General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

F-Line to Dudley said:
South Coast Rail's completion deadlines keep slipping with wide uncertainty as to whether it'll actually launch in Summer 2024, so it's not reliable at all to plan anything around on other modes. The latest rumor on RR.net is that the Franklin Line Double Tracking project is being paused until further notice so its track gangs can be reassigned to SCR to staunch the bleeding there on construction delays. It's incredibly unlikely that any Red Line work schedules are being drawn up with dependencies on SCR. It's simply too iffy at this stage.

Plus it's not going to increase service any on the mainline. There'll be a light redistribution of slots, but it's functionally useless for providing more backstop service inside 128.
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I wish i could remember which board meeting it was part of to verify and cite but in one of them Eng stated that the vast majority of all track construction is complete and as stated already in here the remaining works are signals and punch list items. The goal is for everything related to line functionality to be completed by the end of this year. Then for the first 3 months of 2024 there is required testing of the line at service speeds followed by an additional required 3 months of crew qualifications and mock service running to dial-in schedule timings for the Summer ‘24 CR schedule.
It’d make sense that Franklin Line personnel are being pulled to ensure all necessary items are wrapped up for the end of this year to not delay those fixed 6 months needed.
 
Service was suspended on the Ashmont Branch of the Red Line from 5:30 pm through the end of service yesterday.

The MBTA cited “fire department activity near Ashmont,” later explaining “Power Department is inspecting the affected track area from Fire Department activity near Ashmont,” then “Power Department are making repairs at the affected track area near Ashmont,” and eventually “Power has been restored to the incident track area near Ashmont,” and “Power has been restored to the incident track area as Emergency Crews work to complete repairs.”

I hope this was an isolated issue.
 
Coverage on the upcoming fiscal cliff facing the MBTA next June/July 2024 (7 months):

Quote from article (see below): "There are no easy answers to the T's "fiscal cliff," Tibbits-Nutt said Wednesday"..."Tibbits-Nutt said that "we want to bring in additional sources of revenue,""

www.nbcboston.com

Mass. transportation secretary outlines thinking to fix ‘crisis' congestion, other issues

In her first public appearance as transportation secretary, Monica Tibbits-Nutt laid out her vision Wednesday for a unified transportation system that helps address some of Massachusetts’ biggest problems, previewed a “hard, hard discussion” about more state money for the MBTA, and shared the...
www.nbcboston.com www.nbcboston.com
 
I think this is the first hint someone in this administration is hinting at changes in revenue sourcing... Positive direction, but 7 months isn't enough time to get things in place..
 
Updated Arborway design:
1700086155467.png


Overall looks better. They split up the single building into a storage building and repair/operations building, and from what I can imagine, they reduced some square footage in doing so, but aren't noting any difference.


Timeline:
  • Concept design completion by December 2023
  • Rest of design January 2024 - December 2025 (continued community engagement)
  • Construction 2025/2026-2029
 
stefal said:
I think this is the first hint someone in this administration is hinting at changes in revenue sourcing... Positive direction, but 7 months isn't enough time to get things in place..
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I think the strategy is likely an earmark for FY25, which is pretty quick and easy for the General Court, then a more deliberative process to develop a more sustainably predictable revenue stream.
 
stefal said:
Updated Arborway design:
View attachment 44566

Overall looks better. They split up the single building into a storage building and repair/operations building, and from what I can imagine, they reduced some square footage in doing so, but aren't noting any difference.


Timeline:
  • Concept design completion by December 2023
  • Rest of design January 2024 - December 2025 (continued community engagement)
  • Construction 2025/2026-2029
Click to expand...
I like the overall concept, but I'm bothered by the failure to include the north of Arborway OL headhouse. I realize it's just a massing study, very preliminary, etc., but how do they miss a piece of basic infrastructure that belongs to the same organization that is putting these parcels out for development?
 
stefal said:
I think this is the first hint someone in this administration is hinting at changes in revenue sourcing... Positive direction, but 7 months isn't enough time to get things in place..
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Would still be a very serious issue since the MBTA is trying to get like 350+ bus operators and retain them past December 2024/January 2025 (The T is also trying to start BNRD even after the current operator shortage.).

And the T also needs to somehow fix all the slowzones by January 1st, 2025?
 
A faulty propulsion system causes smoke on a Red Line train at Harvard Station. Passengers had to get off & wait for the next train to come.

MSN

www.msn.com
 
Delvin4519 said:
Coverage on the upcoming fiscal cliff facing the MBTA next June/July 2024 (7 months):

Quote from article (see below): "There are no easy answers to the T's "fiscal cliff," Tibbits-Nutt said Wednesday"..."Tibbits-Nutt said that "we want to bring in additional sources of revenue,""

www.nbcboston.com

Mass. transportation secretary outlines thinking to fix ‘crisis' congestion, other issues

In her first public appearance as transportation secretary, Monica Tibbits-Nutt laid out her vision Wednesday for a unified transportation system that helps address some of Massachusetts’ biggest problems, previewed a “hard, hard discussion” about more state money for the MBTA, and shared the...
www.nbcboston.com www.nbcboston.com
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It seems the MBTA has been on the fiscal cliff since the year 2000. I think the debt is a shell game and hopefully Tibbetts-Nutt has political savvy to wade these waters; otherwise she will be a sacrificial lamb next summer/fall.
 
393b40 said:
For perspective the state budget is only 55 billion. That's fucking insane.

Bye bye T.
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There are ~4.4 million people in MA between the age of 18 and 65, that would be $5,605.94 per person statewide. That includes western MA. This figure does not include MassDOT's backlog of state of good repair, and any other suburban wastelands across MA. Sprawl has essentially destroyed Greater Boston and the rest of MA.
 
kmp1284 said:
A gobsmacking figure indeed. But not surprising.

www.bostonglobe.com

MBTA says it needs at least $24.5 billion to repair its troubled system - The Boston Globe

The T’s estimate only covers updating the current assets, not delivering long-promised upgrades like commuter rail electrification or climate resiliency improvements.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
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Paywall bypass:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com www.reddit.com

I'm surprised to see the cost to bring Commuter Rail to State of Good Repair so high, given that CR seems to be running normally. The article did mention that most of the cost will be for stations, but I haven't looked in detail yet. But I suppose it's better to identify and highlight potential problems now than to wait for the next South Attleboro or Lynn to happen.
 
Teban54 said:
Paywall bypass:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com www.reddit.com

I'm surprised to see the cost to bring Commuter Rail to State of Good Repair so high, given that CR seems to be running normally. The article did mention that most of the cost will be for stations, but I haven't looked in detail yet. But I suppose it's better to identify and highlight potential problems now than to wait for the next South Attleboro or Lynn to happen.
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Basically the T has let everything rot close to the point of no return. My emphasis below:

"The T’s subway track is in the most dire need of repair, the analysis found, with 89 percent not in a state of good repair, followed by the T’s commuter rail signals, 80 percent of which need to be updated, and power systems, 76 percent of which need to be updated."
 
393b40 said:
For perspective the state budget is only 55 billion. That's fucking insane.

Bye bye T.
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I friggen HATE going to a link that's posted by them!!! You know why. I'd much rather read it from someone else. :mad:
 
I will note that everything in that slide deck is "as of July 1 2021" as in two and a half years ago. It seems counterproductive to release something like this so far after the data point because by now it doesn't capture the current state of the system. The 2019 report used 2018 data which was at least more timely. There's a lot of leakage, which makes it hard to use this as a starting point - granted, this sort of analysis has to be looking back, and can't really be done on the fly, but refreshing the asset list for more accurate assessment should have been possible.

For example, a healthy chunk of the CR signal work looks like it would have been done as part of the ongoing Northside ATC work, and the transit section doesn't capture even the Orange Line surge or anything in flight or delivered after July 2021, including GLX. That means something like the Gloucester drawbridge or hundreds of new/ rebuilt buses that have been delivered are still in that CNIA as needing replacement, when in fact it's been done.

That's not to say the T doesn't need to clean up how it does things - I'm just saying this analysis is so delayed as to be confusing the issue.
 
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Stlin said:
I will note that everything in that slide deck is "as of July 1 2021" as in two and a half years ago. It seems counterproductive to release something like this so far after the data point because by now it doesn't capture the current state of the system. The 2019 report used 2018 data which was at least more timely. There's a lot of leakage, which makes it hard to use this as a starting point - granted, this sort of analysis has to be looking back, and can't really be done on the fly, but refreshing the asset list for more accurate assessment should have been possible.

For example, a healthy chunk of the CR signal work looks like it would have been done as part of the ongoing Northside ATC work, and the transit section doesn't capture even the Orange Line surge or anything in flight or delivered after July 2021, including GLX. That means something like the Gloucester drawbridge is still in that CNIA as needing work, when in fact it's done.

That's not to say the T doesn't need to clean up how it does things - I'm just saying this analysis is so delayed as to be confusing the issue.
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The "Not in SGR" category also include many items that are already planned to be addressed like all the bus garages, old Orange/Red Line cars, etc.
 
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