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Keller @ Large: MTBA General Manager Responds To Customer Questions

BOSTON (CBS) -- It's no secret that the MBTA service is often a point of contention among commuters. Before Jon Keller's interview with General Manager Luis Ramirez, he asked the public what he should ask.

After just under a year on the job, Ramirez said he is most shocked by the run-down conditions of the T stations and MBTA buildings. That was before Keller mentioned a tweet from Jay F. saying, "I would love to hear him acknowledge how filthy the stations are, and what plans if any he has to address the situation."

Ramirez responded, "As we make changes to stations, as we do construction projects, we're building in an element of station refresh, that's number one...The second thing we did recently, we announced it just last week, we have a new chief customer officer reporting directly to me whose job is going to be to spend her time looking at everything that impacts the customer experience from the ride, to the stations, to the way we do fares. Everything that impacts the customers."

The cleanliness issue emerges from a number of factors. One is that the MBTA has been focusing on more consistent operation through rough weather, so appearance took a back seat, said Ramirez.

He also hopes the updated switches, which are coming to the Green Line first in the fall, will slowly but surely improve rider experience.

Peter K. tweeted: "As new projects move forward, how do you get a handle on protecting taxpayers from cost overruns?"

The general manager responded with, "We've spent a lot of time fixing the systems internally, putting processes in place and hiring people who can actually run these projects efficiently and on budget and on time... We have systems in place that they can actually use to make sure we can see how projects are progressing and we're doing a lot of work with scorecards and things like that. So we're using tools to be able to report and keep things transparent as we do the project."

Rick S. e-mailed his frustration over unexplained delays, writing: "Any communication is better than none and the Green Line train drivers are the worst and give [passengers] zip."

Ramirez said, "So that came up a few months ago when we had the big Red Line event back in February. We spent time then taking a look at all the ways we communicate during an event like that...We put a team together and we've been making incremental changes. Some people have noticed those changes, for example, we no longer now just give time delays in terms of 'moderate' or otherwise, we give minute delays."

He also said the MBTA has been training drivers on how to better communicate any issues to riders but "sometimes [the drivers] are not being communicated to by [the MBTA]," said Rameriz. "They may not know whats really going on, until they know something, they're not saying something. That was a finding that we came across."

Multiple people commented on how T officials don't seem to use the system themselves. Ramirez said that is not entirely true. "I actually use the system every day. I live in Boston so I get to actually experience both the traffic issues and everything everyone else experiences coming in and out of the city. So for me, it's been an eye-opener to do that. A lot of people that work for me, one of the requirements is you got to use the T. I just hired a new chief customer officer, she lives in Newton, and she's going to use the T."

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