It was great to see an energized, standing-room-only crowd fill Salem's City Hall Annex hearing room a week ago tonight when the MBTA presented two proposals to raise fares and cut service across its entire system.
Citizens from Salem, Beverly and many adjacent communities came to speak out against both proposals and explain how damaging, shortsighted and counterproductive those measures would be if enacted.
The magnitude of the fare increases and the breadth of the service cuts in both proposals are shocking. Commuter rail service to all communities on the weekends, and every weeknight after 10 p.m., would be completely eliminated. All ferry service — all routes — would be discontinued.
Both proposals substantially cut the number of bus routes, but Option 2 is worst, eliminating entirely a total of 102 routes. Bus service on the North Shore would be decimated.
Fares across the system would rise by an amount somewhere between 35 percent and 43 percent. A single subway ride would cost $2.40 (now $1.70).
There is no doubt that the MBTA is facing a financial crisis. Its budget shortfall next year will be $160 million and, if not addressed, will continue to worsen every year.
The agency has made $26 million in cuts already and intends to improve fare collection (a well-known problem) and get tougher about screening disability applications for use of The Ride.
The culture at the T is not the old one that was the object of much citizen derision. Today, subjects such as pensions, benefits, efficiencies, maintenance and performance are frequently and rigorously discussed by T managers searching for further improvements.
Citizens should understand that much of the T's budget duress is a legacy of old debt and a funding system that was destined to be inadequate. The 2009 D'Alessandro Report (available at www.mbta.com), an independent and clear account of the history and financing of the T, describes how the past 10-year falloff in expected sales tax revenue (part of which goes to the T), along with $3.6 billion in debt for transit-related Big Dig projects, have combined to place the agency in an unmanageable situation.
Furthermore, the growth in energy prices; rising payroll, pension and health care costs; and continuing maintenance expenses have added to the T's predicament.
The D'Alessandro Report and other objective observers conclude that the T will not survive without substantial new revenue and a comprehensive, sustainable, long-term finance plan. The report makes clear that whatever improvements and efficiencies the T can implement will not remotely begin to solve its funding shortage.
The Salem hearing was attended by about 200 citizens (crowded into two rooms) and many elected officials. Some 55 people spoke about the importance of the T system to their lives.
Speaker after speaker described his reliance on buses, trains or The Ride to get to work, health appointments and other destinations. Taken together, the personal stories were a powerful testament to the role of mass transit in helping to create a functioning society and a dynamic economy.
Especially at a time when we are so aware of energy use, environmental issues, smart growth, infrastructure shortcomings, traffic congestion, unemployment hardships and the fragile economy, we know that shrinking the mass transit system is the exact opposite of what we should be doing.
The T provides 348 million individual rides per year. A typical weekday has 1.3 million trips. If the T implements either of its fare-hike and service-reduction proposals, estimates are it will lose roughly 35 million to 65 million trips per year.
This month, the agency will hold 15 more public meetings throughout greater Boston to explain these proposals. But these hearings should really be held at the Statehouse, and citizen comments and concerns should be aimed at our state representatives and senators.
For only the Legislature can enact the reforms that would properly underwrite the T. While some fare increases are appropriate, the real answer to the agency's problems is for the state budget to assume responsibility for the T's Big Dig debt, and for the Legislature to enact a modest gas tax increase, the revenue from which would be used solely for mass transit.
Our representatives on Beacon Hill know the important role of the T in people's lives and in the economy. They know that all citizens, regardless of whether they use the system, benefit from the many synergies it facilitates. We should all be invested in its success and eventual expansion, not its contraction.
State Reps. John Keenan, D-Salem; Lori Ehrlich, D-Marblehead; Jerald Parisella, D-Beverly; and Brad Hill, R-Ipswich, were all at the Salem hearing. Other lawmakers have attended, and will attend, hearings in or near their districts. Now is the time for the Legislature to show courage and leadership and create a comprehensive plan to fund the T.
• • •
Brian T. Watson of Swampscott is a regular Salem News columnist. Contact him at watson@nii.net. A second North Shore hearing on the T's proposed fare hikes and service cuts will be held Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 6 p.m. at Lynn City Hall.
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