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MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott resigns
The situation in MBTA’s service area is eerily similar to 1978, when B&M’s RDC fleet died en mass in the face of the last storm Boston and environs experienced. The South Station lines did little better, with aging former PC E8s showing how well they were built, while ex-NYC and NH RDCs followed their B&M sisters to the scrap yards, or to MK for rebuilding as coaches. The Red and Orange line equipment is older than those RDCs were then. The Green line and Ashmont-Mattapan lines need updating badly. And Boston wants to host the Olympic games in 2024. A bad idea looking worse daily. The once laughable Blue line is, oddly, the one line holding it’s own. They, it should be said, have the only equipment built in the 21st century, along with a few MP36s, HSP40s and the not looking too good (hopefully only for now) Rotem bi-levels on the commuter rail lines.
Yup, the fiscal conservative chickens have come home to roost.
Sorry to see her go as she wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is! Unfortunately people in power in MA don’t like to hear the truth! The “T” has been poorly managed and underfunded for decades with bad decision making all around. Trouble is everyone wants to complain but no one really wants to play for it…so it languishes on the vine year after year. Someone new will come in but nothing will really change. In the meantime, more snow is forecasted for the weekend!
And to talk about underfunded transit, remember the multi-billion dollar “big dig” which was done without consideration of transit through it?? Oh no, that would be too logical an idea.
Big dig was designed to include a North Station/South Station rail link beneath the roadway. Probably will never happen, at least in my lifetime.
Beverly Scott’s previous gig was with MARTA. Local paper called her tenure a “mixed bag” .
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/scotts-tenure-as-marta-chief-mixed-bag/nTQgs/
I would say “fair to poor”. New guy, Keith Parker, is doing much better.
Mr Phillips must not be paying attention to the many reasons why she had to go. Starting with 30 trips out of state in the 24 months she has been General Manager…109 days total. Failure to set up any system wide plan for maintaining older equipment…they just react to trains breaking down instead of preventive plans. Increasing the overall payroll by millions, including many making over $100,000 per year. In two years never remember any articles or interviews where she was “telling it like it was”. He is correct in stating the T has been poorly managed, but Beverly Scott has only continued that poor management.