An Orange Line train sits in a Wellington Station workshop on Aug. 3, 2022, the day Gov. Charlie Baker and MBTA officials announced plans to shut down Orange Line service for 30 days. Photo by Chris Lisinski | State House News Service
Several elected Democrats took aim at Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday after a scathing federal report was released documenting the MBTA’s safety deficiencies, pinning the blame on the outgoing Republican or his deputies ahead of corner-office turnover in January.
The Bay State’s two U.S. senators, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, both slammed “the Baker Administration’s failures” as responsible for the persistent issues at the MBTA, while Congressman Seth Moulton called for clearing house at the T and rolling out “top-to-bottom changes.”
Baker has faced growing pressure for months over the chaos at the T, which has been marred by collisions, derailments, fires and other incidents that prompted a federal investigation.
The Federal Transit Administration’s publication on Wednesday of a 90-page report depicting an overemphasis on the capital budget at the expense of day-to-day maintenance, interminable staffing shortages, and a Department of Public Utilities that fell short of its oversight role cranked up the heat on the governor, who early in his first term gained greater control over the MBTA.
In a joint statement, Markey and Warren said the report “underscores what we already know: the MBTA’s current crises are the unprecedented consequences of systemic negligence, underinvestment, and mismanagement of Greater Boston’s public transit system.”
“It is shameful for the first public transportation system in our country to have reached this entirely preventable point, where deep service cuts and wholesale shutdowns of subway lines are deemed necessary to get the T back on track,” the two Democrat senators said. “It is unacceptable that the MBTA has forced riders to carry the burden of the Baker Administration’s failures.”
Markey and Warren called for state government to “take seriously its role” by making full use of the DPU’s oversight abilities and incorporating municipal feedback about the MBTA.
Moulton Joins Fray
Another lawmaker representing Massachusetts in Washington, D.C., Moulton, took aim at the leadership team Baker installed at the MBTA.
Moulton called for a “wholesale culture shift” at the T, questioning why the transit agency “is failing at the most basic maintenance measures when our peers across the globe are able to keep their own systems updated and running safely.”
“The MBTA needs top-to-bottom changes that affect everything from hiring to vision and culture. If we only fix the immediate maintenance and safety concerns, we will be right back here with the same problems in four or five years,” Moulton said in a statement. “The new report published by FTA details a perfect storm of systemic failures — inadequate staffing, ineffective communication, noncompliance with safety and maintenance standards — that have led to the situation the MBTA is in today.”
Asked if Moulton believes MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak should be removed, a spokesperson replied that the congressman said “After reading this report, it’s clear MBTA needs to be rebuilt from top to bottom. That includes the top leadership.”
The MBTA could be poised for significant turnover in just a few months.
Dem, GOP Candidates Agree
Attorney General Maura Healey, who is poised to cruise to the Democratic nomination for governor, rolled out a transportation plan on Aug. 16 that includes appointing a new general manager, two deputy general managers and MBTA Board of Directors members with experience in “transit, safety, organizational management, customer service, and crisis communication.”
Her Republican opponent in November might agree.
Former Rep. Geoff Diehl, one of two candidates hoping to top the GOP ticket, told Axios this month he believes the MBTA’s current management is incapable of achieving the changes needed. Diehl’s campaign did not immediately respond to a News Service request for comment.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Doughty stopped short of saying whether he would seek to remove Poftak or other MBTA leaders, though a campaign spokesperson said Doughty has “great concerns with the MBTA from the railyards to the boardroom.”
“The better path would be to spend quality time with the managers, visit with the maintenance and repair workers in the yards, call in stakeholders to analyze shortcomings and craft a road map that leads to sustainability and safety,” Doughty spokesperson Holly Robichaud said in a statement. “For Chris Doughty, everything will be on the table. Changes to leadership should always take place in private to maintain the dignity and reputation of state employees. That’s how a good leader operates.”
Is T Head’s Time Running Out?
Baker has stood by Poftak during the recent upheaval and previous stretches in the spotlight, including a summer 2019 Red Line derailment that resulted in lengthy disruptions.
While discussing the FTA’s findings Wednesday morning, Poftak said he is aware of the possibility that his remaining time atop the MBTA could be limited, calling himself “not naive.”
“As long as I’m allowed to hold it, I serve at the pleasure of the secretary. I’m here in this role to manage the T to make it as safe as possible. To the extent that there is some transition down the road, I’m committed to making it as orderly and as structured a transition as possible,” Poftak said. “Leaving me aside, the notion of a wholesale transition is something that’s been reviewed multiple times by multiple parties, and I think the importance of some level of continuity of the T has been repeatedly emphasized.”
Poftak has been in the T’s top position since January 2019, making him by far the longest-tenured general manager in the past decade. Before Poftak, the MBTA went through nine different general managers in nine years, a trend that several people interviewed by federal investigators noted.
“At all levels of the organization, from the frontline through supervision and middle management to senior technical leadership, FTA found support for executive leadership and appreciation for the stability of having a consistent MBTA leadership team in place since January 1, 2019,” the FTA wrote in its report.
