BOSTON GLOBE: "Trains, planes, MBTA get Y2K green light"

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Trains, planes, MBTA get Y2K green light

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff, 12/30/1999

At about midnight tomorrow, Amtrak trains will roll to a stop. MBTA subway cars - with or without passengers - will come to a halt. The regularly scheduled British Airways flight to London will not take off on Saturday morning, Jan. 1.

But none of this is because the nation's computers are coming apart at the seams. In the case of the trains and subway cars, brief pauses in service are precautionary, just so there's no chance someone will get stranded, even briefly. The flight to London was canceled for lack of passengers.

In fact, if any transportation-related computers succumb to the Y2K flu and perceive the digits ''00'' as 1900 instead of 2000, the effects won't be known until a few minutes after midnight, when motor operators and conductors close the doors, and the trains power back up to take revelers on their way.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has spent an estimated $19 million in the last year to help make the new year arrive seamlessly for its passengers, who may number 2 million tomorrow and Saturday.

Instead of having the usual Friday night contingent of 800 operational employees on duty, the T will have about 3,500 - more than half its work force.

''We're ready,'' said Robert Clark, the MBTA's director of information technology.

Throughout 1999, transportation and other agencies whose missions are critical to everyday life have reported their progress in preparing for the Y2K challenge. Typically, those at 50 percent readiness last summer were up to 80 percent in the fall and 98 percent in November.

And now?

Well, some balk at saying that they are 100 percent ready as they enter the last week of the year. There's always something that could go wrong.

MBTA officials, for example, are confident that their computers and software will make the leap into 2000 comfortably and reliably. And they're assuming that Boston Edison, which supplies most of the electrical power on which the MBTA's system relies, is also prepared.

But if power is disrupted, that will affect the trains. MBTA officials say about 85 percent of the trains will continue to operate - powered by two jet-engine generators in South Boston, large enough that they sometimes provide power to Boston Edison.

The long Green Line to Riverside, however, cannot be powered by supplemental systems; 200 extra buses will be on standby to carry passengers along any route where trains aren't operating, if such an unlikely event occurs, MBTA officials said.

Logan Airport officials say they're ready, too.

Jose Juves, spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan and Hanscom Field in Bedford, said there will be 320 aviation staff employees on duty there, more than 200 over the standard Friday-night level - even though about half of the scheduled flights on Friday and Saturday have been canceled because of a lack of passengers. But there will be teams of 10 to 15 Massport employees at each terminal, to help smooth any glitches.

At Hanscom Field, a typical Friday night staff of two or three will become 12 tomorrow night, even though the number of flights has been reduced there, too.

''There's this whole culture of contingency here,'' said Juves. ''We live with backup plans every day.''

Logan spent about $6 million, much of it on consultants to review hardware and software and to make changes, as well as to test and validate the changes.

With 311 computer systems controlling everything from airfield lighting to elevators and security access controls to fuel distribution, Logan is computer dependent.

The Federal Aviation Administration expects Massport and other operators of major airports around the country to test all of their critical systems within hours after midnight. So airport firetrucks will be driven at top speeds and discharging foam by 3 a.m. Saturday.

While aviation director Thomas Kinton and information services director Francis Anglin said Massport is well prepared for Y2K, the agency will have a command center, with links to the FAA, where every decision will be orchestrated and contingency plans - if needed - will be put into action.

One benefit for Massport is the reduced demand for air travel on Saturday - itself, perhaps, a sign of Y2K caution.

As of mid-December, Massport officials said Continental Airlines would fly 20 percent of its usual number of flights in and out of Boston on New Year's Day while America West said it would fly only 10 percent. US Airways, however, will operate at near normal levels with 94 percent of its scheduled flights to and from Logan expected to run, and Delta and United Airlines will both fly 70 percent of their usual number of flights. International airlines are cutting back even farther.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and its major construction project, the Big Dig, have taken security precautions and late in December were, according to spokesman Jeremy Crockford, ''at 99 percent'' compliant for Y2K. Security has been increased at the turnpike's harbor tunnels, including the newer Ted Williams Tunnel, and there is auxiliary power available at tollbooths on the roadway. State Police cruisers sat outside the Prudential Tunnel yesterday ''for Y2K and for holiday traffic,'' according to a spokeswoman.

At the MBTA, about 110 extra T managers will be on hand on New Year's Eve to handle any problems, including helping passengers on and off elevators and escalators. They will carry flashlights to be used in tunnels should power be interrupted.

Clark, the T's director of information technology, spent all of 1999 working on eliminating potential computer glitches resulting from the year 2000.

He and a team of consultants and T managers met at 7 a.m. every Wednesday to combat the Y2K bug. They identified 600 systems throughout the billion-dollar-a-year organization that might be affected by computer problems. They found 147 that needed attention.

Though all were fixed or replaced by June 6, Clark said, the testing, review, and approval process - from the Commonwealth and the Federal Transit Administration - went on for months afterward.

The MBTA hired as many as 50 people at one point to assist them, replaced about 800 of the MBTA's 1,200 personal computers, upgraded some and changed other software, tested the new Red Line subway cars during off-hours, placed electric generators strategically around the Boston area, stockpiled extra fuel, and got a sterling assessment from a tough critic: State Auditor Joseph DeNucci.

''Our review found that the MBTA developed contingency plans to address each of these disaster scenarios and prepared alternatives to provide the required safe transportation for its riders,'' DeNucci's office concluded.

In addition, the authority will increase the number of trains on the Red, Orange, and Green lines over its standard Friday night lineup. The Blue Line is the least used portion of the system so additional trains will not be added.

Instead of one emergency crew on this weekend, the T will have eight.

So, as thousands of employees who normally would be celebrating New Year's Eve are on the job serving others, will the MBTA be helping them ring in the new year with at least a modest layout of fancy food and beverages?

''You probably know the answer,'' said Clark. ''The answer is no.''

Matthew Brelis of the Globe Staff contributed to this article.

This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 12/30/1999.
) Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.

[ENDS]

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), December 31, 1999


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