How the shutdown of the Orange Line is impacting commuters
The 30-day shutdown of the MBTA's Orange Line has begun. Stacy Thompson, executive director of Livable Streets, joined WBUR's Weekend Edition to discuss its impact.
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How Boston-Area Officials Are Responding to Transit Turmoil
“The MBTA’s ability to execute this successfully or not will determine the mood going forward,” Thompson says. “If this project is successful, we can turn a corner in terms of public confidence. We’re just not there yet.”
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Massachusetts transportation boss takes a vacation as Orange Line shutdown looms
“I honestly don’t think it’s a big deal,” said Stacy Thompson, LivableStreets executive director. “Everyone leaves the state of Massachusetts at some point.”
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MBTA not on board with push for free fares during Orange Line shutdown
“To make the entire system free, including the commuter rail, we’re talking about a minimal expense in the grand scheme of things,” Thompson said. “I understand not everyone is on board for free fares all the time. I would say this is a suspension of fares to alleviate stress during the crisis.”
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Here’s how to get where you need to go during the Orange Line shutdown, according to MBTA
“There’s been a good faith effort to create a diversion plan that is as efficient as you can be with roadways and shuttles,” Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, said in a phone interview Friday evening. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t gaps.”
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MBTA still finalizing plan for alternative transit during month-long shutdown
“Whether you drive, whether you take the T, whether you bike – we are all in this together for the next month,” said Thompson.
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MBTA riders demand better alternatives during shutdowns
"I think that the T should consider suspending fares for the entire month of the Green Line and Orange Line shutdowns," said Stacy Thompson, Executive Director of Livable Streets Alliance.
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Transit advocates have mixed reactions to the MBTA’s Orange Line shutdown
Stacy Thompson, executive director of the Livable Streets Alliance, agrees the 30-day shutdown will speed along repairs, but she too is concerned about the bus shuttles.
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MBTA Plans Month-Long Shut Down Orange Line
Catherine Gleason, program and policy coordinator at transit advocacy group LivableStreets Alliance, said riders would be “paying the price” for the “long-overdue” nature of the repairs being performed during the shutdown.
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T safety, East-West rail, e-bikes, and EVs get boost in transportation bond, climate bills sent to governor
“I wouldn’t call this bold, ambitious, or strategic,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, a public transportation advocacy group.
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MA: How to fix the MBTA: One idea would give the governor more power, but does that ignore the real issue?
“I’m not surprised,” she said in an interview with MassLive. “This sort of like ‘we’ll have someone else take it over, we’ll restructure as the solution’ is definitely something that we’ve seen in many conversations previously, and it doesn’t work.”
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MBTA spent millions with politically-connected PR firm
“The T should be spending much, much more on communications. Compared to other transit authorities, the T spends significantly less on marketing,” Thompson said. “That’s probably why the public feels like they aren’t getting the information they need.”
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Pitch to Dismantle T Called ‘an Attempt to Distract’ from Problems
“I disagree with Rep. Straus about restructuring the MBTA,” Thompson said. “Obviously, we all want to have a good transit system, but it’s very much putting the cart before the horse, and frankly, I think it’s potentially an attempt to distract from the core issue, which is deep underinvestment in the system.”
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What to make the MBTA right now as safety incidents pile up
State Rep. William Straus, chairperson of the joint committee on transportation; Stacy Thompson, executive director of the LiveableStreets Alliance; and Jarred Johnson, executive director of TransitMatters, join us to make sense of how recent events might affect the agency and riders' experience moving forward.
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Memorial Drive changes are off to a good start, but groups still share five significant concerns
Representatives of the Memorial Drive Alliance, a collective of Cambridge and Boston environmentalists, cyclists, pedestrians, runners, city officials and members of prominent local community organizations, are committed to an improved Memorial Drive Parkway and share the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s mission to protect and enhance state natural resources for all to enjoy.
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Advocates want governor, Legislature to treat T problems like 10-out-of-10 crisis
In the meantime, Catherine Gleason, Public Policy Manager at LivableStreets Alliance, wants the T to offer fare-free days or discounted fares to riders who have to endure the longer wait times and safety concerns.
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Low-income fare for T riders could bring much-needed relief to poor squeezed by inflation
Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, a public transportation advocacy group, said low-income fares aim to keep money in the pockets of people who need it most, and eliminating bus fares can boost ridership and make service more reliable by reducing the time it takes people to board.
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MBTA: Investigation ongoing, driver ‘re-trained’ after slow speed accident on Green Line in June
Transit passenger advocate Stacy Thompson puts the blame squarely on the Baker Administration for underfunding operating costs at the T for years.
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T says it’s making progress on safety, fixing failures found by feds
While riders are enduring reduced service and longer waits for trains, Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, a public transportation advocacy group, said the T should be offering discounted fares and fare-free days, as well as increased commuter rail and ferry service.
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‘Brutal' Wait Times Continue as MBTA Deals With Staffing Issues
Stacy Thompson, a transit advocate with LivableStreets, said she understands the process takes time, but she wishes the MBTA would be more transparent with the public about the hiring process and invest more into it going forward.
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Boston Public Radio full show: July 8, 2022
Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson talked about the state of the MBTA: recent derailments, budget concerns and sources of political inaction, as well as Boston’s upcoming open street days and bike lane controversy. Aloisi is the former Massachusetts transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters board and contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Thompson is executive director of Livable Streets.
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Black drivers pulled over in Boston at 2.4 times the rate of white drivers, new study finds
“We know that traffic safety is achievable without police enforcement,” Catherine Gleason, public policy manager of LivableStreets Alliance, said in a statement. “Banning non-traffic-safety related stops is a clear step toward dismantling the discriminatory role law enforcement plays in traffic safety.”
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The MBTA lowered its reduced fare prices, but some say it’s still not enough
“This is good,” Thompson said, “but it’s not nearly enough to meet the demands of people who increasingly can’t afford to ride a system that is also experiencing service cuts right now.”
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In 2015, Baker leaned in to T oversight. This crisis, his public response seems more arm’s length.
“He didn’t in 2015 blame the weather, he said the weather illuminated a longstanding problem I’m going to fix,” she said. “Now he’s blaming the pandemic [for staffing shortages]. If he cared about this transit system, he would be rolling up his sleeves and doing everything he could to fix the problem before the next governor comes in.”
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Transit Advocate Addresses Latest Issue Plaguing MBTA: ‘It Is Frustrating'
Stacy Thompson, with LivableStreets Alliance, says the T is being overly cautious in this case, taking all of the new Orange and Red line trains off the tracks due to a battery issue.
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Can $400 million fix MBTA safety issues? Transportation advocates look at how that money could be spent
“The FTA actually called out explicitly in their preliminary reports that there has been an over-focus on capital and there has been a lack of focus on operating,” Thompson told MassLive. “And so there is nothing wrong with the $400 million, it’s a good investment, but it is not actually meaningfully or directly addressing any of the four recommendations that the FTA laid out. That is an operating question.”
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MBTA begins cutting weekday train trips on 3 major lines
“This is binding set of recommendations. If the T doesn’t follow through then we lose federal funding that over time could be hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance.
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Transit advocate weighs in on looming MBTA service changes
The T says the switch to a Saturday schedule during the work week will help alleviate a dispatcher shortage. Stacy Thompson, executive director of the transportation advocacy group LivableStreets, tells WBUR's Weekend Edition host Sharon Brody the move isn't surprising.
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MBTA Slashing Service on 3 T Lines All Summer Amid MBTA Safety Probe
“This is a really big deal especially as we’re trying to bring back our downtowns, get folks back into our spaces in the metro Boston region as we’re coming out of the pandemic, this is a huge blow,” Thompson added.
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Under pressure from regulators on staffing, MBTA to reduce weekday service on Blue, Orange, and Red lines
“For those who have been paying attention, we’ve seen this coming for a long time. We’ve been screaming into the void that you must invest to operations in order for the system to run,” she said.
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