MBTA Winter 2015: Failure and Recovery

MBTA is hitting a low point this year. There is a picture blowing up on Facebook of a guy getting a B-J on State Street platform. Nothing really surprising but their is a lot of complaints about how dumpy the Orange, Red and Blue line are becoming.

What I'm hearing is its like riding in a dumpster. More people just want to drive into the city now and avoid this awful transit solution offered by the state.

I hope Baker is up for the challenge but the MBTA needs to BE GUTTED to the core and completely restructured.
 
TheRifleman said:
MBTA is hitting a low point this year. There is a picture blowing up on Facebook of a guy getting a B-J on State Street platform. Nothing really surprising but their is a lot of complaints about how dumpy the Orange, Red and Blue line are becoming.
Click to expand...

Please tell me how gutting the T would have prevented this. This can happen literally anywhere in any city. There is no way to prevent it. If two people are cracked out of their minds, they will initiate oral sex anywhere they want. They happened to choose the middle of the platform in plain view of the public and luckily the T's highly sophisticated security camera system.

You know where I've also seen oral sex? On the highway in traffic. So don't play this up as a T problem. That's totally absurd to do so.
 
That lady was a bozo for expecting a rapid response from the Transit Police to her tweets. Call 911/the T police number that's posted in the stations. There is no MBTA problem here... just a couple of pervs getting jollies off in a public place.
 
TheRifleman said:
MBTA is hitting a low point this year. There is a picture blowing up on Facebook of a guy getting a B-J on State Street platform. Nothing really surprising but their is a lot of complaints about how dumpy the Orange, Red and Blue line are becoming.

What I'm hearing is its like riding in a dumpster. More people just want to drive into the city now and avoid this awful transit solution offered by the state.

I hope Baker is up for the challenge but the MBTA needs to BE GUTTED to the core and completely restructured.
Click to expand...

I dunno. I've been riding the OL five days a week for the past ten years (and intermittently for ten years prior) but aside from the aberration that was last winter, I have yet to witness this T-pocalypse you seem to be hearing about (how often you you ride the T yourself?) Yes, the T needs some real investment, but was just as true ten years ago as it was today.
 
statler said:
I dunno. I've been riding the OL five days a week for the past ten years (and intermittently for ten years prior) but aside from the aberration that was last winter, I have yet to witness this T-pocalypse you seem to be hearing about (how often you you ride the T yourself?) Yes, the T needs some real investment, but was just as true ten years ago as it was today.
Click to expand...

I still ride the MBTA- at night: When you say T-Pocalypse:
#1 Pension Fund--has made it bankrupt alone
#2 Infrastructure is completely outdated
#3 Traffic continues to increase at alarming rate each year
#4 Pension fund--Continues to be used a political hookup for the politically connected
#5 No expansion that would make Massachusetts infrastructure as promising for the future
#6 see 1 & 4 Including Unlimited healthcare
#7 MBTA system stop working in the winter because of a lot of snow (Which should be the most dependent on these types of winter conditions )

The T-pocalypse is happening-- A very slow DEATH
 
TheRifleman said:
I still ride the MBTA- at night: When you say T-Pocalypse:
#1 Pension Fund--has made it bankrupt alone
#4 Pension fund--Continues to be used a political hookup for the politically connected
#6 see 1 & 4 Including Unlimited healthcare
Click to expand...

LOL. Wtf.
 
Globe editorial calling on state senate to support Baker's T plan:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...3tL/story.html?p1=Article_Related_Box_Article

Bottom line: Brownsberger supports it, Dorcena Forry supports the fiscal control board but not Pacheco reform, and the rest of the Boston-area senators didnt even bother to call the Globe back or make their opinion public:
Sonia Chang Diaz ("still in information-gathering mode")
Anthony Petruccelli
Sal DiDomenico
Michael Rush

This is scumbaggery to the max. These guys cant even make public their views, whatever they are... a huge disappointment. Our poor state is so damned corrupt...
 
FK4 said:
Globe editorial calling on state senate to support Baker's T plan:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...3tL/story.html?p1=Article_Related_Box_Article

Bottom line: Brownsberger supports it, Dorcena Forry supports the fiscal control board but not Pacheco reform, and the rest of the Boston-area senators didnt even bother to call the Globe back or make their opinion public:
Sonia Chang Diaz ("still in information-gathering mode")
Anthony Petruccelli
Sal DiDomenico
Michael Rush

This is scumbaggery to the max. These guys cant even make public their views, whatever they are... a huge disappointment. Our poor state is so damned corrupt...
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with the frustration about lawmakers not expressing their views, but I don't see how that makes them corrupt.

Also, the notion that just the opinions of Senators from Boston matter is so completely and entirely indicative of what is wrong with this entire conversation.
 
TheRifleman said:
MBTA is hitting a low point this year. There is a picture blowing up on Facebook of a guy getting a B-J on State Street platform. Nothing really surprising but their is a lot of complaints about how dumpy the Orange, Red and Blue line are becoming.

What I'm hearing is its like riding in a dumpster. More people just want to drive into the city now and avoid this awful transit solution offered by the state.

I hope Baker is up for the challenge but the MBTA needs to BE GUTTED to the core and completely restructured.
Click to expand...

Have you ridden public transit in other American cities? The BART, L, MTA, etc. are all dumpier than the T. The roads are also dumpier, with literal trash everywhere. Americans do dumpy infrastructure.
 
MBTAddict said:
I don't disagree with the frustration about lawmakers not expressing their views, but I don't see how that makes them corrupt.

Also, the notion that just the opinions of Senators from Boston matter is so completely and entirely indicative of what is wrong with this entire conversation.
Click to expand...

Well, that is true... they are not corrupt simply by remaining silent. However, their reason for remaining silent is, in all likelihood, that they want to keep the union/MBTA worker lobby money flowing without sounding like they arent working for the riders. And given that historically this is what happens, this is a legitimate assumption to make. There has been plenty of time to come up with an opinion, and no good reason not to have one at this stage of the game where the senate is actively completing their own proposal (to be delivered today, actually).

In regards to the focus on local senators - the point of the article is that if those politicians who represent large numbers of MBTA riders cant even be counted on to support T reform, then who will?
 
MBTAddict said:
Also, the notion that just the opinions of Senators from Boston matter is so completely and entirely indicative of what is wrong with this entire conversation.
Click to expand...

Nobody has promoted the notion that only the Boston Senators matter.
The Globe is, however, asking that they work together to be a effective combined voice (which is completely fair).

Frankly, everyone should just do what Brownsberger signs them up for.

The rest of the state understands that they are balancing the interests of their districts vs the MBTA Core.

The population of Mass is 6.75 Million, divided about
1/3 not touching the MBTA at all (and not particularly wealthy)
1/3 rural/exurban using the MBTA mostly for CR (and a tiny park-ride Subway)
1/3 urbanized core & bus users (roughly "inside 128")

There are 3.5M people in the Mass workforce, but only about 600k people (just 1/6th) commute by T every day.

So the rules for getting a solution are:
1) the 1/3 in the MBTA core have got to have a clear, combined vision that at least has the "feel" of self-funding (collecting $ where the benefits are delivered most intensively)
2) the 1/3 in the rural/exurban are generally "takers" (CR is heavily subsidized) and the trick is to not let them overbuild or oversubsidize commuter rail (eg no SCR, no more Greenbushes).
3) the 1/3 out of district can't be asked to pay too much, and yeah, you gotta throw a Red/Orange Assembly factory their way, and some CT-River Valley and Worcester-Springfield their way.

FK4 makes a great point: vote-wise MBTA finance fixes should be pro-rider. Corrupt-politics-wise, the risk is that they end up being only pro-Union.
 
Is there any way to see what way my Senator, Patricia Jehlen, voted? She represents Somerville, Medford, parts of Cambridge and parts of Winchester. In other words, she represents parts of the Red Line, the Orange Line, three key bus routes, multiple Commuter Rail Lines, and numerous T riders.
 
bigeman312 said:
Is there any way to see what way my Senator, Patricia Jehlen, voted? She represents Somerville, Medford, parts of Cambridge and parts of Winchester. In other words, she represents parts of the Red Line, the Orange Line, three key bus routes, multiple Commuter Rail Lines, and numerous T riders.
Click to expand...
I don't think there's been a vote yet (here's the tracker for the Gov's Bill) and she's not as faithful a blogger as Brownsberger, but go ahead and contact her on the issues. She's very responsive. (I haven't contacted her (She's my Senator too) just because I trust her 100% on being pro-rider on things like this. I have a hard time imagining a scenario where she'd vote different from Brownsberger)
 
Front Page of todays Globe:
As Tech Hub Grows so does the Traffic Jams


No vision or solutions from our leaders:

Our tax dollars are only helping private developments and private corporations
Liberty Mutual---46.5 Million dollars to help build their building--
Don't worry ex-chairman Ted Kelly who is a very big donor to the Democrat party was only making 50 Million year. But for some reason Deval Patrick, Mayor Menino and the rest of the hacks thought this is a great idea.

No vision to invest it more into infrastructure or transit.
 
That article has so many issues with it, it's not even funny. Basically, it's people complaining that trying to drive around Metro Boston at rush hour is slow. And that construction around Kendall Square is making things temporarily worse. Wow, no shit Sherlock. This is journalism?
 
cden4 said:
That article has so many issues with it, it's not even funny. Basically, it's people complaining that trying to drive around Metro Boston at rush hour is slow. And that construction around Kendall Square is making things temporarily worse. Wow, no shit Sherlock. This is journalism?
Click to expand...

My question is why are we giving tax breaks, incentives, and taxpayers money to help these developers build in Boston: When the infrastructure is outdated and rots away?

60 Million to Fan Pier infrastructure that only benefits Fallon. There is so much demand in Boston that we should not be giving the taxpayers money to private corporations agendas.
The Taxpayers money should focused on transit upgrades, expansions & infrastructure to make Boston the best area of transit to make the people of Boston life less stressful and more enjoyable.
 
There are a lot of people on this board with a lot of knowledge on transit and transportation. Here is a chance to get a pulpit and get paid for it: http://www.t4ma.org/advocacy_director Come up with solid, rider-centric, bike and ped - centric transportation policy recommendations and sell them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top