The Pioneer Institute released a report this week highlighting what it called a “sweetheart deal” for MBTA employees, but union officials are saying the deal isn’t as sweet as the […]
MBTA
Posted inTransportation
T ridership: Flat or flying high?
NO ONE CAN SEEM TO AGREE whether the glass is half full or half empty when it comes to MBTA ridership. In its annual report, the T’s Fiscal Management and […]
Posted inTransportation
Another $80 million debt for MBTA
THE CASH-STRAPPED MBTA, with a seemingly bottomless supply of bad financial news, received another jolt on Wednesday when an audit revealed the agency owes about $80 million to retired agency […]
Posted inTransportation
Report: MBTA knew two years ago about Green Line ext. overruns
MBTA OFFICIALS KNEW or should have known more than two years ago that the price of the Green Line extension was running far beyond initial estimates, long before officials say […]
Posted inTransportation
Galvin orders T to release Green Line ext. report
THE SECRETARY OF STATE HAS ORDERED the MBTA to release a sealed consultant’s report on the botched Green Line extension, saying the embattled agency could not withhold the document because […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Bridj revs up
AS THE MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board mulls axing late-night buses and trains to save money, the chances of some sort of wee-hours bus service surviving may rest with a […]
Posted inTransportation
T hires interim Green Line ext. team
THE MBTA ON MONDAY named an interim leadership team that will be charged with bringing the cost of the proposed Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford in line with […]
Posted inTransportation
T cites progress on structural deficit
MBTA OFFICIALS ON MONDAY said they are making progress in eliminating the T’s structural deficit and told the agency’s oversight board that major decisions must be made in the next […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
A Beacon Hill switcheroo
In 2013, a bill went into a legislative conference committee on Beacon Hill with a section limiting MBTA fare increases to 5 percent every two years. The section emerged from […]
Posted inTransportation
Lots of no-shows at value capture hearing
THE LEGISLATURE’S TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE heard testimony Wednesday on a bill that could help fund the cash-strapped Green Line Extension, but neither the communities that would provide the funding nor the […]
Posted inTransportation
T passes exempt from fare constraints
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION is adopting a definition of the word fare that would allow the MBTA to increase the prices of bus and subway passes at any time and by […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Commuter rail train derails in Andover
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A COMMUTER RAIL TRAIN without any passengers derailed north of the Andover station Tuesday morning, a day after MBTA overseers advanced two options for hiking fares this […]
Posted inTransportation
T to seek comment on 2 fare options
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD voted unanimously on Monday to seek public comment on two proposals that would raise base fares by either 5 or 10 percent while increasing the price […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
The MBTA, the gift that keeps on giving
“Unpopular, even painful” are the words that will define the MBTA for the foreseeable future. If nothing else those three words are guaranteed to bump “reform before revenue” off the […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
MBTA Control Board lays out ‘tough choices’
The MBTA Fiscal Management and Control Board outlined the steps that the MBTA needs to take to stabilize its finances and operations in its first annual report released Tuesday. The […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
MBTA revenue debate never clean
The new MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board is learning – or at least confirming – that there is nothing simple when dealing with financial issues for the nation’s fourth-largest […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T leaders say fares can go up 10%
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS MBTA LEADERS CONSIDER FARE INCREASES of as much as 10 percent starting July 1 and the potential for fares based on ability to pay, a […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T maintenance worker paid $315,000
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HIGHEST-PAID MBTA EMPLOYEE has been paid about $315,000 so far in 2015, working 4,455 hours, MBTA Chief Administrator Brian Shortsleeve told the T’s Fiscal and […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
‘Twas the night before …
‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS And I jumped out of bed With visions of runaway trains In my head. My dreams, once sullied by Goblins and witches Now were […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Little support for boosting Green Line state aid
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TWO MEMBERS of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board of Directors on Monday said they are “reluctant” to put more money towards the Green Line extension […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
GLX: It’s not just about transportation
I GUESS EVERY ORGANIZATION needs a mission statement. So in 2010, the senior staff of the newly created MassDOT was taking a crack at it, one day, around the secretary’s […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA dumps Green Line contractors
THE MBTA ON THURSDAY CANCELED THE CONTRACTS of the four major firms working on the Green Line extension and announced it was also going to shake up its own internal […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Pollack’s dilemma: Be careful what you wish for
When Gov. Charlie Baker tapped Stephanie Pollack as transportation secretary, it was a choice that surprised many on both sides. How would one of the state’s most passionate advocates for […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Red Line train goes 4 stops without operator
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A 51-year-old Red Line motorman who saw his train exiting Braintree Station without anyone at the controls early Thursday morning quickly alerted MBTA personnel at the […]