The disaster on the MBTA isn’t just Gov. Charlie Baker’s downside — it’s additionally a serious check for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who must step up and take an even bigger function within the embattled company’s future.
The T is the lifeline of town and for residents — particularly low-income riders and folks of coloration — who rely upon the trains and buses to get to work, college and dwell their lives.
Wu has pushed for fairness and racial and financial justice in her administration and it’s time to do the identical factor on the state stage, although proper now it’s principally past her management. Any resolution that entails a T overhaul ought to contain Wu.
But the primary time period mayor — a loyal T rider — can do just a few issues instantly, like push for Boston to have a seat on the T’s board of administrators — who proper now are principally simply rubber stamps for the Baker administration.
Boston has lengthy been denied a seat on the desk on operating the T, and it’s time for Wu to make use of her appreciable bully pulpit to push for town to have some management in how the T is run.
Wu needs to be stepping as much as take a giant function within the T disaster, not seeing it as a bureaucratic bloated company concern however a civil rights concern. She is also a longtime MBTA rider and understands how essential the trains and buses are to her constituents.
Wu also needs to use her relationship with legislative leaders to foyer for enhancements and extra funding for the T.
The Legislature is making ready to carry hearings on the protection of the T within the coming weeks, and Wu needs to be entrance and middle — not simply the Baker administration.
Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ronald Mariano try to cross the buck — placing the blame squarely on Baker for not fixing the T’s issues.
New revelations proceed to point out questions of safety on the MBTA, with the company simply this week pulling Orange Line trains out of service due to a “battery failure” on one of many automobiles.
The T additionally belatedly acknowledged certainly one of its escalators within the Chinatown station “malfunctioned and reversed direction from up to down.” No accidents have been reported this time however the incident is yet one more alarming security downside plaguing the T.
The MBTA started this week slicing again service on the Red, Orange and Blue traces in response to a Federal Transit Administration directive for the company to rent extra dispatchers, who’ve been working lengthy hours.
Wu has known as the service cutbacks “frustrating” however she must be extra vocal about what’s occurring on the T.
During her mayoral marketing campaign, she advocated at no cost MBTA buses and trains — and later made a number of bus traces free, an essential first step in giving extra entry to low-income riders.
Now it’s time for Wu to step ahead and tackle the protection issues on the T. She needs to be demanding a whole management change on the company, together with eradicating the overall supervisor and board members.
But the query stays: Will Wu simply discuss the speak about fairness and entry or critically struggle for it?
Source: www.bostonherald.com”