Stem to stern, now top to bottom review of Mass Pike, plus scrubbing of decks - COMMENTARY
Posted Tue, 2007-11-27 08:38
No matter what their political affiliation a nautical metaphor is always good for a positive headline in Boston papers when it comes to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Last year after the ceiling fell in on the Turnpike's Big Dig tunnel under First Lord of the Massachusetts Admiralty Mitt Republican Romney it was a "stem to stern review" that was put under way.
This year under a new Sea Lord Democrat Deval Patrick it's a "top to bottom review" of the Turnpike. The new Lord's favorite verb alludes to scrubbing the decks as in his statement to the Boston Herald today: "We want a scrub of the Turnpike that gets right down to the basics."
The "scrub" of the decks is supposed to reveal in admiral Patrick's words "whether we have the right capabilities in place, where the gaps are, what the actual finances are…our first order of business is to find efficiencies wherever possible, and that’s a very big part of (the new Turnpike captain LeBovidge’s) assignment."
Simultaneously with this scrub of Captain LeBovidge's ship Turnpike there is a study in the Mass Navy Department as to whether they'd be better off with a larger class of warship - a single superbattleship with the awe inspiring name Mass Transportation Authority. The admiral's idea is that in war bigger is better and the big new do-it-all battlewagon would allow the cruiser Turnpike to be scuttled, along with aged destroyers like the highway department and the MBTA transit agency.
What a shame it would be if they scuttled the good ship Turnpike right after everyone's worked so hard on scrubbing the decks.
Maybe there are doubts about the plan for the one big battlewagon.
The nautical analysts may be finding the different ships serve different missions. The MBTA keeps the walking city folk moving around underground, while the Turnpike keeps order among the car warriors of the state's wild west.
And the different ships also run on different fuels. The Turnpike is toll fired, while the others burn taxes.
To get the one big superbattleship to perform all these different missions and burn multiple fuels efficiently, the shipping experts say, it is going to need one hell of superhuman crew including amazingly brilliant officers.
And where do you go to recruit such people?
Obviously not in Massachusetts.
With our global reach we'll be happy to take their WANTED ads, but no guarantees as to whether they'll turn up people adequate to the task. Editor.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-11-27
This year under a new Sea Lord Democrat Deval Patrick it's a "top to bottom review" of the Turnpike. The new Lord's favorite verb alludes to scrubbing the decks as in his statement to the Boston Herald today: "We want a scrub of the Turnpike that gets right down to the basics."
The "scrub" of the decks is supposed to reveal in admiral Patrick's words "whether we have the right capabilities in place, where the gaps are, what the actual finances are…our first order of business is to find efficiencies wherever possible, and that’s a very big part of (the new Turnpike captain LeBovidge’s) assignment."
Simultaneously with this scrub of Captain LeBovidge's ship Turnpike there is a study in the Mass Navy Department as to whether they'd be better off with a larger class of warship - a single superbattleship with the awe inspiring name Mass Transportation Authority. The admiral's idea is that in war bigger is better and the big new do-it-all battlewagon would allow the cruiser Turnpike to be scuttled, along with aged destroyers like the highway department and the MBTA transit agency.
What a shame it would be if they scuttled the good ship Turnpike right after everyone's worked so hard on scrubbing the decks.
Maybe there are doubts about the plan for the one big battlewagon.
The nautical analysts may be finding the different ships serve different missions. The MBTA keeps the walking city folk moving around underground, while the Turnpike keeps order among the car warriors of the state's wild west.
And the different ships also run on different fuels. The Turnpike is toll fired, while the others burn taxes.
To get the one big superbattleship to perform all these different missions and burn multiple fuels efficiently, the shipping experts say, it is going to need one hell of superhuman crew including amazingly brilliant officers.
And where do you go to recruit such people?
Obviously not in Massachusetts.
With our global reach we'll be happy to take their WANTED ads, but no guarantees as to whether they'll turn up people adequate to the task. Editor.
TOLLROADSnews 2007-11-27