For the past year or so, the MBTA has been working to get back on track to cut costs and boost performance. Often it seems like it's one station forward, two stations back. The latest news comes from a Globe report, which found that the T forgave nearly half the 1.7 million dollars in fines issued against Keolis, the commuter rail operator that left riders stranded, frozen, and waiting for hours on multiple occasions in early 2015. That's a decision Governor Baker is backing as well.
And just last week another Globe report found the Green Line had the most derailments in the nation last year for a light rail line, with seven. This year, so far there have already been five. Democrats are screaming over moves toward privatization, the very same Democrats who voted in favor of handing over that power.
The head of the MBTA, Brian Shortsleeve, and Rep. William Straus sat down with Jim to talk forgiven fines, derailments, and privatization of the MBTA.
On fines, Shortsleeve said that they are aggressively fining Keolis every month. Straus said he doesn't agree that the fines should be returned. He said that everything that resulted in a file was a result of performance, and it all reflected the way they were doing the job. He argued that the problem is the nature of the contract with Keolis.
On the green line, Shortsleeve said that they are focused every day to make the green line run as best as possible. He said that all safety statistics are public. Straus said that we need to rethink the way the contract is negotiated, if we're not spending what we need to on the nuts and bolts.
