THE PIONEER BLOG

Erin Thomassen

Extend Private Transportation Innovation to the Suburbs

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by Erin Thomassen

This past year, Boston and Bridj celebrated a transportation innovation victory: a successful partnership between public officials and a private data-driven bus enterprise. Bridj, a “smart” bus line, bases its route on electronically communicated customer needs. Bridj experienced initial pushback from the Cambridge City Council, which called its early route maps “unacceptable.” The Council was concerned that the private bus system would interfere with and infringe upon the existing public bus and taxi system. However, Bridj aimed not to steal customers away from existing businesses, but to fill a gap left open by existing transportation systems. By offering a shuttle system which considers its customer’s travel needs, Bridj was the bridge between private and public transportation. It introduced a new […]

Sabrina Chishti

How Top Suburban Schools Compare

/0 Comments/in /by Sabrina Chishti

Quality public schools drive both real estate development and student success. Many public schools in Massachusetts are widely regarded to have set high academic bars. There are pockets within the state, though, that cry out for much-needed improved schools. It’s interesting to take a look at the spending habits of school districts. Specifically looking at some of Massachusetts suburban high schools, MCAS results are a good indicator of how a public school is doing compared to its peers. The Pioneer website MassReportCards compiles pertinent information (including  MCAS information) and assigns a “grade” to public schools in Massachusetts based largely on standardized test (high school grades also consider dropout and college matriculation rates). Take Wayland as an example. From data collected […]

MuckRock

For Massachusetts Public Records law, a Little Progress Goes a Long Way

/0 Comments/in , , /by MuckRock

Earlier this month, Massachusetts transparency advocates celebrated a rare win when the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) – a regional SWAT team which covers the greater Boston area – agreed to be considered a public entity, and therefore subject to public records laws. If that doesn’t sound like much cause for celebration – why wouldn’t a police force be considered a public entity? – then you’ll be further underwhelmed to hear that this only came after a year-long suit with the ACLU that cost the taxpayer (yes, you) $30,000. NEMLAC’s argument, that is was technically a non-profit that just so happened to run by law enforcement officials operating in their official capacity, was laughable on its face, and […]

Kevin Lawson

An Open Request to the State Ethics Commission

/0 Comments/in , , , /by Kevin Lawson

When the State Ethics Commission was created in 1978 under Section 2 of Chapter 268B of Massachusetts General Laws, it aimed to establish meaningful transparency. The law required every public official and candidate for public office to submit a yearly Statement of Financial Interest (SFI) and tasked the Ethics Commission with creating and overseeing these forms in accordance with the law. Today, the Commission’s system of financial disclosure largely lacks relevance and it falls short of the spirit of the law. The law gives the Commission broad discretion over details of the disclosures. Section 5 (f) states, “the statement of financial interests filed pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be on a form prescribed by the commission…”  Thus, […]

Editorial Staff

Join us 7/31: “Know-Nothings’ Nativism, Catholic Education, and School Choice”

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In the wake of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling against the constitutionality of Douglas County’s school voucher program, Pioneer Institute is co-sponsoring a breakfast forum on “Know-Nothings’ Nativism, Catholic Education, and School Choice.” Event co-sponsors include Parents Alliance for Catholic Education, Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. The event will feature Dr. Nancy Lusignan Schultz, Salem State University English Professor; Dr. Cara Candal, Senior Fellow, Pioneer Institute; Ambassador Raymond Flynn; Tom Gosnell, President of AFT-MA; and Kathy Mears, Superintendent of Schools, Archdiocese of Boston. At the event, Dr. Lusignan Schultz will discuss 19th century anti-Catholic bigotry in Massachusetts, which was the basis for Know-Nothing Amendments that […]

Kevin Lawson

Making Financial Disclosures “Available for Public Inspection”

/0 Comments/in , , , /by Kevin Lawson

Chapter 268B, Section 3(d) of Massachusetts General Laws provides that the State Ethics Commission must “make statements and reports filed with the commission available for public inspection and copying”, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into the filings being available to the public in any meaningful way. By withholding Statements of Financial Interest (SFIs) from online publication, the Commission has failed to keep up with the modernization of filing methods. Even in person, forms are not always viewable. When asking to view many forms at once, requestors face waits that can reach “a number of months”, according to the Ethics Commission’s response to a Boston Globe request for all 3,800 SFIs filed in 2014. Yes, this is a large request, but […]

Sabrina Chishti

Elimination of Old “Honor Boxes” for MBTA Parking

/0 Comments/in /by Sabrina Chishti

As part of their latest efforts to modernize, the MBTA has recently replaced all “honor boxes” that commuters would use to pay for parking with their more technologically advanced PayByPhone, an app for smartphones. Reputed as archaic and time-consuming, honor boxes required commuters to fold dollar bills and insert them into small metal boxes in order to pay for their parking spot on a daily basis. The right change was needed to pay the $4-7 daily parking fee, and during the morning rush, the process could become frustrating and time-consuming. While PaybyPhone has been an option since 2008, the MBTA decided to completely switch over to the cashless system, which enables a commuter to either download the app and pay […]

Lauren Corvese

No Fare! MBTA Tight on Public Records

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by Lauren Corvese

The MBTA has been attracting a lot of attention lately on how they could save money.  But what about how the MBTA makes money? Pioneer wanted to look into fare collection practices on the commuter rail and revenue information during the MBTA’s contract with Keolis, but it seems we have hit a wall. Using the public records request service on www.muckrock.com, Pioneer sent two requests to the MBTA: one on March 12, 2015 for MBTA revenue information from 2014-present, and another on fare collection procedures submitted by Keolis and fare collection fines against Keolis from July 2014-present on June 9, 2015.  Neither request was fulfilled within 10 calendar days, as the Massachusetts Public Records Law requires.  Both required multiple follow-up emails […]

Sabrina Chishti

The Supreme Court and the EPA

/0 Comments/in /by Sabrina Chishti

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was not allowed to impose regulations on the emissions of power plants. A close 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that the “appropriate and necessary” finding as outlined by the EPA’s regulations did not consider costs at the outset of the process. In short, the court wanted greater transparency. At the heart of the issue is the push and pull between keeping government agencies honest with their reporting (including cost-benefit analysis), and the power of Congress that allows them to do what they deem is “appropriate and necessary”. This is crucial to the development of governmental agencies and the degree to which they can operate independent of Congressional approval. The case raises […]

Jacob Tyler

Thoughts on the Amtrak/MBTA Signal Debacle at Attleboro Station Last April

/0 Comments/in , , , /by Jacob Tyler

A 13 year-old boy damaged an Amtrak signal system along the Providence/Stoughton commuter rail line back in April. According to reports, the boy threw an object at the signal, suffering third-degree burns to his legs and causing long-lasting delays for commuter rail customers using the Franklin, Providence/Stoughton, and Needham lines. While delays are almost routine along these and other commuter rail lines, this one involved Amtrak and exactly whose responsibility it was to fix the problem left commuters scratching their heads. Historically, the Providence/Stoughton line has been plagued by delays due to anything from mechanical failures to signal problems. Quite often, the MBTA blames Amtrak for delays because Amtrak trains have priority over MBTA trains since they own and operate […]

Scott Haller

The Pacheco Law wastes enough money to buy a brand new fleet of commuter rail locomotives

/0 Comments/in , , , /by Scott Haller

Pioneer released a report this morning demonstrating that the Pacheco Law (MGL Chapter 7, Sections 52-54) has cost the MBTA $450 million since 1997. That’s a big number, and big numbers can be pretty abstract. So let’s flesh it out to gain perspective on what the Pacheco Law’s restrictions really mean to MBTA riders. Last winter, more than 1.6 million commuter trips were either cancelled or delayed, stranding and frustrating MBTA commuters. The following chart shows the two month collapse of commuter rail service between January 23rd and March 20th. Would repealing the law’s hold on the MBTA do anything to address that? Well, Keolis largely attributed its poor performance to an aging fleet of locomotives, many of which are […]

Editorial Staff

Pioneer Institute Public Statement on MBTA Reforms in the Budget

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Last night, the legislature put the public interest ahead of politics by giving the administration and the MBTA’s management a set of tools that can lead to real improvements in service for T riders. Both the House and Senate came under enormous pressure from union lobbyists seeking to maintain the status quo. Yet Speaker DeLeo, Senate President Rosenberg and budget conferees understood that real reform is needed at the T. They deserve our respect and admiration for not giving in to the special interest groups that so vehemently opposed meaningful change. Pioneer presented legislative leaders last week with a comprehensive analysis of the adverse financial effects of the Pacheco Law at the MBTA, which we are releasing to the public […]

Scott Haller

RIP PARCC

/1 Comment/in , , /by Scott Haller

Economies of scale are when a large operation can provide advantages by spreading fixed and overhead costs over a greater number of units sold, thereby reducing the per unit price. A simple concept, and one that proponents of national K-12 testing consortia made repeatedly. One of Pioneer’s favorite expressions of this economies of scale euphoria that broke out in Washington, DC, occurred in the offices of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in 2012 in response to a serious cost estimate Pioneer did on the Common Core (which was the first such cost estimate in the country).  In that paper, the term “economies of scale” is found 13 times.  Here is a quick sampling: The Common Core also offers the possibility […]

Editorial Staff

Highlights from the 24th Annual Better Government Awards Gala

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Watch video clips below of Pioneer Institute’s 24th Annual Better Government Competition, and read the State House News Service‘s news bulletin entitled “Pioneer on a roll.”  After listing recent policy victories, SHNS noted that: “Pioneer held its annual Better Government Competition with a focus on criminal justice reform. Ed Davis, former Boston Police Commissioner, gave the keynote address and talked about his transformation from a narcotics cop in Lowell to his discovery of community policing. Few areas of government need more original thinking than the criminal justice system, reversing the just arrest them and lock’em up mentality that has led to the US having 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population. The winner of the Better Government Competition?  The implementation of a charter […]

Sabrina Chishti

Fed Up With Faulty Fare Collection: Part II

/0 Comments/in /by Sabrina Chishti

Fed Up With Faulty Fare Collection Part II: New Ways to Collect Fares  The problem Recently, we outlined the commuter rail’s fare collection woes. Oftentimes, conductors don’t collect fares or ask to see passes. For those with a monthly pass costing between $75 and $362, seeing others ride for free is troubling – to say the least. The issue is that Keolis, the commuter rail operator, lacks any meaningful incentive to collect fares. Since the company is penalized at only $500 per instance of improper fare collection, how can Keolis take the fines seriously enough to and evaluate and improve their policies? Meanwhile, the MBTA doesn’t have any way of knowing just how much money they are losing on “free” […]