General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

393b40 said:
My buddy who owns a house that is a two minute walk from Davis just got a new job in Kendall. He gave up on the Red Line after three days and put his companies $300 transportation benefit towards a parking spot in Kendall. Now drives his pickup truck down to Kendall every day because it's faster and more reliable than the Red Line for three miles of travel.

Good fucking job MBTA.
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The Red Line along that stretch, particularly inbound between Harvard and Kendall, is presently so atrocious it would seriously be more useful to the public and less embarrassing to just do a shut down to enable repairs. I would guess, however, that it would be impossible to run the rest of the system by just taking that segment offline (turn-arounds, etc), so it is actually left on-line not because it is better for the people, but because it is easier for the MBTA to keep running other segments of the line. It is truly worse than nothing, and the staggering lack of clear communications, expectations-setting, and humble acknowledgement from the MTBA is unacceptable. What people need is to be able to plan their lives; the T needs to acknowledge its role in that regard, not just to view themselves as running choo choos for their own sake.

But having done the Davis - Kendall RL run for many years out of my career, I assure you your buddy will be ditching his truck and jumping right back on the Red Line if it ever gets fixed. That run was substantially more efficient than other modes during the long stretch I used it (mid aughts through ~2016). Speedy, reliable transit sells itself, so I am not worried about permanent car adoption - unless the T remains permanently broken.
 
bigpicture7 said:
The Red Line along that stretch, particularly inbound between Harvard and Kendall, is presently so atrocious it would seriously be more useful to the public and less embarrassing to just do a shut down to enable repairs. I would guess, however, that it would be impossible to run the rest of the system by just taking that segment offline (turn-arounds, etc), so it is actually left on-line not because it is better for the people, but because it is easier for the MBTA to keep running other segments of the line. It is truly worse than nothing, and the staggering lack of clear communications, expectations-setting, and humble acknowledgement from the MTBA is unacceptable. What people need is to be able to plan their lives; the T needs to acknowledge its role in that regard, not just to view themselves as running choo choos for their own sake.

But having done the Davis - Kendall RL run for many years out of my career, I assure you your buddy will be ditching his truck and jumping right back on the Red Line if it ever gets fixed. That run was substantially more efficient than other modes during the long stretch I used it (mid aughts through ~2016). Speedy, reliable transit sells itself, so I am not worried about permanent car adoption - unless the T remains permanently broken.
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There's a sliding west of Kendall, so they can shut down Alewife-Kendall if they want to.
 
This conversation (spread across a couple of threads) about Eng and Healey keeps missing something. Fixing the MBTA isn't just about them. It actually requires more money. Probably a lot.

The MBTA has had maybe three decades of underfunding, mismanagement, lax oversight, and deteriorating culture and infrastructure. Getting the right people at the top, like maybe Eng and Healey and new board members, is clearly important for all the reasons people have already brought up. But that can only fix some of those problems. Decades of deferred maintenance have come to a head, and fixing that now is going to be even more expensive than it would have been to keep it going in the first place. Some estimates put the cost at ~$10 billion to bring everything up to date. Pick whatever other estimates you want. It's not clear that on a ~$2.7 billion annual budget the MBTA can even keep pace with the growing backlog of issues.

So I'm always surprised to see conversations here (and in Globe editorials, and other local news) asking "can Eng fix the MBTA?" but only rarely attaching to that "and are we willing to throw more money into public transportation?" Sometimes I even see suggestions that more money maybe wouldn't help. No. We can totally throw money at the MBTA. It needs to hire a lot of new drivers, conductors, and in-house technical expertise. It needs to buy concrete, and escalators, and railroad ties. If we throw money at the MBTA, wont it spend the money kinda wastefully? You bet. The organization looks completely disorganized. But (within limits) that's still totally worth it if the T can make progress on fixing the system.

So this question "Can Eng fix the MBTA?" Maybe. If he's really great but gets no new funding, then maybe 2023 will be rock bottom, and he can bring it back to pre-covid standards in 3-5 years. Who knows? If we ramp up funding, it will be sooner. If we throw money at it like cities, states, and the federal government do for car infrastructure, then the T can get fixed and maybe we even get to any of the countless proposed expansions and upgrades.
 
393b40 said:
My buddy who owns a house that is a two minute walk from Davis just got a new job in Kendall. He gave up on the Red Line after three days and put his companies $300 transportation benefit towards a parking spot in Kendall. Now drives his pickup truck down to Kendall every day because it's faster and more reliable than the Red Line for three miles of travel.

Good fucking job MBTA.
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Obviously, the Red Line should be an excellent option, and right now it just isn't. But man, Davis to Kendall is a pretty nice bike commute. Talk your friend up on the idea of two wheel commuting.
 
Seems there’s a lot of doomerism and thoughts based on emotional response to the drastic shortcomings of the MBTA (that’s somehow getting extrapolated to the whole state) here rather than looking at what is actually going on in reality here. To address some things and hopefully spark some optimism for a transportation turnaround here in MA:
(Doing each bolded talking point as a different post to keep individual length shorter)
Slow Zone Maintenance
It needs to be mentioned again but 4 hours overnight with no service does not mean there are no trains on track and room for work to get done. For one the last in-service trains of the night are later than what’s scheduled due to holding for connections or being late for the last trip back yard-side. This shortens the window available for working. Secondly, it takes a lot of time to get the necessary maintenance equipment in place for major track works. Staging, lighting, personnel, etc can take another hour+ to get setup at a site for work and the same in reverse to take it all down. This eats into over half of the overnight window alone without any actual work being done and has multiple times already resulted in delays to start morning service due to equipment still being removed from the ROW. This is why many crews don’t really do anything overnight. By the time they’re setup they can’t start anything cause there won’t be time to finish. Not to mention shutting down power to the third rail if they need to.

The T needs early closures or weekend shutdowns like they were doing for some time to be able to have time to work but many people work later than 8:45pm and even still that only opens up about 3-4 hours of actual work time. Work is being done when it can and slow zones are being removed but new ones appearing are largely the result of ongoing inspection and new criteria created along with the FTA. The focus was first on the Orange of Blue Lines but now has shifted to Red and Green therefore they’re going to be at their worst now before getting better. Looking side by side April to now this is very evident.
Fixing something so broken while also trying to keep such vital transportation open as much as possible is no easy task and slows progress but progress is being made while the new management comes up with the best course of action to fix things quicker. It’ll take time and money but is trending the way it needs to go with the identification of exactly what the problems are and how to solve them.
IMG_3955.jpeg
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-source of this is someone who currently works the overnight Redline crew train that brings MOW workers to and from job sites and has been a motorman for about 25 years-
 
HenryAlan said:
Obviously, the Red Line should be an excellent option, and right now it just isn't. But man, Davis to Kendall is a pretty nice bike commute. Talk your friend up on the idea of two wheel commuting.
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In a perfect world sure, but I can't do that in good faith. I personally have nothing against bike travel but I have one friend that was killed by a driver while on a bike and know others with close calls and minor injuries and in general I don't think the roads in this area are safe for bikers.
 
Don't know exactly what she'll do, but I hope that it's for the best!!! :)

commonwealthmagazine.org

Wu names Mary Skelton Roberts to MBTA board

BOSTON MAYOR Michelle Wu went the safe route in picking the city’s representative on the MBTA board of directors, selecting Mary Skelton Roberts, a
commonwealthmagazine.org commonwealthmagazine.org
 
Koopzilla24 said:
It needs to be mentioned again but 4 hours overnight with no service does not mean there are no trains on track and room for work to get done.
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I recognize this is potentially a very tall order given the current safety....challenges, but this primarily suggests to me that the MBTA needs to learn to perform trackwork (or at least most setup/breakdown) on one track without needing to shut down the full line.

The time calculus of what's available for "work" would look completely different if the T could go to single-track operation on a zone after the PM rush and not need it back in service until AM rush.

Yes, I am aware that there are certain segments where the current crossovers don't work for that. And that there are times where the work to be done is on the switches/crossovers themselves. But clearly, plenty of the work isn't on those things.

The MBTA has managed to run single-track operation for various lengths of time that I can think of - is there some constraint blocking this from being a normal option for the MBTA to utilize that I'm missing? The passenger disruption (not to mention cost to the MBTA!) of "trains every 20 minutes" and a bit of caution tape and a sign telling you to board from the opposite platform is very low - certainly far lower than shuttle buses or early full service shutdowns.

As a regular user of the NYC subway - seeing crews working on an adjacent track seems to be quite commonplace in the evening/overnight hours.

Is there some reason this is an impossible practice to utilize here? Is NYC the only system that does things like this? I feel like that's not the case, although I'll admit to not having enough experience elsewhere to know.
 
millerm277 said:
Is there some reason this is an impossible practice to utilize here? Is NYC the only system that does things like this? I feel like that's not the case, although I'll admit to not having enough experience elsewhere to know.
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This was discussed somewhere in here before if someone is able to link it but it was something along the lines of not being able to shutdown power to the third rail on just one side and the T system having uncovered top contact third rail. Someone also mentioned the fatality rate for New York Subway MOW workers because they don’t shutdown the line. Largely a lack of budget/personnel to do so safely so they don’t do it. And by lack of budget I mean the previous administrations not wanting to spend an extra dime on extra dispatch and other on-site safety personnel.
 
Isn’t all of this moot if, as the recent report very clearly stated, that the MBTA's track staff weren't trained well enough and roles for maintenance were super unclear? This mess led to a huge pile-up of repairs and forced systemwide slow-zones in March. Those slow zones have been increasing as of late. Because of these problems, it's pretty clear that getting the tracks fixed is going to take a lot more than throwing money, time, and the same people at the issue.

They've got to sort out the training and role issues first and foremost. People keep acting like if the MBTA just had the time and funding to fix things, it would get fixed. They need time and funding yes, but the actual most pressing steps Eng needs to take first before we see highly functional service return (I don’t know how many of these have been taken):

  1. Needs Assessment: The first step would be to conduct a thorough needs assessment to identify the skills gaps and areas where current training is inadequate.
  2. External Expertise: Consider bringing in industry experts to help design the curriculum and training modules, ensuring they meet current best practices.
  3. Pilot Program: Before rolling out the training system-wide, start with a pilot program to test the effectiveness of the training modules and make necessary adjustments.
  4. Modular Training: Create a modular, scalable training program that allows for both in-person and online training, making it easier to reach all staff.
  5. Ongoing Evaluation: Establish benchmarks for success and continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the training program, making adjustments as needed.
  6. Management Support: Ensure management is fully committed to the training initiative, both in terms of providing the necessary resources and ensuring staff participation.
  7. Certification: Require staff to pass competency tests after completing the training, and perhaps offer incentives for completion.
  8. Accountability: Establish a clear chain of command and accountability for the implementation and outcomes of the training program.
  9. Continuous Learning: Make training an ongoing process rather than a one-time event. Update materials and methods regularly to adapt to new technology and regulations.
  10. Feedback Loops: Implement channels for trainees to provide feedback about the training program, and use this data for continuous improvement.
If I’m Eng, this is my focus. Nothing can be fixed until the people doing the fixing know what they are doing, which as recent reports very clearly state, they do not.
 
Part II:

New Management
Due to the now decades long history of mismanagement at the MBTA, a lot of it coming from the Governor’s appointments and objectives, there is skepticism for any new hire. But what doesn’t make sense is the expectation people hold that decades of neglect can be fixed in half a year? The process has only just begun to identify the problems and create proper courses of action to correct them. This is exactly what the new management under Eng has been doing and thanks to the newly implemented transparency of the T it all is made public once cross checked with the feds. The website isn’t the easiest to navigate which is a downside but it’s all there to see here-ish.

One of the most encouraging things to see with Eng himself has been the much more genuine care he’s shown in getting back to a functional transit system. He didn’t just take a few rides for photo ops and call it a day like certain politicians but his first action upon arriving here was to experience all of the different transit modes to get a feel for what the service is like. He’s been spotted commuting or traveling on various lines in his time here which is more than can be said of previous management. Beyond this, we’re seeing this first real positive service increase change on the CR coming October. Take this with a grain of salt though as it benefits the suburbs more than Boston residents but the T serves the region and seeing more service in some form is a good sign. There’s been demonstration of actual knowledgeability of the service public transit should provide at least to a relative American extent.

On the side of the Governor, this time around we’re actually seeing support for increased funding instead of “decreased spending” that Baker ran on. The historic wage increase was long overdue but a massive show of attitude change in government. There’s also a big hiring spree across the board for all levels of the T. The level of commitment from elected officials is at a high and its time to capitalize on it
 
Koopzilla24 said:
Seems there’s a lot of doomerism and thoughts based on emotional response to the drastic shortcomings of the MBTA (that’s somehow getting extrapolated to the whole state) here rather than looking at what is actually going on in reality here. To address some things and hopefully spark some optimism for a transportation turnaround here in MA:
(Doing each bolded talking point as a different post to keep individual length shorter)
Click to expand...
This is excellent and thought-provoking analysis. Looks like you have a series in mind — I hope you’ll continue building this out!
 
bigeman312 said:
Isn’t all of this moot if, as the recent report very clearly stated, that the MBTA's track staff weren't trained well enough and roles for maintenance were super unclear? This mess led to a huge pile-up of repairs and forced systemwide slow-zones in March. Those slow zones have been increasing as of late. Because of these problems, it's pretty clear that getting the tracks fixed is going to take a lot more than throwing money, time, and the same people at the issue.

They've got to sort out the training and role issues first and foremost. People keep acting like if the MBTA just had the time and funding to fix things, it would get fixed. They need time and funding yes, but the actual most pressing steps Eng needs to take first before we see highly functional service return (I don’t know how many of these have been taken):

  1. Needs Assessment: The first step would be to conduct a thorough needs assessment to identify the skills gaps and areas where current training is inadequate.
  2. External Expertise: Consider bringing in industry experts to help design the curriculum and training modules, ensuring they meet current best practices.
  3. Pilot Program: Before rolling out the training system-wide, start with a pilot program to test the effectiveness of the training modules and make necessary adjustments.
  4. Modular Training: Create a modular, scalable training program that allows for both in-person and online training, making it easier to reach all staff.
  5. Ongoing Evaluation: Establish benchmarks for success and continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the training program, making adjustments as needed.
  6. Management Support: Ensure management is fully committed to the training initiative, both in terms of providing the necessary resources and ensuring staff participation.
  7. Certification: Require staff to pass competency tests after completing the training, and perhaps offer incentives for completion.
  8. Accountability: Establish a clear chain of command and accountability for the implementation and outcomes of the training program.
  9. Continuous Learning: Make training an ongoing process rather than a one-time event. Update materials and methods regularly to adapt to new technology and regulations.
  10. Feedback Loops: Implement channels for trainees to provide feedback about the training program, and use this data for continuous improvement.
If I’m Eng, this is my focus. Nothing can be fixed until the people doing the fixing know what they are doing, which as recent reports very clearly state, they do not.
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Basically everything you’ve stated has been noted and is undergoing a process to be implemented or has already undergone implementation recently. This is very positive though because it shows that the people and the T’s management are getting on the same page. All their CAPs and the like are available on the Projects page which is unfortunately a pain in the ass to navigate but has all the information. Here’s an example of their PPE CAP:

IMG_3957.jpeg
 
Koopzilla24 said:
Basically everything you’ve stated has been noted and is undergoing a process to be implemented or has already undergone implementation recently. This is very positive though because it shows that the people and the T’s management are getting on the same page. All their CAPs and the like are available on the Projects page which is unfortunately a pain in the ass to navigate but has all the information. Here’s an example of their PPE CAP:

View attachment 43015
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Great! These are the steps that need to be taken before anything can be done effectively.
 
Koopzilla24 said:
Beyond this, we’re seeing this first real positive service increase change on the CR coming October. Take this with a grain of salt though as it benefits the suburbs more than Boston residents but the T serves the region and seeing more service in some form is a good sign.
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Frequencies on Commuter Rail are decreasing after 6:30 p.m on most lines. That is "less service" if the interval between trips is longer. It is only balanced out by the last trip of the night being later. There are no new trips on a vast majority of CR lines except a few. In that case, there were only ever 3 rush hour trips to begin with, so adding 1 trip looks big since 3 to 4 rush hour trips is a 33% service increase (1 hour interval -> 45 minute interval).

Koopzilla24 said:
On the side of the Governor, this time around we’re actually seeing support for increased funding instead of “decreased spending” that Baker ran on. The historic wage increase was long overdue but a massive show of attitude change in government. There’s also a big hiring spree across the board for all levels of the T. The level of commitment from elected officials is at a high and its time to capitalize on it
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This is still a big question. The fiscal cliff and budget shortfall has not been addressed. So this is only a big if and will remain only a big if until it is certain the fiscal cliff/budget shortfall will ever resolve. A fiscal cliff would result in a situation where a bunch of new bus hires start in Spring 2024, increasing bus service for 2 months, before the fiscal cliff forces reduced spending and major bus service cuts at the T next June or July 2024. It would result in a bunch of new bus hires being laid off after being just hired and started their runs just 2 months prior to the fiscal cluff. I'm not exactly sure what or how this scenario would actually play out but that's my uncertain guess.
 
Delvin4519 said:
This is still a big question. The fiscal cliff and budget shortfall has not been addressed. So this is only a big if and will remain only a big if until it is certain the fiscal cliff/budget shortfall will ever resolve. A fiscal cliff would result in a situation where a bunch of new bus hires start in Spring 2024, increasing bus service for 2 months, before the fiscal cliff forces reduced spending and major bus service cuts at the T next June or July 2024. It would result in a bunch of new bus hires being laid off after being just hired and started their runs just 2 months prior to the fiscal cluff. I'm not exactly sure what or how this scenario would actually play out but that's my uncertain guess.
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There is no “fiscal cliff” in reality. The state has the money they just need to appropriate it properly, which is the annoying part and why it’s important to voice and vote for increased budget since this administration is the most open to it of any in a couple decades. Also, as has been stated by the GM and in various public meetings, the budget includes full staff salaries not current staffing levels. The pay increase is within the allowed budget for the length of the contract and wages are budgeted for if all positions are filled. The budget shortfall comes in with maintenance and debt repayment primarily. Which isn’t good and needs to be addressed but there is no danger to the new hires’ employment or wages. The T is dumb but not that dumb
 
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