BOSTON, March 27, 2023 — TransitMatters welcomes incoming General Manager Eng. We wish him well as he takes on the difficult task of rebuilding rider confidence, restoring service, improving the relationship between management and front-line staff, and laying out a vision for our transit system that we care deeply about. We call on the new General Manager to release a plan for restoring service with key action items and a schedule identified as soon as possible.
While we appreciate that the administration has followed through on this campaign promise, not a single rider will cheer today. The Healey administration must remain laser-focused on the immediate needs of riders: bringing back pre-pandemic service on the rapid transit system and bus network, ensuring rider safety, and improving service by addressing slow zones, dropped bus trips, and poorly planned diversions.
We stand firm in the assertion that no one person can fix the myriad of issues at the T. It will take a combination of legislative and gubernatorial actions to resolve the significant issues that remain, including operating and capital budget deficiencies, a Capital Investment Plan (CIP) that fails to meet the needs of our rapidly growing region, and a Board that is failing to provide appropriate oversight.
We applaud MBTA veteran Jeff Gonneville for his service as interim General Manager. His transparency around the track inspection documentation and decisive actions thereafter to protect riders were greatly appreciated. We expect that the incoming General Manager will stick to this example and continue the robust investigation the interim General Manager started into what happened and how we can prevent it from happening again.
Fix-it-first is not enough. It has proven to be insufficient. We need to fix and also forward-proof the T. Forward-proofing the T means building the essential infrastructure that meets our needs. This includes Regional Rail electrification, bus electrification, and the Red Blue connector. These physical investments must be accompanied by fare policy and service delivery standards that address inequality and encourage mode shift.
We look forward to continuing our advocacy for a public transit system that responds to the equity, economic and environmental needs of a forward-thinking world-class region.
For media inquiries, please e-mail media@transitmatters.org.
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