The MBTA will not be working and it must be reset.
Former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood advisable sweeping modifications for the T throughout a legislative listening to Tuesday, together with stripping the DPU of its oversight authority and creating an unbiased security administration company.
Now is the time to consider ranging from scratch, he stated, as a brand new governor will quickly take over and collective efforts to get the T again on monitor have failed.
“The current system is not working,” LaHood instructed the Joint Committee on Transportation. “It merely will not be. The FTA stated that. We stated it, and the people who find themselves driving the trains have stated it over and over.
“So, if you want to start from ground zero, the timing is perfect for that right now, politically because you’re going to have new people in these chairs. And if I was in your chair, I’d think very seriously about doing that,” he added.
LaHood was the lead creator of the 2019 Safety Review Panel report, which supplied a roadmap for the Federal Transit Administration’s investigation into the MBTA earlier this yr.
Both reviews concluded that the T has a lax security tradition and was prioritizing capital initiatives on the expense of day-to-day operations.
LaHood instructed 4 modifications to enhance public transit in Boston. The most urgent want, he stated, is for state lawmakers to take away the state’s security oversight operate from the Department of Public Utilities.
Where it goes is as much as the Legislature or subsequent administration, he stated, however no matter entity will get that accountability ought to be clear, and take a proactive, somewhat than reactive method to stopping security incidents.
LaHood instructed creating an unbiased security administration company that might be centered on attracting and retaining prime expertise for the short-staffed MBTA, and guaranteeing management implements its federally-required security plans.
He stated the company ought to have common conferences and report its findings to the MBTA, however it will have the authority to supervise all parts of security on the T.
LaHood additionally stated the T’s chief security officer ought to be tasked with certifying all workers department-submitted budgets, to make sure that they replicate plans towards implementing directives outlined within the FTA report.
Finally, he stated the MBTA ought to examine the findings of each reviews to work towards figuring out measurable security efficiency targets and monitoring annual progress towards assembly these benchmarks.
LaHood stated a optimistic security tradition begins on the prime, and must be preached day by day till it turns into ingrained within the system.
“Safety has to be embedded in every person who works for the organization,” he stated. “Unless that culture exists, no matter how much money is spent, there are going to be problems.”
To measure progress towards reaching that security tradition, LaHood stated the MBTA wants to begin with taking a “zero tolerance” method towards accidents and deaths.
“You just have to say we’re going to have zero tolerance,” he stated. “That’s our baseline and we measure it from there. Then you hold people accountable.”
Meanwhile, the Herald has realized that sluggish zones on the Orange Line received’t be lifted till December.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”