T notes: Gearing up for new commuter rail contract

Control board wants transpo secretary on oversight board

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Dec 10, 2018

THE MBTA IS PREPARING to hire a consulting team to help the agency sort through a number of complicated scenarios for contracting for commuter rail service after the existing deal with Keolis Commuter Services expires in June 2022. Under the existing contract, the T owns the rails, locomotives, and coaches and Keolis maintains the fleet(...)

T to consider privatizing some bus service

New stats indicate agency failing on service delivery

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Dec 10, 2018

THE CHAIRMAN of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board raised the possibility on Monday of expanding the authority’s fleet of buses and using private contractors to both operate and maintain the vehicles. The T has contracts in place with the unions representing bus operators and machinists that allow the transit agency to privatize operations(...)

$10 fare helped boost revenues in 2018 by 4.6 percent

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Dec 10, 2018

MEMBERS OF THE MBTA’S Fiscal and Management Control Board weren’t pleased on Monday when they learned a largely successful six-month pilot program offering commuter rail customers a $10 ride-as-much-as-you-want weekend pass is coming to a halt so a federally required equity analysis can be done. The three board members at the meeting ordered staff to(...)

T notes: Capital delivery arm has 80 openings

Early morning bus pilot doing well, late-night pilot off to slow start

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Dec 3, 2018

THE MBTA’S CAPITAL DELIVERY arm, which is tasked with spending $8 billion over the next five years, is struggling to ramp up its hiring to oversee projects. Beth Larkin, the T’s assistant general manager for capital delivery, told the Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday that her team has 180 employees but is currently(...)

MBTA ponders its role in ‘mobility marketplace’

Could the T become the payment platform for everything?

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Dec 3, 2018

THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD took some tentative steps on Monday to begin exploring the transit authority’s role in a fast-changing “mobility marketplace” where ride-hailing apps, taxis, bikeshares, car-sharing companies, and eventually automated vehicles will all be vying for riders. In a presentation to the Fiscal and Management Control Board, three MBTA staffers suggested the agency’s(...)

T notes: Ridership, even at peak times on Red Line, continues to decline

Paratransit costs are going up, not down

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Nov 26, 2018

MBTA RIDERSHIP is continuing to decline, even on the Red Line at peak travel times. T officials for a couple years have been trying to understand why ridership is trending down at a time when the Greater Boston economy is booming. One promising sign during the downturn has been data indicating ridership was up on(...)

MBTA pension costs rising at fast pace

Shortsleeve calls trend unsustainable; O’Brien blames T's own early retirement offers

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Nov 26, 2018

THE MBTA OVERSIGHT BOARD raised concerns that pension costs at the transit agency are spiraling out of control, and called on unions and management to come to some accord to rein in spending. Paul Brandley, the T’s chief financial officer, updated the Fiscal and Management Control Board on the agency’s spending and revenues through the(...)

Municipal input needed on next T oversight board

Debate over governance coming as control board nears sunset

By James Aloisi MBTA 0 Comments Nov 26, 2018

THE COMING NEW YEAR will present significant opportunities to advance the cause of sustainable mobility in Massachusetts. It’s not too early to begin to focus on seven specific areas that can (if resolved properly) have a powerfully positive impact on regional and urban mobility and, by extension, our economy and our quality of life. Those(...)

Mayors, city managers forming commuter rail coalition

Driscoll: ‘There needs to be a voice for commuter rail and its riders’

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Nov 21, 2018

MAYORS AND CITY MANAGERS across eastern Massachusetts are forming a coalition to advocate for the MBTA’s commuter rail system. Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, who is active in forming the coalition, said the commuter rail system often gets overlooked in discussions about transportation even though its impact is enormous in many communities. “It’s the lifeblood of(...)

Boston to boom, west and Cape shrink by 2040

Population projections will have big impact on where transportation money goes

By Jack Sullivan Commuter rail, Fiscal and Management Control Board, MBTA, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Technology 0 Comments Nov 19, 2018

THE STATE IS to grow by more than 13 percent by the year 2040 but much of that increase will balloon in and around Boston, with households shrinking and the overall population aging, according to data presented to state transportation officials Monday. The data was part of new models researchers are using to gauge where(...)