Should The MBTA Take the Backseat on Commuter Rail?

In Straus's view, the deteriorating conditions at the MBTA in recent years -- which range from persistent service cuts prompted by staffing shortages to the death of a passenger trapped in a malfunctioning Red Line train door -- all point toward a similar conclusion: the agency is stretched too thin.

"We ask too much, and therefore expect too much, from the T," Straus said. "It's a sprawling organization that, when you compare it to either other parts of state government or similar kinds of systems around the country, for good reason, pretty much no one else handles it the way we do."

A bill Straus filed (H 3452) would, among several other reforms, reassign authority over the commuter rail from the MBTA to the state Department of Transportation.