The MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority) runs all of the public transportation in the state, from the city buses to subways, commuter rail, commuter ferries, handicap van services, and of course of the stations used. Last year during record breaking snow fall the system had trouble dealing with the snow fall and all services suffered dramatic decreases and delays in service over many weeks. While most people understood that the weather was beyond their control they still believed that a transportation in a state where snow is a normal occurrence should have been able to respond more quickly and recover sooner.
This year the weather has cooperated, so far, and most services seemed to be running smoothly and communication during the few storms that hit was started in advance of the actual weather events, constant, and seemingly thorough. This year’s crisis occurred Thursday February 18 when a signaling problem originating with AMTRAK (the national rail system) kept several commuter rail lines from delivering passengers to South Station, the final destination for several lines. And it prevented passengers from returning home from South Station, the trains could not get to South Station to pick up passengers for the return ride. Additionally this problem spilled over to the subway as both the Red Line and Silver Line subway routes go through South Station. This all started at about 5:00am on Thursday and at 5:00 pm on Thursday, the height of rush hour, there was still no indication that the situation would be resolved any time soon and could even still be a problem on Friday.
Assume that you are the PR director for the MBTA. Describe your day, starting at 5am on Thursday and ending at 5pm on Thursday, with the situation still unresolved. Note that the MBTA has NO CONTROL over the signals that were malfunctioning, they are handled 100% by AMTRAK. The MBTA and AMTRAK share space at South Station but are not in any related or connected.
What will you be doing, and what will you be saying to the press who will be hounding you every second?