Hours after an Orange Line practice burst into flames with about 200 passengers on board, Gov. Charlie Baker mentioned he’s open to exploring a dissolution of the MBTA.
Baker was responding to an inquiry on the GBH “Ask the Governor” radio program Thursday, the place he was requested for his ideas on a proposal from state Rep. William Straus, D-Mattapoisett, who mentioned the T is not serving its objective, and must be absorbed as a public transit division of MassDOT.
Straus, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, had first floated the concept on the transportation committee’s security oversight listening to of the MBTA on Monday.
“There’s a lot of houha about the turnpike discussion that took place, which I think is what Straus referenced when he talked about this, and the Legislature sort of powered through that and implemented a reform,” Baker mentioned, referring to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority that was abolished in 2010, and now leaves oversight to MassDOT’s freeway division.
Baker mentioned the following couple of years after that turnpike authority was eradicated “were pretty bumpy,” however “I think most people think that process and where we are today with respect to that issue is better than where we were before.”
Having the T perform as an alternative as a transit division, releasing it up to focus on working subways, buses and the commuter rail, and leaving building and capital tasks to MassDOT, is value wanting into, Baker informed the radio program.
“There’s a lot of complexity associated with that, but I think that’s a conversation worth having,” Baker mentioned.
MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak informed the Herald at a Thursday press convention detailing the chaotic aftermath of the Orange Line practice fireplace that left passengers leaping out home windows, and one girl diving into the Mystic River beneath the bridge, that he would even be open to the dialogue.
“I think I will let the executive branch and the legislative branch sort that one out about what the optimal structure of the T is,” Poftak mentioned. “Anything that those parties can do and other parties can do to help us make the MBTA safer, I would be open-minded about.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”