MBTA Winter 2015: Failure and Recovery

[chmeeee]

The MBTA has announced that it has gotten or is getting & stocking replacement traction motors for their rail cars, will be installing heaters for the 3rd rail on the Red and Orange Lines.

It says that it now has a contingency plan in place for this coming winter season. To handle & stay ahead of any rough snowstorms that may come.

Please post sources with these statements.

 

[Jahvon09]

A link not always online when a story breaks. It may take a while.

 

[statler]

Well, where are you getting your information from?

 

[Jahvon09]

The story was on the news this morning. I'll try to find a link. It should be on their website now.

 

[statler]

Ok, that fine. I was just curious.

 

[Jahvon09]

Ok, that fine. I was just curious.

Nothing there yet. Even tried Google. I wonder if they are on Facebook.

 

[cden4]

https://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/08/mbta_shoring_up_system_for_winter

 

[Jahvon09]

Thanks.

 

[datadyne007]

The White House has RESCINDED Beverly Scott's nomination for the NTSB Board. Unknown reason at this time.

https://twitter.com/7News/status/651215603827503104

--

Update:

Bev asked for it to be withdrawn: http://www.bostonherald.com/news_op...sident_withdraws_beverly_scotts_nomination_to

(Sorry for the Herald article. They're the only ones covering it right now)

 

[Coyote137]

"Family reasons."

Strong opposition in the Senate?

 

[whighlander]

"Family reasons."

Strong opposition in the Senate?

one committee member, Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer, said she was “deeply troubled” by the T’s failures last winter during Scott’s tenure.

Looks like Bev's going to need to find some other rice bowl

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Joseph's Transportation Routes

The Joseph's Transportation routes are far worse. Zero signage at stops or on the vehicle. No fare integration or realtime data, scuzzy buses, etc. The MBTA schedule claims they will stop at any safe location with a signal to the driver (versus a very small number of designated stops). In practice, I called the number on the schedule as recommended and was grumpily told that they will only stop at official stops.

While I have no experience riding any of the Joseph's Transportation routes to be able to comment on whether they're doing the best they can with what they have to work with, I'm not sure any of their three routes are well designed.

710 largely overlaps with other bus routes; if at least some of the 94 and/or 96 trips could be extended to Lawrence Memorial Hospital (which seems to be in Medford MA and not in Lawrence MA), some combination of 100, 99, and 134 might cover the rest. (And if you think the T should be feeling sorry for people who have to walk a little bit extra, why should the MBTA be running 710 but not running 85 to Davis Sq, unless the whole point of the Avon St detour is that going right past the home of a retired Somerville politician is more important than maximizing the number of people served by 85 if farebox recovery doesn't matter?)

714 does seem to be set up to connect to the peak direction ferries, but they don't guarantee the connections (would it have higher ridership if there was some policy in place to be able to hold the ferry for 5 or 10 minutes if the bus runs behind schedule?), and the commuter rail connections are limited, and who wants to transfer from 714 to 220 to the Red Line? I'm wondering if a one seat ride to the Red Line and/or more commuter rail connections would help ridership.

716 looks like it might be a former streetcar route where the street was ``upgraded'' by highway engineers who were not making an effort to accomodate reasonable bus service. I think if the goal is to make the route work well, looking at the efforts made by the key bus route improvement program and applying similar effort to this route would likely be effective, although whether it would be cost effective is obviously a more challeging question. In particular, adding fixed stops near existing crosswalks would be useful, probably with places where buses can pull off to the side of the road. And if someone wanted to be able to visit The Bradley Estate using 716, maybe rebuilding the whole 128 / 138 interchange as a diverging diamond interchange with 138 made one lane in each direction the whole way would facilitate installing a crosswalk in that area.

 

[whighlander]

Re: Joseph's Transportation Routes

While I have no experience riding any of the Joseph's Transportation routes to be able to comment on whether they're doing the best they can with what they have to work with, I'm not sure any of their three routes are well designed.

710 largely overlaps with other bus routes; if at least some of the 94 and/or 96 trips could be extended to Lawrence Memorial Hospital (which seems to be in Medford MA and not in Lawrence MA).....

Joel -- Lawrence Memorial Hospital was/is in Medford because it was a bequest of one of the Lawrence family of Medford who may have or have not been close relatives of the Lawrence's of the eponymous City

from some old Medford Historical Society document [circa 1932] that can be Googled

THE LAWRENCE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL.

Daniel Warren Lawrence provided in his will, which he made in 1887, for the erection of a hospital by a corporation to be created for that purpose within two years after his death. He passed away in 1921.

The corporation was formed, with one of his sons, Rosewell Bigelow Lawrence,* as its president, having associated with him the following citizens.....

For the erection of the hospital Mr. Lawrence gave $100,000, and for its maintenance he created a trust fund of $300,000. By the death of his two sons, this entire amount became available. From this an annual income of about $12,000 is derived.

Mrs. Carolin R. Lawrence, widow of Gen. Samuel C. Lawrence [leader of the eponymous Lawrence Light Guard formed on April 18, 1861], gave to the corporation the tract of land on which the hospital now stands.....

Charles B. Dunham, with Edward F. Stevens as consultant, was chosen architect. Mr. Dunham provided plans also for future development of the institution.

The hospital with its modern equipment was opened April I, 1924, with a capacity of 52 beds. At present there are 72 beds for adults and 36 cribs for babies.

In 1925 a nurses' home was constructed at a cost of nearly $80,000. Five years later this building was enlarged at an expense of $60,000.

 

[bigeman312]

Keolis lost $19.4m in first half of 2015

Keolis Commuter Services lost $19.4 million during the first half of 2015, nearly double its losses from the previous six-month period, according to financial figures released Friday by the company, which operates the MBTA commuter rail service.

Leslie Aun, a spokeswoman for Keolis, said the bulk of the losses stemmed from the record-breaking snowstorms that hit the region last winter: higher-than-expected overtime paid to employees and expenses for utilities.



She also cited penalties Keolis paid to the MBTA for subpar service — which included late or canceled trains but also trains that were dirty or lacked the necessary number of conductors. She blamed the aging trains, rails, and other equipment in place when Keolis took over the commuter rail service in July 2014.

...

The numbers were bleak, but unsurprising. Things have been smooth lately. Here's to a more profitable second half 2015.

 

[bigeman312]

MBTA considers parking, fare hikes to boost revenue

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is planning to lease more of its properties to private developers, and may also consider increasing the price of fares and parking at MBTA lots, transit officials said Friday.

Governor Charlie Baker has said he wants to wean the T off financial support from the Legislature, and the fiscal control board that oversees the T is scheduled to present a plan in December for how to narrow the agency’s budget shortfall.

Officials on Friday told a meeting of the board that parking and fare hikes could be considered as a possible way to reach the goal of $40 million in additional annual revenue by fiscal year 2017, though no set time or price increases have been decided.

...

I hope they start pricing lots differently based on how popular they are. Fore example, according to the MBTA, Braintree fills up every weekday. They should raise the price $0.25/day each month, until the garage is no longer full every day. Also, they could add more parking to Braintree, if it seems like it will be profitable.

 

[sm89]

MBTA considers parking, fare hikes to boost revenue



I hope they start pricing lots differently based on how popular they are. Fore example, according to the MBTA, Braintree fills up every weekday. They should raise the price $0.25/day each month, until the garage is no longer full every day. Also, they could add more parking to Braintree, if it seems like it will be profitable.

Oak Grove has some "priority monthly parking" program or something like that where people can pay (a lot) monthly and have a reserved spot for them self at the station. I wonder if they would expand that program. Also I like the idea of the demand-based pricing you propose. They should complement increased parking fees with better access though (bus connections, bike parking, kiss and rides).

 

[metasyntactic]

If this gets the T to do more TOD, then that sounds great. The article that I read did mention they were thinking of building garages (underground?) to replace the surface spaces though. Are they talking about surface lots for T employees or lots next to stations for commuters?

Also this bit from the Commonwealth article on it sounds like a good move:

Among other money-makers, the MBTA is looking to add more ATMs on its properties, an initiative that Boyle said the banking industry is “very excited” about.

More amenities in stations is great. Is there any reason there can't be other amenities like vending machines? (imagining like Tokyo subway platforms)

 

[datadyne007]

If this gets the T to do more TOD, then that sounds great. The article that I read did mention they were thinking of building garages (underground?) to replace the surface spaces though. Are they talking about surface lots for T employees or lots next to stations for commuters?

Also this bit from the Commonwealth article on it sounds like a good move:



More amenities in stations is great. Is there any reason there can't be other amenities like vending machines? (imagining like Tokyo subway platforms)

Personally, I would not withdraw money at a T station. It's not worth the risk.

Vending machines, absolutely. The Berlin U-Bahn stations have NesCafe machines in them. I used to get my hot chocolate from there every morning.

 

[tangent]

Would be good if the state took on the debt and paid for capital expenditures moving forward. Use fares for operating expenses.

 

[oyhimylm]

Personally, I would not withdraw money at a T station. It's not worth the risk.

I've withdrawn $1000 cash from the ATM in Roxbury Crossing because I forgot to bring my check book to pay a rent deposit. The max transaction was $500, so I had to spend extra time at the machine. I definitely had a little hustle when I was leaving...