Following The Federal Inspectors Report The Mbta Has Its Work Cut Out For It

“We hope today is a turning point for the culture of safety,” said Paul Kincaid, FTA partner. “And they’re going to start making the right decisions that provide a safe, reliable ride for their riders throughout Boston.” The near-unprecedented federal overhaul of the T’s subway system came after a bloody string of safety incidents, including the April death of a Red Line passenger who police said ran into the side of a moving train at Broadway Station with his right hand trapped between the closed doors of the subway before he lost his balance and was dragged between the wall of the train and the station. The T’s safety problems have gone largely unchecked, the FTA found, in part because the state agency charged with overseeing T safety, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, does not provide adequate oversight. The result is a transit system reeling from crisis to crisis, federal inspectors said. “The combination of overburdened staff and aging assets has resulted in the organization being overwhelmed, chronic fatigue for key positions in the organization, a lack of resources for training and oversight, and leadership priorities that emphasize meeting capital requirements over passenger operations, preventive maintenance. even security,” the report said. In response to the findings, Gov. Charlie Baker will ask the Legislature for $200 million for the T to address the FTA findings, he said in a statement, and $10 million for a training academy to help with recruiting. And the MBTA plans to open a new office to be called the Office of Quality, Compliance and Oversight, headed by Katie Choe, the current head of capital distribution. Baker said he appreciated T’s “thorough review.” “This report will make the system safer and more reliable for T riders and workers,” he said in the statement. “We look forward to working with workers, MBTA leaders, legislators and riders to deliver what MBTA riders deserve. DPU has also taken a number of steps to address the FTA’s findings, and our administration will ensure that it has all the necessary resources to strengthen its oversight of the MBTA.” But senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey pointed the finger at Baker and his team, who have been in office since 2015, saying in a joint statement: “It is unacceptable that the MBTA has forced riders to bear the brunt of Baker’s failures Administration. Others, including transit advocates, called for an immediate course correction on the T. Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne urged the next governor to prioritize investment in the T. (Baker is not running for re-election this November.) The MBTA has long been warned about the consequences of slowing investment in its operations. The FTA’s conclusions Wednesday are similar to the findings of a 2019 panel of outside experts who conducted a safety audit of the MBTA after several derailments, and appear to show little progress the T has made since then. As of January 2019, the MBTA had a higher overall rate of reported safety incidents and a higher rate of derailments than its peers, the FTA report said. In mid-June, the FTA ordered the T to immediately address four issues: faulty safety certifications among staff, deteriorating sections of subway lines, dangerous understaffing at its operations control center and repeated train accidents. In response, the MBTA reduced service on the Red, Orange and Blue Lines on June 20 by more than 20 percent, then closed the Orange Line for 30 days for track upgrades. While the FTA conducted its inspection and finalized its report, a process that spanned from April to August, T riders and workers continued to endure safety problems. These included derailments, runaway trains, collisions and a fire in July on an Orange Line train on a bridge over a river. His 90-page report included 20 findings about the MBTA and dozens of required actions in four categories: managing the impact of operations, maintenance and capital project requirements on the existing workforce; prioritization of safety management information; effectiveness of safety communication; and operating conditions and policies, procedures and training. The FTA similarly took over the DPU. “The DPU has not used its authority to ensure that safety issues at the MBTA are identified and resolved,” the report said. The FTA directed the DPU to complete a legal assessment of its independence from the MBTA given its “joint agency reporting relationship with the Governor.” The report also said the DPU “has not demonstrated the ability to address security issues and concerns identified” by the FTA. In a statement, DPU spokesman Troy Wall said the agency will add more staff, including a new director of rail safety, and increase safety checks. Under Baker, the MBTA has made investments in long-term projects — like the Green Line Extension and new Red and Orange Line cars — a top priority. The T spent more than $2 billion on such projects in fiscal year 2022, up from about $875 million in fiscal year 2018, the report said. “At the heart” of many of the MBTA’s safety problems is too little focus on the agency’s day-to-day operations and maintenance, the report said, while the T is “still recovering from the long-term impact of funding cuts made in 2015-2019.” . . which resulted in the reduction of hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of positions.” The result, the FTA said, is too few workers to operate subway service or manage and certify the safety of its long-term projects. In 2019, the safety review board recommended that the MBTA determine the resources it needs to operate the service safely, manage preventive maintenance and support long-term projects. The T told FTA inspectors that the agency has not completed the analysis because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said. Meanwhile, the T moved forward with long-term projects and moved $500 million from its operating budget to its capital budget earlier this year, the report said. “Key elements of this approach significantly impact preventive maintenance inspections and repairs for the aging system, exacerbating the deterioration of aging infrastructure and assets,” the report said. Inspectors’ interviews with T staff indicated the service could be short as many as 2,000 employees, the report said. “The T will definitely need to be staffed,” Kincaid, the FTA official, told reporters. “They have been involved in a substantial recruitment program and this is one we will be working with them on. . . to get as many people as possible who are good quality transportation workers who want to come work and serve the people of Massachusetts.” At a separate event Wednesday, T General Manager Steve Poftak said the agency expects FTA to be closely involved in its safety efforts “for years.” The T should submit a workforce analysis to the FTA, outlining how many more employees it needs. “I think then there’s an important conversation to be had: what is the appropriate level of funding for the T going forward?” he said. “We can’t just ask the existing workforce to do more and more. I think we definitely embrace that here at T.” In its report, the FTA also addressed the apparent lack of understanding about safety risks among MBTA leadership. The FTA found that T leadership is looking at “raw, unanalyzed safety data” instead of useful information about safety issues in order to know what to prioritize and where to direct resources. “In this context everything becomes a safety priority, overwhelming supervisors, managers, senior managers and executive management, and resources are allocated to address symptoms rather than causes of safety concerns,” the report said. The FTA said the MBTA relies heavily on its safety hotline, an anonymous tip line for employees, and likely doesn’t hear enough safety feedback from frontline employees. The FTA found that workers were violating MBTA safety rules, a lack of effective safety checklists and poor radio quality at “several key locations,” contributing to safety incidents. The agency stressed the need for more safety oversight of MBTA construction sites, citing recent safety incidents such as “work vehicle derailment, electrocution, fire and smoke, burns and falls.” “The T didn’t get here overnight and it won’t be back in good repair overnight,” Kincaid said during Wednesday’s briefing. “There will have to be, unfortunately, patience on the part of the T riders.” Travis Andersen of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Taylor Dolven can be reached at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @taydolven.

title: “Following The Federal Inspectors Report The Mbta Has Its Work Cut Out For It Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-30” author: “Scott Long”

title: “Following The Federal Inspectors Report The Mbta Has Its Work Cut Out For It Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-13” author: “Christopher Neal”

title: “Following The Federal Inspectors Report The Mbta Has Its Work Cut Out For It Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-21” author: “Fernando Peacock”