Keller @ Large: The "death spiral" currently facing MBTA, and how it can be stopped
BOSTON – There remain many issues within the MBTA. So what can be done to get back on track?
WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller talked to Brian Kane, executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board.
Keller asked Kane about a difficult cycle the MBTA faces. The organization has a lack of adequate revenue, which means the MBTA can't get the number of people needed to run the system, which in turn leads to diminished service.
As a result, Keller said, riders are driven away, which in turn worsens the financial state of the MBTA.
"It's called the death spiral," Kane said. "The escape hatch hopefully is in the new leadership that has just been put in place. I'm not going to sit here pollyannaish and tell you the fix is right around the corner. I can't even see the corner right now."
Kane was also asked about a recent report, first published by The Boston Globe, found that multiple members of the MBTA's top brass had been working remotely hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of miles away. This came during the height of the safety and service issues the MBTA faced last summer.
"I think it was a hangover from COVID pandemic policies that were never really pulled back in," Kane said. "We shouldn't cast aspersions on all remote work. Clearly there are times and places when it can continue, should continue. But I think a place like the MBTA where things are clearly not working well, it really needs to be all hands on deck, all the time, in person."
Keller @ Large: Part 2