THE PIONEER BLOG

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” […]

Editorial Staff

Report Showing MBTA Pension Fund Performance “Too Good To Be True” Reinforces Pioneer Research

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BOSTON – Stories in The Boston Globe (“Madoff whistle-blower: The T’s pension plan may be $470M short,” June 27th, and “T pension board’s new members call for tough review of fund,” June 29th) validate concerns about the management and condition of the MBTA Retirement Fund (MBTARF) that Pioneer Institute first raised in 2013 (“Have the MBTA’s Retirement Plans Gone Off the Rails?“), and many times since then (here, here, here, here, here, and here). According to the Globe, a new study by Harry Markopolos, the whistle-blower in the Bernard Madoff case, and Boston University professor Mark T. Williams, finds that the MBTARF may be overestimating its value by nearly half a billion dollars, as well as underestimating how long its […]

Editorial Staff

Pioneer and You – Together We Can Fix the T

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Pioneer has been attacked in a recent radio (WBZ, WEEI, and elsewhere) campaign as “shark privatizers.”  The ads falsely claim that Pioneer’s motivation for working on the MBTA crisis is so that our “corporate pals can get their hands on even more of our public facilities.” Listen to our response: Help us respond to the Amalgamated Transit Union’s attack with the real story. Yes, our research has indeed shaped the public debate over a time-limited control board that will need to get the T working in a way that is worthy of our great state. And the reason we do it is because we know how important reliable transit is to 1.3 million riders, thousands of employers, and the region’s economic […]

Mary Connaughton

A Pretty Much Guaranteed Free Ride

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by Mary Connaughton

There’s no such thing as a free ride. Ask any accountant and he or she will tell you that there’s always a cost involved. Some businesses give free samples to market their products – a cost to grow revenue.  Others give their products or services away because of inadequate controls. The MBTA falls into the latter category. There is a growing buzz about sporadic fare collection on the commuter rail.  Riders may or may not be charged because of the number of conductors or riders on any given train. Non-pass holding riders know the odds well – in time, they’ll get to work or home without forking over a dime. It’s a waiting game. But there are some pretty much […]

Editorial Staff

Fixing Our Troubled Justice System – 2015 Better Government Awards Gala

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This Wednesday evening, Pioneer Institute is recognizing the most innovative proposals from non-profits and community groups, law enforcement agencies, and policymakers across the U.S. on the topic, “Improving Public Safety and Controlling Costs in America’s Criminal Justice System.” The winner, runners-up, and special recognition awardees will be honored at a June 24th awards gala at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. At the awards gala, Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker will provide welcome remarks, and former Boston police commissioner, Edward F. Davis, will deliver the keynote address. Watch Videos of the Winner and Runners Up: Read the 2015 Better Government Competition Compendium of Winning Entries: Pioneer Institute’s Better Government Competition, founded in 1991, is an annual citizens’ ideas contest that rewards some of the nation’s […]

Sabrina Chishti

Fed up with Faulty Fare Collection

/0 Comments/in /by Sabrina Chishti

The Problem: Angry Customers and Less Revenue Last Saturday was a busy day in the Hub. With the Boston Pride Parade and a Red Sox game both in full swing by midday, commuter rail lines were packed with people flowing into the city. Pioneer Institute learned that on at least one crowded Worcester/Framingham train, fares went uncollected. That means a free pass for much of the weekend crowd, who are less likely to hold monthly passes than daily commuters. Saturday’s lapse is not an isolated incident. In fact, inconsistent fare collection by conductors is a growing commuter rail complaint. For a daily commuter who pays between $75 and $362 for a monthly pass, it’s highly disturbing to see others ride […]