Proposed systemwide mbta service cuts

Any thoughts on this? My thought is that it is going to severely impact the greater Boston economy and the residents that relies on public transportation on the long run, especially when the pandemic is over. I hope this doesn’t happen but if it does, it’s going to cut at least 800 jobs at least. Link is here https://www.wcvb.com/article/report-mbt ... s/34890727

I read the article as well as watched the news regarding the service cuts, the article refers to only the 800 MBTA employees that will be laid off. However it will be even more than that. when you include the Keolis employees and the people who work for the Commuter boats (of which I am employed) you re looking at well over a thousand employees being laid off. and whos to say when and if any of those cuts will be restored . Look at the Jamaica Plains line,...

If and when those bus routes are eliminated, look for them to magically reappear as private bus companies under Baker post COVID.
And despite the contrarianism of the privatization fundamentalists, Weld and Baker DID dump 1.3 billion of big dig debt on the T. Time to move it to something like the State Lottery which could deal with that debt much better than the already $ strapped MBTA.

One of the things I have heard discussed is that while the T considers these cuts to be temporary most will likely be permanent.

That is because the money they intend to save is through layoffs. And there is a very real chance that when the time comes to bring service back that they will have a pool of available talent to fill the needs.

Not just saving money on layoffs but the operating and maintenance costs as well. That is why I said at least 800 because I already know it’s going to be a lot higher than 800. On the long run, it will be nearly impossible if not difficult to gain riders back once a new normal does come. The service needs to stay as it is in order to succeed on the long run and cover its operating deficit. The government needs to provide more funding to the states to cover the public transit budget that it needs to cover its losses from a dramatic decrease in ridership. It’s also safer to promote social distancing as it is now. With the cuts, more people are going to realize that it’s more unsafe to ride than it was in the beginning of this whole mess. Anyways we will see what happens and whatever the decision is will determine the long run outcome. There is also enough problems as it is with completing projects and overhauls on time as well as a year delay of rolling out the new subway cars, specifically the red and orange lines.

All Commuter Rail lines will operate on the Reduced Service Schedule on weekdays beginning Monday, December 14th and for at least 2 weeks, due to Covid-19 impact in communities and in the workforce. Weekend trains will operate on regular schedule.

So it begins

NRGeep wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 12:04 pm Weld and Baker DID dump 1.3 billion of big dig debt on the T. Time to move it to something like the
State Lottery which could deal with that debt much better than the already cash strapped MBTA.

Could MassPike tolls be used for debt payment? The NJ Turnpike Authority and MTA Bridges & Tunnels (TBTA)
do use surplus toll revenue for paying off transportation projects.

They already sort of do. The current policy as of 2009 is that tolls collected in each area must be spent in that area. This is why up until the advent of open road tolling on the pike, the residents of the Berkshires (sucessfully) fought the tolls under the reasoning that they do not receive any RTA or MBTA service, and as such, they should not be paying for it. (and as such, travel between the first 6 exits on the pike used to be free). So, a portion of any tolls collected within the MBTA territory contributes to the MBTA.

Page 4 of the MassDOT Operating budget shows how toll income (along with other state funding sources) are spent at MassDOT

https://www.mass.gov/doc/massdot-fiscal ... 8/download

RenegadeMonster wrote: ↑Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:55 pm

All Commuter Rail lines will operate on the Reduced Service Schedule on weekdays beginning Monday, December 14th and for at least 2 weeks, due to Covid-19 impact in communities and in the workforce. Weekend trains will operate on regular schedule.

So it begins

Not exactly...but still troubling. The budget is OK through the remainder of this fiscal year (through end of June 2021). Service being cut now is due to staffing issues (enough healthy workers to staff full schedules...at least as we're told publicly), whereas next year it's going to be because there's just no more money to pay the staff. Net result is the same to the traveler, of course...

I don't think the T is managing this well. Once it became evident that the system was running at such low capacity (and that we were not going to be out of this without a vaccine) there should have been cuts. I am fairly confident that they could have reduced service without affecting a large majority of the (diminished) ridership. I suspect many of the off-peak trains were low ridership long before we knew Covid existed.

We have never had the unlimited money that too many in MA think we have. Should have started acting more responsibility decades ago.

Here's what I find curious: only commuter rail is being curtailed as a result of sick workers. Is the Covid skipping over the T's bus and subway drivers?

Supposedly the T has increased time intervals slightly between trains on the mass transit lines. I'd imagine there's a surplus of bus drivers.
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/transp ... ing-masks/

These cuts should have been made six months ago, and they should now be planning some service restorations in April - July once people start getting their chinese coronavirus shots. The state is constitutionally required to keep a balanced budget, and the MBTA is a government creature, and all government creatures know that anything they don't spend this year goes back into the general fund, not into next year's budget. So they blew all their money running empty trains.

I remember the 1980s when the Framingham Line didn't have ANY weekend service and only one or two trains after rush hour. I bet the Commuter Rail passenger volume today is lower than it was in the mid-1980s. (AND all the buses near me shut down about 6PM. If I missed my train the nearest service was a two mile walk, nearest frequent service was even further. My legs were in great shape.)

They will be voting today to see whether the Mbta cuts will happen or not for rapid transit only.

MBTA Service reductions approved 12/14/20
https://www.mbta.com/forging-ahead?utm_ ... _term=null