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.

“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.”

“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.

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.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

NBC10 Investigator Ryan Kath was the first to report that speed was a major factor in last week’s crash.

Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson weighed in on Boston’s plan to open more streets this summer, and the poetry of the MBTA. 

“We’d love to see the legislature give them more resources so they can catch up faster,” said Thompson.