The MBTA announced Friday that it expected to end the global speed restrictions on all trolley and subway lines by this weekend, but admitted that block restrictions will remain in place. According to the MBTA, gridlock speed limits are a stretch "that may include multiple defects that need to be investigated or mitigated as each defect is validated and corrected," MBTA Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville said at a Friday afternoon press conference. "We are taking a conservative approach as we continue to work through this issue," Gonneville said. “The MBTA lifted the global speed limit on the Mattapan line and I am optimistic that we will be able to lift the global speed limit on the green at the start of service,” Gonneville said. The MBTA presented a series of pie charts showing the remaining block speed limits that will remain in place. The Blue Line, with service from downtown Boston to Wonderland station in Revere, has the largest proportion of tracks to have a reduced speed, at 80%. The MBTA's monthly speed limit report, released in late February before global speed limit measures were put in place by the transit agency, put the amount of speed-limited Blue Line tracks at 1.6%. January's report put speed-limited track on the line at 0%. An MBTA spokesman said Friday that the restrictions were added "as part of the ongoing process of validating and verifying inspection data collected during the previous geometry track scans." ," Gonneville said. "Some of these speed restrictions will require corrective action and will take longer than others to resolve and rescind," Gonneville said. "We're actively working on that now and working through those plans." When end-to-end- speed limits are lifted on the Green Line, about 16 percent of that line will be subject to slow zones, according to MBTA data presented Friday . Slow zones cover 22 percent of the Mattapan Line. The T said Friday that 24 percent of the Red Line and 22 percent of the Orange Line is still under slow zones, an overall speed of 31.9 percent that did not budge during the work week The MBTA did not provide details on where the newly imposed slowdowns are located.The MBTA said it intended to unveil a more dynamic dashboard that gave riders more real-time information about speed limits. Gonneville said the dashboard would be unveiled at next week's MBTA board meeting. oric slow zones, announced and ordered last Thursday night after MBTA officials determined they did not have sufficient documentation to prove they fixed previously identified track defects, continue to saddle riders with sluggish, less reliable and more crowded tours. The Department of Public Utilities, which serves as the state agency responsible for MBTA safety oversight, inspected a portion of the Red Line track on Monday, March 6, and observed concerns with the quality of the tracks. On Tuesday, March 7, DPU Rail Transit Safety Director Robert Hanson sent MBTA officials six letters ordering corrective actions. On Thursday, March 9, the MBTA implemented a system-wide slowdown, then replaced universal speed limits with a vaguely defined patchwork on the Red, Blue and Orange lines the following morning. In a statement to WCVB, the Massachusetts governor's office said Gov. Maura Healey has been in contact with MBTA management about the speed limits and instructed them to complete the track inspections as quickly and safely as possible while keeping the public constantly updated. "We are in the final stages of our search for an MBTA General Manager and will have more to share soon," Karissa Hand, a spokeswoman for the governor, said in a written statement. Information from the State House News Service was used in this report.
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<strong class="dateline">BOSTON —</strong> <p>The MBTA announced Friday that it expected to end the global speed restrictions on all trolley and subway lines by this weekend, but admitted that block restrictions will remain in place.
According to the MBTA, gridlock speed limits are a stretch “that may include multiple defects that need to be investigated or mitigated as each defect is validated and corrected,” MBTA Interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville said at a Friday afternoon press conference.
“We are taking a conservative approach as we continue to work through this issue,” Gonneville said.
“The MBTA lifted the global speed limit on the Mattapan line, and I am optimistic [Saturday]we will be able to lift the global speed limit on the green at the start of service,” said Gonneville.
The MBTA presented a series of pie charts showing the remaining block speed limits that will remain in place.
The Blue Line, with service from downtown Boston to the Wonderland station in Revere, has the largest share of tracks to have a reduced speed, at 80%.
The MBTA’s monthly speed limit report, released in late February before global speed limit measures were put in place by the transit agency, put the amount of speed-limited Blue Line tracks at 1.6%. January’s report put speed-limited track on the line at 0%.
An MBTA spokesman said Friday that the restrictions were added “as part of the ongoing process of validating and verifying inspection data collected during the previous geometry track scans.”
“Riders should continue to plan for longer headways and extra travel time throughout the system,” Gonneville said.
“Some of these speed restrictions will require corrective action and will take longer than others to resolve and lift,” Gonneville said. “We are actively working on it now and working through those plans.”
When the end-to-end speed limits are lifted on the Green Line, about 16 percent of that line will be subject to slow zones, according to MBTA data presented Friday. Slow zones cover 22 percent of the Mattapan line.
The T said Friday that 24 percent of the Red Line and 22 percent of the Orange Line are still under slow zones, a combined rate of 31.9 percent that did not budge during the work week.
The MBTA did not provide details on where the newly imposed slowdowns are located.
The MBTA said it intended to unveil a more dynamic dashboard that gave riders more real-time information about speed limits. Gonneville said the dashboard would be unveiled at next week’s MBTA board meeting.
The widespread mandatory slow zones, announced and ordered last Thursday night after MBTA officials determined they did not have sufficient documentation to prove they fixed previously identified track defects, continue to saddle riders with sluggish, less reliable and more crowded tours.
The Department of Public Utilities, which serves as the state agency responsible for MBTA safety oversight, inspected a section of Red Line track on Monday, March 6 and observed concerns with the quality of the tracks. On Tuesday, March 7, DPU Rail Transit Safety Director Robert Hanson sent MBTA officials six letters ordering corrective actions. On Thursday, March 9, the MBTA implemented a system-wide slowdown, then replaced universal speed limits with a vaguely defined patchwork on the Red, Blue and Orange lines the following morning.
In a statement to WCVB, the Massachusetts governor’s office said Gov. Maura Healey has been in contact with MBTA management about the speed limits and instructed them to conduct the track inspections as quickly and safely as possible while keeping the public continuously updated.
“We are in the final stages of our search for an MBTA General Manager and will have more to share soon,” Karissa Hand, a spokeswoman for the governor, said in a written statement.
Information from the State House News Service was used in this report.
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