BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority should meet a number of deadlines in November for corrective action ordered by the Federal Transit Administration, MBTA officials told the transit agency’s board on Thursday.
But the agency remains short of the number of dispatchers it needs to restore subway cuts that were made in June because of safety directives issued by the FTA.
The FTA issued four sets of directives in June addressing with issues in maintenance-of-way, staffing at its Operational Control Center, operator certification, and procedures for movement of equipment with mechanical issues [see “Federal directives order MBTA to address safety issues,” Trains News Wire, June 15, 2022].
MassLive.com reports the agency faces 14 deadlines in November relating to corrective plans addressing those issues, according to Natasha Vance, MBTA oversight senior director.
Three plans are due for resubmission today (Friday, Nov. 4) after the FTA asked for more information on how the MBTA would implement its plans. Those will be ready on time, Vance said. Among other deadlines, one is complete, six are scheduled to be done today, and the rest are on schedule to meet their due date, she said.
Meanwhile, the Boston Herald reports that while the MBT has hired 11 subway dispatchers, it still needs four more to reach the 15 targeted by the FTA directive, according to MBTA Chief Human Resources Officer.
One of the FTA directives issued in June required the MBTA to ensure dispatchers had sufficient rest between shifts and to no longer allow workers to serve as both dispatchers and supervisors on the same shift. Because the agency lacked sufficient dispatchers to fulfill that requirement, it reduced frequencies on the Red, Orange, and Blue lines [see “Dispatcher shortage leads MBTA to cut service …,” News Wire, June 20, 2022]. No date has determined for restoring service to earlier levels.
The Herald reports dispatchers are now limited to 14-hour days with at least 10 hours off between shifts and no more than 24 hours of overtime per week. The FTA had found some employees were working 16- to 20-hour shifts.
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