MBTA Winter 2015: Failure and Recovery

[whighlander]

Maybe because the agency doesn't have enough money to keep the passenger fleet running, nonetheless maintain a dedicated set of the previous generation of equipment to use as work trains.

It's not that they need to "catch up", its that they've fallen horribly behind. The green line has three Boeing LRV work cars. All are dead and have to be towed. IIRC, the red line also used to have a dedicated set, but it too died and is rotting in the yard. The red line also has a diesel locomotive, which is also dead and allegedly no one is trained to fix it. The blue line could have had a set, but had to cannibalize the retired fleet to keep the orange line going, because they refused to fund the orange line replacement concurrently with the blue.

As for the deicer... I'm pretty sure you need a dedicated car to operate the sprayer from. Requiring a dedicated work fleet. Requiring better funding and not dragging heels on new car orders.

Davem -- let's get with the best available practices first -- everything else is predicated that the T knows how to run itself -- it clearly doesn't

It doesn't sound like the best use of a scarce resources -- i.e. the riders and taxpayers money -- when the T Hires a consultant to study issues of potential sea level rise, when you can not cope with normal let alone abnormal snow and cold which has been part and parcel of the T since the days of the Street Railway

 

[davem]

Davem -- let's get with the best available practices first -- everything else is predicated that the T knows how to run itself -- it clearly doesn't

It doesn't sound like the best use of a scarce resources -- i.e. the riders and taxpayers money -- when the T Hires a consultant to study issues of potential sea level rise, when you can not cope with normal let alone abnormal snow and cold which has been part and parcel of the T since the days of the Street Railway

And when we get hit with a hurricane and have NYC levels of damage, everyone will be screaming about why they didn't try to do something about flooding issues. The fact that all this snow melted slowly is a god-send, we very easily could have had 1996 levels of flooding again.

BERy had a monopoly and the money to keep its equipment maintained and operational, as well as complete lack of the safety culture we have today, which meant that trains ran far more frequently, but also plunged off the El and draw bridges. I remember hearing stories of how great the type 3s were because if they partially derailed you could just gun it until the derailed truck got back onto the tracks. That doesn't exactly happen today, nor should it.

The T is messed up in every way. But even with the most competent management in the world, they are still beating a dead horse. It doesn't matter how efficiently you whip the carcass, or how little labor you use to do it. It's dead, you need to buy a new one. You can only stretch rust bucket equipment and zero funding so far. And this winter was it.

 

[Finch]

A couple comments.

1. Have any media outlets picked up on the fact that the T has at least a small amount of diesel work/snow fighting equipment that has apparently been neglected for years?

2. Running revenue equipment (even if it's not carrying passengers) to keep the ROW clear is not a new idea, nor was the T unaware of this concept. They have done it themselves countless times before, and it seems they attempted to do it this past February.

3. They ran anti-icing trains before a number of smaller storms this year, using revenue equipment (sans-passengers).

4. What % of third rail heaters do you think are functional on the rapid transit lines? Along with the neglected work equipment, this has got to be one of the most "scandalous" aspects of this disastrous winter.

 

[Jahvon09]

Well, after having stormed into our lives like a lion, March has gone out more kinder & gentler like a lamb. April has come in like a lamb, but still with temps in the lower 40s.

But that is far better than what we've had to go through between January and last month! All of the snow on my street and some of the others is completely gone! Don't want to see any more of that!

 

[datadyne007]

Sooo... about that report that was due in 30 days... where is it??

 

[underground]

The report had a prior vacation planned, but don't worry, it's checking it's email from the beach.

 

[tangent]

A couple comments.

1. Have any media outlets picked up on the fact that the T has at least a small amount of diesel work/snow fighting equipment that has apparently been neglected for years?

2. Running revenue equipment (even if it's not carrying passengers) to keep the ROW clear is not a new idea, nor was the T unaware of this concept. They have done it themselves countless times before, and it seems they attempted to do it this past February.

3. They ran anti-icing trains before a number of smaller storms this year, using revenue equipment (sans-passengers).

4. What % of third rail heaters do you think are functional on the rapid transit lines? Along with the neglected work equipment, this has got to be one of the most "scandalous" aspects of this disastrous winter.

Mere millions in maintenance and equipment deficiencies combined with poor planning, poor management and lack of in-place agreements with outside contractors doesn't fit the narrative of a multi-billion dollar backlog being the culprit for the MBTA's fiasco this past Winter.

 

[393b40]

Well pretty much as expected the MBTA Brain Trust that Baker assembled believes the T needs to cut costs to solve all its problems.

Good luck with that.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/05/panel-mbta-review-cites-ways-control-costs-not-invest-more-system/xrZrcuxLwdIVPdI4xd9XTK/story.html

I cannot wait to get the fuck out of this stupid state.

 

[MBTAddict]

I for one am relieved to hear that if we stick to front door only boarding and cut down on what must thousands of daily fare evaders, we'll have the $6.7 billion we need to fix the system.

 

[Matthew]

I for one am relieved to hear that if we stick to front door only boarding and cut down on what must thousands of daily fare evaders, we'll have the $6.7 billion we need to fix the system.

Well put. Who knew? The way for the MBTA to balance its budget, according to the commission, is by abusing its elderly and disabled patrons.

 

[datadyne007]

Well pretty much as expected the MBTA Brain Trust that Baker assembled believes the T needs to cut costs to solve all its problems.

Good luck with that.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/05/panel-mbta-review-cites-ways-control-costs-not-invest-more-system/xrZrcuxLwdIVPdI4xd9XTK/story.html

I cannot wait to get the fuck out of this stupid state.

So the MBTA gets advice from fellow cold-weather agencies saying to invest in transit (purchasing maintenance/snow vehicles, de-icing fluid, etc) and the panel decides that the T needs to cut costs. What the flipping fuck.

 

[kevtron2000]

So the MBTA gets advice from fellow cold-weather agencies saying to invest in transit (purchasing maintenance/snow vehicles, de-icing fluid, etc) and the panel decides that the T needs to cut costs. What the flipping fuck.

"But Baker, who campaigned for governor on his management acumen, has said he finds it disappointing that “everybody just says we should raise taxes.” And House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo argues the T must improve its management before the state will provide more resources."

The MBTA isn't going to get any substantial increase in riders to boost ridership revenues, which the article states "One reviewed by the Globe showed passenger fares cover a relatively small share of the MBTA’s operating expenses — 39 percent — compared with cities such as Chicago (44 percent), San Francisco (76 percent), and London (90 percent for its subway system alone).", if they continue raising fares to adjust to inflation while we attempt to block any gas tax increase to discourage driving and politicans fear of rising the gas tax due to political reasons. Nobody is going to take the MBTA as often if fares for one ride is now $4 one way instead of the current about $2, if cars are faster to a destination than the T. Many MBTA stations still don't have full capacity of riders.

Also, cutting inefficiencies is only a short term solution. It does not address how to sustain the MBTA for future growth, provide expansion money to (connect North-South Station, Blue Line to Lynn, Red+Blue Line Connection), nor provide modernization to reduce costs. In reality, we are facing an investment gap of many billions of dollars that nobody likes to deal with.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/30/news/hong-kong-mtr-subway-property/index.html

"How Hong Kong's subway turns a $2 billion annual profit"

Maybe the MBTA should take a look at how Hong Kong's subways make a annual profit and still has a wonder infrastructure quality. It is a privatized system, but it works there. It might not work in the US, but who knows.

 

[BPLange7]

Throwing good money after bad is not a good strategy either. It's going to take a combined approach of cost discipline, new revenue and a balanced state-wide transit approach that stops encouraging people to drive.

 

[FK4]

People need to wake up to the fact that the entire structure of the mbta is rotten to the core. The report isn't saying to never give money - it's saying there's no point in throwing money at a system that wastes millions. This is a report done by a commission; those seeking to allege political bias ought to show the evidence rather than just get upset that the report doesn't align with their desires for transit expansion. Nobody in the state is going to put any more money into t until it is fixed, and even if this is wrong way to go, it's reality. So now it's time for aggressive restructuring, and if done fast and wisely we can have a much better agency in two years that has a much better argument for demanding the money that it admittedly will need in the longer run.

 

[kevtron2000]

People need to wake up to the fact that the entire structure of the mbta is rotten to the core. The report isn't saying to never give money - it's saying there's no point in throwing money at a system that wastes millions. This is a report done by a commission; those seeking to allege political bias ought to show the evidence rather than just get upset that the report doesn't align with their desires for transit expansion. Nobody in the state is going to put any more money into t until it is fixed, and even if this is wrong way to go, it's reality. So now it's time for aggressive restructuring, and if done fast and wisely we can have a much better agency in two years that has a much better argument for demanding the money that it admittedly will need in the longer run.

Waste is essentially almost a non-issue relative to the amount of cost, if you don't have the money to modernize the tracks, trains, and other operating costs, which grows every year. Waste are in the millions, but buying new equipment and everything are in the billions.

 

[MBTAddict]

Throwing good money after bad is not a good strategy either. It's going to take a combined approach of cost discipline, new revenue and a balanced state-wide transit approach that stops encouraging people to drive.

I don't disagree, but my guess is this report is going to lean far, far away form calling for a balance between reforms and revenue.

 

[Matthew]

"
"How Hong Kong's subway turns a $2 billion annual profit"

Maybe the MBTA should take a look at how Hong Kong's subways make a annual profit and still has a wonder infrastructure quality. It is a privatized system, but it works there. It might not work in the US, but who knows.

Two things: MTR is run competently, and, they develop the areas around stations intensively.

And I don't mean that they get a profit from the development. Sure, that's great, but what's even more important is that the valuable transit-adjacent land does not go to waste!

Railroads are extremely high upfront cost, with significant maintenance and depreciation on top. In order to pay that back, you need to attract heavy, heavy usage ALL day, EVERY day, in ALL directions.

That means you need a lot of people living and working within a short walk of the station entrance(s). A LOT of people! And not 9-5ers or some limited segment of the population. You need a diverse group of people, who all have different schedules, different ways of life, different things to do, so that the station is used all of the time.

This is pretty much the opposite of 20th century American city planning, which has been about segregation, homogeneity, and sprawl; the big three killers of transit ridership.

If you want to know why American transit has such anemic farebox recovery rates, you need to look at American city planning, land use planning, zoning, and the way regulation has been manipulated by snobs, racists, highway builders, and idealistic enablers in order to force segregation, homogeneity, and sprawl on us all.

That's not to say that transit agencies are innocent. There's plenty of corruption and mismanagement in your typical American transit agency. But they're playing on an uneven field, with the power of government, from the Federal level on down to the municipal, deployed against them.

 

[393b40]

Two things: MTR is run competently, and, they develop the areas around stations intensively.

The MBTA really should be more aggressive about leasing any and all air rights it can. It seems to me like they could make a killing on the Orange Line/CR trench.

Same thing for Back Bay and South Station (though I suppose those are technically in the works).

 

[bigeman312]

The MBTA really should be more aggressive about leasing any and all air rights it can. It seems to me like they could make a killing on the Orange Line/CR trench.

Same thing for Back Bay and South Station (though I suppose those are technically in the works).

Air rights is nice but what about all of the vacant/surface parking lots adjacent to many orange line stations. That's some much lower-hanging fruit right there. Some stations' (cough Sullivan cough) barren adjacent land is quite pathetic.

 

[FK4]

... And more:

Unscheduled absences by employees of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority resulted in the cancellation of more than 6,400 bus trips in January and February, a panel appointed to assess T management has found.

The panel, convened by Governor Charlie Baker as the MBTA struggled to recover from a series of heavy snowstorms, found that T workers were absent 11 to 12 percent of the time in 2014, roughly twice the rate reported by transit systems in other major US cities.

Overall, T employees are out of work for an average of 57 days per year. Those numbers include vacation days, as well as categories such as jury duty, sick leave, injuries, and family medical leave.

Doesnt anyone give a shit? This is a joke! Over 8 weeks of absences on average. How can you honestly ask the state to give money to this agency? Can we just cut the shit and restructure this thing now so we can get to having a leg to stand on when we demand money for long awaited improvements and maintenance?

Wow: if this happened where I work, people would (and get, rightfully so) fired summarily:

Some 30 percent of MBTA employees, including 65 percent of its subway drivers, have received approval to use the family leave provisions. The report called the use of the provisions by such a significant portion of the workforce “disruptive to productivity.”

According to the report, family and medical leave absences were responsible for the majority of the dropped bus trips in January and February 2015, the height of the transit crisis. In January, those absences resulted in 692 cancelled bus trips; in February, the number skyrocketed to 2,389 cancellations.

Another 1,049 trips in February were canceled when the driver took a regular sick day, and 1,465 more trips were canceled because the driver didn’t show up for what the report referred to as “no show.”

The number of trips cancelled because of absences far outstripped the number of cancellations caused by the weather at the height of the winter’s fury, according to a report expected to be released this week. By comparison, only 600 trips were canceled because of the weather, according to the report, which gathered its statistics from the MBTA advisory board.

The panel compared the T’s practices to those of major systems such as Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the Chicago Transit Authority, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York. According to the report, these agencies have reported absence rates between 5 and 6 percent.

But at the MBTA, workers miss about 11 to 12 percent of the work year.

The numbers are even higher for categories of certain workers. For example, part-time subway drivers and train attendants missed about 19 percent of the year in 2014, and full-time drivers and train attendants missed about 15 percent.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...er-absences/vyrAPESTX3ZJ87UJsncx5L/story.html