Gov. Baker outlines accelerated MBTA capital plan
Expediting the transformation of the Massachussets Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) into a modern, safe, reliable transit system is the goal of a plan detailed by Gov. Charlie Baker on June 25, which accelerates the pace of MBTA capital construction projects. The five-year acceleration plan builds on the T's existing robust safety program and aggressive Capital Investment Program and is designed to facilitate an increase in construction and maintenance projects within shorter timeframes.
The MBTA is in the midst of executing a five-year, $8 billion Capital Investment Program that prioritizes core system investments into areas including new vehicles, track, signals, power systems and maintenance facilities.
The MBTA is expanding its focus to include ways to increase the pace of all investments and ensure system reliability by increasing maintenance and inspection intervals that properly reflect the age and condition of many MBTA assets. Additionally, the MBTA has worked to identify and resolve barriers that prevent increasing investment efforts.
This proposal includes five key initiatives:
- Explore scheduling more aggressive evening and weekend closures to expedite infrastructure improvements.
- Increasing the frequency of proactive inspections and preventive maintenance to find and fix potential issues before they impact service.
- Seek changes to law that remove impediments to force multipliers for capital investment, such as flexible procurement and project delivery approaches.
- Negotiating with industry partners to expedite manufacturing, accelerate contract milestones, and compress project schedules.
- Creating a new, flexible team of additional MBTA personnel and contracted resources to focus on expediting construction and infrastructure projects. This team will consist of flaggers, motorpersons, bus operators, engineers, and track, signals and power personnel. The team will have the flexibility to work on both operating and capital projects, which would not currently be possible if funded in the capital budget. This will require a one-time infusion of $50 million in operating budget funds for the additional MBTA employees and outside experts to support capital project delivery, proactive inspections, and enhanced maintenance.
“The MBTA has made tremendous gains since the winter of 2015 to control its operating costs, strengthen the pipeline to design and build capital projects, and take steps to improve service by focusing investments on core system infrastructure,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “In order to capitalize on that progress, this acceleration plan will allow the T to continue its investments at a faster pace, with greater focus on service improvements to provide a safe, reliable means of transportation that supports our economy, and gets people where they need to go.”
“This acceleration plan will help support and complement the $8 billion investment the MBTA will make over five years and the important work of the newly formed FMCB Safety Panel,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “We greatly appreciate the patience of the MBTA’s riders and commuters as the plan is implemented and thank the MBTA personnel that continue to work around the clock on repair and recovery efforts.”
“Given the current landscape of MBTA repairs, we are confident these five initiatives will sharpen the MBTA’s focus on delivering construction projects and service improvements for riders,” said MassDOT Secretary Stephanie Pollack. “While we understand executing on this plan will likely cause additional inconveniences for our customers now, these measures will allow us to get to the MBTA that they deserve sooner.”
“This acceleration plan will give us tools we need to be more aggressive in our capital investments, but more important, it allows us to treat this situation with the urgency our customers demand,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “While we acknowledge we can’t rebuild the system overnight, we can enhance our processes for inspections to ensure the MBTA remains safe for use while we execute on our capital program.”
Further details on the acceleration plan can be found on the commonwealth's website.
