originally anticipated.
[...]
At a meeting about hiring and retaining subway workers, Eng’s ideas for overcoming the staffing shortage (hiring back retirees, using veteran drivers instead of instructors to train rookies) roused opposition: Typically the unions don’t like it.
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The morning after he implored staff to fix the countdown clocks along the Blue Line so they would tell riders trains came every six minutes, the one at State Station once again read: 9 to 13 minutes.
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What if the T were to buy new subway cars each year, instead of waiting until its old cars were breaking down to place orders, he mused. What if instead of shutting down a stretch of subway for repairs in both directions, one side of the tracks could run a shuttle train back and forth while the other side gets worked on? What if a sign telling riders a station will be closed for “track work” instead told riders what the payoff will be for them? What if the T hired dispatchers and operators from other transit agencies?
Click to expand...

Oh god, yes, this is something I have railed about forever now. Especially if they could add more cross overs they could more surgically close down sections for work while still maintaining single track operations.

As for the rest - sadly not shocking as the MBTA's issue at this point are systemic and rooted deep into the agency. Unless he gets very broad leverage and powers, it will be an uphill battle to change much about the culture, although I do wish him luck. Without the ability to hold people accountable, though, not sure how much traction he can get.
 
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bakgwailo said:
Oh god, yes, this is something I have railed about forever now. Especially if they could add more cross overs they could more surgically close down sections for work while still maintaining single track operations.

As for the rest - sadly not shocking as the MBTA's issue at this point are systemic and rooted deep into the agency. Unless he gets very broad leverage and powers, it will be an uphill battle to change much about the culture, although I do wish him luck. Without the ability to hold people accountable, though, not sure how much traction he can get.
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In the tight spacing in tunnels and even open trenches, it is much harder to safely close one track only for work, while keeping the other track in service. NYC does this, and on average one worker is killed per year in track work accidents. Also, it takes more than cross-overs in the track system, it also take a redesign/rebuild of the power blocks which currently power both sides in large segments (because you don't do track work with a live third rail).
 
bigeman312 said:
While the lack of enforcement of fare collection on the Green Line is not currently an important issue for the MBTA, in my opinion, the lack of data collection is! By severely undercounting ridership, it could lead to severe underinvestment in the future, if the bad data is used.
Click to expand...

My recollection is that green line ridership data collection is done by sensors above the doors, not fares
 
jass said:
My recollection is that green line ridership data collection is done by sensors above the doors, not fares
Click to expand...

This is certainly not the case for the massdot ridership dashboard, which I frequent and reference here regularly. That's the best, most accessible, in-depth ridership data MBTA repository on the internet. The validations are only tracked at fare-gated stations.

Do you have a link to a data dashboard or file(s) that tracks by door sensors? Thanks in advance.
 
JeffDowntown said:
In the tight spacing in tunnels and even open trenches, it is much harder to safely close one track only for work, while keeping the other track in service. NYC does this, and on average one worker is killed per year in track work accidents. Also, it takes more than cross-overs in the track system, it also take a redesign/rebuild of the power blocks which currently power both sides in large segments (because you don't do track work with a live third rail).
Click to expand...

Fairly certain we have had this discussion, and, no, one worker is not killed yearly in NYC during track work. And, sure, power rework and crossovers. The point is, it's possible and significantly less disruptive to passenger service as called out by the head of the MBTA himself.

Edit on the previous discussion of this:

General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Sadly, asking for something so basic in project management may be asking too much of the MBTA right now. Yes. The management complained about the FMCB meeting frequency, and how it made it a full time job generating PowerPoint presentations.
archboston.com
 
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bigeman312 said:
This is certainly not the case for the massdot ridership dashboard, which I frequent and reference here regularly. That's the best, most accessible, in-depth ridership data MBTA repository on the internet. The validations are only tracked at fare-gated stations.

Do you have a link to a data dashboard or file(s) that tracks by door sensors? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Commuter rail ridership counts are usually done by hand, with counters at station entrances. It might not be an exact science but that could be done on GLX to at least get anecdotal numbers. You could also get a ballpark on fare evaders.
 
BosMaineiac said:
Commuter rail ridership counts are usually done by hand, with counters at station entrances. It might not be an exact science but that could be done on GLX to at least get anecdotal numbers. You could also get a ballpark on fare evaders.
Click to expand...

Remember inquiring back a bit about this on the Highspeed Line and F-Line (or someone else?) saying ridership was based on manual counting vs. fares, given that the Mattapan Line seldom collects fares.
 
bakgwailo said:
Remember inquiring back a bit about this on the Highspeed Line and F-Line (or someone else?) saying ridership was based on manual counting vs. fares, given that the Mattapan Line seldom collects fares.
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Yeah, I heard that the T is trying to solve the problems with fare evaders, & it will probably be rough to come up with a solution to fix it. One answer could be to make the sliding barriers even taller & place T police officers at the areas that are likely to be particularly the most troublesome in order to curtail troublemakers of this problem. But just about ALL of the stations could be met with particularly stubborn rule breakers. :unsure:
 
BosMaineiac said:
Commuter rail ridership counts are usually done by hand, with counters at station entrances. It might not be an exact science but that could be done on GLX to at least get anecdotal numbers. You could also get a ballpark on fare evaders.
Click to expand...

These are all things you could do quite easily. My concern is with what’s actually being done.
 
bakgwailo said:
Fairly certain we have had this discussion, and, no, one worker is not killed yearly in NYC during track work. And, sure, power rework and crossovers. The point is, it's possible and significantly less disruptive to passenger service as called out by the head of the MBTA himself.

Edit on the previous discussion of this:

General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Sadly, asking for something so basic in project management may be asking too much of the MBTA right now. Yes. The management complained about the FMCB meeting frequency, and how it made it a full time job generating PowerPoint presentations.
archboston.com
Click to expand...
Also - they tried this on the OL north of Sullivan for a while. I think they were shuttling Wellington to Sullivan or Wellington to Oak Grove. They stopped but it was never clear to me why.
 
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