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Green Line signal problems at night; they make the trip home really bite
By adamg on Thu, 01/07/2016 - 11:39pm
The T is warning of "moderate" delays on the B, C and D lines due to signal problems.
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Yeah
And Ms. Pollock was on the radio this morning saying that it's only reasonable to expect riders to pay a "modest" fare increase to improve service. As if 12% is modest. Mind you for all the winter prep they claimed they were doing this summer and fall the system has the same problems when it's below freezing. And it hasn't really snowed yet.
How about this Fix It Charlie -- I'll agree to the fare hikes if you put the state on the hook for several billion dollars of increased funding if 99% of trains are on-time with no service cuts within 18 months of the fare increase. They are asking us to take them at their word that with the increase fares they can solve problems -- something they've been unable to do in the past year. Let's see them back that up with legally binding legislation. (Looking at you, state reps.)
Wash, Rinse, Repeat
This is just standard SOP now for any 'new governor'. There's absolutely nothing new to what they are doing. Same song and dance. They've all done it before. Raise fares with the promise that service would improve. It never has before, and probably won't this time either
As I've said previously in other posts that fare increases will do nothing to improve service. This fare increase is a drop in the bucket when compared to the backlog maintenance and operating budget. It's really one big colossal joke on the riders.
And it's a shame that Pollock, with her rich history in transit advocacy, doesn't see this also. But then again Mr Fix It Charlie is signing her paycheck so she'll do whatever he wants. She went from being apart of the solution to being apart of the problem.
What I want is Charlie and his control board do is to lay out how they are going to narrow the gap ENTIRELY. Not every few months make a small change to make it appear like they're doing something. Lay it all out in front of us now, so we can see what more you are doing besides increasing fares. I want to know what ELSE they are doing to close this gap and/or how they plan on approaching the legislature to fix this.
I don't think Charlie or Pollock can do that because they just do not know. I also think they both know the T is in such bad shape that it would take alot more than what they are doing (and really have the power to do so) to fix it. Raising fares is nothing more than a knee jerk reply that every governor in the past has done. It doesn't solve anything.
I think all they are doing is the SOP playbook now, raises fares, make a few changes, and make it appear like they tried to do something. And just kick the can down further so an administration in the future can deal with it.
Without significant reform from Baker, Pollock, The Control Board, and the legislature, we'll be having this same conversation again in a few years when a new governor arrives.
Wash, Rinse, Repeat!
I don't blame the Executive Branch. I blame the Legislature.
I am on record as having said that the only reason I could conjure for the Gov. hiring Pollack was to neutralize her. I still think that is a reasonable theory - not least because it has worked beautifully.
As Cybah and I discussed the other day, I do not believe that the Gov. is out to destroy the T - he is now subject to the Powell Doctrine (he's "broken it" by getting his way with having a finance control board and now he owns it). I do, however, think that he is not interested in fixing the T in the way the Pollack previously advocated for - by exogenous means (e.g., court decisions). I think that he wants to do it directly from the inside on his terms - and while lots of people might not like that, I'm willing to give almost anything a try at this point because nothing has worked so far. The T is too important to the regional economy to fail, and Charlie Baker knows this.
As for what the control board is going to propose in total - I don't think that they know everything yet (but they do know some of it). I will predict one thing, however: it is going to be big. The last line of their report from the end of the year "the Board spent 2015 on defense. In 2016 it's going on offense" [paraphrased] is a pretty good tell. My sense is that they will put forth a workable plan to save the T, proposing major changes to how the MBTA is organized, operates, is funded and governed, and that this foolish legislature will get in the way and doom us to the wash-rinse-repeat nonsense that you have accurately described above.
Agreed
Boy you make such nice posts issacg.. always nice to reply to someone who's a bit informed :-)
I agree, I don't hold Baker entirely at fault and I know much of it falls onto the legislature also.
I just hope your last paragraph is correct.. or it's just more of the same. We need serious reforms, not some band aids like 'wash, rinse, repeat' has done in the past. Only time will tell if anything of any real merit is done or we're kicking that can down further for someone else to deal.
I also have my own opinions about what should be done.. many are not favorable or popular at all, so I'll keep them to myself (happy to discuss them with folks elsewhere). I'm just getting to the point that we do the 'wash, rinse, repeat' only because its the easiest, less painful thing to do. I'm not saying raising fares is the right or wrong thing to do, I am saying that more than just raising fares.. and probably many more drastic measures.. need to be done to accurate fix the T.
It's been tried
Honestly court orders are the best for everyone. It gives the Governor an excuse to say why they need to raise taxes or support a program and it gets things done. Where can I donate to whoever is going to take the state back to court for not extending the Green Line?
If Baker wants to the fix the T on his own terms, fine. He has been talking and he's changed the board but that's about it. The work they claimed to have done this fall isn't exactly preventing major failures. And Baker has cut late night service and wants to raise fares 10%+. If that's "his terms" I'd rather stick with Pollack's previous litigation approach. (I agree she was given the job to neutralize her.)
Honestly court orders are the
The MBTA has cancelled or interminably delayed every court-ordered project they've been order to do. Every single one. How again exactly are these court orders effective? This is probably the least effective way to accomplish anything.
So let's take them to court again. Maybe the judge can use his "I really mean it this time" stamp on the order this time around.
You're being premature
You're being premature blaming Baker/Pollack for any of this. They put together the FMCB; it took several months to review and assess the T and just a couple weeks ago issued a report on the dire conditions thereof. They haven't actually done anything yet to try to fix it, just tried to figure out what actually needs fixing.
The T fare increase is a separate issue outside of all of this. It's the T's typical periodic fare jacking, whenever they can get away with one, and by their own words they've said this is to close yet another huge operating budget hole, not to deal with the State of Good Repair issues.
Sigh
What did Governor Cadillac Deval do all his years in office, with a Democratic controlled Beacon Hill, Democratic US senators, Democratic US congress-people, and for a period of time, a Democratic US president who is a friend?
Aside from the new cars for the Red, Orange and Green lines?
Also the new coaches and locomotives for commuter rail. There's also the Silver Line extension north of the Airport, which has gotten relatively little attention (and let's not forget the voters canceling the gas-tax increase that was going to go - partially? - to the T).
I won't say he was perfect, but it's not like he did nothing.
He ordered the new Red and
He ordered the new Red and Orange Line cars at the very end of his second term, that should have been the #1 MBTA project priority when he was first elected (vs South Coast Rail or even GLX).
The process to order the new commuter rail coaches and locomotives actually began all the way back in 2006, under Grabauskas as GM and Romney as Gov.
The gas tax increase was not
The gas tax increase was not repealed by the voters. Where does this misinformation keep coming from?
What was repealed was a cowardly attempt by the Legislature to shirk their responsibility in passing future gas tax increases. What the voters rejected was a law that allowed the gas tax to incrementally increase each year based on the Consumer Price Index. In other words, the voters told the legislators that if they want future gas tax increases, they'll have to do it themselves rather than rely on unelected federal agency technocrats to determine future increases for them.