Is the T transparent about its shortcomings?
Transit advocates have long criticized the MBTA's approach to communications. Can a new general manager and a new chief communications officer change the agency's relationship with riders?
Stacy Thompson of Livable Streets, along with State Representative Mike Connolly, join us to discuss.
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Boston cyclists hope more commuters give two wheels a spin
On a recent morning, dozens of people zoomed through the city's bike paths. They ranged from "younger folks, older folks, people in spandex, people dressed for work, the whole gambit of folks," said Stacey Thompson, executive director of the nonprofit LivableStreets.
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We "T" off on the latest headlines for the MBTA
Smoldering wires in a Red Line station. A no-bid contract awarded to the state secretary of transportation's former brother-in-law. A controversial land buy near South Station. We check in on the MBTA. Congressman Seth Moulton joins us, along with transportation advocates Stacy Thompson and Chris Dempsey.
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Proposed bill would create new commission to oversee MBTA safety
LivableStreets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson supports the measure. “This is about multiple industries that [DPU officials] oversee and regulate, and making sure that there is a transparent, independent body that can look at all of those issues and make sure that we are regulating them in the most safe way.”
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Massachusetts lawmaker wants to divert control of commuter rail from MBTA
“Maura Healy hired a really good safety officer,” Thompson said. “It’s great that she hired really wonderful DPU commissioners, but it doesn’t solve this core problem of independent oversight that we have models of in the state and that the federal government is encouraging us to do.”
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T: Machine that fell on Red Line passenger was last used in 2013
The MBTA has released more details about an incident that left one Red Line rider with minor injuries after a utility box fell from a column at the Harvard Square station. The transit agency said Monday’s incident was caused by “corrosion on the support straps that secured the box to the column.”
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Let's talk T: What's the future like for the MBTA?
We talk about the current developments with the T and then look ahead to its future. MBTA Advisory Board Executive Director Brian Kane joins us in studio, as well as local public transportation advocate Stacy Thompson and WBUR transportation reporter Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez.
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Fare debate: Make buses free to all
The mounting nationwide data are quite clear—there are many benefits of eliminating fare collection, especially on buses.
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MBTA finishes safety inspections of its tracks, a key step toward trains returning to normal speed
“We want to understand: What did they discover?” Thompson said. “Were there problems that weren’t noted before? What were they tracking?”
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Mass. Lawmakers To Re-Introduce Legislation For Fare Free Public Transit
"The reality is free transit is working. We are seeing massive transit improvements in Boston, Merrimack Valley, and Worcester— these systems are bucking the trends of downward transit ridership that was happening before the pandemic," Thompson said.
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‘It’s now on their plate’: With Healey’s new hires comes new responsibility for the MBTA’s problems
“We are not looking for perfection, we are looking for people who will be engaged,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of Livable Streets, a local transportation advocacy group. “If people the Healey administration is appointing do the work we assume they will do, in a year or two the T will feel different to the riding public.”
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Possible Blue Line Shutdowns and Land O’ Lakes CEO Beth Ford
Stacy Thompson, Executive Director of “Livable Streets”, a group which advocates for equitable transportation solutions, talks about the MBTA possibly shutting down the Blue Line for repairs every night for a month.
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LivableStreets Alliance executive director on Boston’s free fare bus program
Stacy Thompson, the executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, an advocacy organization dedicated to making city streets more pedestrian-friendly, joined Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall” Thursday to talk about some of the lessons that could be learned from Boston.
“I don’t think transit is dead,” she said. “I think we need to meet the reality of where a thriving global city should be, which is moving 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in different directions for different reasons.”
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In the MBTA’s proposed $9.2 billion spending plan, transit advocates argue more funds are needed for expansion
Stacy Thompson, the executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, said the T must balance both near-term safety and maintenance, while also working on expansion.
“Things like expansion and resiliency are not extras, or nice to have. They should be considered core to the viability of the system,” Thompson said.
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On Eng’s first day, transit advocates hope new MBTA general manager can turn the agency around
“We need to hire enough bus operators that, by September, we’re running more service,” Thompson said. “It’s that simple.”
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New T GM promises to prioritize safety, reliability and staffing
“At this moment, I think riders really want someone who will help make sure the T just moves, just truly shows up on time, gets them to where they need to go,” Thompson said. “And I think that Philip Eng's general skills align with that desire.”
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MBTA contractors charged with stealing more than $8 million
“Whether it’s with the company working on our fare collection system, the company making the new Red and Orange Line trains, if you don’t have enough oversight and consistent management, things like this are more likely to happen. There is an emerging pattern,” she said, though she cautioned that she does not know enough about the Pigsley case to say if lax oversight played a role.
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Pedestrian deaths are up sharply in Mass. Here are five ways to reduce them
Similarly, raised crosswalks reduce vehicle speeds by functioning as a type of speed bump, said Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets, a transportation advocacy organization. “It’s the ideal condition,” Thompson said. “It forces the car to slow down, otherwise they’ll bottom out.”
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AMID MULTIPLE CRISES, MBTA FIELDS PITCHES FOR NEW AGENCY MARKETING CAMPAIGN
“Go with the transparency route, let people know what you’re doing. There’s a real value in marketing to help simplify really complex things,” Stacy Thompson of LiveableStreets Alliance said.
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What local transit advocates think of the MBTA's new leader
“This is not about flashy announcements and ribbon cuttings. This is about someone who can hire people, build a team, operationalize repairs and literally get the trains back on track. It’s that behind-the-scenes hard work. And he’s got decades of experience.”
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New leader for MBTA is announced: Phillip Eng, engineer who put New York rail on a better path
“This is progress,” Livable Streets executive director Stacy Thompson said. The work will be slow and it could be a “bumpy summer,” but she sees Eng as the right pick.
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Transit advocates praise Governor Healey’s GM pick of Phillip Eng
“You can go to ribbon cuttings, you can make big announcements, you can talk about innovation. But what makes a system run is the stuff behind the scenes you never want to think about.”
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Phillip Eng, former LIRR president, will be the next MBTA general manager, Healey announces
“It’s not the sexy stuff, it’s not the ribbon cuttings. It’s literally getting the trains running on time,” she said. “And that seems to be what his specialty is.”
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"A herculean task": Transportation advocates say new MBTA GM faces challenges
"It's the kind of nuts and bolts experience we want to see in the T," said Thompson. "This isn't about ribbon cuttings, this isn't about announcements, this is about literally getting the trains back on track. You want someone who is going to prioritize that in the weeds, behind the scenes operations work that he seems to have many, many years of work in."
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Debris Falls, Water Leaks From Ceiling at Forest Hills
Thompson said the frequent nature of the MBTA's problems does not make them acceptable. She says they are the result of decades of neglect, adding that investments are needed now.
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Two months in, Healey faces a familiar challenge for past governors: an MBTA in disarray
“There is a false narrative that the T is an impossible thing to manage,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of advocacy group LivableStreets Alliance. “Maura Healey does not have an insurmountable challenge. She has a choice.”
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MBTA problems impact quality of life and economy, transit experts say
"There is really no major city globally that has a thriving economy without a transit system," she said. "It really comes down to people can't get downtown to go to a great restaurant, they can't go downtown to go to work, they can't get across town to get to a doctor's appointment."
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The T is getting slower. 83 speed restrictions cover 10 miles of track.
Stacy Thompson, LivableStreets executive director, said she expects slow zones to persist for a “couple of years” across many different lines.
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The MBTA is scheduling spring bus service that it knows it can’t deliver
“They should be aiming for people to have the information they can revolve their lives around,” she said. “That’s better than having an ambitious plan they know they can’t meet.”
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Healey wants MBTA rate reductions for low-income riders
Thompson pointed to a 2019 Massachusetts Institute of Technology study that found that low-income passengers who received a 50% discounted fare took more trips than lower-income passengers who paid a regular fare, including more trips related to with health and social services.
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