T-Radio shelved?

I got this email yesterday:

Dear MBTA Customer:

Thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts on T-Radio. As we stated at the launch of this pilot test, MBTA riders would determine the fate of T-Radio. We have heard from a number of riders on a wide range of issues including the content and style.

Consequently, as of Thursday, October 25th, T-Radio will be suspended. While it is suspended, personnel from the MBTA and Pyramid Radio (the operator of the pilot program) will review and discuss the hundreds of emails received. Following a sufficient period of consideration, MBTA staff will present a recommendation on how the comments and suggestions might be addressed and whether a resumption of the pilot program is advised.

As always, we will continue to try and make your commute better through various means, and always ask for your feedback.

Thank you again for taking the time to write and have your voice heard. Its appreciated.

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"Following a sufficient period of consideration..."? Resumption? Let's hope not. Bob Oakes on WBUR announced that the T is shelving T-Radio due to the overwhelming amount of negative response it got. I don't trust Rich Balsbaugh to give up on this so easily, though.

Case in point: the Globe reports that the project is "shelved" but that it'll be back in one form or another:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/26/t_radio_hits_wrong_note_with_riders/

I don't think we're out of this yet.

My suspicion is that the T and Pyramid Radio will lean hard on the data gathered by Emerson students, and try to build a case to bring it back:

"Programmer Ed McMann said in an interview that the "quiet phase" is temporary. He said feedback gathered by Emerson College students who surveyed riders was mostly positive, though he declined to release the findings."

I argue that these findings are not a sufficient enough sample of public opinion, and probably necessarily biased, because it's Balsbaugh and Grabauskas who are conducting the analysis - and determining the rules for which data can be discounted or disregarded. We'll never know, for I doubt that they will be transparent about the findings. The fix is in, folks.

Bottom line: the T is a public space. It might even be a legal issue - the T and Pyramid Radio may not even have the right to inflict this on us. What's next? The Boston Common? The Public Garden? The BPL?

We'll see. I think we need to remain vigilant and ready to complain again, should this travesty re-emerge in some other form.