D.C. crash raises questions about MBTA’s aging transit system
A couple of years ago, when I was interviewing an MBTA passenger on the Blue Line, she recounted riding the same cars when she was a child.
This wasn’t wistful nostalgia for the 42-year-old commuter. They were the very same cars she rode as a teenager, first put into service between 1978 and 1980.
Since then, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has almost finished replacing those Blue Line cars. But the story points to a larger problem for all older transit agencies, highlighted by last week’s deadly crash in Washington, D.C., in which safety officials raised concerns about the vehicles’ age.
The nation’s subway equipment is old, and it’s very expensive to replace.
“The T has to make the hard choices in terms of which of the antiquated fleets they’re going to replace,’’ said Paul Regan, executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board.
A federal report released in April said the nation’s seven largest transit agencies, including the MBTA, have a combined $50 billion maintenance and replacement backlog needed to keep their systems in good repair. The T’s share of that is $2.7 billion, according to Jonathan Davis, deputy general manager of the MBTA.
The same federal study concluded that “one-third of agencies’ assets are either in marginal or poor condition, indicating that these assets are near or have already exceeded their expected useful life.’’
Davis and other T officials say the agency’s maintenance practices, including midlife overhauls of its train cars, keep the T safe. Unlike Washington’s transit authority, the T has not been specifically warned by the National Transportation Safety Board to replace its aging equipment.
“Crews are working on these vehicles every day,’’ said spokesman Joe Pesaturo.
But rider advocates worry about the age of equipment, both as it relates to safety and reliability. Delays are often caused by maintenance issues on tracks and signals. Money has been the overriding issue.
“What we hear is that the MBTA is not going to have enough resources to secure a future that is sustainable, that is affordable to its riders,’’ said Lee Matsueda of the T Riders Union. “Who knows if it’s going to be safe? I think that’s a big concern.’’
In recent years, the T has committed to spending almost all of its capital budget on maintenance and replacement of existing equipment, about $470 million a year. Davis said that has helped keep the agency from getting deeper into a maintenance hole. But a state report concluded that the agency needs another $100 million annually to make progress on its backlog. About $230 million in one-time federal stimulus money will help.
“I think we’ve done an incredible job at gearing the capital program toward basically - infrastructure, state of good repair,’’ Davis said. “Do we have the resources to reduce that [backlog] any credible amount? Probably not right now.’’
The Federal Transit Administration says 25 years is a reasonable lifespan for a subway car, a standard that the entire Orange Line and much of the Red Line fail to meet. (The T’s standard is 35 years.)
“That doesn’t say they can’t use it after that,’’ said Paul Griffo, spokesman for the federal agency. “If the car has undergone proper repair and maintenance, it may well go on indefinitely. But that is when they’re eligible for full federal funding to replace the car.’’
The T has to choose how it spends those federal funds. It has upgraded most of its buses in recent years, in addition to buying new Green and Blue Line cars.
The listing comes from a website called the “The Infrastructurist,’’ a name that only a nerd could love (and only a bigger nerd could cite in the newspaper).
The website shows a handsome picture of the old station, with its proud Roman columns and archways, juxtaposing it with a modern view of the TD Banknorth Garden, which eventually took its place.
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