Boston MBTA Suspected of Favoritism in Police Dispatch Vendor Selection, OIG Report Reveals

Boston's MBTA is under scrutiny after a report by Inspector General Jeffrey S. Shapiro indicated potential favoritism in the selection of a police dispatch vendor, the office announced yesterday. Concerns have been raised over the MBTA's transparency and fairness in awarding a contract to IXP Corporation back in 2017 to provide dispatch services for the Transit Police Department.

The Office of the Inspector General's report supplemented an earlier review, stating that the selection process could not be proven fair, due in part to the MBTA's chronic poor record-keeping. Shapiro pointed out, “The need for clear, transparent, and fair procedures for the selection of contractors by public entities is a bedrock principle. It is essential that the public have confidence in government when it conducts public procurements and expends the public’s money,” 

In the initial 2016 Request for Proposal, over 1,000 companies were notified, yet the extended deadline only garnered three bidders, including IXP. After a faltered first attempt and a revised RFP in 2017, the notification reached 33 companies through the COMMBUYS website, but curiously, only IXP responded. The report highlights a lack of comprehensive evaluation records, suggesting that MBTA failed to confirm that the 2017 selection process was impartial.

Inspector General Shapiro condemned the inadequate recordkeeping practices, a recurrent issue within the MBTA, by stating, “Recordkeeping and records retention are basic functions of any business or organization. It is essential for a public entity to properly record and retain information concerning its decision-making on spending public funds (among other things). This has been a chronic problem at the MBTA and has been documented at length in the OIG’s previous reports,”  The OIG's report identifies this as a prominent problem at the MBTA, one that obstructs transparency and undermines public trust in the authority's financial decisions, and runs afoul, of basic administrative competence.

Despite past failings, Shapiro holds cautious optimism toward the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation and MBTA leadership to rectify ongoing deficiencies in procurement and contract oversight. In 2015, legislation temporarily eased the privatization requirements for the MBTA, obligating the OIG to review certain contracts, including the one in question with IXP Corporation. This scrutiny will continue, as mandated by law, for four more active contracts.