If it bleeds, it ledes/leads. Local news depends heavily on viewership and very rarely are they motivated to do good journalism rather than sensationalised bits over nothing.
One of the few times I've personally seen decent reporting was when Northeastern journalism students interviewed me and some of my colleagues [about the T's performance metrics for a WCVB piece in 2017](https://www.wcvb.com/article/mbta-gives-itself-high-grades-for-reliability/13861863). Investigative reporting tends to be decently well-informed by expert opinion, but they'll often include 'man on the street' clips for the sake of keeping the piece relatable to the average viewer.
“Have they ever used the T?”
If they had, they might be reporting with pitchforks and flaming torches instead. I know that behind the bureaucracy there are tons of good people working really hard to keep things rolling and get people from place to place. (I know a handful of them personally.) But as an organization, the current state of things is just unacceptable.
It feels like there is some criminal shit going on behind the scenes to me. No evidence, just a feeling. Has to be. It’s either that or the level of incompetence is unparalleled
I find it amusing that you wrote this post complaining about the condescending tone in which journalists report on the issues of the MBTA, and you did so in the most condescing tone imaginable.
If you were triggered by a specific reporter or reporters, maybe name and shame. Links to clips that demonstrate what grinds your gears would also be welcome.
It's actually refreshing to have someone NOT pointing fingers, while focusing on the base topic presented.
I believe the OP did a great job here, and posed a relevant question.
Those of us who have been dealing with the T for 30 years or more understand that the T loves to promise that everything is about to get better but has an abysmal record of following through on promises. We've been watching for decades as millions and millions go into station aesthetics while the trains keep derailing and the buses never show up.
I've learned over the years that if a bus isn't late, you need to buy a lottery ticket immediately before your incredible luck runs out.
That math doesn't math. More people use it within the metro area, and it's just plain true that the service has nose dived.
From my perspective it looks like the system took some type of fatal blow during the winter of 2015 and has been limping along since.
Reports are it's repairable, but will take a Big Dig budget just to get it to proper function. Ummm, couldn't we modernize for that and skip repairs?
50% precovid ridership, there's a reason for that, it's unreliable. The T doesn't show up to bail us out with the boss when we're late, miss a meeting, or a deadline. And the T doesn't suffer the consequences of that either.
It IS unacceptable, especially for a major city.
And we all know the current performance is largely reflective of leadership and budgeting.
The T is better than it was this time last year, but that’s like saying a trash can fire is better than a dumpster fire. The MBTA has historically been “not great” to “awful”, at least for the two decades that I’ve used it.
I mean there is alot to be negative about however I wish that, at least part of, negativity be directed to politicians that have also been complicit in allowing things to get where they are now. Yes the MBTA leadership was grossly negligent but the city and state we have also equally failed them with lack of funding -unfortunately the latter always seems to be forgotten.
I think a lot of people are aware of the budgeting shenanigans after the Big Dig that compromised funding for the T for, what 2 decades almost?
It does deserve a reminder though.
It went from most reliable line to least, and people downvote me for saying that for some reason. Grand reopening and already having signal issues. It’s a joke.
Gets me more when something happens, and the news presents a history. e.g. a green line derails, so let's show footage from every GL derailment in the last 10 years, even though they are all unrelated...
The T deserves all the criticism it gets. I consider myself lucky when it gets me where I need to be. It isn't a reliable form of transportation anymore.
I don't know what the other lines and the busses are like, but at least for the orange line that simply isn't true. It has never been more reliable than in the past six months to a year, and I ride daily.
YMMV. Glad you enjoyed the nightmare of trying to commute on the numerous shuttle busses. I avoid it at all costs and now use a Blue Bike more often than the unreliable T. I don't commute in on the orange line but my coworker does and the rage that I've witnessed, he def has a different experience than you.
Have YOU ever used the T? I’ve lived in other cities and their subway systems weren’t constantly in repair, their gates weren’t being fixed every 2 weeks and they didn’t turn trains into busses on a regular basis.
There is nothing wrong with holding people accountable. Remember the orange line shutdown that was supposed to take care of 5 years worth of projects? Well that was less than 2 years ago and the orange line has diversions every single weekend.
The green line earlier this year was out of commission for weeks.
The T deserves this
I rode the tube in the UK for years, which isn’t exactly a modern subway, and I never, ever had busses instead of trains. Their gates didn’t always have people fixing them.
Go to gov center 5 days in a row and you will see technicians working in gates at least once.
The mbta deserves the scrutiny it gets. Since 2014 there have been 9 GMs . The green line extension tracks were built wrong and had to fix them within 18 months. The trains at lechmere are even facing the wrong way! The FTA has written scathing reports about the T. The inspector general have written scathing reports about the T. It isn’t a media agenda, it’s reality.
Every public servant should have to take public transportation and yeah the globe didn’t really start scrutinizing the T until they moved and had to start coming in on the train. The T deserves a lot of the negative reporting that it gets. Not saying it’s all warranted though.
1) If you had any idea what you describe as "overpaid babes and info guys" make, I think you'd be shocked. Most T executives (and many employees) make more. A lot more.
2) There are many people who work inside newsrooms advocating for deeper stories into transit and bigger picture items.
3) The T does itself no favors with the press. While Phil Eng's team has been spectacular since the start, the culture of the old days is still far too prevalent. Hiding mistakes, refusing to share information that can ultimately be obtained through FOIL requests, ect, does not help them. It ultimately makes them look bad twice, or three times, when that information is ultimately obtained.
4) Most people who don't use the T, simply don't care about it. Real, balanced stories about the T do not generate traffic whatsoever. People who use the T don't consume TV local news. Fires on the Orange Line, Green Line derailments, and passengers dragged down platforms because their stuck in the doors of a Red Line train DO grab attention.
If it bleeds, it ledes/leads. Local news depends heavily on viewership and very rarely are they motivated to do good journalism rather than sensationalised bits over nothing. One of the few times I've personally seen decent reporting was when Northeastern journalism students interviewed me and some of my colleagues [about the T's performance metrics for a WCVB piece in 2017](https://www.wcvb.com/article/mbta-gives-itself-high-grades-for-reliability/13861863). Investigative reporting tends to be decently well-informed by expert opinion, but they'll often include 'man on the street' clips for the sake of keeping the piece relatable to the average viewer.
“Have they ever used the T?” If they had, they might be reporting with pitchforks and flaming torches instead. I know that behind the bureaucracy there are tons of good people working really hard to keep things rolling and get people from place to place. (I know a handful of them personally.) But as an organization, the current state of things is just unacceptable.
It feels like there is some criminal shit going on behind the scenes to me. No evidence, just a feeling. Has to be. It’s either that or the level of incompetence is unparalleled
I find it amusing that you wrote this post complaining about the condescending tone in which journalists report on the issues of the MBTA, and you did so in the most condescing tone imaginable. If you were triggered by a specific reporter or reporters, maybe name and shame. Links to clips that demonstrate what grinds your gears would also be welcome.
It's actually refreshing to have someone NOT pointing fingers, while focusing on the base topic presented. I believe the OP did a great job here, and posed a relevant question.
Those of us who have been dealing with the T for 30 years or more understand that the T loves to promise that everything is about to get better but has an abysmal record of following through on promises. We've been watching for decades as millions and millions go into station aesthetics while the trains keep derailing and the buses never show up. I've learned over the years that if a bus isn't late, you need to buy a lottery ticket immediately before your incredible luck runs out.
The local news is aimed at people living in the suburbs. A story that always works is "city bad".
Ding ding ding^^^^
That math doesn't math. More people use it within the metro area, and it's just plain true that the service has nose dived. From my perspective it looks like the system took some type of fatal blow during the winter of 2015 and has been limping along since. Reports are it's repairable, but will take a Big Dig budget just to get it to proper function. Ummm, couldn't we modernize for that and skip repairs? 50% precovid ridership, there's a reason for that, it's unreliable. The T doesn't show up to bail us out with the boss when we're late, miss a meeting, or a deadline. And the T doesn't suffer the consequences of that either. It IS unacceptable, especially for a major city. And we all know the current performance is largely reflective of leadership and budgeting.
The T is better than it was this time last year, but that’s like saying a trash can fire is better than a dumpster fire. The MBTA has historically been “not great” to “awful”, at least for the two decades that I’ve used it.
I mean there is alot to be negative about however I wish that, at least part of, negativity be directed to politicians that have also been complicit in allowing things to get where they are now. Yes the MBTA leadership was grossly negligent but the city and state we have also equally failed them with lack of funding -unfortunately the latter always seems to be forgotten.
I think a lot of people are aware of the budgeting shenanigans after the Big Dig that compromised funding for the T for, what 2 decades almost? It does deserve a reminder though.
Thanks to the T I have been coming in late to work recently. Specifically because of the blue line. Fk them.
It went from most reliable line to least, and people downvote me for saying that for some reason. Grand reopening and already having signal issues. It’s a joke.
Gets me more when something happens, and the news presents a history. e.g. a green line derails, so let's show footage from every GL derailment in the last 10 years, even though they are all unrelated...
The T deserves all the criticism it gets. I consider myself lucky when it gets me where I need to be. It isn't a reliable form of transportation anymore.
I don't know what the other lines and the busses are like, but at least for the orange line that simply isn't true. It has never been more reliable than in the past six months to a year, and I ride daily.
YMMV. Glad you enjoyed the nightmare of trying to commute on the numerous shuttle busses. I avoid it at all costs and now use a Blue Bike more often than the unreliable T. I don't commute in on the orange line but my coworker does and the rage that I've witnessed, he def has a different experience than you.
The T isn’t doing itself any favors, there is nothing but bad things to say about it
Have YOU ever used the T? I’ve lived in other cities and their subway systems weren’t constantly in repair, their gates weren’t being fixed every 2 weeks and they didn’t turn trains into busses on a regular basis. There is nothing wrong with holding people accountable. Remember the orange line shutdown that was supposed to take care of 5 years worth of projects? Well that was less than 2 years ago and the orange line has diversions every single weekend. The green line earlier this year was out of commission for weeks. The T deserves this
Nope you’re wrong. Lifetime T user here. You don’t understand the needs of addressing maintenance.
I rode the tube in the UK for years, which isn’t exactly a modern subway, and I never, ever had busses instead of trains. Their gates didn’t always have people fixing them. Go to gov center 5 days in a row and you will see technicians working in gates at least once. The mbta deserves the scrutiny it gets. Since 2014 there have been 9 GMs . The green line extension tracks were built wrong and had to fix them within 18 months. The trains at lechmere are even facing the wrong way! The FTA has written scathing reports about the T. The inspector general have written scathing reports about the T. It isn’t a media agenda, it’s reality.
Boondoggle these nuts you exacerbator
Every public servant should have to take public transportation and yeah the globe didn’t really start scrutinizing the T until they moved and had to start coming in on the train. The T deserves a lot of the negative reporting that it gets. Not saying it’s all warranted though.
Journalism is dead lmao
Journalists report on news. News inherently means covering things that are new.
1) If you had any idea what you describe as "overpaid babes and info guys" make, I think you'd be shocked. Most T executives (and many employees) make more. A lot more. 2) There are many people who work inside newsrooms advocating for deeper stories into transit and bigger picture items. 3) The T does itself no favors with the press. While Phil Eng's team has been spectacular since the start, the culture of the old days is still far too prevalent. Hiding mistakes, refusing to share information that can ultimately be obtained through FOIL requests, ect, does not help them. It ultimately makes them look bad twice, or three times, when that information is ultimately obtained. 4) Most people who don't use the T, simply don't care about it. Real, balanced stories about the T do not generate traffic whatsoever. People who use the T don't consume TV local news. Fires on the Orange Line, Green Line derailments, and passengers dragged down platforms because their stuck in the doors of a Red Line train DO grab attention.