GOP governor asks transit board to resign

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) is calling for the resignation of the members of the board that oversees Boston’s T subway system, The Boston Globe reports. 

The newspaper reported that Baker has said members of his state’s Department of Transportation board should step down, citing reports of financial mismanagement of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which is the nation’s fourth-busiest transit system. 

“Massachusetts deserves a reliable, well-managed, cost effective transportation system, and this in-depth report offers a plan of action to responsibly pursue organizational and operational reforms to reach this goal,” Baker said in a statement last week after he announced the creation of a panel to review the problems with the T. 

“Thanks to the hard work of the panel members, we have action items to improve service reliability, correct the failures that would bankrupt the MBTA if left unchecked and rescue the transportation system our economy relies upon,” he continued. 

The T carries about 1.2 million passengers per day on its subway trains, light railways and buses, according to the American Public Transportation Association. The system trails only the New York City subway, Washington’s Metrorail and Chicago’s L in terms of U.S. transit system traffic. 

Members of the panel that oversees the T have been defiant in the face of the criticism from Baker, who became the first Republican governor of Massachusetts since Mitt Romney left office in 2006.

“The Legislature created us, and the Legislature will have to eliminate us,” Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board Chairman John Jenkins said, according to the report. 

Transportation observers have compared problems the T faces to similar issues with the D.C. Metrorail system, which critics accuse of poor financial planning and serious safety lapses.