Results tagged “mbtafail”

So, the T saw two fires last night, just as rush hour was winding down. Bad wiring at South Station closed the Red Line, and, minutes later, a commuter threw trash on the third rail at Chinatown, starting a fire that closed the Orange Line and filled both Chinatown and Downtown Crossing stations with smoke. (Don't do that again, commuter!) Sections of both lines were closed for hours as the T put out the fires and repaired the damage. Shuttle buses were hard to find or, in some cases, completely non-existent. It was a frustrating night. more ›

Texting drivers. Fires. Drivers who don't stop in emergencies. Deadly crashes. And now, power outages. The MBTA is one big failure. Accidents are obviously inevitable, but the T has shown a distinct inability to deal with them effectively. The organization left thousands of Bostonians stranded underground this morning when the system's power went out. A power failure in itself should not happen: there should be backup power available for the system. But when such an incident does occur, there must be a plan for getting riders out of the T effectively. What if someone had had a medical emergency? And not to be alarmist, but isn't the subway an amazing place for a terrorist attack? If the T can't deal with a power outage that its own workers caused, how can it deal with larger, more serious events? Richard Leary, the T's chief operating officer, told the Globe "We're going to put practices in place to make sure this never happens again" and admitted "Our process has to be reviewed for preventive maintenance." But that's just not good enough. The fallout from T failures hasn't been major yet, but it seems only a matter of time until disaster results from the T's consistent inability to handle crises quickly and effectively. Boston needs to better fund its public transportation system, and the system needs to create a better plan for dealing with emergencies. Failure to do so puts citizens in danger every day. more ›

In a shocking turn of events, something unfortunate occurred at the MBTA today, and nobody had a good plan for dealing with it! Oh wait: that kind of thing happens all the time. Anyway, today's unfortunate event was a massive system-wide MBTA power outage that left folks stranded underground all over town for 20 minutes or more. Some power has been restored, but signals are not working and trains are operating slowly. The Red Line is still stuck. The MBTA's website describes the mishap as a "power problem." It may have been concentrated between Kenmore and Park Street as that's where crews are working, creating "10-15 delays" for Green Line commuters. We're going to go with much more than 15 delays caused by this incident. The police say all power has been restored but that service is not back in business yet. Alternate transportation is suggested. more ›