Keller @ Large: Complacency And Arrogance Has To Stop

BOSTON (CBS) - The legislature's Transportation Committee held an oversight hearing Monday, about the MBTA meltdown this winter. And according to the State House News Service (subscription required), some progress came out of it.

The T now plans to draw up special schedules during snowy periods that will allow for enhanced treatment of the rails with new snow-clearing tools – including special de-icer and diesel-powered equipment that can operate even when the third rail is out of commission - thus ensuring that the intolerable service disruptions of the last two months are not repeated.

"Those ideas came about through a peer-review process with transit officials from New York, New Jersey, Toronto, Philadelphia and Chicago, other cities that face challenges from snow and cold," reports the News Service.

This is great news, but it does beg a question – why on earth weren't they already doing all of the above?

I have the highest regard for Frank DePaola, the interim T general manager, but his answer to that Monday was shocking.

T management got "comfortable" with the status quo, he explained, because the system had run "flawlessly" during past snowstorms, and they didn't see the need to search out new techniques.

Are you kidding me?

Perhaps the T handled storms "flawlessly" in some parallel universe, but not the one we inhabit.

This is a big problem here in our beloved state, complacency and arrogance.

It has to stop.

One more winter like this past one, and we'll be shopping for de-icer for the brains of our public officials.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.