MBTA Operations
Legislators step onto the T for a taste of riders’ experience
Boston Globe | By Steve Annear | March 19, 2015 It had been more than a year since State Representative Marjorie Decker took the Red Line to work, but as she boarded a crowded train at Harvard Square before 9 a.m. Thursday, it all came back to her. “It’s like riding a bike,” she said.…
Read MoreBaker’s MBTA task force could face pointed questioning on findings
State House News Service | By Matt Murphy | 04/15/2015 BOSTON — Members of Gov. Charlie Baker’s task force on the MBTA could face pointed questioning in two weeks when they testify before a legislative panel, as some senators raised concerns Tuesday over the underpinnings of their recent findings. Since the task force last week…
Read More4 Lingering Questions After Scathing MBTA Report
WBUR NEWS | APRIL 10, 2015 | By ZENINJOR ENWEMEKA BOSTON A scathing report on the MBTA, released Wednesday by an advisory panel appointed by the governor, blasts the management of the beleaguered transit system and calls for widespread reforms. But there are still some lingering questions about the report’s findings. Here are a few of those…
Read MoreBaker panel kicks the can
CommonWealth Magazine | By James Aloisi | Wednesday, April, 8, 2015 IN THE AFTERMATH of the drip drip drip of a series of strategically placed leaks, the governor’s special commission on the MBTA has finally issued its report. It is a disappointing document that fails to address the MBTA’s real state-of-good-repair and capacity needs, fails…
Read MoreTime to pop this trial balloon
Commonwealth Magazine | James Aloisi | Apr 6, 2015 I KNOW SOMETHING about trial balloons. I launched a few myself when I was state transportation secretary. It’s a tried and true way for public officials to test whether there will be any meaningful push back to a decision before the decision is actually made. If…
Read MoreIs Gov. Baker’s Special Panel Evaluating the MBTA Fairly?
Frontier Group | Tony Dutzik | 04/07/2015 As Gov. Baker’s special panel on the MBTA prepares to release its recommendations for the future of transit in the Boston area, it is important that its conclusions be based on accurate information. Writing in CommonWealth yesterday, former state Transportation Secretary James Aloisi raised important questions about the…
Read MoreOpinion: The T must succeed
Commonwealth Magazine | By Tony Dutzik and Kristina Egan | Mar 20, 2015 THIS WINTER’S MBTA debacle has focused attention – as it should – on how the T does business. But it is important not to lose sight of why the T does business: to spark and support economic development, ensure equitable access to…
Read MoreLocal 589 Testifies At Winter Storm Hearing
On Tuesday, the executive board of the Boston Carmen’s Union, Local 589, was invited to testify at a legislative winter storm oversight hearing held by the Joint Committee on Transportation. Also joining the executive board was Tom Roth, an economist and negotiator for Local 589 as well as the president of The Labor Bureau, Inc.…
Read MoreLETTER TO THE EDITOR: We would undo Pacheco Law at taxpayers’ peril
Boston Globe – March 19, 2015 ALTHOUGH I agree with Scot Lehigh on many issues, I disagree with his repeated take on the Taxpayer Protection Act, or the “Pacheco Law” (“State should seize control of T,” Op-ed, March 13). Lehigh and others in the media say the law hinders privatization of state contracts or encumbers…
Read MoreWill proposed MBTA cuts hurt service?
Boston Globe | Joshua Miller | February 5, 2015 The MBTA system, burdened by aging infrastructure and equipment, has lurched and sputtered this week, leaving throngs fuming in the cold about commutes nasty, brutish, and long. Governor Charlie Baker decried the delays and said he would work to improve service. Meanwhile at the State House, he…
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