Lawmakers questioning simply precisely what has been happening on the MBTA will attempt to get some solutions Monday, when a legislative committee wanting into the company’s security practices will maintain its first listening to on a rash of current issues on the troubled system.
“Representative Bill Straus and Senator Brendan Crighton, House and Senate co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation, have announced that the initial oversight hearing to examine deficiencies in safety management practices at the MBTA scheduled for July 18, 2022 at 10 am will be held in Gardner Auditorium at the State House,” the lawmakers mentioned in a press release.
Lawmakers are anticipated to grill the company’s leaders with questions on their issues.
“The initial witnesses to appear before the Committee are expected to be Secretary of Transportation Jamey Tesler and MBTA General Manager Steven Poftak. Late yesterday, the Committee also received the first production of documents relevant to its inquiry from MassDOT and the MBTA after the Committee delivered a production request to the agencies on July 8,” the lawmakers mentioned.
House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka, in June, ordered the Legislature to research service cuts and security issues after federal investigators descended on Boston to start their very own investigation.
“The (Federal Transit Authority’s) findings and the MBTA’s subsequent service cuts don’t inspire any public confidence in our transit system,” Mariano and Spilka mentioned in June.
In an April 14 letter to Poftak, the FTA mentioned it was “extremely concerned with the ongoing safety issues at the agency, following (April’s) passenger death on the Red Line and recent MBTA derailments, collisions and grade-crossing fatalities.”
After taking the uncommon step of sending federal officers to the town following collection of high-profile accidents, together with the Red Line fatality, investigators recognized 4 areas that required fast motion in a set of preliminary findings.
Those areas of concern embody staffing on the T’s management heart, the security of practice operations within the rail yards, monitor upkeep and worker certifications. The feds will challenge a full report by the tip of the summer season.
Legislators, for his or her half, say they aren’t happy with present administration and level to the governor.
“Since 2015, at his request, Gov. (Charlie) Baker has had control of the MBTA,” they mentioned of their joint assertion. “It has since been the Administration’s responsibility to keep up with maintenance and manage an efficient system that customers can rely on.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”