The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce has weighed in on security on the MBTA following final week’s crash between two subway trains, with its president calling for federal oversight that extends “across all aspects of the T.”
“Commuters are angry,” mentioned James Rooney, Boston Chamber president and CEO, in an announcement on Twitter. “Last week’s Green Line collision is the latest in a long-running series of serious problems that plague greater Boston’s MBTA every day. Putting emotion aside, the data tells the story of a broken system.”
Rooney mentioned the MBTA reported 10 derailments in 2021, which he mentioned was greater than another transit service within the U.S., “besting even New York’s MTA, which had 10 times the number of passenger trips.”
Further, Rooney cited “unacceptable” knowledge from the Federal Transit Administration, which confirmed greater than 1,300 T riders had been injured driving, ready or leaving a station from 2010 to 2020.
“The FTA’s oversight role of the MBTA is necessary,” mentioned Rooney. “The FTA’s emphasis on action that leads to improvement should extend across all aspects of the T.”
Citing its concern with ongoing issues of safety on the MBTA, the FTA informed T General Manager Steve Poftak in April it might be rising its oversight of the company and conducting a security administration inspection.
The feds’ resolution got here days after a 39-year-old man was killed after his arm turned trapped in a Red Line door and he was dragged greater than 100 ft.
Last week, 4 MBTA operators have been injured after two Green Line trains, one in every of which was carrying passengers, crashed and derailed in Government Center.
A trigger has nonetheless not been decided, however T spokesperson Joe Pesaturo mentioned the driving force’s “operation of the train itself is being looked at as a factor in the incident.”
In response to Rooney’s remarks, Pesaturo pointed to the T’s $8 billion funding in infrastructure and autos over the previous 5 years, and a Safety Department that has almost doubled in dimension up to now three years.
At a Wednesday assembly, Poftak reiterated the T’s dedication to working with the FTA throughout its security investigation, saying that “we all strive every day to make the system as safe as possible.”
“There will certainly be findings from this FTA investigation and we look forward to addressing those findings and improving the job we do,” Poftak mentioned.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”