I’m traveling today — which included an agonizing 77 bus trip this morning. Those dedicated bus lanes can’t come soon enough.
This almost feels like a cheap shot, but I’m going to say it anyway … From Friday’s MA Playbook:
TAKING A VICTORY LAP ON THE TRAIN — Buried at the end of yesterday’s second winter storm press conference were hints of a victory lap from Transportation Sec. Stephanie Pollack over how the Baker administration handled yesterday’s storm — and how it’s an improvement over 2015, the worst winter for commuters in recent history.
It’s a helpful point for them to make as Baker enters his first re-election cycle and Democrats eager to unseat him eye his record with the MBTA as a potential wedge between the governor and the voters who so highly approve of him.
“What I saw, is that due to a lot of planning, a lot of hard work, and a lot of investment, a lot of things went right today,” Pollack said. This echoes Gov. Charlie Baker’s narrative about improving the T — and actions including $85 million in investment in the MBTA’s winter resilliency after the winter of 2015.
It’s … a little early for that:
After running on a limited schedule during the storm, the commuter rail was expected to return to normal weekday service Friday as temperatures plummeted. Instead nearly every commuter rail line experienced interruptions during either the morning or afternoon commute, with multiple trains serving North Station canceled and many trains out of South Station well behind schedule.
We don’t expect miracles, but we do expect improvement. And if we can’t get that … at least we want hope — planning, vision, etc.
Now, Jim Aloisi (of all people) tells us not to “politicize” the issue:
3/ It is not helpful to politicize these issues, because they are not partisan issues. The T’s current challenges have roots in decisions made by Executives & Legislators of both parties.
— Jim Aloisi (@JimAloisi) January 8, 2018
All respect to Aloisi, who’s a big transit advocate. He’s partly right and partly wrong. It is not a “partisan” issue, since the austerity has been imposed by our Democratic legislature over the years. But surely accountability is political. The MBTA is in the executive branch, and we have an elected executive. The elected legislature funds it, or refrains from funding it. Both branches — and our seemingly AWOL (elected) auditor — are responsible for oversight. Imagine if everyone waiting in the cold for a train, picked up their phones and called their state rep and Senator to complain about the miserable shape of the T. Would things change? Would that change the political urgency of the matter? Would candidates and primaries turn on who makes better, bolder, more credible transportation promises?
I say, more transportation politics — in both parties. It’s been a bipartisan failure. Demand results — from whomever is in power.
Ah the 77-a lot of my youth was spent traversing back and forth on that rust bucket. The electric ones always break down in the snow.
Even Chicago with its terrible financial crisis has found a way to implement rapid bus lanes, expand their Red Line, repair their Brown and Green lines, and get 24 hour service to the downtown from either airport. I long complained about how much worse politics were in my former town, but at least they get that transit affects all people and classes and prioritize it.
Have you seen the new Wilson station? I can’t even believe it. Rustbucket couldn’t even describe the previous version. Rahm is a nasty piece of work, but …
https://youtu.be/BnGVTUNwz64
I know! He is doing more for public transit than any other big city mayor*, precisely since Chicago was built out along rail lines and the affluent rely on the L and Metra has much as the working poor.
Another less known fact is that their zoning has always been more flexible and centered around viable mixed retail and housing corridors connected to the downtown via rapid transit. It’s why my friend in Andersonville, Chicago’s South End, has a 20 minute commute downtown and only pays $900/m for his one bedroom in a hot neighborhood. He visited us during this last week and was appalled by the piss poor shape of the T. His was before we were snowed in.
Old man Daley (even more racist than Rahm) had the vision to put El lines up the new highways he built in the 50’s and 60’s. Logan Square reminded me of Somerville so often, but Somerville still is stalled by horrible traffic and lack of rapid access to the city at points. Everett, Chelsea and Malden should be the next Logan Squares or Somervilles but transit keeps them back.
*Rahm will never be forgiven for LaQuan McDonald
Kinda think Old Town or Lakeview = South End. Andersonville more like JP.
Yeah that’s better. I still like the Logan Square=Somerville comparison, though Wicker Park is probably the Davis Square in that analogy.
Tangentially, they should have left that tweet up about “Siberian temperatures.” I would welcome some real talk from the T.
A while back old friend Edgar posted a video of Yakutsk in -55 degree weather. NBD. I’ll bet their trains work.
The full tweet was words to the effect of “No transit system in North America is designed for Siberian temperatures,” at least a defensible point.
The subway in Boston is the oldest in the US. It has been running in one form or another since 1897. It was designed for Boston weather and built within the context of the New England climate.
The temperatures we’ve seen were not ‘Siberian,’ but only record setting for the months of December and January.
Meteorological understanding, and thus weather forecasting, is several orders of magnitude greater, now, than at any time in the past, which past the T survived unharmed.
So, no, leaving aside the notion that any ‘tweet’ is defensible, the statement that “No transit system in North America is designed for Siberian temperatures,” does not apply to our situation.
So the Red Line does not work in 50 degree weather either. O-keh.
Hey Charlie,
I don’t read much about the T, as I am a “burbs” guy out in Metro West, but my ears do perk up whenever I hear Republicans talk about privatizing public services as we have with Keolis involved.
Our Massachusetts legislators may want to look across the pond and examine what just happened in the UK’s use of Carillion to transfer what was public services over to the private sector. Carillion just went bankrupt.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/carillion-conservative-party-donation-tory-collapse-government-contracts-pfi-hedge-fund-public-a8166581.html
Will read. My strong sense is that privatization (or not) is not related by necessity to quality of service. There are good privately-contracted public transit systems (Hong Kong, says Bob); there are good public-public systems. There are bad, of both types.
We may prefer public-employee, unionized transit as a matter of economic justice, but it boils down to accountability and management in any event.
You know who has an awesome privately-contracted public transit system? Lyon. Integrated bus, trolley, subway, funicular. Fantastic system.
You know who the contractor is? Keolis. (Unionized btw.)
Golly, how do they do it? Hint: might the level of resources have something to do with it?