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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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‘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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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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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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‘Extremely concerned’ feds want these four safety issues at the T fixed right now
“This is really a make or break moment for the T,” she said. “If we don’t get it right, that’s how you end up with service cuts.”
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NBC10 Boston Investigators Uncover New Details in Green Line Crash
NBC10 Investigator Ryan Kath was the first to report that speed was a major factor in last week’s crash.
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Boston Public Radio full show: June 6, 2022
Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson weighed in on Boston’s plan to open more streets this summer, and the poetry of the MBTA.
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MBTA explains what happened in derailment
“We’d love to see the legislature give them more resources so they can catch up faster,” said Thompson.
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State transportation leaders confident in MBTA leader Steve Poftak amid federal safety review
“It’s telling,” she said. “Steve walked into a really tough situation. Are there some deficits? Yes. But do I think he’s done a reasonably good job with the hand he’s been dealt? Yes, I do.”
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Boston Public Radio full show: May 18, 2022
Stacy Thompson made the case for better bike infrastructure, and talked with listeners about the debate between bike lanes and parking.
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MBTA plans to increase bus service by 25 percent over five years
Thompson said based on her organization’s analysis of a 2019 report, the T needs 200 to 500 additional buses to meet the demands of the system. MBTA officials say they’re committed to working with available resources for the expanded bus network, despite financial challenges.
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MBTA unveils redesign of its bus system
Stacy Thompson, executive director of the Livable Streets Alliance, said she loved the redesign and said it’s up to Beacon Hill to make sure the T is able to afford this expansion.
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