MBTA Promises Travel Time Dashboard As Orange Line Slowdowns Linger

MALDEN, MA — Orange Line riders frustrated about ongoing subway delays and speed restrictions will need to navigate several more weeks of sluggish trains, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak told federal lawmakers this week.

In the meantime, with speed restrictions or without them, Poftak also said the T is working on a new train travel time dashboard that could roll out this summer.

Poftak addressed issues in a letter to Sen. Ed Markey following a congressional field hearing earlier this month in Boston. He, in part, itemized lingering speed restrictions on the Orange Line, saying some could remain in place into December.

“The MBTA system is safe — but we can and will do better,” Poftak wrote. “I am committed to continuing to make the T a safer, and more reliable transportation system.”

Markey and fellow Sen. Elizabeth Warren responded in a joint statement on Wednesday, calling Poftak’s letter and testimony “an important first step toward rebuilding trust in the T.”

Frustrations have swirled around the MBTA and the Orange Line in particular over recent months. Officials sold this summer’s 30-day shutdown of the Orange Line as a move that would increase track speeds along the Orange Line route. It has, instead, led to longer travel times, at some points.

The MBTA has offered shifting messaging in recent weeks explaining the issues.

Now, more than a month after the shutdown ended, Poftak has indicated that at least seven separate speed restrictions will remain in place into or beyond November.

The MBTA said it met its goals during the Orange Line shutdown earlier this year.

Poftak added this week, though, that crews managing repairs and upgrades last month assessed the situation and decided to continue “the momentum of the surge” to address other priority work along the Orange Line while they still had resources in place from the shutdown.

“Maintenance and construction does not end at the conclusion of a system closure or construction surge,” he separately said. “Maintaining the tracks, signals, power, vehicles, stations, and tunnels is an ongoing and continuous investment, there will always be construction and maintenance at the MBTA.”

Beyond speed restrictions themselves, Poftak on Tuesday said the T is in the process of developing its travel time dashboard for the MBTA website.

Lawmakers noted this in their statement, saying they expect the MBTA to hold to a deadline of finalizing the dashboard in time for the winter.

Poftak touched on past safety incidents along the T that drew condemnation from riders and an investigation from federal regulators earlier this year.

“As riders continue to return to the system, I understand the frustration many of them feel,” he said. “On behalf of the more than 6,400 hardworking men and women of the MBTA, we acknowledge that safety incidents have occurred and that our service levels aren’t where we want them.”

In discussing the MBTA workforce, Poftak reiterated previous comments about staffing shortages, which have persisted for the T as it faces recommendations and critiques from the Federal Transit Authority and its recent regulatory report on the T system.

“These challenges are impacting major transit agencies across the country,” Poftak noted.

Warren and Markey looked to the future in their statement this week, saying the MBTA will need to prioritize clarity and transparency in the community in the months and years ahead.

“The public must be able to reliably plan their lives around their commute, and not knowing how long their trip may take—or how long until their commute speeds up—can have real-world consequences for hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents,” lawmakers said.

They noted new information from Poftak, calling on him and MBTA colleagues to ensure that their upcoming Travel Time dashboard is easy to locate and understand.

“In the same way that we check the weather forecast to plan our days, riders should be able to use the dashboard to more reliably plan their commutes,” Warren and Markey said.

“The MBTA still has a long journey ahead,” they later continued.“...After years of neglect and underinvestment, the release of this data is a key first step toward clear, reliable communication and making the T a true public good once again—but it cannot be the end of the line.”