Media Statement: MBTA Global Speed Restrictions

BOSTON, March 10, 2023 —  TransitMatters commends the MBTA General Manager for being transparent with riders about the issues with track conditions and quickly acting out of an abundance of caution. We are also happy to see that new leadership at the Department of Public Utilities is stepping up oversight efforts after decades of inaction. Steps like these are critical to regaining rider confidence and FTA approval.

However, riders deserve quality service. Riders are unfairly bearing the burden of decades of neglect and underfunding. It is critical that leaders on Beacon Hill treat the T's issues as an emergency. The system is in crisis and, nearly a year after the FTA notified the agency that they would be taking over safety oversight, no end is in sight.

The T must be transparent about the schedule for restoring service back to pre-pandemic levels. The slow zones, poorly run diversions, and long headways are untenable. The MBTA has cut bus service for a year and a half and subway service for a year with no timetable to increase service. This is unacceptable and risks permanently driving away ridership.

Accountability is also sorely lacking. Pending the results of the investigation, those in charge of signing off on inspection reports must be held responsible. Riders deserve an active and engaged board that listens to their concerns. The administration should quickly appoint new members to the Board, and reform the rules to ensure the Board provides expertise, accountability and oversight similar to the previous Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB).

The region cannot grow its economy equitably, and the Healey Administration cannot achieve its stated carbon emissions reductions goals, without a highly functioning transit system. We urge the Administration and the Legislature to commit to continued transparency and accountability, and provide the MBTA with the resources it needs, in order to ensure a more reliable service that respects its riders and responds to the region’s mobility needs.

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

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Media Statement: Orange Line Shutdown/Building A Better T 2022

BOSTON, August 3, 2022 — The Orange Line is an essential part of the MBTA system; it carries over 100,000 riders a day. Today’s announcement of a 30-day shutdown is a dramatic example of the urgency of improving service on the subway system. Going forward, the MBTA must commit to giving riders more notice. The short notice of this announcement shows a lack of respect for riders. The quality of the T’s communications to riders throughout this effort, as well as the quality of its mitigation efforts, will be major tests for the agency. As the MBTA plans to shut down this critical piece of transportation infrastructure on short notice for a month, we need the Authority, municipalities, and other partners to take an all-hands-on-deck approach and coordinate efforts to deliver effective and usable transportation alternatives for 100,000 T riders who will be disrupted by this initiative.

We are concerned that replacement shuttle buses have not functioned well during past diversions. Too often they were stuck in traffic, hopelessly delayed, and woefully insufficient to replace rail transit service. The MBTA and affected municipalities must act quickly to establish and enforce busways and protected bikeways along the routes used by shuttle buses and nearby existing surface transit routes that will receive diverted passengers, such as the 39 bus and the E Branch of the Green Line. This is an opportunity to show that quick-build bus lanes are feasible and can make a meaningful impact on travel times. To reduce costs from installation and removal, these lanes should be operational and enforced 24/7 for the duration of the shutdown. We urge careful coordination with municipal partners like BTD and BPD, as well as the MBTA Transit Police to ensure reliable service.

We’re pleased to hear that the MBTA will have commuter rail trains stop at Orange Line stations along the corridor including additional trains at Oak Grove and Forest Hills.  Fares from these stations should be waived for the duration of the diversion to ensure riders without a CharlieCard can access the service. Service should also be increased to stations along the route of the 34 Bus, such as Readville and Hyde Park. Many riders of the 34 transfer to Orange Line service at Forest Hills, and improved CR service to Southwest Boston is crucial to reducing pressure on the shuttle service. The T should also reduce fares on all Commuter Rail lines during the diversion to mitigate the increase in traffic caused by Orange Line riders switching to vehicles. Additionally, the MBTA should reassign Orange Line dispatchers to boost service on the Red and Blue lines, as well as boost service levels and capacity on the Green Line.

Finally, the MBTA needs to restore rider confidence by clearly communicating the benefits of this shutdown. Riders deserve a firm commitment from the MBTA that Orange Line service will significantly improve after this unprecedented diversion. The T must demonstrate that it can accomplish this shutdown within the strict 30-day period, and that it has in place strong oversight controls that were lacking during the recent Blue Line shutdown experience. Riders have put up with years-long slow zones, teething problems with new vehicles, and diversions with no appreciable impact on service. The MBTA must clearly communicate the benefits of this shutdown to riders and unveil a line with better travel times, more reliable service, and improved rider experience.

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

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Media Statement: Summer '22 Service Cuts due to OCC Staffing Shortage

BOSTON, June 17, 2022 —  Today's announcement of service cuts for the Red, Orange, and Blue lines due to staffing shortages at the Operations Control Center is a painful example of how badly the MBTA has been failed by poor oversight and a lack of stable, dedicated funding. Contrary to the current narrative, the FTA’s directives are not about the age of the system. All of the identified issues are the result of a decades-long, bipartisan aversion to funding the T adequately. Billions of bond authorizations for capital projects have masked the need for more funding and stability for the T’s operating budget. The T has been in and out of a state of fiscal crisis for decades; this is not how one builds a reliable system free from safety concerns. 

For years the administration’s laudable focus on increasing capital spending has come at the expense of attention to day-to-day maintenance and safety needs. Earlier this year in a misguided decision, the T shifted hundreds of millions from the operating budget. The administration and legislature need to treat the employee shortage at the MBTA like an emergency, because it is one. We call on the T to promptly convene labor and workforce development partners, along with the FTA, to develop a comprehensive plan to staff up the MBTA. The administration and legislature should work with this team to provide them with the resources to give competitive salaries and streamline hiring.

This action would not pass an FTA equity analysis if it happened in a vacuum; this should be a wake-up call to a legislature that has made equity a priority. The burdens of this action will fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable people in our workforce, who cannot work remotely and depend on the T to get to work. This action also likely would not pass any environmental test, as it will very likely suppress ridership, increase VMT, emissions, and congestion. 

The irony of these cuts being announced as we await the joint House and Senate Climate bill should not be lost on anyone. The MBTA is one of the most important tools to help us reduce emissions from the transportation sector. The legislature must find a stable source of funding to address state of good repair and operating funding to ensure reliable, safe service. They should act decisively this year in the transportation bond bill and the budget.  

We await hearing the T’s plan to fast track new safety and operations hires and reverse these service cuts. We also await hearing the plans of legislative leaders to address the chronic funding shortfall issues, and set aside funding for the T to use as it responds to the FTA’s directives. We call on municipal, legislative, and business leaders to help the MBTA hire the staff it needs to run a modern, safe system that responds to our economic, environmental, and equity needs.  

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

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