Boston Chamber head calls for more federal oversight at MBTA

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce has weighed in on safety at the MBTA following last week’s crash between two subway trains, with its president calling for federal oversight that extends “across all aspects of the T.”

“Commuters are angry,” said James Rooney, Boston Chamber president and CEO, in a statement on Twitter. “Last week’s Green Line collision is the latest in a long-running series of serious problems that plague greater Boston’s MBTA every day. Putting emotion aside, the data tells the story of a broken system.”

Rooney said the MBTA reported 10 derailments in 2021, which he said was more than any other transit service in the U.S., “besting even New York’s MTA, which had 10 times the number of passenger trips.”

Further, Rooney cited “unacceptable” data from the Federal Transit Administration, which showed more than 1,300 T riders had been injured riding, waiting or leaving a station from 2010 to 2020.

“The FTA’s oversight role of the MBTA is necessary,” said Rooney. “The FTA’s emphasis on action that leads to improvement should extend across all aspects of the T.”

Citing its concern with ongoing safety issues at the MBTA, the FTA told T General Manager Steve Poftak in April it would be increasing its oversight of the agency and conducting a safety management inspection.

The feds’ decision came days after a 39-year-old man was killed after his arm became trapped in a Red Line door and he was dragged more than 100 feet.

Last week, four MBTA operators were injured after two Green Line trains, one of which was carrying passengers, crashed and derailed in Government Center.

A cause has still not been determined, but T spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said the driver’s “operation of the train itself is being looked at as a factor in the incident.”

In response to Rooney’s remarks, Pesaturo pointed to the T’s $8 billion investment in infrastructure and vehicles over the past five years, and a Safety Department that has nearly doubled in size in the past three years.

At a Wednesday meeting, Poftak reiterated the T’s commitment to working with the FTA during its safety investigation, saying that “we all strive every day to make the system as safe as possible.”

“There will certainly be findings from this FTA investigation and we look forward to addressing those findings and improving the job we do,” Poftak said.