Here are two related facts:
1. Â The MBTA proposed a package of fare hikes and service cuts yesterday, which could jack up subway fares by as much as 70 cents per ride.
2. There were major service issues on the Commuter Rail and Red Line today, due to “inclement weather,” or in other words, the cold. It seemed like half of my Twitter feed was stuck in Red Line hell this morning. (The MBTA’s Twitter feed, which listed all the delays, was pretty ugly itself.)
Now, forgive me because I’ve said this quite a few times before, but the reason service on the T is so bad is pretty simple: it’s broke. With a projected $161 million budget deficit this year and roughly $8.6 billion in debt, it doesn’t have enough money to fix the trains it has and it certainly can’t afford to buy the new ones it needs. Right now, there are $3 billion worth of backlogged maintenance problems in the system. Over 60 percent of Red Line cars are officially outdated — as in they’re so old they shouldn’t be running anymore — or will be within a year. It’s no wonder there were breakdowns this morning. When I was working on this story on all the troubles with the T, then MBTA GM and current Transportation Secretary Richard Davey explained to me how cold weather was murder on old trains. Put simply, when it’s cold out, there will be more breakdowns. That’s why I tweeted yesterday:
“Idle #MBTA thought: Nobody’s benefited more from this warm winter than the T. Old cars die when it gets really cold. Remember last year?”
Which brings us back to the proposed fare hike, which would be the T’s first since 2007. It’s no fun, but let’s face it, the MBTA needs the money. If you really want to know why service on T is so bad, it’s because for years we’ve put off really paying for the system, instead funding the thing with debt. It goes back to the disastrous “Forward Funding” plan the legislature put in place in 2000 to bankroll the system. The plan stipulated that the T would receive 20 percent of the state’s sales tax income to fund its operations.
Problem is, over the last decade, the state’s sales tax receipts have been much lower than expected (think about all the commerce that has migrated online, where you pay no sales tax). Rather than going back and making sure the MBTA had the money it needed, the legislature instead left the T shortchanged, causing it to borrow every year to close its budget deficits. The problem with that, though, is that all that borrowing has dramatically increased the debt service payments the MBTA has to make every year, always making the next year’s budget deficit even worse. You see this downward spiral we’re in, right? Right now, the T’s debt service payments are so high that the authority basically pays as much annually to cover its debt service as it takes in collecting fares from riders. Think about that for a second.
Really, the only solution for fixing the MBTA’s woes is a comprehensive overhaul by the legislature of the way the system is funded. In the meantime, though, you might bite your tongue before complaining about these new proposed fare hikes. I get that it’s frustrating to have to pay more for something that doesn’t work right now. And yeah, the MBTA hasn’t always been a picture of efficient operations. But those problems pale in comparison to the very fundamental flaws in the system set up to finance the MBTA. If you want to really know why T service is so bad, it’s because we were never willing to pay what it costs to run an on-time transportation system in the first place.
First and foremost, I support higher fees for a more reliable and safer public transportation system. America is behind in implementing new technologies, but it does makes sense because we’re the first to create it (and others replicated and improved) and it is much harder & expensive to overhaul the entire system. Second, I do support unions at some levels, which I will go into more details next.
My issue with the MBTA is its workers. A good 50% of the ones I met are lazy and protected/benefited WAY too much by the union. Plenty of horror stories and my own can be found online. The imbecile workers are cancerous and need to be trimmed off before any further changes are made to bring down the 8.6 Bil deficit.
Does this author work for the T ? Calling the service bad is a compliment serivce is beyond terrible. The irroneous hikes have absolutly NOTHING to do with service. This will be the 3rd time rates increase in about 3 years. The hikes have everything to do with the fact that it is a state run union beaucracy. They are broke because they pay uneducated dengerates 60k /yr. for 20 years to only collect a pension of about 50k for the rest of their worthless exsistence. The only way the T will ever be fixed is if its becomes privatized. FACT not OPINION!
Not particularly articulate, Andy. And the spelling is horrible. But you have exactly the right answer. The T, much like the Pike, is a glaring example of what is wrong with Massachusetts government agencies and quasi-agencies.
These agencies are bloated with fat-cat, connected do-nothings who are only interested in sucking the Commonwealth dry for their personal benefit without remorse and without concern for the taxpayers.
Completely agree. I am pretty far to the left on the political spectrum and normally I come down on the side of labor– not in this case. I have had so many horrible experiences with MBTA employees that is clear to me that sort of behavior is a systemic problem.
Once I happened to make the mistake of walking in the street through a bus stop because the sidewalk was too icy to cross over. The bus driver hit the gas and drove straight at me (it was not dark out). I literally had to run to get out of the way. I called the MBTA to report the incident, but as I never received any kind of follow-up call, I doubt anything was done about it.
I also once met a subway driver who told me he was furious about the driver who caused a crash a few years ago by texting while driving a subway train. I assumed he was furious with the guy for putting people’s lives at risk. No, he was furious that now he could get in trouble when he used his phone while driving the train.
I agree with the author. I think that if you surveyed most T Riders the majority would agree to fare hikes if it meant less delays and more reliable service. I was one of those people stuck on the Red Line this morning make me almost 40 minutes late for work. The MBTA seems have been doing more deferred maintenance than overhauling anything and its probably about time that they do. I don’t like the idea of my meager salary raise going to pay higher prices for the T or to park but I guess it will be better in the long run.
I am okay with higher fares to make much needed repairs and increase efficiency. And unlike other postings here, I have met many wonderful T workers that are doing their best to calmly and politely help riders, even those riders that treat T employees with disrespect for things beyond the employees’ control.
But I think the T needs to do a better job of informing passengers about problems. This morning at my stop on the Red Line (Quincy Adams), the announcement simply stated that there were delays due to a disabled train earlier this morning. Fine. But I might feel a little less frustration with these delays if I knew where they were, how long they would take to remedy, and when I could expect a train to arrive at Quincy Adams (e.g., “We are experiencing 30 to 40 minute delays due to a disabled train at Braintree Station. We are working hard to remedy this problem, but riders waiting at Quincy Adams can expect a train to arrive within 15 minutes. Thank you for your patience.”)
At least that way, I would feel more informed and appreciated as a customer despite these lengthy delays that inconvenience all riders.
I think you’re spot on, Jay. It’s a component of human psychology for sure. Most the business community is totally forgiving of late arrivals due to flawed public transportation. I can say this is particularly true for those that I have come in contact with the in the medical community. A simple email to a boss saying “T trouble, I’ll be in in about 40 minutes according to the MBTA update” would do wonders in avoiding confusion in early morning meetings, etc.
It would be such a simple thing to implement. They could even do a digital “premium” service where you get customized texts sent to you based on your route or WiFi access (unique code with monthly subscription fee…maybe a partnership with a slightly less horrible Internet Service Provider?) Many would pay a good deal for services that have nothing to do with the T itself. And the margins could potentially be ridiculously high. There are solutions here that don’t involve throwing the baby out with the bath water.
If you look at other transit systems around the country you will learn that the MBTA is the cheapest fare in the entire country. Cheap fares are obviously unsustainable. It is easy to call employees lazy without specific examples of what you mean by that. 60k / a year is considered just above standard poverty levels so how can you criticize people for trying to raise families with that? The level of employees is just enough to keep service running. Privatizing the T is an absolute joke of an argument to make about fare increases. Private companies could charge whatever they want and certainly would not charge 2 dollars.
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While I do agree that we pay less than any other well maintained and run subway system and would sadly agree that we should pay a little more. My argument however would be the excessive waste in the system. While I don’t think the employees are inept or unfriendly in general, I do think the perception of laziness comes from the extreme over staffing and the typical Union response, “not my job”. We have all seen multiple T employees doing the same thing at the same time and place, where 1 person would be appropriate all while several others are just sitting around “waiting”. The other problem I have is the extensive and unnecessary revamping of stations to some gleaming example of excess spending. Look at the recent projects in-process or recently completed. How much did the Charles Street Station update cost the MBTA? How about the unnecessary and totally extravagant project in the works at the Wonderland station, or even small stations such as Brookline Village. Millions and millions of dollars are going into these projects that would be much more appropriate going into the operations and maintenance.
As I read each response I consider the fact that each person has a point, but no one can seem to grasp the entire picture. Are there lazy people working at the t? Yes, but not half the work force, thats anger talking. Is the T broke yes but it was made that way by the state, set up to fail. And the reason all these stations are being renovated isn’t because they want fancy looking stations, its because the new trains don’t fit or because they need to satisfy the Americans with Disabilities act. There are a lot of things going on at the T and the majority of people working there are doing their best dealing with it all, even the angry people who want everything for nothing….
I have no problem with a fare hike, although I’d rather it be 2.5% each year, automatically, rounded to the nearest nickel. After all, 2.5 has a nice ring to it, eh?
My beef: riders are being asked to make up their share of the shortfall, but the other revenue streams aren’t kicking in. We need the state to take up some of the debt — debt incurred as a direct result of the Big Dig, a project designed to help motorists. Every single rider on the T is one fewer on the roads, driving or taking up a parking space. The T has more riders each day than the four western counties of Massachusetts have people… combined. The state, the feds, and yes, motorists need to kick in some quid too — the shortfall shouldn’t just rest on the riders. Everyone in Massachusetts benefits from a safer, more reliable, higher capacity mass transit system. Everybody in Massachusetts should contribute more to the system, not just riders.
P.S. Before I read some nonsense that riders should pay the full cost, I say fine — as soon as motorists pay the FULL COST of driving. That includes the cost of state roads [not 100% covered by gas tax], the cost of local roads [paid by property taxes, not the gas tax at all], costs of pollution, costs of the added police and fire and EMS workers required, costs for the land itself which could otherwise be used by others, etc.
Why is it that Mass. citizens want eveything for nothing?? If the T needs money, raise fares or have the legislature fund it. Other cities and states do it.
The people in charge of the T should spend a few weeks studying the BART in San Francisco/Oakland and do what they do. For starters, increasing rates for how long you ride (35 cents if you travel one stop, $4 if you go the length of the line). Also no food or drink is allowed and it’s enforced, keeps the trains much cleaner.
Also, as many other commenters have mentioned, the pension system is part of the problem. No matter if you think the employees deserve it or not, to pay pensions for decades in most cases isn’t sustainable.
Agreed, the T should even look to the D.C. metro and adopt the pay-per-distance type of system. It would make more sense for those traveling only two or three stops on the green line as well.
The author is correct in one major regard: The T is not paid for, so it takes on more debt, then it needs even more money to cover operations and previous debt, so it takes on more debt…
Where he is wrong, however, is the implication that we need to just tough it out and have faith it will get better.
I used to live in the Mt. Auburn area and worked in Central Square; it was a nice, easy T ride to work when everything was working. Eventually, I missed enough critical meetings due to busses and/or trains not showing up that I would drive to work, 3 miles, every day just because I could be sure of when I would get there. Now I live in MetroWest and it takes me 1 hour to drive in on the Pike or 2 hours door-to-door on the T.
At some critical point, and I believe the T has reached it, the service becomes so bad and so unreliable that the people leaving are not enough to be made up for by hiking fares. Honestly, they’re going to have to improve the service first, get people coming back, and then do a fare hike. Maybe something like the Metro in DC where you pay based on how long you ride (I believe an earlier commenter suggested the same). If the service is good, I’m willing to pay more, but I am not willing to pay more if service is bad PLUS it means I now would have to schedule my life around the T’s convenience and not my own.
Why can’t people ever stick to the point in any forum? Here or in news articles people always complain about T workers, the forum is about fixing the T not about your experience with a T worker. Privatizing the T is not the solution either because you’re still going to get the same old trains, buses and services. These private companies are not going to come in and buy new equipments, use your heads and not your emotions. Don’t believe me? Look at the commuter rail, it is contracted out to a private company and they still use the same old equipment and have delays and other issues everyday. So the solution is not about how bad your day was with a T worker or privatizing the MBTA but how can we generate revenue with the assistance of the legislature. Remember it was not the T or the unions fault that the T is in a hole, it started with the do nothing legislators, do the research before speaking….