BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has a number of deadlines in November for corrective actions ordered by the Federal Transportation Administration, MBTA officials told the agency’s board of directors on Thursday.
But authorities are short of the number of dispatchers needed to restore subway cuts made in June due to safety directives issued by the FTA.
The FTA issued four sets of directives in June to address issues related to route maintenance, operational control center staffing, operator certification, and equipment transfer procedures with mechanical issues. [see “Federal directives order MBTA to address safety issues,” Trains News Wire, June 15, 2022].
MassLive.com reports that it faces a November 14 deadline related to a remediation plan to address these issues, according to MBTA senior director of oversight, Natasha Vance.
The three plans are expected to be resubmitted today (Friday, November 4) after the FTA has requested more information on how MBTA will implement its plans. They will be ready on time, Vance said. She said there was
Meanwhile, the Boston Herald says that while MBT has hired 11 subway dispatchers, it needs four more to reach the FTA mandate’s target of 15, according to MBTA’s chief personnel officer. I am reporting.
One of the FTA directives issued in June requires the MBTA to ensure dispatchers have adequate rest between shifts and not allow workers to be both dispatchers and supervisors in the same shift. requested that We’ve reduced the frequency of the red, orange, and blue lines because we didn’t have enough dispatchers to meet that requirement. [see “Dispatcher shortage leads MBTA to cut service …,” News Wire, June 20, 2022]A date has not been determined for service to return to its previous level.
The Herald reports that dispatchers are currently limited to a 14-hour workday, with at least 10 hours of rest between shifts, and no more than 24 hours of overtime per week. The FTA found that some employees work 20 hour shifts from his 16 hours.
