MBTA Unveils Possibly Rigged Winners of New Train Design Contest
Images courtesy MBTA
The MBTA unveiled Tuesday afternoon the winners of its design contest for new Red, Green, and Orange Line cars and trolleys, following two weeks of online voting and countless disgruntled commuters thinking they were the first to tweet, “HOW ‘BOUT YOU MAKE THEM RUN ON TIME FIRST???”
Nearly 180,000 people cast votes, according to an MBTA announcement, rejecting proposed pixelated designs for the Red and Orange Lines.
Red Line
Image courtesy MBTA
Orange Line
Image courtesy MBTA
Green Line
Image courtesy MBTA
Though the polling data seemed a tad suspect to one reporter, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo assured the Globe there was, to paraphrase one former MBTA head, nothing nefarious going on.
https://twitter.com/TheNewsHam/status/664171999103688705
Newsham’s findings had Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling, cocking an eyebrow as well.
From @TheNewsHam. This raw data from the #MBTA Survey Monkey survey on T car design. Pretty certainly BS. https://t.co/rMzxnNElN7
— Steve Koczela (@skoczela) November 10, 2015
Shortly thereafter, the Globe reported the MBTA was probing “evidence of irregular voting patterns,” after it was discovered that one IP address accounted for hundreds of votes, some registered within the same second.
