No delay on T’s $65M outsourcing plan despite lack of quorum
The MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board, which oversees the cash-strapped transit agency, lacked the necessary quorum yesterday to vote on an outsourcing plan projected to bring in $65 million in savings, which a spokesman insisted would not delay implementation.
Spokesman Joe Pesaturo initially said in emails that no vote was scheduled for yesterday, and the lack of a quorum therefore would have “no impact” and “does not affect the schedule” for sending out the requests soliciting information from contractors potentially interested in taking over maintenance of the T’s sprawling bus fleet — requests the Herald yesterday reported the T wanted to send out this month.
Pesaturo then said: “A formal request may not be necessary. Under its existing innovation policy, the MBTA welcomes unsolicited proposals and encourages a robust public discussion ... The MBTA operates with full transparency, and ... welcomes innovative proposals from industry that can reduce operating expenses and improve service.”
Hundreds of MBTA workers could be affected if the T privatizes its bus maintenance operation, a move consultants say could save up to $40 million a year.
An internal report by T-hired consultants also targets the agency’s in-station customer service operations and additional maintenance of Red Line and Orange Line vehicles as other outsourcing opportunities.
Taken together, the T could save $65 million a year, according to the report. Its recommendations could affect more than 600 workers, with some possibly moving into similar roles under a private contract, officials said, while others might get other jobs at the T, retire or face layoffs.
“The costs of bus maintenance are very high in Massachusetts compared to national standards,” Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg told reporters yesterday. “Reasonable people will be able to figure out a fair and reasonably well-balanced solution to this if everybody goes to the table.”