Media Statement: TransitMatters Welcomes New GM, Calls For Plan To Restore Service

BOSTON, March 27, 2023 — TransitMatters welcomes incoming General Manager Eng. We wish him well as he takes on the difficult task of rebuilding rider confidence, restoring service, improving the relationship between management and front-line staff, and laying out a vision for our transit system that we care deeply about. We call on the new General Manager to release a plan for restoring service with key action items and a schedule identified as soon as possible.

While we appreciate that the administration has followed through on this campaign promise, not a single rider will cheer today. The Healey administration must remain laser-focused on the immediate needs of riders: bringing back pre-pandemic service on the rapid transit system and bus network, ensuring rider safety, and improving service by addressing slow zones, dropped bus trips, and poorly planned diversions.

We stand firm in the assertion that no one person can fix the myriad of issues at the T.  It will take a combination of legislative and gubernatorial actions to resolve the significant issues that remain, including operating and capital budget deficiencies, a Capital Investment Plan (CIP) that fails to meet the needs of our rapidly growing region, and a Board that is failing to provide appropriate oversight.

We applaud MBTA veteran Jeff Gonneville for his service as interim General Manager. His transparency around the track inspection documentation and decisive actions thereafter to protect riders were greatly appreciated. We expect that the incoming General Manager will stick to this example and continue the robust investigation the interim General Manager started into what happened and how we can prevent it from happening again.

Fix-it-first is not enough. It has proven to be insufficient. We need to fix and also forward-proof the T. Forward-proofing the T means building the essential infrastructure that meets our needs. This includes Regional Rail electrification, bus electrification, and the Red Blue connector. These physical investments must be accompanied by fare policy and service delivery standards that address inequality and encourage mode shift.

We look forward to continuing our advocacy for a public transit system that responds to the equity, economic and environmental needs of a forward-thinking world-class region.

For media inquiries, please e-mail media@transitmatters.org. 

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Podcast 24 - Rich Davey, Former MBTA GM & Secretary of Transportation

Former MBTA General Manager and MassDOT Secretary, Rich Davey joins us to reflect on his experience and share insight into the current challenges and opportunities facing the T.

Why has the service become so unreliable? Will we ever plan for and implement system upgrades? How can we better use our existing services and resources? Are the labor and management needs being met? How can the T communicate more effectively as well as advocate for itself and the needs of riders? Can we do effective regional planning and forge a working relationship with advocates and cities? How do we raise revenue, and should that be a priority? We finally put to rest the argument over the word annual: whether fares are legally allowed to rise by 5 or 10 percent. And much more.

Prior to running the MBTA, Rich Davey was the General Manager of the Commuter Rail operator. We talk about activating the Fairmount Line and some other ways to improve the Commuter Rail. How might more effective regional planning enable the Commuter Rail to address local and regional transportation challenges?

Transit Matters is a non-profit organization working for fast, frequent, reliable and effective transportation in Boston by elevating the conversation on transportation. By offering new perspectives, uniting transit advocates and promoting a level of critical analysis normally absent from other media, we can achieve a useful and effective transportation network because Transit Matters.

Like what you hear? Share it around, tell your friends and colleagues, and subscribe to the blog and podcast (on iTunes) to be notified of new posts and episodes. Support our work by becoming a member, making a donation or signing up to volunteer because we can't do this alone. Let us know what you think: connect with TransitMatters on Facebook or Twitter. Follow Jeremy Mendelson @Critical Transit, Josh Fairchild @hatchback31, Jarred Johnson @jarjoh, Marc Ebuña @DigitalSciGuy, or email us here.

Podcast 22 - MBTA Raising Fares Again, Overtime Lies, Challenges and Opportunities

The MBTA fare increase proposals (presentation, summary) are unnecessary and not even helpful in closing the budget gap. This is the latest example to the way the Fiscal & Management Control Board is using misleading statistics to support an ideological agenda that has never worked. What happened to being visionary and taking a fresh look?

Short of major investment -- which is needed more than ever -- many simple changes could improve the user experience and help alleviate capacity constraints. For example:

1. The transfer policy could allow unlimited use within 2 hours (instead of the current one-transfer limit) to offer new options for shorter trips, increase ridership, reduce congestion downtown and save money.
2. All-door boarding on buses and trolleys means faster trips, more frequent service, lower fare evasion and operating cost savings.
3. Expanding Zone 1A on Commuter Rail to all Boston stations as well as Waltham and Lynn would offer fast service for thousands of low-income riders while reducing operating costs.
4. Many low-cost changes such as upgrading bus stops, stations and terminals would improve service quality and increase ridership.

UPDATE: See our Fares & Service fact sheet (the longer version is here).

All this and more in this week's show, recorded in the WMBR studio at MIT in Cambridge. Marc offers some insights from this year's TransportationCamp DC on how regional governance could address some of our management challenges, and former T General Manager Beverly Scott was there. We hear a little bit from the growing transit advocacy network, as organizations like TransitMatters start to pop up in cities across the country.

The Transit Matters Podcast is your source for transportation news, analysis, interviews with transit advocates and more. By offering new perspectives, uniting transit advocates and promoting a level of critical analysis normally absent from other media, we can achieve a useful and effective transportation network because Transit Matters.

Like what you hear? Share it around, tell your friends and colleagues, and subscribe to the blog and podcast (on iTunes) to be notified of new posts and episodes. Support our work by becoming a member, making a donation or signing up to volunteer because we can't do this alone. Let us know what you think by connect with TransitMatters on Facebook or Twitter. Follow Jeremy Mendelson @Critical Transit, Josh Fairchild @hatchback31, Jarred Johnson at @jarjoh, Marc Ebuña at @DigitalSciGuy, and or email us here.