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Just when you thought

the MBTA issues this week couldn't get any more absurd, now they're apparently sending out alerts without verifying the information first.

Just after 7 am this morning, I got an alert that the 7:30 train out of Reading was cancelled. Accordingly, I didn't leave my house until about 7:30, to get to Melrose Highlands in enough time to secure a parking spot and get the 8:00 train. However, as I'm approaching Greenwood Station, what do I see heading inbound but a train on the 7:30's schedule (the one that had been "cancelled" according to the alert).

Then, as I'm getting my payment ticket at the lot, I received another alert indicating that the 8:00 train had been cancelled. Unfortunately, unlike the false alert about the 7:30 train, the alert about the 8:00 train was all too true. So, I ended up waiting for the 8:30 train out of Reading - which fortunately wasn't cancelled. The only saving grace in this matter was that I had a warm car to sit in, which wouldn't have been the case had I walked to Wakefield Station instead.

While sitting in my car waiting for the 8:30, I phoned up the MBTA customer line. After going through the idiotic and endless "dial X for Y" phone tree, I was connected with an unidentified rep at Keolis. She indictated to me that the MBTA issues the alerts, and that Keolis has no input in the process.

So it seems that my earlier theories about the T alert people having a big dart board with the "27 standard excuses" in their office might have some merit after all. And just when I was starting to cut the T some slack regarding their alert system.

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No slack for the T and Baker. Just finished a three hour commute. Got on the 820 Kingston train after waiting for the canceled 645 and 742 trains. Once on the train, crawled to JFK and south station because we had to stop and get out if the way for every south bound trains on the same tracks.

Was debating if I should have taken the next outbound from south station so I would get home by 6pm.

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and Kelois's actions here, especially as the storm was on Monday, not today. However, I'm curious as to what the 'normal' rate of cancellations on the Kingston Line is. Because it has been standard Keolis (and MBCR before them) practice to routinely cancel Reading trains, even if it's sunny and 70 degrees out and there's equipment sitting in Boston Engine Terminal all inspected and ready to go.

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Based on my personal experience this week and the number of alerts I'm seeing, I suspect the cancellation rate post storm is at least 50% in general (across all lines), and even worse on some lines. It's hard to quantify when the alerts are either wrong or never go out at all. MBTA and/or Keolis set out a cancellation for a train I had just boarded and was taking home. It was 45 minutes late, not cancelled. I had been at South Station for almost 2 hours, and that train had never been cancelled. The upside was also that it was 45 minutes late, so anyone waiting for that train had probably given up long before the incorrect alert was sent.

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Not T related but yesterday before heading downtown I checked citizen's connect to see what the commoners were saying about Commonwealth Ave parking and snow removal. To my surprise I found about a dozen tickets with complaints and they all had been marked "CLOSED: SNOW REMOVED" within the last hour or so. Great!

Turns out that no, the snow had not been removed. They did start putting up temporary no-parking signs in the snow (good) but not a single car had a ticket and the right lane was again completely block. So once again it's clear that Walsh and the state don't give a shit about how long it takes people to move around.

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I posted a snow complaint on Monday (plow driver doing something he should not have done) and I got an e-mail noting that the resolution was the same. A few hours later I got an e-mail not from Citizens Connect but from the PWD saying no, we are still keeping up with these complaints and that someone in the department is doing inspections. Their claim is-

As we prepare for the upcoming storm, we are closing out older requests to ensure our snow removal personnel can focus on requests tied to the most current conditions

.

Believe them or don't, but that's their story.

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The right way to close the ticket isn't saying "SNOW REMOVED" unless the snow was, you know, removed.

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With your logic and whatnot.

Of course, me being pissy me, I am ready to submit an unshovelled sidewalk complaint on the one week anniversary of my last complaint.

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What are you using for alerts? The MBTA Alert app for whatever reason doesn't push shit to me, unless it's only by location.

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And it's not an app - you give the T your mobile phone number, and the lines you want to receive alerts for (I currently have it set up to get Reading/Haverhill commuter rail, Green Line, and Orange Line alerts). They will then send you alerts in the form of text messages.

Admittedly, there are times when they could issue alerts in a more timely manner. But I'l willing to cut them slack during a week like this where the've been issuing so many alerts. However, overall I have to admit they're pretty good in that regard. And this morning's incident was the first time since I started getting the T alerts that I received information that was not incomplete or inaccurate, but was actually false.

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... but with no additional investment, the could simply provide more complete, accurate, and useful information to riders today. Not doing so is emblematic of a general disrespect for passengers. There's absolutely no excuse for this!

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One of my train buddies claims to have some friends at the T and he said that several years ago - long before the time of Dr. Scott - the T made a conscious strategic decision not to invest in snow fighting. If it snowed, they would just muddle through, obviously never counting on what's going on now (who would).

Hearsay, but that may explain why we have only one snow blower, no melters, no heated switches and a host of other problems related to a lack of capital infrastructure to cope with this situation. I would expect disruption - but not complete shutdowns.

One other thing - the Herald reported today that the MBTA has 6350 employees. According to a link posted on Uhub the other day the MBTA spends almost $750 million per year on "wages, fringe benefits and payroll taxes". If those numbers are accurate, that means it costs the T $115k per year per employee.

By comparison, if you take 75% of the city's $2.1 billion operating budget (which is the number they usually claim is "personnel costs") and divide by 17,000 employees (40% or so of whom are highly compensated cops, firemen and teachers), the average cost per employee is about $93k.

If T pay was more in line with what we pay city employees, that's $140 million a year in savings - which would probably fund close to $3 billion in capital expenditures - including a sinking fund - close to $5 billion if interest only at 3%.

For reference, D'Alessandro's report 5 years ago said it would take $3 billion to "fix" the transit system. A news report stated that may have doubled in the interim to $6 billion.

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If T pay was more in line with what we pay city employees, that's $140 million a year in savings -

Are you going to personally going to tell all those employees that "hi, you're getting a pay cut" along with negotiate a new union contract for Carmen's Union?

Your idea is "nice" but unrealistic. Nobody.. either a upper level T manager, or a politician (i.e. the legislators) is going to do this. Politicians won't do it because they will be out next election because this would be seen as anti-union.. and we know how well candidates do if they don't have a union backing them. It's political suicide.

I'm not saying it's not doable, its just unrealistic. It's just not gonna happen in your wildest dreams. The only way to prevent a 'bad guy' situation is to dissolve the T all together which voids any employee/union contracts, and that has as much probability of happening as pigs flying out of my butt.

Just saying..

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I have no delusions about these guys getting/taking a pay cut voluntarily or at the table.

However, I think when this is over the MBTA is no longer an independent agency and it gets pulled into the DOT. The alternative is a dysfunctional transit system that will only continue to get worse. The only thing more politically harmful than trying to renegotiate these contracts would be to tell the whole state we need a new revenue stream to pay for them.

Nothing personal - it's just that the numbers don't work - and if it's the Big Dig debt at all, that's only a piece of the puzzle. Comp is another huge component - at least half, maybe more.

I wouldn't eat any pork for a while if I were you. :-)

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your own admission you even say "I don't have all the numbers" so you aren't even sure you're even right. You could be wrong.

However, I think when this is over the MBTA is no longer an independent agency and it gets pulled into the DOT. The alternative is a dysfunctional transit system that will only continue to get worse. The only thing more politically harmful than trying to renegotiate these contracts would be to tell the whole state we need a new revenue stream to pay for them.

I agree with your first two lines.. only because the pension contribution would drop if this was done and it would just get worse if nothing was done.

However, it's pick your poison on your last comment. You're dammed if you do, and dammed if you don't, and honestly the almighty union is very powerful in this state and has more say than the average voters. Just keep that in mind. That and voters (at least in eastern MA) may be more receptive now to additional revenue stream to fund the T properly after the past few weeks of failures and how it's crippled our region.

Please don't receive my comments as a jab.. I am genuinely interested in what you have to say but see lots of "it cannot be done" reasons why its faulty thinking, and I also feel it's the not sole reason why the T is in the mess that it is in. Only part of it.

I rarely eat pork anyways.... :)

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But a former transit secretary is already calling for an audit - not sure it'll get done - and probably will just repeat a lot of what D'Alessandro's report said - but I'm not sure there will be the sympathy there often is for the union if people find out the reason the T can't afford a snowblower is so that people with HS educations can make close to 6 figures and retire at age 50. I've just scratched the surface - and maybe there's a reason the average comp packages at the MBTA is 30% higher than say the City of Boston, but I can't think of one.

One thing I've learned lately - a lot of the time it's not who has the better case that wins, it's the one with the better PR agency. I was on board with the Big Dig crippled the T and it's underfunded argument until I saw those comp packages and said "Hold on there just a minute."

No problem Cybah - always appreciate our exchanges - even when we disagree.

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The MBTA has been putting more of its money into visible changes than the maintenance items customers don't see. Here are some examples: station renovations and new stations, cell service in tunnels, wifi for the commuter rail, location tracking of vehicles, availability of location data online and at station signs, a glitzy new control and monitoring command center, and more items.

Do customers know if more mechanics are hired, more routine maintenance is done, more tools and space is added to maintenance facilities? No, but they and snow removal equipment make the system more reliable. Instead of inviting media to shoot video and do interviews at the command center, do them at maintenance sheds!

The big problem is the MBTA choosing to spend money in the most visible ways more than before when maintenance got a half decent chance of adequate funding. Giving the MBTA more money when priorities are wrong won't fix it unless you are all big believers of trickle down theory.

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Not long ago I saw workers replacing one of the big standing signs at Four Corners because the one that was put there a year ago was faded by the sun. *facepalm*

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not that I want to start a argument with you, however..

The MBTA has been putting more of its money into visible changes than the maintenance items customers don't see. Here are some examples: station renovations and new stations, cell service in tunnels, wifi for the commuter rail, location tracking of vehicles, availability of location data online and at station signs, a glitzy new control and monitoring command center, and more items.

Remember, many of this stuff is 'ear marked' budget items. It has to be used for that purpose and nothing else, it's written into the agreement to get the funding. And many of this stuff is coming from the Fed's bucket, not a state level.

btw wifi and cell service is a partnership. The T pays very little for this. This is why not all carriers work underground (because they have to sign on with the partnership)

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That is an explanation I actually understand, having spent the better part of my career paid by federal grants and contracts. You can't just move that money around and spend it on other things, no matter how badly those other things need attending to.

I think investment in technology (cell service, gps tracking, etc) benefits the T and riders and have no issue with that (especially being able to use your cell when trapped in the tunnel!). Not sold on replacing the replacing not-really-faded signage piece, but if it's coming from specially ear-marked grants/funding and not from budget that could be used for maintenance and repairs, that would make me feel less snarly about it. Thanks for bringing this up.

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T can't afford a snowblower is so that people with HS educations can make close to 6 figures and retire at age 50.

This is where your figures are wrong. I don't know of ANYONE at the T, at least as far as bus drivers and such make that much. I read someone here the riot act a while ago about what the real hourly rate was for bus drivers. Its around 22/hr to start (after your 2 year trial). Even after so many years you could make close to 30. That's not even clearing 60k. Of course this does not account for overtime.

But the question looms, why are we paying people over time? Can we not hire enough people at a regular rate? And of course, maybe if we had working equipment, we wouldn't need so many drivers to 'fill in' for shuttles or add more interim service to routes. It's a catch 22.

I do understand what you are saying, I just don't see payroll as the sole reason or as big of a reason as you make it sound. However, it will be interested to see if an audit is done and what it finds out. We both could be very wrong :)

(and likewise.. friends ask why I continue to 'debate' people online.. it's a good brain workout. Keeps ya on your toes and the noggin working)

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for the MBTA is 55, not 50 - this is same as the rest of the state system. Also, employees have to have worked for at least ten years to retire.

However, the important thing (that the Herald and other pension-bashers always manage to fail to point out) is that employees who retire at 55 do not get a full pension, but a small fraction of what they would be eligible for if they stayed until "normal" retirement age.

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I think I've read that the head of the BCEC is ex- MBTA and has been getting a pension since the age of about 45 or so. Yes - you get less per month, but in theory it's paid out over a longer amount of time. In theory, if you live as long as the actuaries think you will, you effectively get the same amount of money. 45/50/55 - no matter - you can't get that in the private sector - retirement generally comes between 62 and 70 paralleling Social Security if you are fortunate to even have a pension.

As for the average compensation, I took the amount the MBTA budgeted for wages (about $500 million), fringes (about $200 million) and payroll taxes ($35 million) and divided by the 6350. This is the mistake many make when comparing public and private sector - they just look at the salaries. You have to do a "total comp" analysis. Private sector employees rarely get benefits that are 40% of their comp - nor do they get the job security they get in the public sector - intangible - but worth something. That's the only way to get apples and apples.

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Speaking as a current state employee 1) Name this BCEC guy and we can look up his pension 2)the age you retire makes a great deal of difference in the amount for a state pension. It exponentially increases as you get into your 60s; 3) I believe the MBTA employees hired when it was an authority are grandfathered under the old system. MBTA employees hired after the reform 4 years ago come under the regular state system, which itself was made less generous in 2012; 4) I was laid off after 14 years in one agency and did not get another full time job with another agency until 2 years had passed. Many others have been laid off since 2003 under Romney and Patrick.

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And I don't think you can look it up - did they make the MBTA pension list public?

See the article in yesterday's Herald about all the VERY young MBTA retirees raking in the dough. The MBTA pension last I heard was a private trust - and very difficult to get access to it - though sounds like that may have changed as the Herald is posting many pensions.

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His lengthy service in the state’s transportation bureaucracy helped boost Rooney’s compensation. Although still working in state government, he collects a $68,000 pension from the T on top of a $257,500 annual salary (from the Convention Center).

From this Boston Globe article last year.

Rooney was also once Menino's Chief of Staff. Good piece here on how Rooney landed at BCEC and why it was built in Southie, against the advice of professionals in the field.

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Initially, I didn't know who Stevil was talking about. The pensions are public. I will say that when you have public authorities you get situations like this. That's one reason why the MBTA and Turnpike Authority no longer are authorities. Public authorities used to be all the rage. Their rules are different so they can function "more like a business." So, they pay more because they are not restrained by the Legislature and Governor. In the public's mind they are state agencies, but legally they are not. He and O-Fish have a point about Rooney but those situations are not really relevant to most state workers.

Getting back to the original comment way up above, people driving the subways and buses don't make loads of money. In a regular state agency today, a Commissioner will make $130,000 and regular staff may top out at around $80,000 (with some exceptions). Lots of people making $40,000 to $50,000. Senior managers will make $90,000 to $110,000. The UMASS system will pay a lot more than these amounts.

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I remember reading that report five years ago. And then being amazed, in my late-20s naive mindset, that it was in the news one day and gone the next, and no one paid attention to the fact that it warned there was a big risk to public safety. None of what we know now is new. It's just "new" because the storm brought it all to light again, and can't (hopefully) be swept under the rug again.

I guess it really does take a disaster for anyone with any power to make changes to take notice.

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I've totally written off the Commuter Rail alerts. This is the best commuter rail tracker I've found. Real live location of trains. Most of the transit apps simply use scheduled arrivals time, which for the past two weeks have no bearing on reality.

http://sites.harvard.edu/~wuensch/T/commuter-rail-map.html

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This is awesome thank you! The TonTime app for the Commuter Rail tracks actual train location. If I don't see the dot on the track, I know my train is not on the way on matter what Keolis or MBTA says, or in many cases, doesn't say. http://www.t-on-time.com/ It also tells you the track # if you are boarding at South Station (and possibly also North Station but I have never tracked out of North Station). A lot of times I will get the track # even before they make the announcement.

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The T Alerts for the 92 and 93 bus lines through Charlestown are hit or miss.
An alert could go out saying that the 93 bus is running on a snow route...but in reality they stay on bunker hill st. Or no alert goes out and the bus runs the snow route.

It's getting to the point where you have one friend on Bunker Hill St. and another on Medford keeping look out.

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Why is it that yesterday, and today, only the Haverhill line has multiple cancellations? For instance, I received a text alert yesterday around 1 pm stating that the 2:20 pm departure from North Station, and 7 other trains are cancelled due to equipment shortages. Same text today. I don't see any other lines with that many consecutive cancellations. I unfortunately take two separate lines for my commute, and I'm averaging about 8-9 hours of commute time a day. About 3 hours in the morning, and anywhere between 4 and 6 hours at night. It's getting a little stale.

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It's not just Haverhill.

Here's a quick check of currently active T-Alerts as of 5:18 PM:

-Fairmount: 10 cancellations
-Fitchburg: 4 cancellations
-Worcester: 2 cancellations
-Franklin: 2 cancellations
-Greenbush: 0 cancellations
-Haverhill: 8 cancellations
-Kingston: 1 cancellation
-Lowell: 2 cancellations
-Middleborough: 0 cancellations
-Needham: 0 cancellations
-Rockburyport: 5 cancellations
-Providence/Stoughton: 2 cancellations

So Fairmount currently has the most cancelled trains, followed by Haverhill, then Rockburyport. Only Greeenbush, Middlelborough, and Needham don't have any current cancellations. All lines are also experiencing delays except Lowell and Greenbush.

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Okay now that just pisses me off more, especially as a Fairmount commuter (10 announced cancellations) who was on a train last night ready to go home when it was suddenly cancelled and changed to a Middleborough (ZERO cancellations???) train. Looks like some lines are really getting shafted while others experience no or few cancellations. They might be able to make a case for cutting Fairmount first due to it being entirely in the city and easier for folks to find alternative (but horribly long) routes, but they can't say the same about Haverhill.

Do you know what happened to the 750 Fairmount train. It never materialized and I never got an alert for it other than one saying 15-20 minutes late.

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I know at least one well-connected former state-level department head who was completely pissed off at having train after train cancelled on his train line.

I'm sure that there are other people with tight state government connnections who are messed up by all these cancellations on commuter rail.

Whoever thinks all this bullshit is acceptable is going to have to deal with the fair number of non-poor or even non-ordinary folks that are now enraged.

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The commuter rail contractor is at fault for engine failures and schedule delays. It is not the obstructions on the commuter rails to be blamed. Time to bring back AMTRAK as the operator of the MBTA commuter rail.

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Can't bring back Amtrak as operator if they don't want the contract, which they don't.

Amtrak has shed most of their commuter ops, and I'm fairly certain they haven't even bid on the MBTA contract the past couple times.

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