BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is slated to have submitted plans by today to address safety directives issued by the Federal Transit Administration, Streetsblog Mass reports.
Corrective action plans were required to respond to the four directives issued by the FTA in June [see “Federal directives order MBTA to address safety issues,” Trains News Wire, June 15, 2022]. Among the problems addressed so far: track work on a section of the rapid transit Orange Line which the FTA said showed “evidence of excessive wear and defects.
MBTA Assistant General Manager Aisheea Isidor told the agency’s board of directors on Tuesday that the MBTA has begun hiring to fill its shortage of dispatchers, another problem called out by the FTA and one that has led to subway service reductions [see “Dispatcher shortage leads MBTA to cut service …,” News Wire, June 20, 2022]. Isidor said five new hires have begun 10 weeks of dispatcher training; five others are expected to start soon or in “pre-employment,” which a board member said indicated it would take until 2023 to return staffing to normal levels.
Also, WCVB-TV reports that MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak told a state legislative committee on Monday that while the agency was “still responding and working through unknown considerations” to fully meet the FTA orders, it estimated it would need approximately $300 million to address the issues.
