This guy needs to be fired

MBTA boss touts T but takes SUV

MBTA general manager Dan Grabauskas is spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars urging suburban commuters to “Dump the Pump,” brave the heat and take the T, yet the transit boss continues to drive to work from Ipswich to Boston in the cool comfort of his T-owned SUV.

Grabauskas was observed by a Herald reporter on several occasions over the past seven weeks, including yesterday, driving his agency-owned 2008 Ford Escape hybrid to his office at the state Transportation Building in Park Square – a roughly 60-mile-a-day commute round-trip.

The T chief also drove his roomy, air-conditioned ride to a June 19 event in Lowell promoting his new $52,000 “Dump the Pump” ad campaign aimed at getting people to take public transportation to conserve gas and help improve the environment.…

In an interview yesterday, Grabauskas argued he needs the SUV, in part to respond to emergencies, such as the Green Line train crash last month in which a trolley driver was killed.

“I do try to set an example by using the T within the city, but my schedule tends to be erratic. I need to be able to go anywhere at all times,” he said.

As for driving to Lowell to promote his Dump the Pump campaign, Grabauskas said taking the commuter train there and back to Ipswich would have taken too long. The message of Dump the Pump, he added, is to encourage people with less demanding schedules to take the T.

IOW, the T is for you peasants, not members of the Elect, like him.

…

Grabauskas, who earns a salary of $255,000 a year, struck a deal this week with T workers that will give them a 13 percent pay raise over the next four years.

The $150 million agreement adds to mounting financial woes burdening the T, which is reeling from soaring fuel and electricity costs and stagnant state aid even as ridership has hit new highs.

This guy needs to be fired. He’s a lot like those Hollywood jerks who tell the rest of us to cut our “carbon footprint”, while they fly around in private planes. Or, you know, Al Gore, who lives in a house that uses up 20 times as much energy as does the average home.

Tags: Hypocrisy, The Environment