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Fixing the MBTA – Name & Shame Edition

February 18, 2015 By Patrick

I’d like to thank everyone for their great feedback on my last post (Fixing the MBTA – Diving Into Some Numbers, Talking Transportation As An Investment, Transit Around The World and Finding Cash Flow) and the great discussion it spawned.

Today, I want to focus on ratcheting up the pressure on our Legislators on Beacon Hill to fix the T, to fix it soon, and to fix it correctly. The Globe reported this morning on the Legislative duck & dodge continuing with a lot of non-committal comments from many legislators contacted for the story.

Some outside analysts have said the T’s winter woes are related, in part, to long-term underfunding by Beacon Hill. But DeLeo has strongly defended the Legislature’s actions, pointing in a recent TV interview to efforts providing “extensive additional . . . money to the T.” And both DeLeo and Baker have been forthright about their discomfort raising taxes for funding transportation or other priorities going forward — and that has essentially set the terms of discussion for what the Legislature might do.

To me, this sounds like the same song & dance routine that’s been used for decades to sideline the MBTA and allow Beacon Hill to keep kicking the can down the road. This is the time where we need boldness, political bravery and decisive action, not months or years of hand wringing. We know what’s wrong with the T. Governor Patrick had the T studied by the former CEO of John Hancock to lay out its problems. There should be few questions about what’s wrong with the T – what we need is a plan to fix it.

To that end, we need to keep up pressure on our State Legislators to fix this problem they created (Or exacerbated, depending on how you want to look at it). The culpability of the Legislature in this is very clear.

If you look at how many members of the Legislature represent towns served by the MBTA subway system alone (Not Commuter Rail or Ferry), these cities & towns represent 23% of the House and 28% of the Senate (and the numbers are way higher once we add in the Commuter Rail). And where have these members been in the news? I’ve contacted my Rep and my Senator on numerous occasions and have heard back nothing. We need to make our voices heard! These members should demand action from House Speaker DeLeo and Senate President Rosenberg. (DeLeo, BTW represents Revere – directly served by the MBTA Blue Line – and Winthrop, where undoubtedly many members of the community depend on the T to get to work in Boston).

As Somerville Mayor has said: “If we won’t make the necessary investments to keep our economic center viable, then why should the private sector invest its money?”

I urge you to contact your Legislators and let them know we need to fix the T TODAY.

You can find your Legislators on the MA Legislature website or from Open States.

This list represents those Legislators who cover the towns & cities served by the MBTA subway (Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Malden, Milton, Newton, Quincy, Revere & Somerville). If your Leg isn’t on this list, look them up!

Legislator Chamber District Party Phone Number Email Address
Aaron Michlewitz House DISTRICT: 3rd Suffolk D 617-722-2240 Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov
Angelo M. Scaccia House DISTRICT: 14th Suffolk D 617-722-2060 Angelo.Scaccia@mahouse.gov
Bruce J. Ayers House DISTRICT: 1st Norfolk D 617-722-2230 Bruce.Ayers@mahouse.gov
Byron Rushing House DISTRICT: 9th Suffolk D 617-722-2783 Byron.Rushing@mahouse.gov
Christine P. Barber House DISTRICT: 34th Middlesex D 617-722-2425 Christine.Barber@mahouse.gov
Daniel Cullinane House DISTRICT: 12th Suffolk D 617-722-2006 Daniel.Cullinane@mahouse.gov
Daniel Hunt House DISTRICT: 13th Suffolk D 617-722-2060 Daniel.Hunt@mahouse.gov
Daniel J. Ryan House DISTRICT: 2nd Suffolk D 617-722-2396 Dan.Ryan@mahouse.gov
David M. Rogers House DISTRICT: 24th Middlesex D 617-722-2400 Dave.Rogers@mahouse.gov
Denise Provost House DISTRICT: 27th Middlesex D 617-722-2263 Denise.Provost@mahouse.gov
Edward F. Coppinger House DISTRICT: 10th Suffolk D 617-722-2304 Edward.Coppinger@mahouse.gov
Elizabeth A. Malia House DISTRICT: 11th Suffolk D 617-722-2060 Liz.Malia@mahouse.gov
Evandro Carvalho House DISTRICT: 5th Suffolk D 617-722-2396 Evandro.Carvalho@mahouse.gov
Frank I. Smizik House DISTRICT: 15th Norfolk D 617-722-2676 Frank.Smizik@mahouse.gov
Gloria L. Fox House DISTRICT: 7th Suffolk D 617-722-2810 Gloria.Fox@mahouse.gov
Jay Livingstone House DISTRICT: 8th Suffolk D 617-722-2011 Jay.Livingstone@mahouse.gov
Jeffrey Sánchez House DISTRICT: 15th Suffolk D 617-722-2130 Jeffrey.sanchez@mahouse.gov
John J. Lawn, Jr. House DISTRICT: 10th Middlesex D 617-722-2304 John.Lawn@mahouse.gov
Jonathan Hecht House DISTRICT: 29th Middlesex D 617-722-2140 Jonathan.Hecht@mahouse.gov
Kay Khan House DISTRICT: 11th Middlesex D 617-722-2011 Kay.Khan@mahouse.gov
Kevin G. Honan House DISTRICT: 17th Suffolk D 617-722-2470 Kevin.Honan@mahouse.gov
Marjorie C. Decker House DISTRICT: 25th Middlesex D 617-722-2430 Marjorie.Decker@mahouse.gov
Mark J. Cusack House DISTRICT: 5th Norfolk D 617-722-2637 Mark.Cusack@mahouse.gov
Michael J. Moran House DISTRICT: 18th Suffolk D 617-722-2014 Michael.Moran@mahouse.gov
Nick Collins House DISTRICT: 4th Suffolk D 617-722-2080 Nick.Collins@mahouse.gov
Paul Brodeur House DISTRICT: 32nd Middlesex D 617-722-2030 Paul.Brodeur@mahouse.gov
Paul J. Donato House DISTRICT: 35th Middlesex D 617-722-2040 Paul.Donato@mahouse.gov
Robert A. DeLeo House DISTRICT: 19th Suffolk D 617-722-2500 Robert.DeLeo@mahouse.gov
Ronald Mariano House DISTRICT: 3rd Norfolk D 617-722-2300 Ronald.Mariano@mahouse.gov
RoseLee Vincent House DISTRICT: 16th Suffolk D 617-722-2430 RoseLee.Vincent@mahouse.gov
Russell E. Holmes House DISTRICT: 6th Suffolk D 617-722-2220 Russell.Holmes@mahouse.gov
Ruth B. Balser House DISTRICT: 12th Middlesex D 617-722-2396 Ruth.Balser@mahouse.gov
Steven Ultrino House DISTRICT: 33rd Middlesex D 617-722-2425 Steven.Ultrino@mahouse.gov
Tackey Chan House DISTRICT: 2nd Norfolk D 617-722-2080 Tackey.Chan@mahouse.gov
Timothy J. Toomey, Jr. House DISTRICT: 26th Middlesex D 617-722-2380 Timothy.Toomey@mahouse.gov
Walter F. Timilty House DISTRICT: 7th Norfolk D 617-722-2230 Walter.Timilty@mahouse.gov
Anthony W. Petruccelli Senate DISTRICT: First Suffolk and Middlesex D 617-722-1634 Anthony.Petruccelli@masenate.gov
Brian A. Joyce Senate DISTRICT: Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth D 617-722-1643 Brian.Joyce@masenate.gov
Cynthia S. Creem Senate DISTRICT: First Middlesex and Norfolk D 617-722-1639 Cynthia.Creem@masenate.gov
Jason M. Lewis Senate DISTRICT: Fifth Middlesex D 617-722-1206 Jason.Lewis@masenate.gov
John F. Keenan Senate DISTRICT: Norfolk and Plymouth D 617-722-1494 John.Keenan@masenate.gov
Linda Dorcena Forry Senate DISTRICT: First Suffolk D 617-722-1150 Linda.DorcenaForry@masenate.gov
Michael F. Rush Senate DISTRICT: Norfolk and Suffolk D 617-722-1348 Mike.Rush@masenate.gov
Patricia D. Jehlen Senate DISTRICT: Second Middlesex D 617-722-1578 Patricia.Jehlen@masenate.gov
Sal N. DiDomenico Senate DISTRICT: Middlesex and Suffolk D 617-722-1650 Sal.DiDomenico@masenate.gov
Sonia Chang-Diaz Senate DISTRICT: Second Suffolk D 617-722-1673 Sonia.Chang-Diaz@masenate.gov
William N. Brownsberger Senate DISTRICT: Second Suffolk and Middlesex D 617-722-1280 William.Brownsberger@masenate.gov

 

I also encourage EVERYONE to attend their local Commonwealth Conversations meeting that is being held by the Senate leadership. The meetings for Western & Central Mass have already happened, but the rest of the state will have their meetings over the next few weeks:

Region Date Time Location Description
North Shore 23-Feb 7:00 PM Salvatore’s Restaurant Please join the tour and have your voice heard at the town hall meeting that is open to the public at Salvatore’s Restaurant at 354 Merrimack St, Lawrence, MA 01843
South Shore 25-Feb 6:30 PM Braintree Town Hall, Cahill Auditorium; 1 John F. Kennedy Memorial Drive, Braintree MA 02184 Please join the tour and have your voice heard at the town hall meeting that is open to the public.
Metro West 2-Mar 7:00 PM Newton North High School Please join the tour and have your voice heard at the town hall meeting that is open to the public at Newton North High School (457 Walnut St, Newton MA 02460)
Metro Boston 4-Mar 6:30 PM Roxbury Community College, Media Arts Center Please join the tour and have your voice heard at the town hall meeting that is open to the public at Roxbury Community College Media Arts Center (1234 Columbus Avenue Roxbury, MA 02120)
South Coast 11-Mar 6:30 PM Bridgewater State University – TBD Please join the tour and have your voice heard at the town hall meeting that is open to the public
Southeast 18-Mar 6:00 PM Admiral’s Hall Auditorium in the Harrington Building at Massachusetts Maritime Academy (101 Academy Drive, Buzzards Bay, MA 02532). Please join the tour and have your voice heard at the town hall meeting that is open to the public.

 

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Comments

  1. rcmauro says

    February 18, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    Back in my web dev days I would have used some system to mask the exact email addresses so all these people don’t get spammed. Not sure if that is still recommended? Although the spam might be deserved in some cases…

    • chris-rich says

      February 18, 2015 at 2:07 pm

      They probably get crawled a lot as it is. If personal e mail addresses were provided, it might be an issue.

      It would be interesting to know what sort of filters they set up on their end.

      • Patrick says

        February 18, 2015 at 2:20 pm

        I pulled all of these from the MA Legislature website where they’re listed out in plain text and hyperlink format.

  2. paulsimmons says

    February 18, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    So far, Boston, and Boston area voters are divided, per a massINC/WBUR poll released today:

    …most transportation experts, including conservatives and business leaders, think the system needs more money, or at least relief from some of the debt load that consumes a large part of its budget. Both the Governor and House Speaker Robert DeLeo have said they want to understand what went wrong before committing more money…

    Voters are less equivocal about the root causes of the T’s problems. Two-thirds think the current failure is due to the T’s aging equipment; less than a fifth (17 percent) blame bad management during the storm. And when asked who is most responsible, more than half point to the lawmakers who have controlled T’s purse strings: the legislature (27 percent) and past governors (25 percent).

    Voters want action, but they are less clear about what should be done. They are split over the root causes of the T’s multi-billion dollar maintenance backlog. They are also divided as to whether the T should halt expansion to focus on fixing the core system, or balance both. On the question of paying more in taxes and fees to fix the T, half are in favor and half opposed. We didn’t go too deep on this question in this regional poll, since new revenues would be a statewide issue. Our past work suggests the details of revenue proposals for transportation can make a big difference in support levels.

    Link to cover article

    Poll Toplines

    Poll Crosstabs

  3. paulsimmons says

    February 18, 2015 at 4:04 pm

    …having nothing to do with competent or accountable transportation planning:

    However, the biggest obstacle to dealing head-on with the MBTA crisis is not Beacon Hill’s “reform before revenue” mindset. It is the expansion reflex that has solidified into a ‘you got yours, now we get ours’ paradigm…

    Bringing the MBTA up to modern standards requires billions, money that other regions of the state aren’t willing to give up to divert to Big Dig Boston. Again.

    Rosenberg admitted as much. “The unending appetite to expand public transit, for good reason, basically has resulted in building a system that is inadequately supported in both its size and its age,” he said Tuesday. “There is significant demand for more commuter rail…in western Massachusetts [and] other parts of the state.”

    In other words, let them ride the T.

    • SomervilleTom says

      February 18, 2015 at 4:22 pm

      Expansion is to public transportation what sales is to a private company and evangelism to a religious organization. A company that stops investing in expanding sales is DEAD. An executive team that proposes to cut sales spending is choosing to kill the enterprise.

      Of course, killing the enterprise — “starving the beast” — has been the desire of far too many of our leaders. We are now seeing the results.

      I’m confused about the meaning of the third quoted paragraph. Since there is “significant demand for more commuter rail…in western Massachusetts [and] other parts of the state”, then that says to me that expansion plans are an appropriate response to that “significant demand”.

      I do speculate about some motivations for the odd resistance to expansion:
      – It increases the influence of now-outlying regions. That will change the political dynamics of those areas.
      – It increases the wealth of those regions. That will change the dynamics of who controls the agenda
      – It increases the minority population of those regions. That will change the dynamics of how legislators campaign.

      During the all-too-brief time that I lived on Cape Cod (in Hyannisport), the most common objection I heard to re-establishing commuter rail to the Cape was “we don’t want all those *** here.” In Medford and Arlington, the resistance to expanding the Green and Red Line (respectively) was similarly “it will bring more of the undesirable element to our town”.

      Whatever the problem is here, the opposition to expansion is inconsistent with the apparent will of the voters.

      • paulsimmons says

        February 18, 2015 at 4:41 pm

        …if it’s sustainable.

        What I’m seeing (and this is not limited to mass transit) is an addiction to vanity projects paid, presumably, by the Tooth Fairy.

        To his credit, Senator Rosenberg addressed this, and I applaud his intellectual honesty and political courage for doing so:

        “This is de Tocqueville writ large,” Rosenberg said in a meeting with reporters at his State House office. “That’s the America we live in. We want excellent public services. We expect our government to work efficiently and effectively, but at the same time we’re not willing to invest the resources where needed.”

        The reference in the paragraph you cited refers to growing resistance to Boston-centric projects from elsewhere in the Commonwealth, not the probability that transit projects will expand there.

        …the opposition to expansion is inconsistent with the apparent will of the voters

        It’s also equally inconsistent with the apparent (and demonstrably stronger) will of the voters to oppose new taxes and fees.

        Something’s gotta give…

        • chris-rich says

          February 18, 2015 at 5:08 pm

          And, if you think about it, what is this meager rail expansion if not an effort to get out to constituents that aren’t in the metro ring?

          The people who pack the trains for sports spectacles do so because they dread driving and finding parking in Boston.

          As a lifelong non driver it took me a while to appreciate what an insane time waste the search for parking is in congested cities like my own neighborhood.

          All I gotta park is my ass. The problem of seeking a berth for a fat metal thing is not mine. But I’ve scouted it because it’s helpful for the wretches who do and I like being helpful.

        • paulsimmons says

          February 18, 2015 at 5:10 pm

          From the Globe:

          Senator William Brownsberger, a Belmont Democrat, said if it were up to him, the Legislature would seek “greater funding sources” for the T, but he acknowledged that any MBTA fix would probably happen within the no-new-taxes paradigm.

        • Charley on the MTA says

          February 20, 2015 at 10:57 am

          that’s getting blamed for extending the T beyond its means? The New Bedford/Fall River line? The extension from Worcester to Springfield?

          It’s the *response* to Boston-centricity that’s stretching the system. Because these things are popular!

          Hmmm …

      • chris-rich says

        February 18, 2015 at 4:48 pm

        Except that they moved there anyway. So much for that plan.

        I remember that it was said to be the reason the Red Line just stopped in a wetland on the Cambridge/Belmont border.

        But it left Arlington with fairly intensive bus service as a fix to basic coverage as if those scary coloreds don’t also used buses.

        There are few more preposterous and repulsive spectacles than White Masshole Bigots agonizing about spectral, phantom coloreds.

        As a white masshole, I’m often considered ‘safe’ company when those knuckle draggers wind up a good racial detestation drool fest.

        I don’t try to argue, I just cross them off the list of acceptable people to know.

    • chris-rich says

      February 18, 2015 at 4:34 pm

      Or the outcome of lawsuits in the case of Old Colony/Greenbush.

      There are often Fed Matches or initiatives involved where it is Mass getting a share of stimulus money during the recession.

      http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/t_projects/ is the current project list. Most of it is fixing existing stuff other than the Green Line Extension.

      There is a small extension to West Fitchburg but that line used to go to Gardner. So is it expansion when it involves route restoration?

      Wouldn’t true expansion be something like making a complete new line out of whole cloth to places not served like a Middleton Line?

      It still looks like dog whistle whining about that law suit. I’m surprised it isn’t accompanied by activist judiciary grumbles.

      When I looked over a lot of the system since I came back, it looked like the Patrick administration was mainly trying to claw back stuff that was taken away in the long run since Weld.

      The poll data looks pretty good in the sense that the public sampled have a fairly fair assessment and are trying to give the system the benefit of the doubt.

  4. Gumby says

    February 18, 2015 at 7:15 pm

    DeLeo’s home town of Winthrop is so into driving that they don’t even have MBTA buses. Winthrop buses are outsourced to a private bus company

    • Christopher says

      February 18, 2015 at 8:09 pm

      It has always baffled me that a Rep. from Winthrop would not be more sympathetic to the T.

    • stomv says

      February 19, 2015 at 12:42 pm

      Who owns Paul Revere Transportation anyway?

      • chris-rich says

        February 19, 2015 at 1:03 pm

        http://alternateconceptsinc.com/history.html.

        Smells like nepotistic featherbedding, a common characteristic of the ward heeler species (Grabbus buckus)

        • stomv says

          February 20, 2015 at 10:52 am

          but do they own it?

          • chris-rich says

            February 20, 2015 at 11:44 am

            I get the sense that these things are like deal packagers where the fleet probably belongs to some leasing company who also handles payroll and they ‘own’ whatever deal is set up for the duration of a contract.

            That’s a common trend in service sector schemes to divert public money into private channels.

          • TheBestDefense says

            February 20, 2015 at 12:53 pm

            that has two people, Jane Daly and James F. O’Leary serving in all five of the required positions (President, Treasurer, Secretary and two Directors) to be properly incorporated. Their offices are at One Liberty Square, Boston.

            Daly and O’Leary have long histories at the MBTA. The most telling language about the nature of the company comes in their history statement on their website:

            Today, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, ACI and its several thousand employees serve customers from New England to the Caribbean and from the east coast to the southwest and Colorado. ACI provides its customers with a diversified, bilingual team of professional employees who are dedicated to safely and efficiently managing many modes of transportation systems.

            Their claim to having several thousand employees across the country leads me to believe that they are the direct owners of Paul Revere Transportation, as it seems unlikely that a company with that large a payroll would not be the owners of a transportation company in their own backyard. Capitalization of a company with only two bus routes in the region would be minimal and I expect a tightly held firm like ACI would not want to act as a manager for another company and risk the failure of the other.

            • chris-rich says

              February 20, 2015 at 1:36 pm

              I just couldn’t tell how compartmentalized the set up was.

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