Dempsey And Aloisi On New Report That Says 'Safety Is Not The Priority' At The MBTA

In this April 5, 2012 photo, an MBTA train pulls into a stop on Commonweath Avenue near Boston University in Boston. The tunnels and bridges have long since been built, but Boston's massive and oft-maligned Big Dig project has left a legacy of debt in Massachusetts that many contend is crippling the state's overall transportation network. Big Dig debt was cited as one of the reasons why the MBTA was forced last week to raise fares and cut some service.

Zoe Mathews is a producer for Boston Public Radio and the producer of The Scrum podcast.

December 10, 2019

Updated August 07, 2023

A safety review of the MBTA conducted by an independent panel of three transportation experts released this week showed that "safety is not the priority" on the MBTA. The report was commissioned after a string of derailments earlier this year.

Jim Aloisi, the state's former transportation secretary, and Chris Dempsey, director of the group Transportation for Massachusetts, joined Boston Public Radio on Tuesday to discuss the review's findings.

"The study says the operating budget of the T is inadequate to the task, basic routine maintenance protocols are not being put into place, and that there's a culture of non-communication and peer retribution among the staff that leads people to not expose issues that need to be exposed," said Aloisi.

The biggest takeaway the legislature and the governor can fix immediately, according to Aloisi, is the operating budget. More money infused into the organization would help with the more difficult task of bringing a "culture of safety and communication" to the T, he said.

Gov. Charlie Baker has called for an $18 billion transportation bond bill, which Dempsey and Aloisi both have said would not be enough to modernize the MBTA.

On Tuesday, Dempsey said the findings of the report prove there is "unequivocally no" argument that the Baker administration could make for no additional revenue into the mass transit system.

"The report was clear. These are safety issues that also impact operations, so if we invest in safety, we will actually get trains that run better on a day-to-day basis," said Dempsey.