$45 Million to Green Line Safety
BOSTON - The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) general manager approved $45 million for the installation of the Green Line Train Protection System to improve safety and encourage more riders. This change will affect Boston University faculty and students as it runs along Commonwealth Avenue, directly through the university’s campus, and is a main mode of transportation for many.
At the approval of Steven Poftak, the general manager of the MBTA, the new safety system will finish by the end of 2023, one year earlier than intended according to a Jan. 26 Boston Globe article.
“Using onboard alerts and communications, the system notifies the train operator or automatically stops the train when another vehicle is detected,” wrote Joe Pesaturo, the MBTA’s director of communications in an email. “These upgrades will significantly improve safety for tens of thousands of daily Green Line riders, including BU students and faculty.”
A Green Line collision this past summer that left 24 passengers and three crew members in the hospital hastened these efforts, according to a Sept. 21 NBC Boston article.
“This 500 million dollars allows us to at least begin addressing some of these shortfalls...it is critical that we get this done,” noted Poftak in a MBTA Board of Directors Meeting on Jan. 27.
Poftak and the MBTA Board of Directors are not the only experts who acknowledge that change is needed for the Green Line.
“I think we need improvements across our whole transit system,” commented Carl Larson, the assistant director of transportation demand management and planning at BU in a recent interview. “This is an obvious one I'm glad to see made, and I just hope there are more.”
In fact, the $47 million invested in the Green Line is merely a small piece in the detailed outline of $500 million the MBTA plans to invest on a variety of concerns: safety, electric bus infrastructure, workforce retention, as well as matching grant programs according to a Boston Herald article on Jan. 30.
The new protection system is an attempt to avoid accidents similar to the train-on-train collisions that took place last summer and in 2008 and 2009 mentioned Poftak.
According to Larson, Despite previous accidents, Mass transit is considered by experts a safe method of travel, one that many Bostonians prefer over walking, biking, or driving.
“As far as a family member or young person taking the T, my biggest concern would be their walk to and from the station, and not once they're actually on the T,” revealed Larson.
Most accidents on Commonwealth Ave are not due to the Green Line, and are due to other methods of transportation according to Larson.
Larson, whose office is located on Babcock Street where the Green line crash occurred, emphasized how often accidents unrelated to mass transit remain un-newsworthy. He described a car accident outside of his office last week as “horrendous,” and yet unnoticed, because “thatkind of thing happens,” whereas the crash last summer was news because it is more of a rarity.
Since becoming general manager Poftak ensures public transit users and faculty that safety is the highest priority, assuaging the worries of many students at BU who utilize the train or commonly known as “T” daily wrote Pesaturo.
“Taking the Green line is a rite of passage for most Boston University students,” according to BU sophomore Alexandra Daddabbo. “I bought the semester pass. I use it every day, so hearing of new safety installations makes me–and my mom–feel a lot better about purchasing my student pass again next semester.”
Although many students like Daddabbo frequent the Green Line, discovering these new implementations gave other students the opportunity to re-evaluate their method of getting to class.
Samuel Weisenfeld, another sophomore at BU described taking the Green Line as a “hassle” and “not his first choice.” However, after discussing the protection system, Weisenfeld seemingly had a change of heart.
“Hearing about new safety measures might not convince me to buy a semester pass, but I definitely would feel more comfortable on the T going forward,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I had previous concerns about safety, but the effort MBTA has made shouldn’t go unnoticed by the students who use it.”
Although last summer's crash left BU students with concerns about safety, these efforts for improvements will make a safe method of travel even safer according to Larson.
“Keeping perspective on what is actually safe and what isn't safe, and drawing a distinction on perceptions of safety and the actual reality remains the most important takeaway,” remarked Larson.
Safety is a top priority of the MBTA according to Poftak. New investments contribute to both literal safety and the public perception of safety, encouraging BU students and faculty to continue utilizing the Green Line.
Federal funding for operating expenses will deter “recurring liability on the system that future management and future boards will have to grapple with, '' added Poftak. “I think we all know there's a number of additional investments we still need to make.”
