Introducing Secretary of Transportation: Richard Davey

Courtesy: MassDOT

Today Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick appointed the current MBTA General Manager, Richard Davey, to be Massachusetts next Secretary of Transportation. Davey will become Patricks fourth Secretary of Transportation and will be replacing Jeffery Mullin who announced  last month he would be stepping down from his position in order to return to his old law firm.

The new job is defiantly a huge step up for Davey, who for the past year and a half has been slowly but surely fixing the disaster that is the T. He will now oversee not just the T and other public transportation but also, the states highways and airports. While at the T Davey was committed to improving safety and customer service and those were the two key reasons why Gov. Patrick chose him for the job. The Gov. hopes that the energetic leadership style Davey used while heading the MBTA will be brought over the MassDOT and help him reform the organization.

Jeffery Mullins' choice to vacate his current position come at a very interesting time for MassDOT. The past few months have brought a lot of scrutiny to both Mullin and MassDOT because of multiple 110-pound lighting fixtures falling from the ceiling of the central artery tunnel. No injuries were reported in the incidents but they uncovered that many workers were aware of the ongoing problem but it did not get brought up to Mullin until about a month after it was discovered.

Just like when he took over the reigns of the MBTA Richard Davey will have to figure out how to deal with revenue shortfalls. He will also have to deal with the overbearing debt that is still being racked up because of the Big Dig.

Now lets take a little time to focus on what Richard Davey has done for the MBTA over his year and a half on the job.

*He has avoided fair increases
*He help to set a standard for excellent customer service
*Seen the T's ridership skyrocket to record numbers
*Introduced the first new locomotives in twenty years
*Has 75 new bi-level coaches on order for commuter rail
*Implemented the use of "Smart" technologies for Parking and Bus, Subway, and Commuter Rail info
*Introduced MBTAgifts.com
*Increased advertising revenue with new way for companies to advertise across the MBTA system
*Station renovations
*First steps to making the MBTA "Go Green"

All of these things, plus many many more, have truly made Richard Davey one of the most successful and responsible GM's in MBTA history. For sure he will be missed when he leaves for his new post, but hopefully he can do the state a lot more good. Davey has stated that he will be highly involved in the processes of finding his replacement. He is set to take over his new position on September 1st.

I really hope the new GM picks up right where Davey left off because if they don't the MBTA is going to just keep crumbling and crumbling. Davey aided the T in so many ways but there is still so much that is going to need to be fixed.

$8 Billion and rising

Well folks the T is broke. Well its probably not exactly what you think. No there is no signal problem on the B line, the orange line is not experiencing 15-20 min delays due to an earlier disabled train, and no your commuter rail train is not suddenly canceled because of a mechanical problem. This time the T is broke like OMG we need to win The Lottery broke.

If some of you haven't noticed yet the country is in a sort of recession. There has also been a lot of talk lately about debt. Theres the national debt, personal credit card debt, foreign debt, and of course student debt. There is also a new genre of debt that has been making some news lately, that being the MBTA's colossal debt. Which is estimated at well over $8 billion.

First I want to focus a little attention to how the MBTA racked up this insane number. First off the MBTA's Green Line is the oldest subway system in America. This means it racks up high amounts of maintenance costs. The rising debt also includes purchasing skyrocketing diesel fuel for locomotives and paying for the largest electric bill in Massachusetts. Wasteful spending is also to blame. The T purchases poorly made uniforms for its employees on an annual basis and they also have to pay out their insanely high pensions and benefits. Overall, there is truly not just one area at fault for this seemingly never ending debt. Even so the T needs to find a quick fix for this problem or its going to have them sinking faster than the Titanic.

Over the past six months the cash strapped T has been trying to find ways to reduce their multi million dollar budget shortfall for fiscal year 2012 along with reducing their overall debt. They also want to do this all while trying not to initiate a fare hike. Ambitious huh? Many ideas have come across the GM's table some of which might actually aid the T and some of which are just plain insane! One of the greatest ideas that Richard Davey and the T implemented over the past few months has definitely been MBTAGifts.com. Not only is the merch on the site awesome (I still need to buy the MBTA shower curtain for the apartment) but it is also expected to generate about $150,000 a year in revenue.

L.L. Bean wrapped #47 Bus

Another big venture for the T over the past few months has been in advertising. The T has literally been trying to sell space every where they can for ad's. They started with allowing companies to purchase ad space in wrap form. For example the L.L. Bean ad campaign, which promoted their free shipping offers. Then moved on to allow ad's basically every where! Even while getting scrutiny for it. They now have since added ads on MBTA.com, their trying to get them on the back of charlie cards, and also trying to get voice ads on buses.

The most interesting step for this massive attempt to quadruple advertising revenue came last month. When I first read about it I could not even believe that it was actually happening. The T was going to try and sell the naming rights to a few of their subway, commuter rail, and bus stations! The names of the stations would still be permanent but household names would just be sponsoring the station. For example, Scotch Tape station at Park St. Personally this is going a little far but I guess if it's going to help avoid a fare increase then I'm all for it.

Hopefully over the course of this year and next the T will find more options to help save them some money even if it is just a few grand. I just don't want it to get to the point where they start to cut corners with equipment. But with Rich Davey on board i'm sure things will be just fine! Hopefully by this time next year I can report back and say that the MBTA's debt is at $8 Billion and falling!

Field Trip!: Amtrak's 40th Anniversary Train

©2011 Boston to a T

 On Saturday Aaron and I decided to go on one of our crazy field trips. This trip took us down to Providence Rhode Island to visit Amtrak's 40th Anniversary exhibit train.

Since 1971 Amtrak has carried millions of passengers across the nation. They have carried families on vacation and men and woman on business trips all while showing them what America has to offer. For their 40th anniversary Amtrak put together a special exhibition train that would travel the entire country and show the public how this company has prospered. So far the train, which departed from Amtrak headquarters at Union Station in Washington D.C., has traveled along the entire Northeast Corridor. After it leaves Providence the next stop will be South Station in Boston and then head up to Vermont.


 The train itself is quite magnificent. It totals 510' in length and it consists of a GE Genesis P-40 locomotive., a GM F40PH Non Powered Control Unit (this allows the train to operate in either direction without having to be turned around), three refurbished 1950's baggage cars, a former Pacific Bend sleeper car, and a reconfigured Amfleet Cafe car. Each car was handpicked out of storage by Amtrak to be part of this exhibition. They were also extensively refurbished before heading out on this trip. The cars that received the largest reformation were the baggage cars, which were transformed into display cars. Crews added new display cases, lights, electrical outlets, and HVAC systems.

Aaron Sitting with one of
the manequins

The exhibits on the train were nothing short of incredible. The cars had thousands of nostalgic photos and pamphlets in display cases. They had mannequins modeling crew uniforms from the 70's till today and tables displaying different Amtrak china. The train also had some interactive exhibits. One had five different locomotive horns that allowed you to push a button and see how the tones changed over the years. There was also one that let you see, up close, how a pantograph works and the difference between the catenary wire between Boston and New Haven and New Haven and New York. My overall favorite exhibit on the entire train though was all of the Amtrak Advertisements from over the years.

Pieces of Amtrak advertising ranged from small buttons and bumper stickers to huge billboard posters.

Overall, this was not only the most unique museum I have ever had the privilege to visit but also one of the most informative. Amtrak truly is one of the companies that has truly defined itself in America. Even though they have had their fare share of problems and scrutiny they have still managed to move thousands of passengers everyday on their 21,000 miles of track!