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The MBTA shut down all trains at 7pm yesterday. There were no trains today and only a limited bus schedule. For tomorrow, here's a rundown of what the MBTA is currently saying:
The weather over the last three weeks has been unprecedented, but that's only exposed the long-standing problems. So before taking sides in this troika, here are a few links and a few selected observations:
You can find an abbreviated report on the T's historical Income and Expenses here:
http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/About_the_T/Financials/SORE%20History%20FY15%20budget.xls
You can find a selection of T ridership statistics (aka The Blue Book) here:
http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/document_library/?search=Blue+Book
Looking at the spreadsheets and first and last year of Blue Books, between FY2007 and FY2014:
- 70% of the regularly scheduled trips on the commuter Rail
- Fewer cars and less frequent service on the Blue and Green lines
- "Limited" Service on the Red and Orange lines
The weather over the last three weeks has been unprecedented, but that's only exposed the long-standing problems. So before taking sides in this troika, here are a few links and a few selected observations:
You can find an abbreviated report on the T's historical Income and Expenses here:
http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/About_the_T/Financials/SORE%20History%20FY15%20budget.xls
You can find a selection of T ridership statistics (aka The Blue Book) here:
http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/document_library/?search=Blue+Book
Looking at the spreadsheets and first and last year of Blue Books, between FY2007 and FY2014:
- Ridership as measured by unlinked trips is up 5%
- Total Operating Costs are up 46%
- Wages are up 27%
- Fringe Benefits are up 26%
- Outsourced Expenses are up 78%
- Percentage Revenue from fares has dropped from 35% to 33%
- Unless it's hidden in the "Materials, Supplies, and Services" catch-all, depreciation is not included in determining deficits or surpluses.
no subject
And starved it has been since the "Forward Funding" finance plan fell apart (after assuming that costs like health care and energy would either not grow or grow slowly).
See the 2009 review by the D'Allessandro panel, with such choice bits as: and Deferred maintenance. Yeah.
Or this: (emphasis in original)
no subject
I don't think there's any doubt that MBTA hasn't spent enough money on infrastructure. But given how fast spending has risen over the last 8 years and that subsidy levels have kept pace with spending, I can't agree that the MBTA has been starved. I want to know who made the decisions on how all that money was spent and why.
no subject
As that report says: I would be unsurprised to find that some of the cost growth in 2010-2014 was necessary "get it working again" repairs; remember the Harvard-Alewife track repair work? That's specifically called out in the report (p. 25) as an unfunded project which needed $80M in 2010 and didn't get it. It was done in 2011-2012, and probably cost a bit more than the 2010 budget because of that....