Can't anybody here run this railroad?

So instead of Smilin' Dan, now we have Smilin' Jim, who, it turns out was the one pushing for the MBTA fare increases Grabauskas got fired over. The Globe has copies of the e-mail.

Aloisi is the devil we don't know, Mike Mennonno writes.

Meanwhile, the Globe also reports just one member of the T board attended yesterday's hearing on those increases (and as somebody who was there, I can report that even the T's new interim general manager, William Mitchell, left halfway through, leaving COO Jonathan Davis to soldier through, especially in the last hour, when people rose to testify that a car dealer wants them dead and to declare the answer is to stop paying debts and stop going after fare evaders).

The Outraged Liberal wonders how the governor will get out of this mess:

... While Patrick may not have been personally lobbying [for a fare increase], his transportation secretary certainly was. Patrick is either a fool or a liar or both in this scenario. ...

Mike Ball writes debt is, indeed, the key to fixing the T's mess, not through default, but through restructuring:

... [W]e should leap to the best mass transit. We can't get it by hobbling the agency in charge with unmanageable debt.

Yes, Grabauskas failed, but he wasn't alone in that. As well as being delusionally short-sighted, he played the game without the tools. The inane debt structure demands failure.

Georgy worries about people with no alternatives to the T:

... I am worried about the hordes of people I see crowding at Sullivan around 9 or 10PM for a 104 or 109 bus back to Everett. I am worried about the domino effect of lack of evening commuter rail service on sporting and entertainment events in the city, both on the promoters and the individuals who will be unable to come in from out of town to attend. I am worried about kids who attend school across town and may either have to leave early and miss out on after-school activities or stay late, and maybe alone, until the next bus or a ride comes. I am worried about the environment, as commuters may hop back in their cars if inconvenienced by slashed schedules. I am worried that fare hikes or service cuts will not have any demonstrable benefit to the ridership and that even with the earnings/savings they would bring, the financial problems will not be allayed due to incompetence, mismanagement or all of the above. ...