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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TransitMatters Executive Director's Public Comment at March MBTA Board Meeting

Below is the full transcript of the public comments our Executive Director, Jarred Johnson, presented to the MBTA Board via voicemail on March 23, 2023:

“Hello, my name is Jarred Johnson and I'm the Executive Director of TransitMatters. Madam Secretary, Madame Chair, General Manager, and members of the Board and staff, thank you for the opportunity to provide for the common. And please excuse my bluntness.

This Board is failing riders, full stop. I want to start by saying that I appreciate and understand the amount of time that you all have given over the past year and a half. I know that this role is not easy; however, neither is being a T rider these days.

The system is in crisis, but you would not know that by watching a Board meeting. It has been incredibly frustrating to read about escalator safety experts or staff in charge of hiring dispatchers appearing before the board and receiving no questions from you all. Or to learn about the FTA engagement from the Globe. The previous Board used to be a forum for riders to voice their concerns and be heard as well as for the board to dig into the issues facing the agency.

I understood that this board wanted to do things differently, and I defended this in the press. I understood that the previous amount of public comment and engagement with staff was not sustainable, but the pendulum has swung too far. I don’t think anyone would suggest that the hands off approach has been successful.

Giving public comment to this board is largely seen as talking to a brick wall by advocates, and I'm not sure most riders even know the T has a board. Furthermore, we are a year and a half past the end of the State of Emergency, it's time to make this meeting hybrid. Not allowing live comment—either in person, on Zoom, or over the phone—is another roadblock for meaningful engagement.

I must also address the patently offensive comments about T ridership and a "new normal.” We're seeing ridership reach pre-pandemic levels in NYC. The stagnant ridership at the MBTA is a clear reflection of perceptions of safety, poor reliability, service cuts, slow zones, and painful diversions. We are nearly 9 months into service cuts on rapid transit and more than a year into bus service cuts. This Board needs a laser focus on hiring and service quality, not talk that reeks of managed decline.

I'm appealing to you all, because I know you care, but from the outside that is far from evident. I didn't want to have to be so blunt, but the Board has had zero engagement with advocates, including ignoring welcome letters. This is an agency in crisis and riders and employees—especially frontline employees who bear the brunt of frustration from upset riders—deserve better.

I look forward to actual engagement with riders and advocates. And to a new Board culture. Thank you for your time.”

Listen to @transitmatters ED @jarjoh commenting to the MBTA Board this AM: "This Board is failing riders... The system is in crisis, but I'm afraid you wouldn't know that from watching a Board meeting... giving public comment is largely seen as talking to a brick wall." 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/VPLnq9FE20

— Finn (@nofunfinn) March 23, 2023

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

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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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