MBTA Buses & Infrastructure

[Riverside]

What this ignores is that while the streetcars were very much imperfect, so are the cars, and in hindsight the system should have been modernized, not eliminated. Go to Beacon St and the streetcars are as popular as ever, mainly because we upgraded the unreliable trolley-wire to overhead catenary, built the stops into something more substantial than a curb with yellow paint so people didn't need to wait literally in the road, got nicer vehicles, fixed up the track to make the ride less bouncy, etc.

This.

 

[FK4]

I mean, look, obviously I think that mass transit makes for better cities, and I believe that mass transit pretty quantifiably moves more people in smaller space than cars do.

But, I also do understand why it seems intuitive and obvious to some people that "removing lanes will just make congestion worse, because you have less space for [the same number of] cars". If you buy a small house, but then have 3 kids and adopt a dog, you need a bigger house so everyone has enough room -- it's a line of thinking that feels like "common sense".

I think the parenthetical in my hypothetical quote above is key: "for the same number of cars". One of the arguments in favor of reallocating public ROWs from private auto use to public mass transit use is that better mass transit gets people out of their cars, reducing the number of cars overall.

In the case of Blue Hill Ave, this rests on a tacit assumption: that some number of people driving on BHA would take transit if it were better -- that the bus lanes will move people out of cars. And there surely must be some people who fall into that category... but is it a lot?

There still definitely are other reasons in favor of reallocating space in the public ROW to mass transit (and to cyclists, and to pedestrians), don't get me wrong! But I definitely can understand the skepticism.

I've given this example before, but take UMass Boston, putatively a "commuter school", a stone's throw from Dorchester. Coming from the Mount Bowdoin neighborhood, 1.6 miles as the crow flies, it's a 13 minute drive (during the evening rush hour!). But by transit, it's 32 minutes, if you are willing to walk 15 minutes to the Red Line, or 39 minutes via a minimal-walking-two-bus journey.

View attachment 58014

Obviously this is just one example, and there are certainly many commutes that will be faster by transit than by car. But it's not like UMass Boston is an obscure destination; if a journey like this is so extraordinarily uncompetitive by car, then it's easy to imagine why people would feel confident that the overall number of cars isn't gonna decrease.

I don't have any great solutions for this. I just think it's important to approach these conversations with as much empathy as possible.

You can’t have it both ways. Have a strong central govt that makes paternalistic plans and executes them well, or don’t. We have come way too far on the wrong side of this and these govt projects try to please too many people. They should have built this years ago and there should be no further ifs ands or buts from local squawkers. But the truth you speak to in your post is the truth that this govt can never deliver decisively on change the way a European govt can. The chnage to get people out of cars is possible, but not without truly visionary investment. These projects are a step but nowhere near enough. And I don’t think it’ll ever change without a major change in the way the federal govt is organized.

 

[Aprehensive_Words]

There should be no further ifs ands or buts from local squawkers. But the truth you speak to in your post is the truth that this govt can never deliver decisively on change the way a European govt can.

If you look at how the power structures are wired, really the "local squawkers" the T and the city are worried about are state legislators. For a variety of reasons -- least of all, the lack of a mass politics at the state and local levels -- a handful of whiners can make enough of a noise that either a) different factions in city politics that they're affiliated with turn against said state legislators/the mayor or b) they convince low-propensity voters to turn out on something of a vibes basis.

So it does make sense what they're doing. But, as you say, "visionary investment" can make a difference because you'd definitionally need to get someone like the governor or the mayor to make their campaign about that, so they can point to a clear mandate from the people to engage in big changes.

 

[ritchiew]

I mean, look, obviously I think that mass transit makes for better cities, and I believe that mass transit pretty quantifiably moves more people in smaller space than cars do.

But, I also do understand why it seems intuitive and obvious to some people that "removing lanes will just make congestion worse, because you have less space for [the same number of] cars". If you buy a small house, but then have 3 kids and adopt a dog, you need a bigger house so everyone has enough room -- it's a line of thinking that feels like "common sense".

I think the parenthetical in my hypothetical quote above is key: "for the same number of cars". One of the arguments in favor of reallocating public ROWs from private auto use to public mass transit use is that better mass transit gets people out of their cars, reducing the number of cars overall.

In the case of Blue Hill Ave, this rests on a tacit assumption: that some number of people driving on BHA would take transit if it were better -- that the bus lanes will move people out of cars. And there surely must be some people who fall into that category... but is it a lot?

There still definitely are other reasons in favor of reallocating space in the public ROW to mass transit (and to cyclists, and to pedestrians), don't get me wrong! But I definitely can understand the skepticism.

I've given this example before, but take UMass Boston, putatively a "commuter school", a stone's throw from Dorchester. Coming from the Mount Bowdoin neighborhood, 1.6 miles as the crow flies, it's a 13 minute drive (during the evening rush hour!). But by transit, it's 32 minutes, if you are willing to walk 15 minutes to the Red Line, or 39 minutes via a minimal-walking-two-bus journey.

View attachment 58014

Obviously this is just one example, and there are certainly many commutes that will be faster by transit than by car. But it's not like UMass Boston is an obscure destination; if a journey like this is so extraordinarily uncompetitive by car, then it's easy to imagine why people would feel confident that the overall number of cars isn't gonna decrease.

I don't have any great solutions for this. I just think it's important to approach these conversations with as much empathy as possible.

I totally agree, a lot of this kind of planning isn't intuitive or obvious to people. None of this was obvious to me until I started diving into it in the past several years. And we should absolutely have these conversations with empathy.

For this article, though, I don't extend a lot of this courtesy to reporters (or likewise politicians or bureaucrats). I really do expect them to do research and get things right. It's literally their job. If someone is saying this redesign will increase carbon monoxide, or slow traffic, or make the street less safe, it really is the reporter's responsibility to then figure out if any of that makes sense. It's a total disservice to readers to just quote peoples' non-expert opinions on things and move on. This is the Globe's chance to inject some facts, nuance, and expertise into the conversation and they're blowing it.

 

[JeffDowntown]

I totally agree, a lot of this kind of planning isn't intuitive or obvious to people. None of this was obvious to me until I started diving into it in the past several years. And we should absolutely have these conversations with empathy.

For this article, though, I don't extend a lot of this courtesy to reporters (or likewise politicians or bureaucrats). I really do expect them to do research and get things right. It's literally their job. If someone is saying this redesign will increase carbon monoxide, or slow traffic, or make the street less safe, it really is the reporter's responsibility to then figure out if any of that makes sense. It's a total disservice to readers to just quote peoples' non-expert opinions on things and move on. This is the Globe's chance to inject some facts, nuance, and expertise into the conversation and they're blowing it.

There is no meat left in reporting at the local, state or national level. "Reporters" are little more than scribes who copy whatever uninformed position is squawked by both sides, and print them as "controversy". There is no attempt to get to facts, just clickbait quotes from "both sides".

 

[Riverside]

For this article, though, I don't extend a lot of this courtesy to reporters (or likewise politicians or bureaucrats). I really do expect them to do research and get things right. It's literally their job. If someone is saying this redesign will increase carbon monoxide, or slow traffic, or make the street less safe, it really is the reporter's responsibility to then figure out if any of that makes sense. It's a total disservice to readers to just quote peoples' non-expert opinions on things and move on. This is the Globe's chance to inject some facts, nuance, and expertise into the conversation and they're blowing it.

Yeah, strong agree here. It's possible to be both empathetic to people and to present knowledge that provides context.

 

[#bancars]

I totally agree, a lot of this kind of planning isn't intuitive or obvious to people. None of this was obvious to me until I started diving into it in the past several years. And we should absolutely have these conversations with empathy.

For this article, though, I don't extend a lot of this courtesy to reporters (or likewise politicians or bureaucrats). I really do expect them to do research and get things right. It's literally their job. If someone is saying this redesign will increase carbon monoxide, or slow traffic, or make the street less safe, it really is the reporter's responsibility to then figure out if any of that makes sense. It's a total disservice to readers to just quote peoples' non-expert opinions on things and move on. This is the Globe's chance to inject some facts, nuance, and expertise into the conversation and they're blowing it.

Unfortunately this is a trend in a lot of the Globe's coverage of local issues. Sometimes they do deep dives that are quite good and appear to be well-researched, but for a lot of the day-to-day stuff the coverage really seems to phone it in, throwing in some opposing soundbites without any context and calling it a day. And I say this as a subscriber who reads the Globe almost every day!

 

[FK4]

There is no meat left in reporting at the local, state or national level. "Reporters" are little more than scribes who copy whatever uninformed position is squawked by both sides, and print them as "controversy". There is no attempt to get to facts, just clickbait quotes from "both sides".

Bingo. It’s very sad. And this has consequences.

 

[FK4]

Unfortunately this is a trend in a lot of the Globe's coverage of local issues. Sometimes they do deep dives that are quite good and appear to be well-researched, but for a lot of the day-to-day stuff the coverage really seems to phone it in, throwing in some opposing soundbites without any context and calling it a day. And I say this as a subscriber who reads the Globe almost every day!

DITTO.

 

[Delvin4519]

There is no meat left in reporting at the local, state or national level. "Reporters" are little more than scribes who copy whatever uninformed position is squawked by both sides, and print them as "controversy". There is no attempt to get to facts, just clickbait quotes from "both sides".

Bingo. It’s very sad. And this has consequences.

Yea. Whenever there is some traffic gridlock in the news, highways and viaducts that have deteriorated and need repair, the media never suggests that "you could just take the subway or bike".

They just run stories that "highway closure causes massive traffic gridlock, people are frustrated and having to leave 1 hour earlier". Not a single mention that the subway is running and people can use the subway, or use the bike lanes that are "always empty and never used".

Yet when the subway breaks down, then the news runs stories of "people having to resort to ubers and paying outrageous prices to get home from a long day, being forced to miss and cancel social events with friends, being fired for arriving late, or having to get a car because the subway is unreliable and the shuttle buses are slow". However the media rarely talks about cyclists that are unaffected by the shutdowns, or that BlueBikes would offer 5 free rides for the subway shutdown. Only when walking is faster than the shuttle buses does the media then report "the slow zones and shuttle buses are so bad, people walked faster than than the shuttle buses".

Then when cyclists and pedestrians get hit by drivers in cars, the media asks questions whether the cyclist or pedestrian was reckless or not visible.

Then when officals start talking about bus lanes, bike lanes, and congestion pricing, then the media starts running stories like "how it would affect the poor", "drivers don't have money to pay for the tolls, look at the cost of living crisis", "traffic is so bad if we take a lane away for buses or bikes, then the traffic will get worse"

Almost like the news media doesn't want to solve the underlying fundamental issues of the broken transportation system. It's like they don't want people to ditch their cars to ride the subway or cycle. They just want to run stories that cycling is dangerous, the subway is unreliable, and that people should just get a car to avoid all that hassle.

 

[FK4]

Yea. Whenever there is some traffic gridlock in the news, highways and viaducts that have deteriorated and need repair, the media never suggests that "you could just take the subway or bike".

They just run stories that "highway closure causes massive traffic gridlock, people are frustrated and having to leave 1 hour earlier". Not a single mention that the subway is running and people can use the subway, or use the bike lanes that are "always empty and never used".

Yet when the subway breaks down, then the news runs stories of "people having to resort to ubers and paying outrageous prices to get home from a long day, being forced to miss and cancel social events with friends, being fired for arriving late, or having to get a car because the subway is unreliable and the shuttle buses are slow". However the media rarely talks about cyclists that are unaffected by the shutdowns, or that BlueBikes would offer 5 free rides for the subway shutdown. Only when walking is faster than the shuttle buses does the media then report "the slow zones and shuttle buses are so bad, people walked faster than than the shuttle buses".

Then when cyclists and pedestrians get hit by drivers in cars, the media asks questions whether the cyclist or pedestrian was reckless or not visible.

Then when officals start talking about bus lanes, bike lanes, and congestion pricing, then the media starts running stories like "how it would affect the poor", "drivers don't have money to pay for the tolls, look at the cost of living crisis", "traffic is so bad if we take a lane away for buses or bikes, then the traffic will get worse"

Almost like the news media doesn't want to solve the underlying fundamental issues of the broken transportation system. It's like they don't want people to ditch their cars to ride the subway or cycle. They just want to run stories that cycling is dangerous, the subway is unreliable, and that people should just get a car to avoid all that hassle.

Conflict and negative emotion sells. Peace and happiness do not.

 

[KCasiglio]

Yea. Whenever there is some traffic gridlock in the news, highways and viaducts that have deteriorated and need repair, the media never suggests that "you could just take the subway or bike".

They just run stories that "highway closure causes massive traffic gridlock, people are frustrated and having to leave 1 hour earlier". Not a single mention that the subway is running and people can use the subway, or use the bike lanes that are "always empty and never used".

Yet when the subway breaks down, then the news runs stories of "people having to resort to ubers and paying outrageous prices to get home from a long day, being forced to miss and cancel social events with friends, being fired for arriving late, or having to get a car because the subway is unreliable and the shuttle buses are slow". However the media rarely talks about cyclists that are unaffected by the shutdowns, or that BlueBikes would offer 5 free rides for the subway shutdown. Only when walking is faster than the shuttle buses does the media then report "the slow zones and shuttle buses are so bad, people walked faster than than the shuttle buses".

Then when cyclists and pedestrians get hit by drivers in cars, the media asks questions whether the cyclist or pedestrian was reckless or not visible.

Then when officals start talking about bus lanes, bike lanes, and congestion pricing, then the media starts running stories like "how it would affect the poor", "drivers don't have money to pay for the tolls, look at the cost of living crisis", "traffic is so bad if we take a lane away for buses or bikes, then the traffic will get worse"

Almost like the news media doesn't want to solve the underlying fundamental issues of the broken transportation system. It's like they don't want people to ditch their cars to ride the subway or cycle. They just want to run stories that cycling is dangerous, the subway is unreliable, and that people should just get a car to avoid all that hassle.

Meanwhile, in their most recent article pining for a Kraft mayoral candidacy: "There could be an opening for a pragmatic mayoral candidate who taps into resident frustration over too many bike and bus lanes. Is Kraft that candidate? Until he starts talking like one, we won’t know."

 

[Delvin4519]

Just two things: the August subcommittee meeting slide, despite being dated 5/29 claims that there are only 103 bus operator vacancies after the July hiring class. With each class being ~100, if they keep that up, it's prima facie reasonable to assume that they'll have the operators they need by December.
View attachment 55053
Also, it's not adjusted for separations, but it looks like so far this calendar year, state payroll records indicate the T had 1699 folks with the title of Surface Operator. Filtering to those who got paychecks in August (to adjust for separations), I get a total of 1548 folks under the L589 contract with surface operator as their title. Add 100 every 2 a months, and I'd say they're well in the ballpark for operator sufficiency in December for BNRD once the trainees complete the process.

CTHRU - Statewide Payroll Open Payroll

Open Payroll is part of our commitment to improving transparency by providing a guided view through complex financial information.

cthrupayroll.mass.gov

Following up on this after 3 months:

For the link to the Mass.gov site, how exactly do I filter the list to get results for only November 2024? I can only seem to get the charts to display 1,729, but that number seems highlight suspect.

 

[Stlin]

Following up on this after 3 months:

For the link to the Mass.gov site, how exactly do I filter the list to get results for only November 2024? I can only seem to get the charts to display 1,729, but that number seems highlight suspect.

It's not a native feature of the portal; you have to go to the paycheck tab (next to payroll summary) and download the data. Then use Excels sort feature to sort by "Service end date" - that's the date of their most recent paycheck as reflected in that dataset. The vast majority will have the same date - as of today, it's 11/2, and 1537 bus drivers got paid that day, matching exactly the numbers presented. Anyone whose paycheck reflects an earlier date is a separation as of that given payroll cycle, and then can be eliminated. It's then just a matter of reading how many lines still exist.

While I am on this topic, I know you've been banging on about getting the bus operator headcount back up to 1850 or so. The thing is, that's the sum total Bus Operations headcount, which actual drivers (surface operators) make up a majority of, but by no means are they all of it. Within that number is 150 bus inspectors, several dozen supervisors, instructors and other roles. The state's payroll data is available at least to 2010 in similar detail; if you were to download 2019s, you can see that at year end they had something like 1430 surface operators.

 

[Delvin4519]

It's not a native feature of the portal; you have to go to the paycheck tab (next to payroll summary) and download the data. Then use Excels sort feature to sort by "Service end date" - that's the date of their most recent paycheck as reflected in that dataset. The vast majority will have the same date - as of today, it's 11/2, and 1537 bus drivers got paid that day, matching exactly the numbers presented. Anyone whose paycheck reflects an earlier date is a separation as of that given payroll cycle, and then can be eliminated. It's then just a matter of reading how many lines still exist.

While I am on this topic, I know you've been banging on about getting the bus operator headcount back up to 1850 or so. The thing is, that's the sum total Bus Operations headcount, which actual drivers (surface operators) make up a majority of, but by no means are they all of it. Within that number is 150 bus inspectors, several dozen supervisors, instructors and other roles. The state's payroll data is available at least to 2010 in similar detail; if you were to download 2019s, you can see that at year end they had something like 1430 surface operators.

That makes more sense. It's kinda frustrating that all the graphs use different metrics and they don't even cover the entire period to 2019. Eng's presentation cuts away at 2022, rather than going back to 2019.

For that matter, is there public info on exactly how many surface operators the MBTA is budgeted for FY25 specifically? Probably unlikely that this info exists, but if it exists somewhere, that would be the more useful metric if it's possible to exclude the miscellaneous roles from the count.

Otherwise, alternatively, a more helpful measurement would be to compare the count for the entire bus operations with the bus operations cumulative total budget count, which 1,859 seems to represent. Basically the goal is to divide the same metric with the same metric's total.