Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

[Smuttynose]

It’s been six months and every single metric has gotten worse.

What is most frustrating to me about the MBTA under Eng is that:

a.) They don't seem to be in a particular hurry to implement repairs to reduce slow zones...

MBTA GM's measured approach to spending: 'It's important I spend it in the right place'
https://www.wcvb.com/article/mbta-g...aring-spending-money-system-repairs/44350922#

After a series of accidents and breakdowns, including a Green Line trolley derailment just two weeks ago, lawmakers wanted to know why out of the $378 million they've approved for improvements to the T, less than 30% has been spent so far.

"As important as it is to spend it all quickly, it's important that I make sure that I spend in the right places," Eng said. "So that's one of the reasons that we're taking a measured approach in how we do this."

and b.) There is no answer, not even a very general ballpark, when asked for a timeline when the slow zones will be eliminated or at least substantially reduced...

'Little by little': MBTA GM Phil Eng talks hiring sprees, slow zones and beer
https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/08/0...f-attrition-radio-boston-interview-newsletter

“Each time we go in, we’re tackling different components,” he said of the upcoming diversions on the Red Line, declining to give a timeline on when all speed restrictions there would be eliminated. Instead, he said they’re being lifted “little by little.”

MBTA slow zones remain a 'moving target,' general manager says

MBTA slow zones remain a 'moving target,' general manager says

Slow zones have been a big complaint among riders.

www.wgbh.org

Speaking on Boston Public Radio, MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said the transit agency has a general idea of when they'll be "tackling things," but he was reluctant to share a timeline as to when the speed restrictions might lift.

Clearly the T has the attention of Beacon Hill with all of the recent bad headlines. Tell them what it's going to cost to fix this, and how long, with a certain amount of funds, it will take to fix them. It doesn't have to be a specific date, but by now they should have some idea of the extent of the problem and the resources/funds needed to address it. If the MBTA said it would take a billion dollars and five years, then we can at least start to have a conversation. We can't even discuss this in any kind of informed way based on the lack of any coherent answers from the T.

 

[millerm277]

Tell them what it's going to cost to fix this, and how long, with a certain amount of funds, it will take to fix them. It doesn't have to be a specific date, but by now they should have some idea of the extent of the problem and the resources/funds needed to address it. If the MBTA said it would take a billion dollars and five years, then we can at least start to have a conversation. We can't even discuss this in any kind of informed way based on the lack of any coherent answers from the T.

I have the vague impression that the MBTA's problems in the divisions needed to actually resolve these issues aren't a thing that can necessarily be rushed. If you've lost a lot of your institutional knowledge + experienced skilled workers, I don't know that there's some way to shortcut that. There are only so many people the remaining competent staff you have can provide on the job training/supervision to at once - especially if you still need them to get productive work done. And potentially a very long time before those new people are skilled enough to really trust their work, and even longer before they know enough to train people themselves and grow your capacity to onboard.

And when you're at the beginning of that rebuilding process, I don't know how you put a time estimate on it - you likely haven't even had one successful crop of new employees really make it to that end stage of being competent enough to become trainers themselves, so all you've got is a vague guess. You also probably don't really know what attrition/failure rates are going to be - or how much you can improve them over time with refinements to training, work rules, compensation, etc.

You can't always solve for time with throwing money/people at it. 9 women don't make a baby in a month.

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With that said I 100% agree that the lack of clear communication from the MBTA doesn't help. Even stating what they aren't sure about and why is more informative to both the public and decisionmakers than just not saying anything.

I am also making the assumption that the work environment here is sufficiently different from freight rail that attempting to poach staff from the broader rail world is not that much of a shortcut - 50% less training time maybe than no experience, but not 90%.