The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Fiscal and Management Control Board (FMCB) has released its second annual report to the Massachusetts Legislature, which details progress on improvements to the T commuter rail and subway operations.
"FMCB members are well aware that the sometimes invisible efforts underway to rebuild the MBTA's organization and infrastructure matter little to customers if commutes are not getting better or if buses and trains are overcrowded, slow, late, or even canceled," the board stated in its report. The five-member FMCB added that one of its top priorities will be "immediate improvements for riders," along with developing a long-term MBTA Strategic Plan and further improving "how effectively the T spends its capital dollars."
Major points in the FMCB annual report included:
- MBTA's operating budget structural deficit was cut in half during the last fiscal year, due mainly to internal cost controls and better-than-expected revenues. Though the MBTA's annual growth rate in operating expenses was the lowest in at least 15 years, "The operating budget still faces a structural deficit because MBTA revenues alone continue to be insufficient to cover operating costs, even with the recent fare increase," said the report.
- On-time performance of the T's main subway lines was about the same as last year and somewhat better on the Green Line, "performance for bus and commuter rail service has declined." The T is taking actions to improve the system.
- The T must accelerate the delivery of MBTA capital projects, especially state of good repair investments.
- MBTA workforce productivity has improved and it now takes the T less time to hire new employees.
- The Board can report significantly more progress in how the MBTA procures goods and services, and how these contracts are managed and enforced.
- The MBTA's new policy for accepting unsolicited bids for innovative approaches "has led to innovative ideas coming to the T about, for example, proposals to offer late-night service."
- The FMCB and management team continue to analyze the total savings opportunity that could be realized through leveraging flexible contracting.
"We believe our efforts to date have helped to lay the foundation for a much more reliable and efficient MBTA," stated FMCB Board Chair Joseph Aiello. "The FMCB has operated as transparently as possible and has sought to be candid with taxpayers, riders, and others about the depth of the challenges we face. That has sometimes meant some very difficult decisions, but the public that depends upon the T deserves nothing less from us."
The FMCB was created by the state legislature after MBTA's collapse during the winter of 2015.