Will Safety First on the T Hurt You?

The number two item in the MBTA customer bill of rights reads: Your safety is our top priority. If we are not performing to your standards, please 'write to the top'. Top level management will respond. Given my interest in personal safety and experiences with the T, I had the opportunity to try this out.

To me, riding the T is usually painless, but getting on the "C" line "train" in Cleveland Circle can be hazardous to my health. Getting to the "T" platform in this area requires crossing Beacon Street near Reservoir Liquors or Maryann's Bar. Both locations have poorly maintained street lights and crosswalks that have faded into oblivion. For several months the green lights on the traffic light and the pedestrian walk lights were burned out leading drivers to believe they were out of service. The end result is that many drivers do not stop when the traffic lights turn red, leaving pedestrians to jump out of harms way when a driver barrels through. This problem is compounded by drivers who use the crosswalk area for parking and delivery liquor store delivery trucks who use it for unloading.

On the other side of the street, the MBTA adds to the safety problem by allow train operators to park Green Line trains with their coupling extending into the first two lanes of Beacon Street. Besides dodging cars that are swerving out of their way to miss hitting the train coupling, pedestrians have to walk into Beacon Street traffic to go around the parked train when walking from Dunkin' Doughnuts to the T stop.

If you do manage to cross the street and reach the train platform, then your next obstacle is to dodge Green Line trains operated by T employees who forget to ring the warning bell when the train is in motion. Contrary to common sense, the Green Line train are in motion, they do not make a lot of noise. On at least three occasions I was pulled out of harms way by fellow passengers when I didn't notice the oncoming train in my path.

Emails and phone calls to the Mayor's office, City Council representative and T line director have been in vain. While Mayor's office and representative offered to look into the problem about the crosswalks and errant car drivers in Cleveland Circle, the situation is still unresolved. In fact, the Mayor's office refuses to answer my emails or take my phone calls. I did get an answer to my email to William McClellan, Executive Director for the Green Line. In his note he assured me the safety came first at the T. He noted that operators are required to ring a bell to alert pedestrians and car drivers to movement of the train in and out of T stations. He also pointed out to me that the crosswalks and traffic lights were not in his jurisdiction.

At no time did he suggest that he would investigate as to why the train operators were moving the train through T stations and intersections with out sounding the alert bell. While he sighted jurisdiction issues over maintenance of the crosswalks, he did not offer to discuss the dangerous crosswalks with the City of Boston. For that matter, he didn't know that the Cleveland Circle T station was in Brighton and not Brookline. My reply to his letter pointed out this error, but I doubt he even read it. After all, the MBTA's major interest is playing lip service to safety. Actually doing something about it is a whole other issue.
The number two item in the MBTA customer bill of rights reads: Your safety is our top priority. If we are not performing to your standards, please 'write to the top'. Top level management will respond. Given my interest in personal safety and experiences with the T, I had the opportunity to try this out.

To me, riding the T is usually painless, but getting on the "C" line "train" in Cleveland Circle can be hazardous to my health. Getting to the "T" platform in this area requires crossing Beacon Street near Reservoir Liquors or Maryann's Bar. Both locations have poorly maintained street lights and crosswalks that have faded into oblivion. For several months the green lights on the traffic light and the pedestrian walk lights were burned out leading drivers to believe they were out of service. The end result is that many drivers do not stop when the traffic lights turn red, leaving pedestrians to jump out of harms way when a driver barrels through. This problem is compounded by drivers who use the crosswalk area for parking and delivery liquor store delivery trucks who use it for unloading.

On the other side of the street, the MBTA adds to the safety problem by allow train operators to park Green Line trains with their coupling extending into the first two lanes of Beacon Street. Besides dodging cars that are swerving out of their way to miss hitting the train coupling, pedestrians have to walk into Beacon Street traffic to go around the parked train when walking from Dunkin' Doughnuts to the T stop.

If you do manage to cross the street and reach the train platform, then your next obstacle is to dodge Green Line trains operated by T employees who forget to ring the warning bell when the train is in motion. Contrary to common sense, the Green Line train are in motion, they do not make a lot of noise. On at least three occasions I was pulled out of harms way by fellow passengers when I didn't notice the oncoming train in my path.

Emails and phone calls to the Mayor's office, City Council representative and T line director have been in vain. While Mayor's office and representative offered to look into the problem about the crosswalks and errant car drivers in Cleveland Circle, the situation is still unresolved. In fact, the Mayor's office refuses to answer my emails or take my phone calls. I did get an answer to my email to William McClellan, Executive Director for the Green Line. In his note he assured me the safety came first at the T. He noted that operators are required to ring a bell to alert pedestrians and car drivers to movement of the train in and out of T stations. He also pointed out to me that the crosswalks and traffic lights were not in his jurisdiction.

At no time did he suggest that he would investigate as to why the train operators were moving the train through T stations and intersections with out sounding the alert bell. While he sighted jurisdiction issues over maintenance of the crosswalks, he did not offer to discuss the dangerous crosswalks with the City of Boston. For that matter, he didn't know that the Cleveland Circle T station was in Brighton and not Brookline. My reply to his letter pointed out this error, but I doubt he even read it. After all, the MBTA's major interest is playing lip service to safety. Actually doing something about it is a whole other issue.

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Gregg Lebovitz
[email protected]

(617) 381-4334
Fax: (309) 408-1476