1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228 
'PTA warning' tour starts
Page 61
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Speaking at a press conference in London on Wednesday, Mr. Thomas Lenthall American passenger transport expert, warned of the dangers of setting-up Passenger Authorities in this country. His talk was the prelude to a series of meetings to be held in the four proposed PTA areas (CM last week).
The structure of the PTAs largely copied the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said Mr. Lenthall, who doubted if there was anything new in the British plans.
Lack of adequate control was a particular problem of the MBTA, he said. The divergent views of members of the Advisory Board had led to so much wrangling and frustration that many members did not now bother to attend.
The lack of proper financial and commercial control was another mistake, said Mr. Lenthall. He felt that too often the MBTA had taken the easy way out—particularly with regard to wage claims—knowing that losses would be met from the rates. Subsidies might be necessary on some services for social reasons. but they must be pre-determined and operate within a system of commercial discipline.
Since the MBTA's establishment in 1964 services had not improved and the deficit had accumulated -wildly". There was insufficient control of individual bus services and in many cases, empty buses were being subsidized. In three years, the Authority, whose duty it was to appoint the manager, had had as many managers.
The latest manager was working hard in an attempt to put the Authority on a proper commercial basis. During the period ended September 30, 1967, the MBTA had had an expenditure of $44m, and a deficit of $24m.