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Ask the manager, MBTA style

By adamg – 4/7/10 – 12:12 pm

Have something to say to the guy in charge of the T? Of course you do. Tomorrow’s your chance: Richard Davey will be at the North Quincy stop on the Red Line between 7 and 9 a.m. “to customers concerns, and promote public transportation.”

Nowhere near the City of Presidents? He’ll be doing a whole lot of listening every Friday for the next few weeks, including Thursday, April 15 between 7 and 9 a.m. at Dudley Square and the same time on April 22 at Kenmore.

Every day I ride south through Harvard Square, and every day like clockwork I have to kick one of the local Taxis out of the bike lane. The corner one must round as you enter Harvard Square from the north is a blind one, due to the subway entrance abutting the curb, which makes it impossible to see beforehand if your way will be blocked by an idling Taxi – this forces cyclists to make a split-second correction and swerve into the street. Large trucks routinely make their way through Harvard Square’s narrow streets, already threatening to infringe upon the bike lane.

When I round that corner and find a cab in the bike lane, I stop and knock on the window, letting the driver know that I will contact the Cambridge Police and have him ticketed if he doesn’t move out of the bike lane. Invariably, they react with incredulity and demand to know who I am. I let them know that I am only a concerned citizen that is having my safety threatened by their practice of parking in the bike lane. I restrain myself, with considerable difficulty, from telling them,

“I’m your worst nightmare.”

After my interview with WBZ News and correspondence with John Houghton of the MBTA, I decided to lay low for a while and observe the outcome of this activity. It is with profound disappointment that I report absolutely no change in the illegal driving activity of the MBTA buses. In the last three weeks I have observed and reported numerous buses running red lights, buses offloading passengers in the middle of the street rather than a designated bus stop, and I have once again been hit by an MBTA bus that did not stop.

It has become apparent that nothing is changing, and that accountability is a thing of myth and legend when it comes to the MBTA.

What am I to do next?

I attempted to follow up on the reports I have made to the MBTA by calling and requesting information; citing the ‘pin number’ that was assigned to my complaint. What I received was a lecture about procedure, “your complaint is taken by the MBTA communications office and sent to the Administration/Garage, where it is reviewed and it is possible that the driver was held accountable”. That’s great, but that  doesn’t tell me anything about MY personal case. How can I hold the MBTA accountable, and specifically the DRIVER WHO HIT ME WITH A BUS, if the MBTA refuses to release information? I am still awaiting a call back from the supervisor of the complaint line; I requested the driver’s ID number, which they are legally bound to give you if you request it. We’ll see if they call back.

Google finally instituted a biking option into maps!

<3

On a less cheerful note: apparently all the sweat we’ve put into taking the MBTA to task is going straight down the drain. I had to report three different buses yesterday alone; one for a red light run in Somerville, one for stopping in the very center of the lane on Mass Ave. to let riders off, and one for crushing me into the curb as it passed me and hooked a fast right into a bus stop.

Needless to say I am UTTERLY disappointed and disgusted. Obviously there has been no company wide alert as to the lack of attention to safe driving. Hell, for all we know NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE AT ALL. I demand we have evidence of action on the part of the MBTA. I was told by a representative of the MBTA yesterday that drivers are REQUIRED to give you their Identification number when you request it. Why then, if I am reporting a crime by a bus or route, can I not receive an email with the identification number of the driver I reported, and follow up information as to what steps were taken to reprimand the driver for their crime?

I don’t see that any improvement will be made until the MBTA, in it’s entirety, is held accountable for every crime committed by every operator of every vehicle. Please, if you see a crime or an infraction of MBTA operational regulations, report it immediately, and keep a copy of the acknowledging email.

I was at the Stop and Shop on Harvard St. last friday during lunch hour; just slouching around the store looking at yogurt and soda and postponing my return to work, when I noticed a ruckus in the front of the store. Well, more of a hubbub. A bunch of employees were clustered around a dude walking a bike into the store, helmet on head. I figured they were giving him ish about bringing his bike into the store (he clearly had a lock), and so I didn’t have an opinion on the situation either way; I did wander over to observe, because I’m just a naturally curious person. When I got closer I realized this biker (mild mannered helmet wearer with cargo-ready hybrid) was visibly upset – he had entered the store chasing after a man that had knocked him to the ground as he entered the parking lot on his bicycle. Just body-slammed him, out of nowhere.

This is the point at which I get a little steamed.

As I am questioning (to myself, I’m still just an observer) why someone would just knock a biker over in a Stop and Shop parking lot, and what Mr. Mild Mannered Biker did to deserve it, the group of us finally overtake Mr. Shove. The group confronts him and Mr. Mild Manners recounts the incident in the lot, with a query as to what brought that on. Mr. Shove barks something that sounds very much like what a cop would say when confronted, but it’s not intelligible enough for me to remember. Not really complete sentences. He may be disturbed, or he may not have had his coffee yet… but either way it’s clear that this guy has a problem; he’s a bully and a jerk, and he is STILL making threatening gestures. At this point I think , “ok here’s where Mr. Mild calls the police and reports him.. maybe gets him arrested”. But no! Mr. Mild Mannered backs down and takes his bike outside, riding away.

This is where I kind of freak out, because I feel that this is EXACTLY the kind of behavior (by cyclists) that allows us to be such easy victims of other people’s belligerence and frustration. I am feeling the flame of bikey solidarity boiling up in me, and I am pissed.

So I followed Mr. Shove outside and set my phone to take his picture. He noticed me doing this and barks “You take my picture and I’ll break that camera!”

So I took his picture, and I barked right back, “He should have called the police and had you arrested.”

Arf arf arf!

In retrospect, I question the prudence of this. Sure, I was in a public place with access to immediate assistance if he’d done something, but this guy was clearly not quite right in the head. And ALSO… this wasn’t my fight. Just because Mr. Mild Mannered was on a bike doesn’t mean he and I are part of some exclusive gang; I didn’t know him from Adam. But then again… I would likely have done the same thing even if he WASN’T on a bike.. the bike is just what attracted me in the first place. It’s easy to back someone up if you have some immediately recognizable kinship to them. Sometimes we identify with people because they are the same age group, or they wear similar clothing (all it takes is someone sporting a Death’s Head motif), but what if we all had this immediate ‘tend and befriend’ reaction to someone in distress, despite the lack of social indentifier? I’d like to see that happen, in myself and with the community.

The Story

You heard me right. I loathe to even think about watching myself blither incoherently on television, but that’s what’s going to happen tonight on WBZ-TV, channel 4 in Somerville. The 11pm news will be running a special report about the MBTA’s neglect of traffic laws, among other things, and they’re using excerpts from my interview last Friday. Yikes!

At least we’re getting the issue out there, YAAAAY!

…what beautiful music they make! This morning I passed a road bike that was making a noise like a jackhammer. I suddenly realized, now that my ears had perked up, that I was not being followed by a flock of Starlings, but that my chain was making the most horrific squeaking noises I’d ever heard NOT coming from a bird. Luckily I’ve already got a neon green replacement chain for poor, salty Krankenberry to wear once the winter is over. We’re not that lucky yet – apparently two storms are on the way for this week, with a mixture of snow and rain… my favorite! Hopefully these fronts flop like that last ‘Noreaster’, and I won’t have to pull out my Gore-tex.

In other news:  All this PR work is making a dent in the MBTA!

I had an interview last night with Kathy Curran and Elsie Nolan, from WBZ-TV & TV38 about the rash of reckless driving by employees of the MBTA, and specifically buses along Route 66. It was a short interview, so I didn’t have time to cover much more than I’ve already delved into with Zero Combustion, but I did demand accountability, transparency and visible action by the MBTA. In interesting news, apparently Kathy and Elsie were privy to information that I was not – namely that the driver of one of the buses involved in my complaints was suspended for three days – this is the information John Houghton of Cabot Garage gave WBZ-TV anyway. It’s a far more satisfying reaction than ‘will be disciplined for his actions’, or ‘will seek retraining’, which is what I was repeatedly told.

No matter what, this means we are making headway! Keep calling the MBTA! Keep dialing 911 and reporting the Speedy Parasite! Ride tall and damn it, ride safely!

[Grimlocke],

Thank you for your e-mail concerning the route 66.  I apologize for reckless driving exhibited by one of our employees. MBTA Bus operators must complete a comprehensive Defensive Drivers Course prior to being certified to operate an MBTA vehicle in passenger service. This operator has been identified and will be re-instructed on her duties and responsibilities as a professional driver. Any further violations of the MBTA’s Rules and Policies will subject her to more severe progressive discipline up to and including recommendation for discharge. Additionally, I have forwarded your correspondence to the Instruction Department in order for them to include the intersection of Cambridge Street and Harvard Avenue in the Safety Related Compliance Program. This intersection will be monitored by Safety and Instruction personnel to ensure all traffic rules are strictly followed. Again, I apologize for your unpleasant experience with the MBTA.

Sincerely,

John J. Houghton

Superintendent

Cabot Garage

We’ll see if this has any effect whatsoever on how the busses treat that intersection in the coming months. I’ll keep reporting my observations.

In other news, Boston Biker reports on a meeting tomorrow regarding upcoming work on the Western Ave/River Street Bridges. Wednesday, February 3, 2010. 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM, Honan-Allston Branch Library, 300 North Harvard Street, Allston MA. This is of immediate interest to me today of all days because this will be the first week.. well – EVER –  that it would behoove me to use the River Street bridge, since I’ll be going to yoga in Inman Square. However, as bikers ’round this way know, River Street and Prospect Street are death traps of the highest caliber, and therefore I avoid them with extreme prejudice. I will probably opt instead for the BU bridge and Brookline/Colombia to reach Inman – taking me a bit out of my way for sure, but reducing the possibility of me becoming road pizza. Now, if the meeting tomorrow were about this entire route I would be VERY excited indeed. Alas, that is not on the agenda. I will probably pop in on my way home, but not for long. Yoga again tomorrow, you see.

So I’ve been looking at this website SeeClickFix, and it goes a long way to providing that ‘see something, say something’ form that I’ve been talking about. And as you can see, you can put a Widget on your site! It’s mostly being used for potholes, but there is a great range of uses for a site like this – people are reporting bad traffic light situations, graffiti, awkward intersections. You can even upload photos! The question I have yet to answer is; just who is looking at this page? Who, with the ability to get any of these issues handled, monitors these complaints? If our reps haven’t seen this yet, you can bet I’ll bring it to their attention!

On a side note: another bus ran the red light at Harvard Ave./Cambridge St. this morning. Route 66 #2218. I’m about to call and report it right now but I don’t expect there to be anything done about it. Not until someone (else) dies.