MASSPIRG Encourages the Legislature to Adequately Fund Transportation in the FY10 Budget
Boston – The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) announced fare increases and service cuts today, at a public meeting of the MBTA Board of Directors. The fare increases and service cuts are in response to the $160 million budget shortfall the MBTA expects to face in FY10.
The Senate and House budgets, currently being negotiated in conference committee, both carve out $275 million for transportation. MASSPIRG urges budget negotiators to fully support public transportation, by giving at least $160 million to meet the Authority’s FY10 budget shortfall.
“Unless the Legislature adequately funds transportation, the T will be forced to implement massive fare hikes and service cuts, and the Commonwealth’s entire transportation system will suffer,” said Elizabeth Weyant, MASSPIRG Staff Attorney. A 2007 Transportation Finance Commission Report estimated that the Commonwealth’s transportation system will suffer a $15 to $19 billion funding gap over the course of the next 20 years, simply to maintain the existing transportation system, and not including any enhancement or expansion projects.
“Being saddled with Big Dig debt has crippled the MBTA, and riders should not have to empty their wallets to pay a debt that they did not acquire,” continued Weyant. Currently, the Authority devotes nearly a third of its budget to pay its debt obligations, which represents the single-largest expense for the T.
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.
According to transit advocacy groups, the T’s debt has forced the Authority to dramatically raise fares over the past seven years, well above ordinary cost-of-living increases. In order to meet its debt obligations, funding has been diverted away from needed service improvements and basic maintenance, both of which have markedly deteriorated.
