I-Team: Big Dig is root of MBTA financial troubles
BOSTON - The Big Dig is the root of the MBTA's financial troubles, according to experts. Forced to foot the bill for billions of dollars in projects, the T diverted money from maintenance to pay for them.
Charles Chieppo of the Pioneer Institute says, "the money left maintenance and went to build these new projects and they amassed this huge debt that essentially left them bankrupt, and not having the money to do the most basic safety things."
Chieppo says the T was more focused on revenue and expansion.
A 2019 report commissioned by the MBTA's Fiscal Management Control Board (FMCB) said critical preventative maintenance and inspections are not taking place. The report also found that safety was not the priority for the T.
Rail safety expert Carl Berkowitz says, "deferring maintenance is something you never do in public transportation."
The T's problems are nothing new. A 2009 report found safety critical projects are not being funded.
Rail safety expert Keith Millhouse questioned the MBTA's priorities, telling the I-Team, "If you are only funding certain projects and putting projects on the back burner that are critical to safety, you have to ask yourself how are we gonna operate the system? If you can't safely operate the system, you're gonna have to not operate it."
Weeks ago, officials announced the Orange Line would be shut down until Sept. 19 to make necessary improvements and repairs. Governor Charlie Baker said the MBTA faces a number of significant challenges.
The closure comes on the heels of a series of serious incidents on the T. One of the most recent, a fire on an Orange Line train going over the Mystic River. Passengers climbed out of windows to escape the blaze, despite worry about the third rail. One woman even jumped into the water.
"I know from a history of 25 years of writing about the MBTA, I don't come away with thinking oh great they say it will all be fixed on September 19," Chieppo said. "I hope it will be better I'm not super optimistic."
The T is also in the middle of a Federal Transit Administration safety inspection. Millhouse says, "They've tried to run a system that is held together with bubble gum and duct tape and it doesn't work."
The MBTA released a statement to the I-Team:
Safety has always been, and continues to be, the MBTA's top priority. In 2019, the MBTA control board, on its own, commissioned a report by an independent safety review panel. All MBTA employees from all departments were fully engaged and candid throughout the process. The MBTA embraced the opportunity to review our safety processes and make all necessary changes in our safety procedures.
One of the report's findings, for example, was that the MBTA's safety management system (SMS) was lacking. SMS is defined as a formalized, top-down, organization-wide, data-driven approach to managing safety. Every day, in every part of the MBTA, we continue to steadily implement SMS and best practices, setting safety performance targets as well as tracking and communicating them in order to make agency-wide decisions.
Much like the process of the safety review panel in 2019, the T has fully supported the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) during their safety management inspection process. For months, a number of T departments and individual T staff members met with the FTA almost every day.
When the FTA issued its special directives with varying specific timelines for corrective action plans, the MBTA didn't wait or pause to take action - we embraced the issues the FTA discovered, and immediately began to make both long-term plans and implement corrective actions. Among these actions is the Orange Line project which will accomplish - what would have been - five years of weekend and nighttime work - in 30 days, starting tonight.
The MBTA embraces the FTA's safety management inspection, and looks forward to continuing to work with the FTA and other regulatory partners.
Safety is our number one priority at the MBTA, and we fully support all opportunities to review our practices and make changes to become a safer service and organization, including in the areas identified by the 2019 safety review panel report as well as the during the FTA safety management inspection.