MBTA Submits Revised Work Plan to FTA

MBTA

MASSACHUSETTS – The MBTA submits a new safety plan to the FTA after its’ first plan was rejected.

Last month, RT&S reported that the FRA sent an Immediate Action Letter to the MBTA requiring a new work plan, citing examples of insufficiency. Earlier this week, NBC Boston reported the MBTA submitted a revised version for approval. 

NBC Boston said that a spokesperson for the MBTA commented that “work has already been done to improve safety, and that the new plan highlights immediate actions for the next 60 days, which was a key requirement from the FTA.” Among the work that needs to be addressed is overnight work procedures and guidelines surrounding communication.

In addition to the revised work plan from the MBTA, General Manager and CEO, Phillip Eng drafted a cover letter that thanks the FTA for meeting earlier this month. Prefacing the work plan, the cover letter outlines the revised plan and states that the MBTA “immediately addressed” several items, including increasing the number of audits of radio logs, and assigning the Division Chief of OCC to overnight shifts at least three times a week. Eng also went on to reaffirm that these changes would take place within the 60 day time frame. 

Eng also noted the “concern on both sides that too many changes in a short period of time may create risk and produce outcomes that are opposite of the intended effect of the work plan, potentially increasing risk in the short term.”

MBTA’s ROW Rules Compliance and Safety Work Plan spans 10 pages and opens with an overview of the events leading up to the revised plan, including “five near miss events and a serious employee injury” between March 23, 2023 and April 14, 2023.