It's also kind of rich that they cite the sorry state of the overhead wires as a reason to rip them out, without mentioning how they got to be in such a sorry state to begin with.
I'm not even sure how that blanket logic applies to the 16-year-old Silver Line. Unless they're drawing a straight arbitrary crayon line between "we can't fix the crumbling tunnel pavement unless we lay off the entire OCS department first." Which...well, let's just see them try that one and see how well it goes over on Average Joe Seaport commuter for shits and giggles.
Meanwhile, New Flyer
also has the best-selling 40 ft.
and 60 ft. TT's in the world with the Xcelsior XT40/XT60...parts-compatible with all the XDE40/XDE60 hybrids we already have. And they offer the XT's with optional full-BEB battery to run on in-wire charging implementation where up to two-thirds of its total trip can run off the wire under reference-spec conditions. You can still order the plain TT with an empty battery compartment if you want, but New Flyer is pushing the BEB TT as its base model now because of how much it simplifies OCS maintenance on large systems (San Fran, for instance). i.e. Buyers will never ever have to scramble diesels from another garage or disrupt schedules during routine maint, so the BEB-TT saves money over 'regular' TT's even on entirely self-contained networks with no regular service off-wire roaming. SF is pushing through a fleet reassignment across garages as a result of being able to
reduce its spare ratios for TT's via this roaming capability as it proliferates via TT fleet renewal.
So...not a more-perfect glove fit available for Silver + Cambridge on Planet Earth than what's available off-shelf from New Flyer and being pursued aggressively in multiple other U.S. cities retaining/enhancing their networks. Keeps spare ratios low and saves money on OCS maintenance. Literally SAVES them money with an honest follow-through if they'd just drop this manufactured crisis over deferred maint. So of course the state is shitting all over the icky-poo OCS and burying the lede on much awfuler future spare ratios foretelling permanent service cuts! Because of course they are when the facts are diametrically opposed!
They're going to get beaten like a pinata over this when TransitMatters sounds off.
They've already written that Op-Ed once before. Now it's going to be weaponized because the best examples of TT network-leveraging for the battery future are other U.S. cities. The rationale they're pushing is equal parts pants-on-fire lying and the absolute worst Not Invented Here syndrome, and they apparently think by slipping that at the end of the 4-hour torture session of "Cutting Forward" that it'll escape notice. Not so. The rebuttal can cut straight to the chase on all these OCS excuses about it being all about more cuts, cuts, service cuts in the end. So it isn't a poorly-argued nerd discussion about bus power plants at all, but rather another damning Exhibit of how "Cutting Forward" isn't intended to be temporary at all that will further enflame public opinion when it's spelled out for the public in perspective.
If there's any silver lining, it's that they picked such sloppy and self-undermining take that you have to wonder if they have any stamina left to double-down on it when the evidence gets stacked against them.
