HeartToHub: Non-stop train from Worcester to Boston launches

Once at South Station, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito received a symbolic ticket for the HeartToHub train from MBTA head Frank DePaola.

BOSTON -- Gov. Charlie Baker continued to stress the need to repair and modernize the MBTA before looking at expansion projects, as a new report detailed the state's continued trouble fixing the public transit system's problems.

"I don't expect to cut a lot of big ribbons over the course of the next few years, and I'm OK with that," Baker said, speaking in Boston at a summit on transportation organized by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. "I believe in reliability, modernization and expansion, in that order."

A new report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation reveals problems in the state's public transit and highway systems that are "multifaceted and deeply entrenched," said MTF President Eileen McAnneny.

One area identified as a problem is the lack of adequate data and what the report refers to as a "myriad of antiquated data tracking and reporting systems that mask project activity and accountability." For example, neither the Department of Transportation nor the MBTA have an accurate system to account for what assets they have and what their maintenance needs are.

Asked about the lack of an asset management system, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said the state has started creating an inventory of assets and their condition at the MBTA and on state highways. But that system has not yet been connected to systems that track budgets and maintenance.

"There is a lot of work to do," Pollack said.

"It's not the sexy part of managing a transportation system, but it's essential," Pollack said. "And so a lot of the work that will have to occur to deliver on the promise of a reliable, well-maintained system is going to be invisible and unexciting."

Past reports have found that the MBTA has also not spent the money it has available for maintenance projects, because of problems with its procurement systems, lack of staff and changing priorities.

Recently, the planned Green Line extension was pulled back and redesigned to avoid going $1 billion over budget.

The MBTA has also done a bad job managing contracts to carry out projects, the report finds. For example, the MTF report notes that, in 2008, the MBTA bought 75 commuter rail cars from a Korean company for $190 million. The cars were delivered two years late and found to be defective.

The MTF report argues that the Department of Transportation and the MBTA need better talent, leadership, data and systems.

Speaking to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation summit, Baker praised the report and called it a "pretty compelling review."

Baker committed to focusing on fixing existing infrastructure, such as 100-year-old signals and 85-year-old cables. He offered implicit criticism of how previous administrations have operated the system, saying his administration is now "playing catch-up" on repairs.

"You can't underestimate how important it is that the T and its organization focus on its core operation," Baker said.

"For a long time, the whole conversation was upside down. Let's pick the coolest projects and let's pay for those," Baker said. "There's nothing cool about power systems, signals, switches, infrastructure and tracks."

Baker suggested the best way to increase ridership is not to build new rail lines or spurs, but to provide a more reliable system to people who are already living near the MBTA.

Baker defended a plan proposed by MBTA officials earlier this week to outsource the inventory system at an MBTA warehouse. The State House News Service reported that, according to MBTA officials, it currently takes an average of 82 hours to get a part from the warehouse, and those parts are accurate just 56 percent of the time. Union workers oppose privatization, saying the problems is underfunding and mismanagement.

"The warehouse can't meet a single market standard that's met by everyone else in the parts supply and distribution business," Baker said. "There are people for whom that's a core competence, that are open 24/7."

One major expansion project under consideration is the north-south rail link -- a project being pushed for by former governors Michael Dukakis, a Democrat, and William Weld, a former Republican now running for vice president as a Libertarian -- to connect North Station and South Station in Boston. Baker has been cautious about committing to the project.

Pollack said the administration has $2 million that has been authorized for a feasibility study, and officials are working on figuring out what the scope of that study will be.

Baker acknowledged the stream of negative headlines about the MBTA since the Fiscal and Management Control Board that he appointed took over the system and made data about the MBTA more readily available. He said people asked him why he created the board, given the unflattering headlines.

"I said that was exactly the point of doing this whole thing in the first place," Baker said. "To get the thing out from behind the curtain where nobody knew anything about what was actually going on at the organization for a long time and create a public dialogue and a transparent conversation about the future and the organization, warts and all."