Feds throw MBTA safety plan under the bus, citing risk to workers

The MBTA has until Monday to submit an updated plan for improving employee safety and preventing trains from striking workers after federal overseers, who still aren't satisfied with the T's staffing levels, deemed their initial proposal "insufficient."

Federal Transit Administration Chief Safety Officer Joe DeLorenzo on May 19 rejected the T's plan, noting that some of the measures it proposed to strengthen protections on the rail right of way had completion dates of "late 2023 and into 2024."

"Given the immediate risk to worker safety on the (right of way), (the Federal Transit Administration) requires direct and focused actions," DeLorenzo wrote in a letter to MBTA General Manager Phil Eng.

DeLorenzo instructed MBTA officials to submit a new version of the work plan by June 5 with safety improvements that would take effect within 60 days. He also said federal officials would meet with T higher-ups "to identify and distinguish between the immediate actions that will be reviewed, approved and tracked from the longer-term actions that MBTA may take."

DeLorenzo warned that if the MBTA fails to "appropriately revise" its plan and comply with other requirements that federal safety officials outlined, the T would be prohibited from right-of-way access.

CBS Boston first reported about the Federal Transit Administration's latest letter.

The Federal Transit Administration, which mandated a range of safety fixes at the T after an investigation last summer, in April flagged a series of "near misses" between subway trains and workers and ordered the transit agencies to improve employee safety.

MBTA spokesperson Lisa Battiston said Tuesday that the agency's first submission for an action plan to address right-of-way safety hazards "included both immediate and longer term actions to complete."

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"The (Federal Transit Administration) has directed the MBTA to focus the workplan on the immediate actions only," Battiston said.

She also pointed to ongoing efforts to expand the T workforce, a months-long effort that plays a critical role in both safety and service issues.

"The MBTA continues to also actively recruit for a number of positions in the Safety Department, and has briefed the FTA on a monthly basis on the status of department staffing," Battiston said. "The Safety Department continues to work closely with the Human Resources Department and a number of local universities with Safety programs to recruit qualified and talented candidates, among other hiring initiatives."

Building out the MBTA's workforce has been a frequently cited focus of Gov. Maura Healey and Eng, whom she installed as general manager, but the hiring campaign has stumbled so far and remains well below the pace needed to achieve targets.

On the same day the Federal Transit Administration rejected the T's proposed right-of-way response, the federal agency also gave MBTA officials more time to improve internal safety monitoring tools and procedures as required by the 2022 investigation.

DeLorenzo approved the MBTA's request to restructure its response to one of the special directives, granting the T until Aug. 10 to resubmit a revised corrective action plan dealing with safety management systems and risk assessments. He wrote in a letter that the Federal Transit Administration's oversight "confirms the need to reassess actionable items and timelines to develop a more deliberate and targeted approach."

In that same document, federal safety officials aired concerns that the MBTA's safety department remains shorthanded. Federal officials ordered the T to complete a staffing analysis of that office by June 25 and then develop "an urgent hiring plan and strategy."

In addition to appointing Eng and replacing members of the MBTA's board of directors, Healey also named Patrick Lavin − who in 2019 contributed to an independent report slamming safety issues at the T − to a newly created role as the Department of Transportation's chief safety officer.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Federal transit officials order expedited MBTA rail safety plan