Federal transit chief demands information from T, citing 'safe travel' concerns

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation is demanding information from the MBTA over safety concerns, threatening to withhold federal funding if the T fails to respond within two weeks.

Secretary Sean Duffy, in a letter to MBTA Chief Phil Eng dated Thursday, cited the federal agency's "continued focus on ensuring safe travel in Boston" in seeking information about the T's "practices and expenditures."

Duffy requested information on how the T plans to "reduce crime, vagrancy and fare evasion on the transit system." The administration also restated its interest in South Station, asking for more details on how the T is ensuring the safety of passengers traveling through there and other major transit facilities.

The letter cites no specific statistics about crime on Boston's transit lines; it notes two recent reports, of a woman being shoved off a bus and a man attacking someone with a belt. In a press release, the Transportation Department said "Chicago and Boston are on notice to take actions that enhance safety and reduce the crime affecting their riders and transit workers — or risk federal support."

The demands indicate a swift ratcheting up of attention on the T by the Trump administration, which is also suing the Wu administration over immigration enforcement and sending the National Guard into other U.S. cities.

In a statement, the T's Eng said this week he spoke with FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro in Boston "about our shared commitment in ensuring the security of every passenger, and we are in agreement about providing the safest commute possible for all riders and employees."

He said as the T and its Transit Police Department "continue to work together with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, I want to assure the public that safety is at the heart of everything we do at the T."

Under past administrations, federal transit officials have focused on the T's rail safety and procedures, as well as needed upgrades of infrastructure and operations. The MBTA has long struggled from underinvestment and has made major improvements under Eng.

The Trump administration, by contrast, appears to be emphasizing "crime and threatening encounters with drug addicts or the mentally ill," according to the Duffy letter.

State Sen. Brendan Crighton, who chairs the Legislature's Joint Committee on Transportation, called Duffy's letter "misguided" and "just another political game." He said the state takes crime seriously but said the letter made a "blind accusation" lacking statistics or facts.

"At a time when we're making the investments to improve our system, when we've made a ton of progress, to threaten to take away funding," he said, "just doesn't make any sense at all."

The press release said Duffy also sent a letter to the Chicago Transit Authority. Earlier this year, his office said, he sent similar letters to transit authorities in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles.