Amid climbing ridership, the MBTA is looking to avoid last year’s winter weather shutdown.
Despite the historically brutal winter that hit New England in 2014 causing delays and cancellations throughout the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) system, MBTA ridership hit a record high, with 400.8 million trips last year, a 1.8% increase (or seven million trips) from 2013, which had 393.8 million total trips, according to a report released in March 2015 by APTA.
According to T spokesman Joe Pesaturo, T ridership in 2014 was the highest recorded in MBTA history. In addition, ridership grew on every mode of transit in the MBTA system except for the Green Line. The APTA report shows a 4.01% decrease in ridership on the MBTA’s light rail service (Green Line), from 72.3 million in 2013 down to 69.4 million in 2014.
T subway service increased by 4.89%, with 174.8 million rides in 2014, compared to 166.7 million in 2013. And ridership on the MBTA’s commuter rail increased by 3.5% in 2014 with 36.1 million rides, compared to 34.9 million rides in 2013.
Regardless of the increased ridership, however, MBTA struggled during last year’s severe weather, prompting the system to prepare an $82.7 million Winter Resiliency Plan, which includes investments this summer and over the next five years in snow removal equipment, infrastructure upgrades and operations during harsh weather to improve service reliability.
The resiliency plan was developed based on recommendations made by an APTA peer review of the MBTA’s winter operations in April, while a special panel appointed by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker reviewed and made recommendations to fix the MBTA’s deeper structural, financial and operational problems.
The Winter Resiliency Plan will be funded through $62 million in federal formula funds for capital investments, $10 million in non-federal, MBTA capital funds and $11.7 million in operating funds.
Infrastructure improvements include third-rail replacements and heater upgrades on vulnerable outdoor sections of the Red and Orange Lines; snow fence installation along the Red and Orange Lines to mitigate snow drift accumulation; repairs to vehicle maintenance facilities and structures to further maximize recovery efforts; emergency power generators to supplement existing subway and facility power as needed and track access improvements for larger snow removal and track work equipment on the Red Line.
Equipment improvement includes new and rehabilitated specialized snow removal equipment to increase removal capacity and reduce use of passenger vehicles and for passenger vehicles, vehicle-borne anti-icing equipment, modifications to air and propulsion system resiliency and an increased stock of traction motors to improve availability.
Operations improvements include additional snow removal contract services, as needed, to remove snow and ice at stations, facilities and other critical operations areas; training and staffing of a Field Inspection Team to be deployed during weather events to monitor staff and contractor field activities clearing snow and returning tracks to an operational status; adoption of incident management software in coordination with the MassDOT Highway Division to track deployment of snow removal operations across the system; formal establishment of an as-needed inmate snow removal assistance program with the Department of Corrections to augment and streamline the services provided this winter; further coordination of interagency planning with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, state agencies and local municipalities to identify efficiencies and synergies in snow removal; similar resiliency enhancements to the commuter rail network and revisions to the MBTA’s severe winter weather operations protocols and customer notification practices to ensure more information, customer safety and the protection of equipment and facilities.
The right-of-way improvements on the Orange and Red Lines are scheduled to occur this summer and fall.
Green Line upgrades
In May, the first MBTA Green Line refurbished light rail vehicles (LRVs) were returned to service in Boston, following significant work at the Alstom plant in upstate New York.
The Green Line Type 7 fleet includes 86 LRVs that entered service in 1986 and 1987 and are nearing the end of their intended design life. Each car’s systems require significant work to restore them from a deteriorated condition or complete replacement to ensure the vehicles can continue to provide safe and reliable operation.
The $104.4 million project includes preserving the integrity of the vehicle structure, roof, and exterior and improving the reliability of the fleet. Systems are being replaced or upgraded while others are being overhauled. Some of the improvements include upgraded HVAC, auxiliary lighting, flooring, seating, and insulation. The overhaul work addresses the structure, roof, carbody, door system, brake equipment, trucks, and propulsion.
All refurbished cars are inspected, cleaned and subjected to extensive testing prior to being returned to service. All 86 LRVs will be delivered by the end of next year, MBTA said.
“This is a great first step in our ongoing efforts to improve service on the country’s oldest light rail line,” said Interim MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola. “This rehabilitation work is preserving the integrity of the vehicle structure, roof and exterior, all of which experienced water damage and corrosion over the past two-and-a-half decades.”
In addition, as of April, the Green Line’s first countdown signs have been activated at Newton Centre and Newton Highlands Stations on the D branch. Countdown signs will also be activated along other D Branch stations.
DePaola said the MBTA is also currently working to install underground tracking equipment for Green Line LRVs. Riders will soon be able to pinpoint the locations of underground LRVs in real time and get accurate arrival information on their smartphones.
“We anticipate bringing countdowns to the first Green Line subway stations this summer,” DePaola said. The tracking devices, known as Automatic Vehicle Identifiers, or AVIs, will allow passengers to use third-party apps to follow the location of underground trains.
The $13.4 million Green Line project, which is being funded through a MassDOT grant, began in October 2014 when the MBTA installed GPS devices on all of its LRVs and released data into the T’s real-time information feed, marking the first time in the 108-year history of the Green Line that customers were able to see where the next LRV was located. But because the same GPS technology doesn’t work underground, the T has to retrofit the tunnels with the special AVI track sensors along those portions of the Green Line routes.
“Once hardware is installed, location data will be released, followed by predictions being displayed on message boards,” Pesaturo said.
The transit agency already offers real-time tracking and countdown clocks for all of its rapid transit lines and commuter rail trains.
Charlie goes monthly
Commuter Rail CharlieCards for monthly pass holders are now available. DePaola said CharlieCards with monthly passes printed on them are available for Corporate Pass Program participants and customers who make monthly purchases on the MBTA website.
The CharlieCard monthly passes replace paper tickets, which are not as durable as the plastic smartcards, MBTA says. Commuter Rail passes purchased by vending machines or at sales offices will continue to be delivered in ticket form.
In January, DePaola said the MBTA began testing the monthly passes and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers. The CharlieCard Commuter Rail passes are used as “flash passes” on board commuter rail trains and then used like any other CharlieCard for bus and subway service.
Baker's bill
In April, Gov. Baker filed “An Act for a Reliable Sustainable MBTA,” acting on many of the recommendations made by the special panel that reported their findings earlier that month. The legislation would establish a Fiscal Management and Control Board (FMCB) and chief administrator to oversee operations and finances through 2018, create capital plans, and introduce reporting and audit requirements and life procurement restrictions for the MBTA.
A redrafted version of the reform package left the Transportation Committee on June 22, 2015 and was reported out favorably the following day. At press time, the bill, H. 3613, formerly H.3347, had been referred by the Transportation Committee to the Committee on House Ways and Means.