While security incidents continued to pile up on the MBTA, its state oversight authority was nowhere to be discovered, legislators mentioned, and the board tasked with preserving the T in line appeared to take a hands-off method as effectively.
Issues on the MBTA, highlighted in an Aug. 31 Federal Transit Administration report — the main target of Wednesday’s listening to — have additionally taken a toll on workers.
Two frontline employees testified that staffing shortages and lengthy shifts have made the T a tough place to work and led to important upkeep being deferred for lack of manpower.
“You are the agency that oversees safety,” state Sen. Brendan Crighton, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, mentioned to Department of Public Utilities Chair Matthew Nelson. “And throughout the course of all of these events, whether it be reports or accidents at the T, you never rang the alarm.”
Nelson, nevertheless, mentioned the DPU has been on the scene of each main accident that occurred on the T, working to investigate what went improper, however tends to not report its work to the general public.
“MBTA is still the primary and first line of defense on all safety activities,” Nelson mentioned. “We’re an auditing department. We don’t have hundreds of employees. Our role is to ensure that MBTA is doing their job and complying with their safety plan.”
He mentioned the DPU met all of its reporting deadlines with the FTA, when it comes to making the feds conscious of incidents that occurred within the MBTA system. Still, the report discovered that the DPU had been ineffective in its position as a state security oversight authority.
After being grilled about whether or not the DPU has the capability, independence and dedication to successfully perform its oversight tasks, Nelson mentioned a lot of the issue is staffing.
The DPU plans to double its transportation division from six to 12 workers, he mentioned.
“I think we have done what we are required to do,” Nelson mentioned. “But I think facing the challenges of what has been happening on the MBTA, we need to do more.”
Lawmakers additionally questioned the effectiveness of the MBTA’s Board of Directors, evaluating it to its previous iteration of the Fiscal and Management Control Board.
That board was extra energetic in holding the T accountable, mentioned legislators, pointing to a 2019 Safety Review Panel Report it commissioned following a serious Red Line derailment.
Board of Directors Chair Betsy Taylor defended the present board, saying that it advantages from members with totally different areas of experience, and that the MBTA discovered that the fixed conferences from the earlier panel interfered with its capability to handle issues of safety.
While the board’s choice to switch $500 million in working funds to the capital aspect was criticized within the FTA report, Taylor mentioned the tasks it funded addressed issues of safety.
Two MBTA workers — bus driver Tony Hobbs and machinist Jeb Mastandrea — described the toll staffing challenges have had on their respective jobs.
Hobbs mentioned the motive force scarcity, lengthy days and shorter bus journey allowances have made her job exhausting, whereas Mastandrea mentioned that his division doesn’t have the capability to handle preventative upkeep, and as a substitute places out fires as they happen.
“Is it a good work environment? Absolutely not,” Hobbs mentioned. “I wouldn’t take the job right now.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”