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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Ridership on fare-free MBTA buses more than doubled in program's first year
"And what that means is that when it is pouring rain outside, when it's snowing, you can get on the bus faster; the bus moves faster; there's more money in your pocket if you're not making a transfer and that's your only ride."
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Chamber Urges Pay Boost As T Leader Search Continues
LivableStreets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson said the GM might need a raise given the region's high cost of living, but stressed that she does not view compensation as "a dealbreaker."
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Greater Boston Needs a Bus System That Supports Its Workforce
While municipalities and state agencies are making laudable steps to improve bus service, progress has been piecemeal and insufficient.
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New Report: Greater Boston’s Population Doubled as MBTA Bus Fleet Decreased the Same Over the Past Fifty Years
"We have a huge opportunity to invest in better buses to help people get where they need to go, all while boosting the economy, reducing traffic congestion, and tackling climate change.”
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Advocates Set An Agenda For Salvaging the T’s Troubled Buses
A new report from the LivableStreets Alliance and Boston's office of the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) establishes a clear agenda for the legislature, the MBTA's management, and municipal governments to improve the region's struggling bus system.
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Wanted: Experienced MBTA GM with ‘strong commitment to safety’
“If you’re looking for someone with a ton of expertise and someone with previous experience of the MBTA, Rick Leary would be an obvious choice to talk to or at least reach out to.”
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Boston Public Radio full show: Jan. 9, 2023
Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson shared their hopes on what Gov. Maura Healey should prioritize in Massachusetts transit, from safety at the MBTA to strengthening the state’s roads and bridges. Aloisi is a former transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters Board, and a contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Thompson is the executive director of the Livable Streets Alliance.
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Who Is Gina Fiandaca, MassDOT’s New Boss?
“Gina was always friendly and collaborative. She served as commissioner while Go Boston 2030 was being drafted, so we didn’t have very much time to see her in action implementing the plan”
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Five big tests facing Healey’s administration
“She needs to be able to catch up while expanding the systems,” said Stacy Thompson, the executive director of LivableStreets Alliance. “We have to keep the state moving, literally.”
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Local 2023 predictions
“If you look at the data of where the slow zones are, for sure the Red line is going to have some sort of shutdown,” said Stacy Thompson, the executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance. “Do I think it’s going to be a whole line for 30 days? No. Do I think the public should be prepared for extended shutdowns that will impact their ability to get around? Yes.”
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Somerville had to wait — and wait — for the Green Line, but patience paid off
Stacy Thompson, executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance, says pouring money into a project that had fallen out of favor was politically risky.
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T quietly pulls new Orange Line trains from service, nearly doubling wait times
“For a public agency responsible for moving thousands of people every day to not communicate about this is unacceptable,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, a public transportation advocacy group. “They’ve already cut service so much that any further cuts dramatically impact a person’s ability to get where they need to go.”
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Speed restrictions plague MBTA, quietly slowing down commutes, new data show
“It’s entirely reasonable for a transit system to have various slow zones throughout the year. It’s common to do repairs,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance. “The reason it’s become a thing is because the T isn’t transparent about why.”
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A decade in the making, Massachusetts road safety bill again headed to Governor Baker’s desk
“This is an incredibly significant accomplishment,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance. “The kinds of things that people like me think about as no-brainer fixes — this is the kind of bill that will save lives, and that’s not hyperbolic. It both will protect the most vulnerable people on our roadways and also will give the state better data.”
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Green Line derailment highlights MBTA’s transparency problem
“I think the real question is, was the T transparent about the derailment when they had the information later on?” Thompson said.
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T LOOKS TO DOUBLE SHUTTLE BUS USE. IS ANOTHER SHUTDOWN LOOMING?
“Planning for something like this is a good thing, they’re probably looking at a pretty extensive slate of repair projects and haven’t figured out the mechanics of how they’re going to do it,” Thompson said.
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