MBTA needs better oversight of massive fare-collection project: experts

The price tag for the MBTA’s much-ballyhooed upcoming fare-collection system upgrade has leapt to close to a billion dollars, leading transportation watchers to call for the T to have better oversight of the project.

“The commonwealth should be seeking performance damages against Cubic, or at least they should be bringing in legal experts to examine that,” former state Inspector General Greg Sullivan, now of the Pioneer Institute, said of the company that’s creating the system. “Bring in experts to negotiate the contract.”

The T’s Fiscal & Management Control Board signed off earlier this week on a contract amendment that will add $212 million in project costs to the now-reset rollout of an automated fare collection system, finalizing plans to implement the technology over a longer period of time first discussed last year.

Fiscal and Management Control Board members voted 4-0 to approve the amendment, which bumps the total fare transformation price tag from the $723 million approved under the initial contract to $935 million.

Monday’s vote formalized plans to “reset” deployment of an automatic fare collection overhaul to the system that’s become known as AFC 2.0. In December, T officials unveiled their intention to phase in the changes over the next four years rather than two, and they also said at the time that the update would push the total project cost above $900 million.

Sullivan, who’s researched AFC 2.0, said Cubic was the right choice — but the T was “overly optimistic” that just because they were selecting the world leader in these systems, that the company would have the technology ready to go. The company did not.

“There really is a parallel with the Big Dig like that,” Sullivan said, invoking the specter of the state’s most infamous infrastructure project. “The T was wearing rose-colored glasses with their fingers crossed.”

Sullivan did add, “It will be a good system once it’s done.”

The public-private partnership with Cubic now has a more realistic schedule under the amendment and will provide an easier transition for riders, officials said.

Key stages of the fare transformation include distribution of Charlie Cards at all subway vending machines in 2021, tapping a contactless credit card or smartphone payment system to board select subway and bus routes in 2022, and all-door boarding on buses and Green Line trains in 2023. The project is set to be complete in 2024.

Some transportation advocates had unsuccessfully called for the board to delay its vote on Monday.

Transportation for Massachusetts Executive Director Chris Dempsey tweeted, “This project needs more oversight. The FMCB should ask for an independent review before they approve this new contract.”

Herald wire services contribute to this report

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