Tracking Transportation

Keeping track of transportation

T ridership keeps falling as staff infections rise

18 employees, including 10 bus drivers, test positive

By Bruce Mohl COVID-19, MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Mar 30, 2020

MBTA GENERAL MANAGER Steve Poftak disclosed on Monday that 18 employees, including 10 bus drivers, have tested positive for COVID-19. The other employees who tested positive include one subway and Green Line operator along with six other non-customer-facing workers – a bus inspector, a subway supervisor, a fare equipment technician, a construction division inspector, a(...)

Virus notes: MBTA fare revenue off $35m in March

New lines (not those kind of lines) at grocery stores, pharmacies

By Bruce Mohl, Colman M. Herman and Sarah Betancourt Charlie Baker, COVID-19, Marty Walsh, MBTA 0 Comments Mar 25, 2020

MBTA OFFICIALS SAID on Wednesday that they expect fare revenue to fall as much as $35 million short of budget targets in March, but the transit authority is also being squeezed financially on a number of other fronts. T ridership has fallen dramatically, and officials said daily fare revenue, which accounts for a third of(...)

3 T bus drivers test positive for COVID-19

Agency slow to respond; Cabot Garage cleaning ordered

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Mar 25, 2020

THREE MBTA BUS DRIVERS operating out of the Cabot Garage in South Boston tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, but the transit authority did not disclose the information until shortly after 1 p.m. on Wednesday, hours after news outlets began reporting on the story. An MBTA press release provided no information on which buses the drivers(...)

Transportation officials struggle with the downturn

Ridership way off at the T; toll revenues could fall $38m

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Mar 23, 2020

STATE TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS are starting to do financial and workforce contingency planning in case the drastic falloff in MBTA ridership and toll revenue in response to the coronavirus outbreak continues for an extended period of time. The numbers are way down and most transportation officials expect them to dip even more with Monday’s order by(...)

MBTA ridership continues to plummet

Subway down 72% on Tuesday; buses off 50%

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Mar 18, 2020

THE MBTA estimated 106,000 people rode the subway system on Tuesday, which is about a fifth of the normal passenger level. Bus ridership was also off, with an estimated 198,000 passengers on Monday, down about 50 percent from normal levels. As the coronavirus prompts more and more people to stay in their homes, the T(...)

MBTA ridership plummets, service being reduced

Subway ridership off an estimated 48 percent on Friday

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Mar 16, 2020

WITH RIDERSHIP PLUMMETING, the MBTA said it would reduce most subway and bus service to Saturday levels and eliminate ferries starting on Tuesday. “These changes are being made based on guidance from public health professionals and have been developed according to several criteria that seek to protect the health and safety of MBTA employees and(...)

New T rail cars built on backs of children

Mica in vehicles mined in Madagascar by child laborers

By Sean Garballey MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Mar 13, 2020

AS CO-CHAIR of the MBTA Caucus, I would like to share and expand on concerns readers may not be fully aware of involving CRRC, the Chinese state-owned enterprise that is manufacturing new rail cars for use by the T. CRRC claims to operate in accord with the highest standards for manufacturing and Buy America rules,(...)

T forgot raises for top 2 officials

A bonus for General Manager Poftak being discussed

By Colman M. Herman MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Mar 11, 2020

THE MBTA FAILED to give its top two officials pay raises they were owed and no one, including the officials themselves, noticed the error until a reporter asked about them. Under the three-year contract General Manager Steve Poftak signed with the T in January 2019, he received a starting salary of $320,000 and automatic raises(...)

Track info to disappear 1 minute before departure

Measure seen as way to improve passenger safety

By Chris Lisinski MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Mar 10, 2020

SOUTH STATION commuters who leave themselves little time to get to their platforms may soon need to change their habits or risk missing their trains altogether. Starting on March 18, display boards inside South Station will remove track information for trains one minute before their scheduled departures. Any passenger who arrives within that range will(...)

TCI: Meager benefits, high costs

Beacon Hill Institute study flags concerns

By William Burke and Laurie Belsito Energy, Environment, Taxes and Budget Issues 0 Comments Mar 10, 2020

THE TRANSPORTATION AND CLIMATE INITIATIVE (TCI) bills itself as a regional collaboration designed to improve transportation, develop clean energy sources, and reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector. To accomplish these goals, TCI proposes implementing a regional “cap and trade” scheme whereby a cap, established by individual states in collaboration with regional authorities, would be(...)