The state Senate agreed Tuesday to tap $49 million from a little-known state surplus to help the MBTA close its deficit for the coming year, avoiding steeper fare increases and wider service cuts than those scheduled for July 1.
The plan, approved by a 26-9 vote after lengthy debate, largely falls in line with a measure approved by the House last week and appears destined to receive Governor Deval Patrick’s signature before a June 30 deadline. Passage places an exclamation point at the end of six contentious months for the MBTA, when thousands of riders flooded public hearings to protest fare hikes and service cuts.
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And, if an unprecedented move, the T unions have offered to give a 10% across the board wage cut. This will save taxpayer money, avoid fare increases, allow bus routes to continue, and avoid layoffs.
$49 million is just a tiny drop in the bucket. I know that the areas outside Boston resent using any money for maintaining — let alone upgrading — the T, but the system and all its various elements desperately need help. Compared with almost any other subway system both here and abroad, the T is a shambles. Sorry, exurbs and western MA, but to generate the monies that help all you guys with your infrastructures, Boston has to be a destination city at the world-class level, and having a poor transportation system in the city makes us look cheap. And unattractive. Definitely UGH, and I don't mean the Aussie footgear.
There needs to be a long term solution which I am sure no one will like. Fares will need to go up again, unions will need to make concessions and the state will need to fund the big dig related expansion projects. The T is falling apart. The signal, switching systems tunnels and wiring are ancient. The trains are decrepit and years past their retirement date. Parking garages are falling apart with large potholes. The T has been lucky that no one has been hurt yet. That luck will not continue.