Orange tape helps MBTA with cell phone ban

The MBTA has come up with a low-cost, low-tech way to distinguish employees violating the agency's ban on on-the-job cell phone use from those using legitimate communications devices for work-related business.

The agency has started putting bright orange reflective tape with the T's logo in plain view on the solid black radio hand sets found on subway trolleys and buses.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority banned employees from carrying cell phones on the job after a trolley accident in May 2009 was blamed on an operator texting his girlfriend. Since then, the agency has fired a dozen employees for violating the rule, and disciplined 10 others.

But it has also received nearly 150 tips from commuters, most of which have either been unverifiable or a case of workers using legitimate radios.