Senators Warren & Markey Push Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Chair For Answers & Accountability on MBTA Mismanagement

In full transparency, the following is a media release from Sen. Ed Markey and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who were elected by voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to serve the state in Washington DC in the US Senate. Both are Democrats. (Petroni Media Company photo)

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WASHINGTON DC – United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent an 8-page letter with 16 questions to Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) Chair Matthew Nelson following up on the DPU’s repeated failures  as the State Safety Oversight Agency of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and requesting information on the DPU’s timeline for corrective actions.

At the hearing, and in response to Questions for the Record sent to him after the hearing, Chair Nelson made a series of promises and commitments about DPU efforts to improve its oversight of MBTA.  “It is critical that DPU keep these promises and provide transparency about its progress in doing so, particularly since MBTA’s safety and performance problems have persisted in the wake of the hearing,” wrote the senators.

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Three months ago, on October 14, 2022, Senator Warren chaired a Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy field hearing in Boston, Massachusetts focused on the T’s consistent failure to keep passengers safe and provide reliable service, and the urgent need to increase transparency and accountability at the T and the DPU. 

Despite commitments by Chair Nelson – at the hearing and in subsequent statements submitted to Senator Warren – to “expand [DPU’s] resources to conduct more field work and auditing of the MBTA,” T riders in Massachusetts continue to face extended wait times, limited service, disabled trains, and “various disruptions to service throughout January 2023.”  

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“These issues reveal ongoing problems with maintenance, quality, service, and transparency from the T, and continuing gaps and failures with DPU oversight,” wrote the senators.

The lawmakers sent a detailed list of sixteen questions requesting information from Chair Nelson no later than January 26 to ensure that the DPU is carrying out its oversight responsibilities to protect MBTA riders.

Read the text of the letter here.

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