Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson shared their thoughts on MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak’s upcoming departure, and other transit headlines. Aloisi is a former transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters Board, and contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Thompson is executive director of Livable Streets Alliance.

But Stacy Thompson, LivableStreets executive director, said her personal preference would be to stick with someone local.

“I wouldn’t write someone off who isn’t from the Boston area, but it’s valuable to have someone who knows people and who people respect,” she said.

She would like to see the next governor look at candidates with prior knowledge of the system, who weren’t there “when problems were going on, but still understand the MBTA.”

“He took a job that no one wanted, and he stepped into already tough circumstances,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of Livable Streets. “The problems with the T are problems that the governor and the Legislature created long before Steve stepped into that job.”

LivableStreets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson said Poftak was "a consistent voice who stepped in when other people were unwilling to do it."

Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, said the MBTA needs to be more transparent with “metrics that matter to the public,” such as work to eliminate speed restrictions and hiring efforts to improve train and bus frequency.

Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson discussed Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey questioning MBTA officials over multiple safety incidents, and the current state of driving in Boston. 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.

“There’s certainly been public frustration that the slow zones are still intact,” said Stacy Thompson of the Livablestreets Alliance... ”I think people expected a miracle overnight and maybe are coming to terms with the reality that this was the first step in what’s going to be a long process.”

“Should we just wait a month or two to spend this money wisely, on the goals of the administration that people elect in November?” said Stacy Thompson, the Executive Director of LiveableStreets Alliance. “There’s a question of politics.” 

"These service cuts will overlap with the unprecedented Orange and Green Line shutdowns, compounding significant challenges for riders and the region, and raising serious equity, mobility, environmental, and economic concerns," Wu said in a statement with the groups LivableStreets Alliance, A Better City and Transit Matters "Magnifying the impact of chronic underinvestment in infrastructure, these cuts underscore the MBTA's continued inability to address critical systemic staffing issues."

“Unless you have stood on a bus corner in a blizzard, you do not understand what it means to wait an extra 20 minutes for a bus,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance.