MBTA promised Warren and Markey trip and safety data. Where is it?
At an Oct. 14 hearing presided over by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak agreed to release data on average trip times and a full list of repairs that still need to be completed in order to make the Orange Line safe. So far, neither senator has received any follow-up information from the T. According to a Markey spokeswoman, “Our team connected with leadership at the T and they’ve indicated they need more time to provide an update.”
Getting timely and truthful information from the T should not be that hard. But for some reason, it is. In just one recent example, Poftak has given half-baked and conflicting explanations for why the Orange Line is slower, not faster, as promised, after a month-long shutdown, and he still hasn’t said how long it will take to fulfill his original promise.
But at least Warren and Markey put Poftak and Matthew Nelson, the head of the state Department of Public Utilities, on the hot seat at that hearing, which came after federal inspectors issued a scathing report in June about widespread defects on the MBTA’s subway tracks and then followed up in August with a list of 53 safety problems that needed to be addressed.
At that Oct. 14 hearing, Poftak said that “off the top of my head” he could not say how many of those safety problems had been addressed, leading Markey to press him to make a commitment to produce that number and also to disclose average train times. Spokespeople for both Markey and Warren said that as of Oct. 24 nothing has come to them from the T.
Asked last week for an update on where things stand on the matter of train times, a T spokesman told the editorial board the agency was “working to identify the best method for presenting data on average trip times in a manner that is clear and easy to understand.” Asked directly how many of the 53 safety issues had been fixed, the spokesman did not directly answer, instead saying the T had submitted action plans to address all 53 items, and that “We are awaiting FTA approval for the corrective action plans we have submitted and once we have FTA approvals, we will implement all required actions. The MBTA continues to seek FTA guidance as we progress through each of the directives.”
When it comes to the matter of safety, more grilling in other areas could be in order. For example, during a recent meeting of the T’s safety, health, and environment subcommittee, MBTA Chief Safety Officer Ron Ester told committee members that, as he put it, MBTA buses “did not have a good month” in August. According to a safety data report that he presented, there were 153 bus crashes that month, with the majority involving crashes with other vehicles or “fixed objects” such as curbs, trees, or utility poles. In response to that track record, Ester
Getting timely and truthful information from the T should not be so hard.
said the T would be offering a training class on how to avoid colliding with “fixed objects” — which seems like a basic skill that should be taught before any driver gets behind the wheel of any bus. Also, according to the safety data analysis presented at the meeting, bus route 121, which travels through East Boston, clocked the highest rate of collisions — 22.05 per 10,000 miles.
When it comes to the information he asked for at the meeting and still has not received, Markey said in a telephone interview, “What Poftak said to me is that he would make safety his priority. All the public wants to know is, does that mean next week, next month, or next year to be finished?” Markey also said he believes trip time data should be as accessible to the public as weather information. Said Warren, in a statement from her office: “Federal regulators documented a laundry list of state management failures, and I won’t stop pressing for answers and holding officials accountable for a safe, reliable transit system.”
According to a recent poll taken by the Boston Business Journal, the T’s problems are having a negative impact on the ability of Boston employers to hire and retain workers. One way to establish credibility with T riders is to let people know how long it will take them to get to work or school. It’s even more important to reassure them about the safety of their commute, by being honest and forthright about the work done and unfinished work. That’s what Warren and Markey were striving for by holding that hearing, and that’s what the public should be able to get much more easily than it can now.