Around the one-year anniversary of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack noted the enduring need to break out of the “time warp” of using outdated processes at the transit agency.
“Culture change remains a challenge,” Pollack said at the control board’s meeting Monday. She also thanked the board for its diligence, meeting nearly every week since its creation a year ago, and hearing 274 staff presentations.
Pollack said human resources, purchasing and bus driver scheduling still use paper processes – an anachronism for the roughly $2 billion government agency in a digital age.
“It’s like the 1970s,” Pollack said, repeating a phrase she said she has heard multiple times. The T also has a significant number of Red Line cars that predate that decade. According to a recent overview of the T’s fleet, 74 Red Line cars date to 1969-1970.
MBTA Chief Administrator Brian Shortsleeve, who is acting general manager, reported that the project delivery process at the T is “broken,” and needs a “full rebuild.”
Commuter rail revenue grew 6.1 percent in fiscal 2016, according to Shortsleeve, whose presentation also highlighted new programs to make the Ride service for disabled passengers easier to use.
(SHNS photo) 
