This week brings mostly bad news… but there are some positives to look at in the world of public transit! Thank you all for the recent support, to celebrate our second newsletter we created some fun transit themed wallpapers for all of you, so go check those out in the welcome email if you haven’t already!

"You are EVIL," MBTA riders attack transit board

The MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) is facing increasing frustration from riders due to the agency's constant service issues. Riders get to voice their complaints during the monthly board meetings, and this one had some particularly fiery tensions. Riders complained that the board was “consistently not listening,” and called the conditions deplorable. The board played four voicemails during their meeting, and while one caller thanked the board for their work, the others expressed chronic safety and service issues with the T. The MBTA needs to figure out how to improve its service and communicate better with its riders if it wants to regain their trust, although that is likely impossible, as many riders feel that the board needs a complete overhaul. This caused users to go as far as to call members of the transit board “evil!” 😬

FYI: This is only the latest in a continuing saga of transit incompetence at the MBTA.

• 🚄 Trains are currently limited to 25 MPH across the subway

• 💸 MBTA is being forced to tap its reserves in new budget

• 📉 Ridership has still not recovered from COVID to acceptable rates

California considers slash to public transit budget

A group of Californian legislators have called on the state's leadership to safeguard funding for public transit systems after Governor Gavin Newsom suggested cuts in his proposed budget. In a letter, the lawmakers argue that the state's transit agencies, still reeling from the pandemic, will require state funding support to remain viable in the years ahead. Ridership for most of the state's transit operators has yet to come close to pre-pandemic levels on a consistent basis, leading to concerns about nine-figure deficits and deep service cuts in the coming years. Newsom wants to delay about $7.4bn in spending and pull back on nearly $6bn in spending that had been planned over the previous two fiscal years, including reducing the $7.7bn previously allocated for transit infrastructure funding by $2bn over three years.

FYI: This comes amid a whole host of other issues relating to the California state government, and it could hurt a whole lot more than just public transit.

• 💰 California faces a $22.5B budget deficit after years of tech-fueled surplus

• 🌧️ California is still experiencing drought-like conditions, which takes a lot of governmental resources

• 🗳️ Some have complained that CA Governor Gavin Newsom has been neglecting his state leadership to focus on national aspirations

📺 Full Speed Ahead

Full speed ahead features a cool transit video we enjoyed this week and recommend you check out! This week’s featured video is RMTransit, and takes an interesting look at whether transit should make money! It is a nice parallel against the videos we have looked at that focus on Brightline, a for-profit private model in Florida. Go check it out and let me know what you think!

🔥 Future Stops

Here are some stories that we didn’t have time for, but are definitely still worth a read! (These stories do link outside of The Next Stop, so if you don’t want to be exposed to the outside web, stop here. However we have read these sources before and think they are at least decent at communicating the stories!)

• 🏎️ Car-Free Earth Day is taking place in NYC with open streets!

• 🚌 National Express is purchasing new electric buses

• 🚇 San Francisco calls for more state funding for public transit

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed our first newsletter, hopefully this is the start of a long ride. If you want more content check out our YouTube channel, Infra! Otherwise, we will see you next week! Thanks!