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Comments
LOLZ
jajajajaja.....
changes from the past three governors
Governors are not the only driver of MBTA investment, our conservative legislature carries blame as well for underfunfunding/lack of interest in the MBTA. However, this line in the article is telling:
"The Green Line derailments also mark a reversal of progress made in recent years. In 2007, 29 Green Line trains derailed, but by 2012 the MBTA had reduced that number to just one."
So after derailments were high after Romney's tenure (2007 being the 1st year after he left), they went all the way down to 1 by 2012. Baker takes over in 2014 and starts cutting and they are on the rise again.
The NYTimes has a cautionary tale from Baker's pal in NJ, Chris Christie, and how quickly lack of investment in maintenance and expansion can hobble a public transit system. (the article contrasts the nearby better funded and less accident prone Metro north and Long Island RR).
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/nyregion/new-jersey-transit-crisis.html
The MBTA is headed in the same direction
We all know about the Big Dig debt.
We all know about the billions needed for backlogged and everyday maintenance.
We all know about the billion(s) needed to complete the necessary Green Line extension and purchase more light rail cars.
We all know about the millions (and likely billions) needed for the Orange and Red Line replacement cars.
We all know about the millions needed to buy more buses.
We all know that none of this will be enough as Boston (and the metro area) continues to build and add more people to a system that is already at or over capacity.
But we don't know where the money will come from.
Add a surcharge to taxi, Uber and Lyft fares.
Add a congestion charge to enter the CBD.
Add a special tax to the MBTA Service District cities and towns (I have no idea if it is legal, or if it should be on property or sales taxes).
Legalize marijuana and divert a good percentage of the tax proceeds to public transportation.
But do something.
The infrastructure can't handle any more vehicular traffic either.
If the T fails, the entire region's economy will fail.
Can do
We're already doing that. On each municipality's Cherry Sheet, there are assessments for MBTA, regional transit, and "Boston Metro Transit District" (whatever that is). These charges could/should be raised significantly without the ire of the Cape Cod and Berkshire reps.
ill admit
i only read the first few paragraphs of the article that was linked but
if we're first in derailments for the green line, where does the green line rank in the country for number of passengers carried/trains run/however 'use' is measured for light rail?
is it also first there?
You should learn to read
The article clearly states Boston has the most frequently used light rail system but the derailments are high even as a percentage of ridership. Not many cities use trolleys in the US.
actually pal
you should learn to read, since i flat out said i didnt bother reading beyond the first few paragraphs.
sorry kid looks like you're flunking this class too.
And?
In the time it took you to type the "are we first" question and brag about your lack of reading you could have simply skimmed the article and answered your own question.
i could have
or i could make somebody here do it for me, which i successfully did.
frank oz, jim henson, watch out, scumquistador is here
Mattapan Trolleys
I don't know whether the high speed line is considered the green line but it has to be the oldest, safest and most scenic ride through a cemetery in the nation and the best thing is no one pays.
Ansaldo Breda?
An educated guess here but I'm willing to bet the most derailed Green line units are the Ansaldo Breda units.
They were wrought with problems from the start and even forced some sections of track to be retro-fitted throughout the system ro assure that derailments would be reduced if not eliminated.
It was so bad that the MBTA got out of the contract. They took the last few being built and then took any remainder units as spare parts.
That said, Ansaldo Breda has installed successful streetcars in a lot of cities worldwide, and continued to, without problems, but the very aged system here presents a series of very specific and unique issues that date back to the turn of the 1900 century when the system was started
The Breda fleet also could not mate with the existing Kinki Sharyo units electrically. The K-cars had to be retro-fitted and labeled so yard workers would know which ones would mate with the Bredas and which would not until they were all retro-fitted.
The issue often encountered with the Breda fleet is the small center section. That's what is usually becoming unstable and what often is what pops off the tracks, or at least that is what was initially happening back when they were obtained.
If you read the article, you
If you read the article, you'll see half of it is about the Bredas, specifically the exact problems you just described......
But who the hell reads
But who the hell reads articles?
Actually Breda walked away from the contract
They were working with the T to correct the problems but the the payments to the firm were front-loaded. They got enough money early that they just walked away and left the T to deal with it. The old tail light warranty. ( when you see their tail lights the warranty is up.)
Adam, your headline is
Adam, your headline is incorrect.
The Green Line had the most derailments of any light rail line in the country, not any public transit line. The article even explicitly says as much - if you look at systems as a whole, Boston had the 3rd most derailments (and we have the 5th highest ridership, if anyone's curious).
The Green Line still causes
The Green Line still causes far fewer injuries and deaths than cars do.
Any changes that make it slower or less reliable in the name of safety will make things more dangerous overall.