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RAP'S Report on the MBTA Public Meetings

This is an unofficial report from RAP about three of the five public meetings on THE RIDE and the fixed-route system (subways and buses) that the MBTA held in the fall of 2005. The three meetings discussed here are the one in Newton (held September 26), the one in Boston (held September 28), and the one in Norwood (held October 3). (The two meetings not reported on here were held in Lynn on September 29 and in Quincy on October 6.)

The five meetings took place in large part thanks to the efforts of RAP! (See “What We’ve Done” on our homepage.) They gave Transystems — the team of independent consultants hired by the T — an opportunity to hear the concerns of RIDE users and the T’s other customers with disabilities, including seniors, and to hear their suggestions for improvement.

Each of the three meetings in this report was very different because of the particular mix of people attending (e.g., the hearing in Newton was polite; the hearing in Boston was quite contentious). This report is mostly about THE RIDE, not the fixed routes.

NEWTON MEETING
The first meeting was at the Newton Public Library, which about 25 consumers attended. Russell Thatcher from the independent firm, Transystems, gave a brief overview of the firm’s mandate. The two managers of the Office of Transportation Access (OTA) — Robert Rizzo (head of THE RIDE) and Kathy Cox (head of fixed routes) — outlined the services they are responsible for and the challenges they face. This was repeated at each meeting and took at least one-quarter of the two-hour time period.

ALL of the consumers talked about how great the drivers were but how LONG they had to be on THE RIDE before getting dropped off, often actually passing their destinations during the course of a trip. Several said the drivers were asked to drive impossible schedules that they (the drivers) believed they didn't have the authority to modify. When they did feel they could modify schedules in the name of common sense, consumers got much better rides.

Several consumers called for better driver training. One person told of a driver who didn’t know the difference between Boston and Cambridge. Someone asked what RIDE drivers make compared to T bus drivers, but the T officials at the hearing didn’t know.

Everyone said they appreciated that THE RIDE existed and that they didn’t know what they would do without it.

Several said things had gotten worse with the new computer system in place. One person talked about how there was no accountability in the new fare system. Mr. Rizzo said that consumers could call his office and be given a history of their deposits as well as the number of rides they'd taken.

BOSTON MEETING
Over 80 people attended. Many had to leave before they were able to testify. This was the most diverse (by a mile) of the three meetings discussed in this report; about one-quarter to one-third of those who testified were people of color.

The fixed-route system: There were a lot of complaints about the buses and subways, from bus drivers’ attitudes and rudeness, to the inability of buses to kneel and the abysmal state of the elevators (constant breakdowns and filth).

THE RIDE: Many consumers complained about late pick-ups and long rides, with quite a few individuals pointing out that THE RIDE would often pass their destination before dropping them off. Several people said that the dispatchers lie.

A number of people said they had been to these kinds of meetings before and that they thought nothing was going to change. One woman said nothing would change until RIDE users were shareholders.

NORWOOD MEETING
About 20 people attended this hearing. It was a friendly little group. A few people said they had seen a real improvement in THE RIDE over the last couple of months. Several observed that dispatchers had been easier to get a hold of lately.

People also talked about not receiving call-backs, getting picked up too early or too late, and not being notified when pick-up times had been changed.

There was a big discussion about information the T has about individual RIDE consumers' needs — information that drivers should know, such as “use rear door.” This information is not always readily accessible to drivers and some may not even know about it.

T officials said it is getting new software that will include landmarks intended to make it easier for drivers to figure out how to get to where they're going. They also pointed out that in scheduling rides, they do try to program around Red Sox games, etc.