Opening Day, Take Two

Let's hope the rain holds off and the Red Sox are able to play some baseball today ... GO SOX!!!

Today's commute on the p508 was right on time, we arrived to South Station exactly at the scheduled time of 8:23 AM.

I read a very interesting article in the Globe Starts & Stops column over the weekend regarding on-time performance for commuter rail trains. The article states that the performance statistics published by the MBTA for rush-hour trains are actually late about 6 percentage points more often than indicated in the official statistics.

I've often contended on this blog that the on-time performance statistics are inaccurate, because it includes times for all trains across the schedule, when really, we care mostly about the morning/evening rush hour trains (i.e. peak service). The MBTA/MBCR doesn't make the distinction between peak vs. non-peak service in their statistics, but considering that over 69% of riders take rush hour trains, don't these trains become more important from an on-time service perspective?

The article further states that on-time performance stats may be posted online in the "future." I've been requesting this on a regular basis from both the MBTA and MBCR to no avail. I'll bet something like this (people questioning the validity of the stats) is something they want to avoid, but since they are a public agency funded by taxpayer dollars, I think they should be mandated to display this information ... and not just on a poster near the ticket window in South Station.