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Blog: MBTA

Opportunity, Transportation
September 12, 2016

Outsourcing bus services is—by now—conventional wisdom

Outsourcing bus services is—by now—conventional wisdom As the Finance and Management Control Board (FMCB) considers further action to address its operating deficit, deferred maintenance backlog, and the demands from riders for higher quality performance, once again privatization of services has come center...
Opportunity, Transportation
August 4, 2016

Could Bus Rapid Transit Be the Future of Public Transportation in Boston?

As the Greater Boston Area continues to grow, it is important to plan future public transportation infrastructure to keep up with increased demand. In determining its vision for transit in the future, the MBTA has given careful consideration to new forms of...
Opportunity, Transportation
July 22, 2016

Update on the State of the Green Line Extension

The idea for the Green Line Extension (GLX) has been around for years, and its potential benefits have led many to call it a critical economic and environmental infrastructure project. So, when the first phase of construction began in 2012, it was...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
June 15, 2016

Pioneer Institute Public Statement to the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board

Earlier this week, Fox 25 News reported that Michael Mulhern, the executive director of the MBTA Retirement Fund, will be triple-dipping from taxpayer-funded pensions. A few days earlier, Mulhern announced his intention to resign from the fund in August. In addition to...
Opportunity, Transportation
May 5, 2016

Fare Collection on the T is Unfair

A recent disclosure by the MBTA reveals that the agency forgoes an estimated $35 million annually in ticket revenue due to poor fare collection practices on the commuter rail system alone. When the bus system and green line are included, this number...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
March 29, 2016

MBTA Transparency Is Now 'Back on Track'

Today, the MBTA released its long-anticipated performance dashboard, bringing with it a sleek and interactive new website full of data metrics and detailed explanations of the data. Highlights and new features of the appropriately named mbtabackontrack.com include but are not limited to...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
March 10, 2016

Recent Ruling on MBTA Retirement Fund Major Victory for Transparency & Accountability

The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald reported on an important new Massachusetts Superior Court ruling that, according to the Globe, “the records of the MBTA pension fund should be open to the public because the system receives tens of millions of...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
February 22, 2016

MBTA commuter rail should release on-time data from every station every day

As Pioneer has pointed out numerous times in the past, the MBTA has a habit of putting a positive public-relations spin on its shaky on-time performance record.  A Fox 25 investigative report takes the MBTA to task for massaging on-time data and...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
February 16, 2016

MBTA Management Discussions: Where Did They Go?

The government works for the people. As with any employee, the employer (citizens of Massachusetts) would prefer that the employee admit its errors or problems outright, instead of trying to cover up the tracks. Apparently, the MBTA needed this principle explained in...
American Citizenship, Opportunity, Transportation
February 3, 2016

MBTA Performance Transparency: A Whole New Meaning to Deferred Maintenance

Governments need to adapt to the evolving needs of constituents, and in modern times, this increasingly becomes a matter of embracing technology. Examples of such progress include the ParkBoston App, eliminating the need for runs to feed the meter, and the cashless...