Boston—State lawmakers, transit
advocacy groups, and T riders called on the state to address the
Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s (MBTA) financial problems
today at a public hearing before the legislature’s Joint Committee
on Transportation. The Committee is considering a bill to relieve
over half of the authority’s debt.
The legislation, jointly sponsored by
Representatives Carl Sciortino, Alice Wolf and Senator Jarrett
Barrios, calls for the state to accept $2.9 billion of the T's $5.2
billion debt ($8.1 billion when interest is included). The intent of
the legislation is to free up T funding so the agency can address
service improvements and prevent future high fare increases.
"In order to ensure that the T can
provide the best service to both current and future riders, it is
imperative that the system is able to bring its finances into order,"
said Representative Sciortino. "We need to keep fares
reasonable and provide efficient service, not chase customers away
with higher rates and unpredictable bus service. Having the state
assume part of the T’s debt will not relieve the T of all of its
financial burdens, but it is a critical move towards a T budget that
is able to meet the state's growing needs while providing
affordable, efficient, and reliable service for riders."
Representative Alice Wolf of Cambridge
agrees. “The MBTA is at a financial impasse. Failure to act
now will lead to devastating consequences for Massachusetts
transportation in the years ahead. Unless we relieve the MBTA
of some debt, T riders will continue to face fare increases and
deteriorating service. It is imperative that we act now to save
our public transportation.”
The MBTA is the largest transit
authority in Massachusetts and the fifth largest authority in the
country. The system averages 1.1 million trips every workday, which
comprises about 90% of public transportation use in the state. The
commuter rail system extends from Haverhill and Newburyport on the
North Shore, down to Rhode Island in the South, and reaches from
Boston out to Worcester.
"Public transportation needs to be
a priority in this state,” said Senator Barrios. “Right
now we’re not investing enough in transit. In fact we’re headed
in the opposite direction. Without state involvement, the T
will continue to lose riders, reduce service, and raise fares, which
would have severe economic and environmental implications."
According to transit advocacy groups,
the T’s debt has forced the authority to dramatically raise fares
over the past seven years and has diverted funding away from needed
service improvements and basic necessary maintenance, both of which
have deteriorated service and stagnated ridership.
Currently, the authority devotes 27
percent of its budget, about $363 million this year, to debt service,
the T’s largest single expense. As the debt payment increases in
the future, it will represent more money than the T will receive in
fares. To transit advocates this doesn’t make sense.
“Right now the T is set up for
failure because their debt is so unsustainable,” said MASSPIRG
Consumer Advocate Eric Bourassa. “Without some type of debt relief
we’ll be looking at more high fare increases coupled with service
reductions over the next few years. This will reduce ridership even
further and add to the cycle of fare increases without service
improvements that has put the T deeper in the hole.”
According to a recent financial
assessment of the state’s transportation sector by the
Transportation Finance Commission, the MBTA “finds itself in a
downward spiral in which it cannot generate the revenue necessary to
achieve a state of good repair, meaning that the MBTA cannot improve
service quality, retain and attract riders, and increase revenue over
time.”
And riders have felt this, says Donna
Dear of ACE and the T Riders’ Union.
“We’re dealing with fare increases every 2-3 years
and my T service is suffering.”
Transit advocates point out that the
MBTA has suffered because its external funding source has fallen
short of the Legislature’s expectations. In 2000, the Legislature
allocated the MBTA 20 percent of the state’s 5 percent sales tax as
a way to replace most annual allocations. This portion of the sales
tax makes up about 55% of the T’s revenue base. Back then, analysts
projected that the sales tax would grow by 5 percent each year or
more as it had during the 1990s. But these projections did not pan
out as expected. For example, in 2002 alone sales tax declined by
1.6%. As a result, the T has been left approximately $150 million
short of projections since 2004.
Carrie Russell with the Conservation
Law Foundation agrees that transit funding needs to be a top
priority. “Nearly every transportation agency in the Commonwealth
is under funded but the MBTA’s situation is truly untenable,”
Russell said. “This bill presents an opportunity to get the
MBTA back on track, so that the MTBA can focus on maintaining its
system, keeping fares affordable and providing quality service to
provide an attractive alternative to driving for more residents.
It is essential that we invest in the MBTA now if we are going to
reduce congestion, cut back on unhealthy air pollution, and tackle
climate change.”
Advocacy groups
also note that the T’s financial problems have been exacerbated by
Central Artery mitigation commitments that have required the T to pay
for some transit expansions and improvements aimed at offsetting
increased pollution from traffic. While these transit projects will
greatly benefit the Commonwealth, advocacy groups argue, the cost
should have been part of the Big Dig’s overall budget, and not paid
for by the T. As the MBTA has fulfilled these obligations, its debt
level has increased.
