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MBTA surrenders
By adamg on Mon, 02/09/2015 - 3:58pm
UPDATE: Service canceled for Tuesday as well.
The T is cancelling all subway and commuter rail at 7 p.m. Some bus lines will still run, but, sorry, people who used the T to get into town today - after 7, you're on your own.
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Comments
The cancellations will
The cancellations will continue until service improves.
World Class City indeed.
On a brighter note, how about looking forward to the Olympics.
Oh, I have no doubt
We can throw up a suitable Potemkin Olympic Village in 9 years. I think the ship has sailed on an actual working, vibrant, futuristic city that we can honestly show off to the world by then.
"Throw up"...
...is an elegant choice of phrase here.
Wrong Sports
Winter Olympics maybe.
Oh, please!!
We need the Olympics here in Boston like holes in our heads! We should be talking about how the MBTA needs shoring up, improving and updating, not about bringing the Olympics here to Boston in 2024.
Snow has actually stopped
at least here in Somerville. So this decision is a bit perplexing.
Why is it perplexing?
They are running way behind on what has happened so far - they need the break to clean up.
Third rail
It's not entirely about snow. It's also about the third rails that keep icing over. In addition, the snow is blowing around even though it has slowed and still has the potential to get up into the motors and blow them out. That's what has contributed to the Blue Line failures recently..
The equipment is still
The equipment is still rickety crap; as long as there's snow and ice on or near the tracks, switches, signals, and especially the third rail, they're in danger of more trains becoming disabled. The announcement points out they do not want to deal with an evacuation after dark, which seems prudent.
What is, however, outrageous about this announcement is that they're not going to run shuttle buses along these routes, at least a few of them. Many people at work today are going to find out the hard way when they get to a T station after 7pm they're not getting home that way. What do they expect people who have neither cars nor someone who can pick them up to do? Take a $1,000 taxi ride in place of the Commuter Rail?
Not to mention that things sound clusterfucked enough right now, at 4:30pm, that if you needed to take connecting trains (for example, RL from Alewife to South Station, then the CR home), and left right now, you might not even make it to SS before 7pm.
Pretty obvious now that there
Pretty obvious now that there needed to be a travel ban. I hope Baker's intransigence doesn't cost any lives.
for the thousandth time
There is no such thing as a "travel ban." There are "motor vehicle travel bans."
They have NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MBTA.
Excuse me a moment, the Gov
Excuse me a moment, the Gov is on teevee vindicating me right now. Hold on.
Four more years of this.
Four more years of this.
Every 4 years we vote for a new Governor
Every 4 years they promise to cut spending.
Every 4 years people applaud the guy who will cut the most.
Then every time something fails due to lack of investment, we complain.
If people want world class service, they are going to have to pay for it.
Small flaw in your logic
You assume that if government spends more we get more. Sadly all too often we give them more we get the same or less.
That said - I'm willing to cut the T a little slack. When something happens that has never happened in history - a few things or more than a few things are going to break.
I've been wondering when the T would just give up the ghost and say "We just can't go on".
OK - slightly extenuating circumstances but now we know:
Time of Death = 7 pm, Feb 9, 2015
You seem to be confusing a
You seem to be confusing a travel ban with shutting down the MBTA. There haven't been any serious or major accidents today on the highways, just a litany of MBTA failures.
Or are people going to start calling for everyone to be forced off the public ways every time there's a snowstorm now?
Meh
In Boston, MBTA shuts ITSELF down!
There have too been serious
There have too been serious road accidents today. Check the MSP's Twitter or Facebook.
Not all subway service...
Not all subway service...
SERVICE ALERTS
Blue 3 current
Green 2 current
Mattapan 2 current
Orange 4 current
Red3 current 1 upcoming
Silver Normal Service
Yes, Ive killed the horse. Sue me.
To be fair...
The actual announcement says "rail services".
If there had been a typo that instead said "fail services", then yes, it'd include the Silver Line.
Yeah, look at that stellar
Yeah, look at that stellar "normal" service. Three buses in 10 minutes and none for 25 minutes more.
http://www.mbtainfo.com/749/05093
Im talking about the real
Im talking about the real silver line.
Route Silver Line Waterfront
0 minutes (Silver Line Way)
1 minutes (Silver Line Way)
13 minutes (Silver Line Way)
14 minutes (Silver Line Way)
26 minutes (Silver Line Way)
Route Silver Line SL2
2 minutes (Design Center)
9 minutes (Design Center)
14 minutes (Design Center)
24 minutes (Design Center)
29 minutes (Design Center)
Route Silver Line SL1
10 minutes (Logan Airport)
20 minutes (Logan Airport)
30 minutes (Logan Airport)
40 minutes (Logan Airport)
50 minutes (Logan Airport)
Again, before I waste any
Again, before I waste any more of my time and yours, what is your point? Speak.
The incessant whining from
The incessant whining from the children who complain that making the SL waterfront into light rail is a) necessary b) a good use of funding and c) would improve service
Anyone who actually rides the SL knows that in its current state, it has the best frequencies and highest service, partially thanks to the fact that buses can run nose to nose, while we dont allow trains to do so.
This past month has shown over and over again that it also outperforms rail in poor weather, even when it goes above ground.
It amuses me that as every rail line closes, and the ferries are shuttered, one can expect a SL bus in 1,2 AND 3 minutes from now for a safe, comfortable, and efficient trip into Mayor Meninos Innovation District.
You know what?
The number of people, children or otherwise, who whine (incessantly or not) about anything to do with the Silver Line, is outnumbered by a factor of 479.3 by the number of people who simply do not give a tinker's damn about the Silver Line one way or another. So maybe it's time for you to stop complaining about the complainers?
The number of people,
The number of people, children or otherwise, who whine (incessantly or not) about anything to do with my posts, is outnumbered by a factor of 479.3 by the number of people who simply do not give a tinker's damn about my posts, one way or another. So maybe it's time for you to stop complaining about my post?
Do the numbers
I got 16 likes (none of them mine), you got two. Neener neener.
It's not SL waterfront
that should be light rail. It's SL Washington Street. Apart from the fact that light rail was the original plan for the Washington Street corridor when the Orange Line elevated was demolished,, it would have provided a direct connection into the Green Line (through the old Tremont Street tunnel connecting at Boylston).
yep agreed
SL4 & 5 should be light rail.
So the "Real" silver line is
The one that goes to the airport and the expensive condos, boutiques and restaurants, but that thing that services the Roxbury is what...
Not the Silver Line?
That's interesting.
No, the other Silver Line is
No, the other Silver Line is no better than a CT route.
Until they get it up to the
Until they get it up to the level of BRT and build that tunnel connection to South Station, I'll continue to refer to the Roxbury/South End branch of the Silver Line as "The #49 Bus"
Apparently you don't take the Silver Line
that IS normal service.
Pathetic
Absolutely pathetic.
Not Really
Just years of can kicking failing spectacularly when we need the service the most.
This is a common sense, to be expected results of under-funding and using the MBTA as a political football.
Of course you wouldn't know it if you asked anyone on beacon hill, they are already busy trying to find the fall-man/women.
But a bunch of GOP governors got to say they cut wasteful spending and are clear of Dodge (sorry Baker, hot potato time); and likewise a bunch of Spineless Dems got to ride those coat tails as well with the business community and economically conservative in the state.
We should be asking whats the economic loss occurring due to people and product not betting to places of business? How will it effect plans to invest and operate here. How much more is it costing us now as we scramble, then if we paid for it back in the day?
At least we have one thing going for us, awesome bond ratings and near zero interest rates. If Baker knows anything about finance and investment, he'll get to work. But he will have to drop the trickle down, tax cutting bullshit lies and further piss off the base that didn't even want him anyways.
Are you Rip Van Winkle?
Sleeping the last 8 years? What did Deval do to fix it? At least he can't use the "but the Democratic legislature" line. What was his excuse?
huh
TBF they did try to raise the gas tax at the last min, but again took the spineless way out instead of passing a budget and asking for funding measures. The people then repealed it.
Take your pick, Spineless Dems or Snake Oil Republicans
The gas tax was NOT repealed
I hope this doesn't become one of my things.
The voters said no to indexing increases. The General Court could double the tax next week if they want to, but they would have to vote on it.
I fault Patrick on a lot of things, but he ordered new Orange Line trains.
So you're calling Deval a "Spineless" Dem?
OK. Are you becoming a Republican? :-)
As long as people keep voting for either the Dems or the GOP,
We're never going to get the things that we really need (i. e. better, more up to date public transportation, an updated, upgraded infrastructure, etc.). We need to vote for people who are NOT part of either of the two major parties, because both the GOP and the Democrats at large have screwed their voting base(s)...big-time, for ages.
I say....the Independent Party needs a strong comeback, and we should all help make that happen...with our feet, at the polls!!
"Independent Party"
Contradiction in terms. It is to laugh.
Evan Falchuk's new party
is the United Independent Party. Expect to hear lots more from them in the coming months, as they are trying to put a binding referendum on the state ballot regarding the Olympics.
The reason non-party voters are now called "unenrolled" instead of "independent" is that, a couple of decades ago, Massachusetts had a party on the ballot called "Independent High-Tech Party".
Go ahead, throw your vote away!
">http://youtu.be/rAT_BuJAI70[/youtube]
Agreed
At the least, there should probably be people from outside of the entrenched parties in overseer positions (Auditor, for example).
My preference would be Libertarians, but I'd be very happy to see ANY third party gain a strong enough foothold to have influence. Third parties always drive the debate in directions uncomfortable for D and R candidates who would prefer engaging in personal attacks rather than substantive discussion of the issues.
As for throwing your vote away, that only happens when you vote for someone you don't believe in, don't trust, or otherwise find highly objectionable. A vote of good conscience is never wasted (and that, of course, includes a vote of good conscience for a D or R whom you trust.)
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
My preference would be
Yeah, *that'll* get the T fixed. 'Cause if there's one thing Libertarians love, it's spending public funds for the common good.
Fine
Snark all you want. There are, however, differing opinions among Libertarians just as there are among Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Independents, and other political groups.
I was state chair of the party for a while during the 90's, but I am all for public libraries, fire departments and police departments, postal service and public works among other things. I am an advocate of subways and other public transportation (barring private enterprise proving they can perform these functions better, as was the case with the BERy - forerunner to MTA and MBTA - which built the first one here.)
It's a semi-free country. Thanks for your input.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Thanks
Don't mind if I do.
Is that why you're not the state chair anymore? Most of the libertarians I meet are of the "If you want police protection, you should pay for it yourself. I own enough guns that there's no way I could possibly fall victim to crime" variety.
Transpo investment
One thing he did - which did not benefit transit - was to use the State's good credit rating to get the money necessary to address the back-log of structurally deficient bridges. We're not the best in the nation, but for older east coast states with aging infrastructure, we're doing alright after the Accelerated Bridge Program cranked through replacing bridges super quick and efficiently.
It was one of the bright spots in the Patrick Admin (and MassDOT's young history) -- bringing big, disruptive projects in ahead of schedule and under budget using some award-winning new engineering practices. In comparison to Romney letting everything go to shit, I'd say that's pretty good.
Ultimately though it's a spineless legislature that won't stand up to a bunch of 495 "Brown-Belt" communities and tell them "Fuck you you will pay more for gas and it will go towards improving the transit system for the Greater Boston region because without that you'd all be fucking Pawtucket."
Blame it on the Bershires
Thanks to the knowledgebase here on UHub, I learned that all the T woes are to be blamed on those people beyond 128, beyond 495, and beyond the CT river. Yes, it's those people in the Berkshires,
You learn something every day.
not the Berk's.
I don't blame western MA. The knee-jerk anti-tax crowd (as opposed to elbow-jerk tax crowd here in town) does not live in the Pioneer Valley and beyond. They're between 128 and 495 (roughly) with a serious concentration down in Plymouth and going out to the Cape.
Arguably
Everything that is not Suffolk County is Western MA.
No, no, no. 128 -> 495 is
No, no, no. 128 -> 495 is Central MA, 495 -> Springfield is Western MA. West of Springfield you get into the Midwest. Duh.
That's what pathetic
Failed leadership and piss poor management on many levels from both political parties has brought us to this point. We knew - and complained - for years that we would get to this point. And nothing was really done. Deval Patrick just left us after eight years. He did nothing to improve the situation. The current legislature apparently does not want to make this a priority. For years the T was poorly managed and wasted millions of dollars on pension funding which is still not being made public. We have reached the breaking point and just how Baker and the state legislature work together to make improvements to fix the situation will be quite interesting to watch. In the meantime, T riders are forced to suffer. And now the T announces it won't even be operating tomorrow. Just a pathetic failure on all levels.
Power and Gloria
Charlie crushed her this afternoon. She's done.
There is no reason why trains cannot run between Kenmore / Symphony and at least North Station. There is no reason why trains cannot run between Community College and Mass. Ave (Even for the little bit outside at Back Bay). There is no reason why trains cannot run between Bowdoin and Airport (even for the little bit outside). There is no reason why trains cannot run between Andrew and Alewife, (even for the little bit outside).
There is a massive management failure at the T and it didn't start three weeks ago.
I am ashamed of state government. Can we get DeLeo indicted for this? It is and isn't Charlie's fault since he put in the first jenga piece of the T mess but hasn't played for years. Lady Mac-Murray got out because she knew that it is only a matter of time before the disaster which is the T came to her doorstep as well. Good luck Sen. Rosenberg. Hope your recently transferred power crazed boyfriend will stop distracting you from what needs to be done in the State.
I'm driving until May.
Baker's Ire is Vastly Misplaced
Instead of speaking with MBTA management about how to get blood out of turnips, why doesn't he have a nice discussion with the legislature, who caused this mess????
Such is the grasp of reality of a typical CEO.
Thank you
I've reserved bringing up my whole argument about what would removing T management do? How would that improve service today? It wouldn't.
You can't get blood from a stone. The T is underfunded and has been for years. Who's to blame? Not anyone in T management, the legislature is to blame (and some too to Gov Baker too).
Talk is just that.. talk. Let's see a real plan on how to fix this and how we're going to pay for all of the improvement so this doesn't happen again.
Indeed, at this point, you
Indeed, at this point, you can't blame the people working at the T for the failures. The equipment is crap. The employees and management can only do so much. In all this clusterfuckery I haven't heard a single story of the employees not doing their job, or management screwing up,* just one ice- or snow-related equipment failure after another. That the equipment is crap is a result of bad decisions made years ago.
May as well hand someone a bucket of turds and blame them when they can't turn it into a five-star, gourmet meal.
* The only screw-up seems to be that they ran the T today when they should've kept it shut down from the startโthat they've tried to do more than they should haveโwhich has caused even more equipment damage than they were already dealing with.
From their website now:
From their website now:
Yep, that sounds ominous. We're probably going to have recurring equipment problems for weeks after the snow and ice are completely cleared.
I agree. She's done.
But I suspect she won't go quietly.
Political junkies are going to love the next few months.
Human Sacrifice
She was hired as a human sacrifice. Somebody who wouldn't make waves and lacked the connections to make problems where problems need to be made, and could be easily scape-goated and removed, head on pike, when it came time to blame somebody.
She will be sacrificed to cover for Charlie Baker's pre-gubernatorial actions and the legislature's foolish sins.
Confused...
Wait...who are we talking about here? Secretary Pollack or former Senate President Murray?
I assumed Beverly Scott
I assumed Beverly Scott
should be able
...to narrow it down....only so many women in MA-poli. I think one of the original posts way up there - John Costello's - referred to ex-Senate Prez Therese Murray. Given her pandering to the conservative base in her district, I think a case could be made for her lacking the ovaries for coming up with the revenue to fix the T. She was just a symptom of the larger issue that the legislature had for so many years been talking about "reform before revenue" to avoid the hard decisions that it had become a joke (Jim Aloisi quipped that it had become "Rapture before revenue.")
Bev Scott came on board to provide folksy quotes about eating elephants and such. Holding her responsible for the current mess is silly. You could rightly pin a good amount on Baker by virtue of his role in some of the big dig financing and such that someone outlined here. And recently-hired Secretary Pollack has just walked into the job (fully knowing how fucked everything is, god love her).
In the end the data has been out there for a while -- WE the tax payers have deferred maintenance for decades and shit is coming home to roost. There is still some crap that needs to be enema'd out (pension fund opacity and a contracting process that seems to be run by people who don't realize they have to actually live with those shitty-ass purchases...it's not a fruit-cake - you're not giving it away). But for the most part I doubt there's much of the existing system left to be mismanaged really. It's just falling apart.
Running subway trains
My understanding is the issue with only running service in the subways is that all the yards are outside, and there is almost nowhere in the tunnels to store a dead train if something breaks down. (Which seems to be happening quite frequently) If the yards are shut down, they can't operate service.
This! Exactly!
This! Exactly!
No one seems to realize this, but the Orange Line's yard is at Wellington, the Blue Line's is at Orient Heights, and the Red Line's is at Cabot (accessed north of JFK). They're all outdoors. It's not practical to store trains in the tunnels for a variety of reasons (including having a place for operators to get in and out safely), and there isn't really anywhere to shove a dead train underground.
Yes, the T sometimes does run Orange Line service only south of Sullivan, but they still need to be able to get to the yard at Wellington, and they need to have that access clear.
How do those trains turn around?
For example: the balloon loop at Kenmore only works in the outbound direction. Is there any loop at North Station anymore? I doubt there's a loop at Airport. Is there a safe way to improvise a crossover and boarding/unboarding at the "opposite" platforms and then using crossovers in the tunnels?
Have you actually thought this through?
No loop at North Station.
No loop at North Station. There's stub tracks that C trains use to reverse on in regular service though.
Kenmore loop
Isn't that what you need, though, if you want to short turn all outbound Green Line trains at Kenmore and send them back inbound?
Loop at Kenmore works
only to send eastbound (inbound) trains back westbound (outbound). And only for trains coming off the C and D lines. There is no comparable loop at Kenmore to send westbound (outbound) trains back eastbound (inbound).
Oh come on, really? Is it
Oh come on, really? Is it that hard?
Drive into Kenmore. Unload.
Driver switches sides (takes 30 seconds)
Drives on magic loop to inbound side.
Driver switches sides (takes 30 seconds)
Boards train.
Zero risk of collision because no trains are coming inbound.
Unless I'm mistaken,
the exit switch on the westbound side of the loop is actually a "spring" switch. So it would be nearly impossible to run a train in the reverse direction up into the loop.
If thats the case, never mind
If thats the case, never mind then.
It is not a spring switch, it
It is not a spring switch, it can be thrown by hand. Cars can change ends and go around the loop from westbound to eastbound. The signals aren't set up for that move, but as noted, if there aren't any other cars running, it would not be difficult to run a "manual block".
Kenmore loop
Kenmore loop was designed to turn C trains back around, if the B line was converted to subway service. So it faces in the outbound direction; a train coming from St. Mary's or Fenway can stop at Kenmore and then use the loop to head back out on the branches.
You have a plan, and get creative
You have a plan, and get creative. The T has no plan, and refuses to change operations besides shutting down portions of the line.
Before I get started on a rant: 5 feet of snow in two weeks is completely unprecedented. The previous 60-inches-in-a-month came over the course of a month, not two weeks, with some melting in between (it was 55ห between the January and February blizzards in 1978โit hasn't been 40 this year since January 19). At this rate, we'll be at 10 feet in a month.
But one of the failures of the T is that it has no snow plan, other than a few bus routes. The DC Metroโno bastion of good managementโdoes run some service in the snow: underground service. When they suspend rail service during a storm, they suspend above ground service, not all service. (They do this after little more than a flurry, but then again, they're DC). The T could, too, if they planned ahead for things like, I don't know, snow. I even wrote about this two years ago. For instance:
Green Line: run from Kenmore to North Station. There are pocket tracks to change ends outbound from North Station which are undercoverโthey use these every day for the C Line without issue. At Kenmore, you could have inspectors (or operators) get in the cars and take them backwards around the Kenmore Loop to the other side to start the trip inbound. It might take a few minutes, but it would allow service to operate. Yes, yards are above ground, but the T runs trains through even the biggest storms to keep them in service, and on the Green Line there are several routes from a major yard at Reservoir to the tunnel.
Blue Line: run from Airport to Bowdoin. I don't have a track map in front of me, but I would bet that there is a crossover at either Maverick or Airport. Or, since this is such a short distance, run one train set back and forth on one side of the line. You might only have service every 20 minutes, but that's at least more than nothing. Again, the T runs service out to the yards to keep the tracks clear, but without passengers, a stuck train is much less of an issue.
Orange Line: Run from North Station to Mass Ave. Again, I'd have to consult a track map re: crossovers. And again, you could run a back-and-forth service on one track.
Red Line: The Longfellow is an issue; it would be kind of silly to have one segment from Andrew (again, depending on the location of a crossover) to Park and an orphaned segment from Kendall to Alewife. But if you can get the trains across the Longfellow without dying and keep the bridge clear enough, then you can run an 8 mile-long section of line almost entirely underground. Storing the trains is easy: you could keep enough trains to run a 10-minute-headway skeleton service in the underground Alewife Yard. Except for the Longfellow Bridge, these trainsets would spend the entire time underground.
For Commuter Rail, the T could have a special schedule for days like today where each line, at rush hour, runs one train per hour making all stops. Then you send out the best equipment for the conditions, and actually run those trains, versus trying to run a full schedule and then failing miserably.
The problem is that the T doesn't have any such plan. They might make noise that the station entrances wouldn't be clear of snow, but this could be said for many storms, and people can be employed to keep them clear. Everyone would be a lot more forgiving if there was an actual plan that was implemented that focused on keeping service that could be run running rather than the ad hoc "OMG IT SNOWED!!!!1!" that seems to happen each time, uh, it snows. I think a lot of people (but not everyone, read comments here and elsewhere) realizes that things won't go completely as normal when it snows a lot. But the fact that the T seems to have to fly by the seat of its pants each time is unacceptable.
Creative
You mean, "creative", like Romney telling that low-income kid to just borrow $20K from his parents to start a business?
Right.
Creative solutions are for those with resources. The MBTA is at the end of its rope.
There is a cross-over at
There is a cross-over at Andrew and a cross-over at Airport.
Yes there is
Your premise is flawed.
In order for trains to run between Kenmore and Symphony, they would have to turn around on the Kenmore side up at the Blandford crossover track...in the snow. At Symphony, I don't know where the next closest crossover is, but I'd guess it's outside somewhere too.
You could run a loop between Government Center and North Station I think...but then you're only shuffling people between North Station and Haymarket since Government Center is closed. An entirely useless loop.
Next crossover with a storage
Next crossover with a storage pocket track is immediately after Northeastern University's station. The #39 could pick up/drop off passengers at that end of the line. Assuming the #39 isn't as dead as the rest of the MBTA
Nearest crossover
to Symphony is at Northeastern, which is above ground. And, like Blanford, it's not a direct crossover. Similar to both Blanford and North Station, trains would have to run into a 'turnback' siding, then run out the other way.
And the inner loop at Government Center is currently unusable, as it is currently blocked by the contractor's equipment for the station rebuild.
There is a cross-over between
There is a cross-over between Symphony and Prudential
Possible, But I'm No Expert
In order to clear things, power to the third rail may need to be cut. If so, I believe that necessitates cutting all power on whatever line you do it. That would explain Red, Orange and Blue, but not necessarily Green.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
The third rail is broken up
The third rail is broken up into sections and can be shut off a section at a time. Generally, large sections are controlled automatically from the central control room, and it might be possible to disconnect more specific sections with manual switches (with the power off for the operation).
Let blame Baker
He's been Gov'na for a month, and if that doesn't work. .......,. BUSH!
History
What the frak is it?
Not that getting out of that mess was all his fault, but it is ironic that his quick fix to the Big Dig problem is now right back in his face with the MBTA. When you shift things like that, you're supposed to be far away when the bills comes due.
Baker is far away, he doesn't
Baker is far away, he doesn't take the T! Real men like Charles and Scott Brown drive!
The irony is thick here, Charlie.
As anon^2 notes, Baker's financing decisions on the Big Dig when he was Secretary of Admin and Finance are directly responsible for the underfunding of the T to the tune of $1B a year since. His current proposed budget cuts another $40M.
It's egregiously hypocritical of him to act incensed at the T's performance now.
karma
its a bitch when it hits you back
While I think Deleo and
While I think Deleo and Murray are the most at fault for declining again and again to properly fund the T for the future, Bakers Billions of dollars of Big Dig debt he pushed onto the T to hide it to help his boss Weld get re-elected are a HUGE source of the MBTAs problems.
And now...
And now their website seems like its about to join their rail service in the great beyond. Seems to be taking several minutes to load fully.
mbta.com down
Looks like their web server died too. Can't reach mbta.com to check anything. I wonder if their admin uses the T to get to work.
All day Tuesday!?!?!
Does he think everyone can just work from home?
You have a better idea?
Please share it - but it has to be workable given current equipment and conditions.
NO COMMENT?
Beverly Scott's explanation is an official 'No Comment'?
I thought the 7pm closing would ensure they could fix things for the morning commute when the storm would be over. But to shut down the whole city area without an explanation? I live on the C line and the trains seem to work ok. Why not keep some routes open?
She at least owes us all an explanation. I can't imagine this happening in NYC or Philadelphia.
I can't imagine
NYC or Philly dealing with 6 feet of snow in 3 weeks, with barely any temps above freezing in the process. We are living in hell, but NYC got paralyzed after less snow a few years back.
If the T announced yesterday that they would shut for today, people would be up in arms. In hindsight... Romney and Patrick should have dealt with the system's deficiencies, but we still would be up shit's creek with this snow.
I think you misunderstood my
I think you misunderstood my point: I meant that NYC/Philly wouldn't close everything without an explanation.
I don't doubt that this snow situation has brought up unprecedented challenges. Or that Baker's decades-earlier efforts to cut funding are related MBTA's current shortcomings.
What I object to is the lack of explanation. We know the third rail can ice over. We know there are signal issues, we've been hearing about that forever.
But when you close down an entire public transport system, especially in the midst of a storm that makes it impossible to drive, the public is owed an explanation.
The explanation is
Everything fell apart and they need a day to reset.
Of course, I might just be reading into things.
Someday, when things calm down, hopefully MassDOT will explain everything. I just don't know if we will ever see that day.
Subtle clues to seriousness of situation
I noticed that for several days' worth of announcements now, one is that the CharlieCard store at DTX is closed. Reading between the lines I was wondering if this is because they're pulling every able-bodied T worker into snow-clearing or repair/maintenance duties; that they don't have the personnel to man the store. Can anyone confirm?
"I meant that NYC/Philly
"I meant that NYC/Philly wouldn't close everything without an explanation."
Lol.
Two weeks ago Cuomo announced that the MTA was closing at 11pm and not opening the next day. Hours after the MTA officials held a press conference announcing how they were going to manage service.
Turns out, Cuomo called the MTA 15 minutes before and told them about his brilliant plan to shut everything down.
Nyc has several tracks
Nyc has several tracks running along some lines that they use for express cars and maintenance so if a train does break down they can shift the other trains to those tracks. Boston does not. Dont know anything about philly.
You really need more explanation?
The system is in such a state of disrepair that a mere 22 hours isn't going to be enough to clear all the snow and ice, and assess and then repair all the equipment that broke by being operated on Monday? That it's so beyond broken at this point they need (at least) another entire day to get things back up to speed?
I thought the performance of the system over the last two weeks demonstrated this quite proficiently.
prioritiies
olympics vs new trains and efficient snow removal system?
This will jam up the still-running bus lines
I don't understand the decision to run all scheduled bus service, instead of cutting some of that back and diverting some of it to bustitution shuttles.
Any bus line that even vaguely parallels a subway line will get jammed beyond capacity. I'm thinking of 1, 39, 43, 55, 57, 77, 83, 92, 93, 96, and all of the Silver Lines.
Thank you!
Yes I was just thinking about this also! They really shouldn't try to run the buses because of this.
And then of course any bus that starts/ends at a rail connection and serves as a spoke route (i.e. 134, 101, 116, 112, 97, 99, etc) are just going to be pointless except for local trips on the same bus (or a bus to bus connection)
And yeah, the Gov would like us to stay home but we all know the roads are going to be jammed, especially without train service. So it'll delay the buses even more.
I fear for anyone riding the 111 tomorrow (or any bus for that matter), because it will now serve as the sole link from Chelsea into town. It'll be the 9th circle of hell all day long, as the 111 is already a packed bus. And you know people will switch from the 116/117 to it in Chelsea Center (as they do when the BL is hosed). Oy. Glad I can WfH tomorrow.
At least what little bus
At least what little bus service runs will be stuck in gridlocked traffic.
Assuming there are even enough rested drivers left to cover service with all the rail replacement shuttles running.
What rail replacement shuttle buses?
As far as I can tell, the T doesn't plan to run any -- just regularly scheduled bus lines.
The ones they've been running
The ones they've been running for the last several days. There's only so many drivers to go around.
The same thing's likely been hampering commuter rail - just there the crews are on even tighter limits by the Feds on their hours of service. When trips that are scheduled for two hours turn into 3-5 hour adventures, they run out of time to do their next assignments without getting rested.
Can the T get a waiver on those regulations
given the current state of emergency?
Doubtful. I don't know a
Doubtful. I don't know a whole lot, but usually those require immediate life-safety issues (i.e., I recall the NYC commuter railroads were excused from hours of service rules on 9/11 when evacuating the city). This isn't on that level.
seriously?
The T drivers and workers are human beings, not robots that can be dragged out to work on an endless loop because you need to get to work. They need rest and a day off like the rest of us. Plus, how are THEY getting in to work I would like to know. The lack of commuting options affects them too.
No bus replacement
I agree with roadman, there's no subway bus replacement service.
Even on the T's winter page there's a message stating:
What this is saying (and gosh they could have worded this better) is that there's no replacement service so if you take a bus that ends at a station (and expect replacement bus service), you're screwed.
Overloaded busses
The 66 was over capacity all last week, and I have to chalk that up in part to the problems with the red line. Many people were taking the bus rather than the green and red lines....
Reimbursement
You cannot run your equipment because this winter is worse than usual? OK, that's astoundingly inconvenient, but fine. I get it. That being said,
I think the T should reimburse every single rider who purchased a monthly pass 1/30 (or 1/28 to be more specific) of the value of that pass for every day they told riders not to actually use the T or it was just totally shut down.
Working from home (for some people) is all fine and good, but a ton of commuters ALREADY PAID for their commute.
I mean, if you bought tickets for anything else and they cancelled it, you would expect a refund, right?
One caveat
Whereas I agree with this, I would suggest they merely make the offer available and require people to pro-actively come in and claim it. (Not that someone has to prove they would have used the T on a shut down day, just that a monthly pass-holder has to go on the website and click a button or something.)
The T is already losing enough money from the lost single-ride fares over these shut down days, and however many millions they're dumping into maintenance and snow-clearing, without making them give refunds to people who might not even care to claim them.
Roads ARE superior to rail!
Yes, folks, the MBTA has given up on rail, yet buses on roadways steam along!
Hubway was shut down, but nobody seems to be complaining about that!
I get how iced over 3rd rails cripple subway cars, but that should not impact diesel-electric locomotives!
Oh, in Europe and elsewhere, overhead catenary wires are used to power electric trains and trams. No third rail problems and reduced dangers to people who might touch them..
bikes
However, I saw quite a few bicycles out this evening. The major roads around me (Mass Ave, Elm Street) seem pretty well plowed.
Yeah
Bikes end up being the best way around. The T is shot to hell. Cars get stuck in the snow and are too big to get by poorly parked cars on roads that are 1/3 their original size.
But if you're on a bike you can always just lift it over a snow bank or walk it through an unplowed street. They can go around poorly parked cars and crippling traffic.
It's a cold ride and harder to pedal but, as normal, it's the fastest most reliable way around even with the snow.
Charlie Baker got schooled !!
Charlie Baker is on tv complaining about MBTA service due to the weather. Then, Poof!! MBTA announces it's shutting down in 3 hours, and will be closed tomorrow. Then Charlie is back on tv answering a million questions about why? why? why? did they close, did Baker know it was happening...blah, blah, blah. Mr. Charlie Baker just learned an important lesson today...don't piss the people off that can leave you holding the bag.
And a few T Employees will learn an even more important lesson
Don't piss of the guy with the bigger bag.
so what?
All he did was turn around and blame the T so he wasn't holding anything. He'll definitely fire Bev Scott (even though it's not her fault, but she's pissed him off with statements clearly in opposition to him), maybe the head of the MTA, and that'll be his "solution" to the problem, AC motors aren't going to materialize overnight here, nor will the trains from China - those aren't scheduled to arrive for four more years!
It's odd how Beverly Scott
It's odd how Beverly Scott has gotten little criticism and blame for the failures at the T, but when Dan Grabauskas and Richard Davies and others were General Managers, they were often blamed when anything went wrong at the T.
Grabauskas was apparently
Grabauskas was apparently targeted for political reasons. I don't think Scott has been selected (yet?) for the same kind of scapegoating.
whats the pool at?
So anyone want to start a pool on how many days Bev Scott has left on her job?
I'm going to say she's out by Friday.
So, any updates?
Anyone seen any snow-clearing, train-repairing or other activities? I'm curious about what they're doing. There's a plan, right? Any guesses as to whether we'll have service tomorrow?