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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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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Watch: What does new federal oversight of MBTA say about Gov. Baker’s stewardship over the T?
Former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson, the executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, joined Talking Politics host Adam Reilly to talk about what the federal oversight of the MBTA could mean for the agency's future and what it says about Gov. Charlie Baker's stewardship of the T up to now.
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Feds’ Safety Review Could Impact Local Governance Over the T
“I do think that if the FTA comes in and says, here are 100 things you have to do on this timeline, and the T has to shift capacity to deal with those issues that are urgent, it could impact things like bus network redesign and fare equity work,” said Thompson.
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Boston Public Radio full show: May 10, 2022
Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson shared their thoughts on the Federal Transit Administration inspecting the MBTA after numerous safety incidents, and the potential for an East-West rail system.
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Fault in door control system cited in Red Line accident that killed man, NTSB report says
“I think there is a lot to learn from this moment,” Thompson said via e-mail. “It illustrates the real, and in this case, incredibly tragic consequences of chronically under investing in the T.”
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Service Changes Begin on Blue Line for MBTA's Harbor Tunnel Project
It’s a move that is also being supported by transportation advocacy groups like LivableStreets Alliance. Executive Director Stacy Thompson argued these improvements will help avoid some hiccups down the ‘track’
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Boston mayor, others rally to push MBTA for low income fare program
"We believe that a pilot to kick this off could be less than $10 million, and we're looking at less than $100 million annually to pay for a system wide fare that would also include the commuter rail," Stacy Thompson, the executive director of LivableStreets Alliance said.
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Coalition Rallies for Low-Income Fare Legislation
“We need a systemwide approach, and we need to do it this session,” said LivableStreets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson.
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Little mention of fatal Red Line incident at MBTA board of directors safety subcommittee meeting
“It’s unacceptable,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, a public transportation advocacy group. “What’s the point of the board? Someone died, there should be an immediate response. I would have liked to see the board ask for what the public can reasonably expect. It goes beyond a dereliction of duty. Someone died in a horrible way.”
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