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MBTA hires private bus company to help with Red Line shuttles
By adamg on Thu, 02/12/2015 - 2:02pm
And so it's come to this: With the Braintree leg of the Red Line effectively out of commission since that train got stuck for two hours, the T is turning to Peter Pan, which normally provides bus service to places like Vermont, to help ferry riders between Braintree and JFK/UMass tonight and tomorrow.
In a statement, the Carmen's Union, which represents MBTA bus drivers, says:
During these extraordinary circumstances the MBTA has reached out to the Boston Carmen's Union regarding the use of Peter Pan equipment and operators for the Red Line shuttle. We have agreed to work with the Authority during this crisis and allow our union brothers and sisters at Peter Pan to provide supplemental shuttle service.
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Comments
This is pathetic and
This is pathetic and embarrassing.
No
This is a way to deal with the problem.
Not dealing with the problem would be pathetic and embarrassing. Acting like there is no problem would be pathetic and embarrassing.
Ok
So it's not pathetic. But it is still embarrassing.
Er
I'd love to argue, since I like arguing, but perhaps. I mean, this is ignoring the acts of God (or nature if you will) that has befallen the T, but on the other hand, Adam has made good sport of coming up with witty headlines for Red Line failures in nice weather, so I won't argue this point.
Why not both?
Why can't it be pathetic and embarrassing that it came to this and the right thing to do?
Or even
Maybe it's pathetic, embarrassing it came to this, the right thing to do, AND going viral.
as a T user I am glad they
as a T user I am glad they are doing this personally.
Definitely the right thing to
Definitely the right thing to do. There are just not enough buses to support a full-on stoppage of the Braintree branch of the Red Line during rush hour, on the weekend it's not a problem, but rush hour? For the entire branch? You have to consider that each bus hold only 30-40 people where each 6-car train (assuming all cars in service), fully loaded by the time it gets to Quincy Center, holds way more than 6 busloads of people. It's as bad, maybe even worse, than I expected.
Good idea in principle
However, I would have liked to seen the "express" shuttles run to South Station instead of to JFK. This would take some pressure off the transfer at JFK, as some of the people getting off at South Station would not need to use the Red Line to continue to their final destinations.
JFK has a dedicated busway
JFK has a dedicated busway and traffic pattern which South Station doesn't have unless you kick the intercity buses out of their own terminal.
Plus South Station has been
Plus South Station has been jam packed already with people coming off commuter rail trains jammed to the hilt. At least getting on at JFK you might have a fighting chance to actually get on the next train. By the time it gets to SS, it's packed with people waiting for DTX or Park.
Actually, if you can get to Braintree or Quincy Center, you can get the Commuter Rail straight into South Station, and that is what I'd be trying to do if I still commuted that way. It's not worse than standing outside in line for hours and then sitting in gridlock. The downside is QC no longer has a parking garage, and Braintree doesn't have the capacity to absorb all the drivers that would normally use Quincy Adams.
Wow...
...never thought I'd see the day 589 willingly allowed something like this. These are bizarre times indeed.
589? Ha Ha
The Carmen's Union has gone on strike twice in the past 36-37 years? I know they walked out for a day in 1978 or 1979, in the summer. They are happy and quiet. If they said no to this, those hired before 2009 might see the public seethe and go after the 23 year rule.
Try again
The people that still have the 23 year rule in effect can't be altered due to how the state constitution treats contracts that the government makes with citizens and how the government can't then unilaterally alter those contracts. Their 23 and out pensions agreed to prior to 2009 are not in danger.
Well Then,
I stand corrected. Still 589 knows they have a good thing and not to mess with it.
Summer of 1978
I was away at Summer Camp up on Lake Winnipesaukee. Someone in my cabin had a clock radio tuned to WBZ set to wake us up for breakfast. At 7AM, I woke up with a start to the sound of my father's voice.This was pretty unnerving as I came to the realization I was not at home.
Dad was acting president of local 589 at the time. He was explaining that all the union members would be using that day to lobby their legislatures about proposed work changes. It was not officially a strike. The workers were allowed by contract to take a personal day for political action. If I recall correctly, the union was protesting privatization of some routes or the hiring of non-union substitute drivers.
I think the key here is
Stop making sense.
Why would any bus go the extra mile (ok 2.5 miles), get into its specific HOV lane which grants access to the main intermodal transportation terminal of the city when you can get dumped onto the site of a former smelter and wait for a train that might not come? You fool.
the South Station bus terminal is already beyond capacity
as they've had to add gates in places that were never intended to be gates. It's also very slow to go in and out of the terminal, especially if any buses are backing out. There's no way it could handle a huge Red Line bustitution.
When they bustitute the
When they bustitute the Fairmount Line they park the bus out on Atlantic Ave. There is no way that would work in this situation.
Maybe it would alleviate it somewhat if people could use the CR from South Station, and I thought they were allowing that, or at least they have done that a couple nights. Of course, those trains might be already stuffed to capacity already, and they don't have the equipment to run special trains when a bunch of normal service is already being cancelled, but that would be ideal if it was possible to run some special purple trains just for the Braintree Red Line commuters. I feel for these people. They are really getting the shaft this winter.
Or empty buses should come to
Or empty buses should come to each redline station. On wednesday they would just show up completely full at NQ. Not sure how they expected that to work.
Good God. Whoever is in
Good God. Whoever is in charge of logistics has obviously never ridden the Braintree Red Line in rush hour, EVER. It would be way more efficient to have fresh buses going express to JFK from each each station (and reverse that in the evening), and then a smaller subset of buses making all stops between Braintree and NQ only for people who are just going local.
not sure
how this will help. Traffic in Quincy is what is slowing this down.
Also, love how the union needs to 'approve' this... *eye roll*
Since the Peter Pan buses
are running express from Braintree to JFK, they could get on Route 3 to the Expressway northbound. No need to deal with the Quincy traffic at all, and is also why South Station is a more logical destination than JFK (despite the dedicated busway at the latter).
The Peter Pan buses will be
The Peter Pan buses will be great for Braintree riders, but those who board in Quincy would still need to deal with traffic on the Neponset Bridge (took 2 hours this morning). I hope the Red Line situation can be addressed soon by something other than buses.
I'm sure it's a contract
I'm sure it's a contract thing. It makes sense. T passengers are supposed to be driven by T bus drivers.
Otherwise, the T could consider contracting out its bus services any time, for any reason, including lower costs. Which it might want to consider doing, but it is definitely a point of negotiation with any union.
i know
and I know my bus driver friends would beat me over the head for even saying that but.. ya know still find it odd that the union has to allow this to improve service.
At least they were accommodating, and besides, PP is unionized anyways. If it was non-union, it wouldn't have gotten Carmen's blessing.
It helps in that it'll allow
It helps in that it'll allow the rest of the bus system return to normalcy. The MBTA doesn't just have a boatload of buses laying around for shuttling.
Routes
Expanding on Roadman's comment, I believe the buses should leave from each stop to South Station. There are enough riders at each stop to fill a bus. By going direct, the Braintree and Quincy Adams buses could use the zipper lane. The Wollaston and Quincy Center buses could avoid the hell that is the Neponset Bridge. Maybe run some MBTA buses along the current route, but to adequately address the commute these extra shuttles need to go direct.
Hadn't considered this option
but it's an excellent suggestion that makes a lot of sense. Which means of course that the T would never consider it.
QC could also use the zipper
QC could also use the zipper lane as well. It starts after the split. The unfortunate folks at Wolly would have to hope for a bus driver that knows the streets well enough to know how to avoid all of the other clusters in the morning that precede the Neponset bridge. Usually they just head down Newport *shudder*
Hasn't zipper lane been out of commission?
I don't pay close attention to the WBZ traffic reports but I think I've been hearing this.
BOSTON 2024!
We can do it!
My mother used to say...
My mother used to say, "I'll give you something to complain about" if she thought we were being excessively complainy. Well, here you have it. You think the MBTA is bad? Now you've got Peter Pan. That'll teach you to complain.
Could be worse
Could be Fung Wah.
If they had Fung Wah, I would
If they had Fung Wah, I would drive to Braintree just to take that bus. I would. It would be an experience to write a book about.
What about the DUCK BOATS
Those relics from ww2 are still going strong as illustrated by the recent parade. Of course they are a lot older and better maintained then the red line trains.
Only 2 of them
Only 2 of those (~30) boats are actually from WWII IIRC. The rest of them were built for duck tours sometime in the 90s-2000s.
Well, we know someone at the Carman's Union is thinking.
because if there were ever a time when an MBTA union was going to be busted, this is it. Had they objected to this, the public would have gone crazy and the Governor would have been given license to go on an extended diatribe on how the unions are where the cost savings needed to save the MBTA (no new taxes or fees!) were going to come from.
Note: I am not saying that this might not happen anyway. Rather, I think that there is a decent shot that this is what is coming - if you are not a union-backing type, could you imagine a better time to go after the unions? I don't have a great imagination, but I can't.
In the grand scheme of things:
Inefficiency and bloat created by work rules are one issue to be resolved. Incompetent top heavy management in need of a good thorough firing and downsizing is another much larger issue needing to be immediately addressed. Too many chiefs too few Indians.
Maybe
In another topic someone went over their operating expenses and what they pay workers / benefits, and the prior to keep the system running was much, much more.
It very well might be the case that world class transit is costly to maintain, and very expensive to fix if allowed into disrepair.
You mean something some of
You mean something some of suggested (including me a couple of days ago) has come to pass? Wow!
By the way - the surface street and intersections around JFK, Morrissey Blvd and the Columbia Rd rotary are a disaster in the best of rush hours. If for some reason they can't or won't run express buses to South Station bus terminal (or a couple of downtown street corners) I would suggest Andrew Sq station. 93 NB to exit 16, right on Southampton, left onto Ellery and into the bus lanes. Come out - right on Olympics Boulevard, err... Dot Av, right on Southampton, over the expressway and left to the SB onramp at South Bay.
That's also another cluster.
That's also another cluster. The whole area up and down 93 is one big cluster.
Umm... have you driven the
Umm... have you driven the expressway lately?
The mainline is very good on snow removal - thru lanes cleared, sometimes all the way out to the guardrails. Some breakdown lanes are still filled and some onramps taper much more quickly than normal due to snow, but really pretty good. Intersections of ramps and surface roads aren't in as good shape - stuff so high, roads pinched thin, etc...
Really impressed by what I've seen when I've had to drive anywhere on the highways the last few days. I'd give Expressway, 3 and 128 all similar marks for clearing.
Sheer traffic density is another issue entirely, of course.
Red Line broken .. Wired has the story.
Wired has a story about why the trains are all broken. Not that it helps but there are technical reasons beyond the usual (stupid) political ones why we're in the mess we're in.
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/snow-can-cripple-bostons-subway-cars/
That's part of the problem...
...but only affects some cars, and not the ones stranded in Quincy. The train stuck on Monday is actually the newer 01800's with AC traction motors. The type 8's and Blue Line cars also have AC motors. All the rest are DC.
Third rail issues are also a big problem (either due to heaters failing or just not able to keep up).
MA DOT already has a contract with Peter Pan and buys buses!
Surprised the other day to see a Peter Pan bus marked "owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts" just below the Peter Pan markings. Apparently under this program.
I saw that on a Greyhound bus
I saw that on a Greyhound bus too a little while ago - in New Hampshire, ironically (though I think it was headed to Boston).
Carmens' Union lets us know who is in charge
and its not Beverly Scott!