Jim Aloisi’s latest piece on the MBTA in Commonwealth Magazine is really a must-read. Don’t take my too-long-didn’t-read summation here. While Aloisi praises the T staff that seem to be doing the best they can with inadequate resources, he takes Governor Baker to the woodshed. Since 2015, when he took ownership of an agency already in crisis, Baker has exhibited a lack of leadership in providing what it desperately needed: Funding.
If there has been a big disappointment in all of this it has come from the very top. The week after the derailment we had the governor and his transportation secretary assuring everyone who would listen that there’s enough money available for the repair and modernization program the system obviously needs. This “we don’t need more money” mantra continues despite the clear and acknowledged inability of the T to get more work out the door – largely a failure of insufficient resources that only additional revenue will provide.
More to the point, even the $8-9 billion available for repair and modernization over the coming five years is not enough to get the job done at either the pace or the scale necessary. Getting our public transportation system to a condition where it can properly support our economy and overall society means an investment in repair, modernization, and strategic connectivity projects on a schedule and at a scale well beyond current thinking. This isn’t hyperbole. That’s how you get out of a crisis. This transportation crisis is not the sole fault of the current administration; this failure has been decades in the making and bipartisan in nature. But it is the responsibility of this administration as the current caretakers of the public interest to act decisively in a manner that matches the need.
Like George H.W. Bush’s ill-fated “no new taxes” pledge, Gov. Baker’s insistence that we could get by cheaply was doomed to failure. Whether out of ideological rigidity or genuine wishful thinking, I’m sure it seemed politically safe in 2015 to Baker. In fact, it was an enormous gamble, with both Governor Baker’s political “capital” and a functional transit system pushed to the center of the table.
As John Walsh pointed out on Twitter (and has been doing for years), the legislature is equally if not more culpable for penny-wise/pound-foolish austerity — and blaming leadership is no excuse. State reps haven’t used their leverage to effect tangible change on behalf of their T-riding constituents, instead choosing to tread water and keep their committee positions. That was also a years-long gamble that did not pay off.
Perhaps today is a new day; I see new reps Tami Gouveia, Tommy Vitolo, and Maria Robinson (et al) prominently championing the T; the Speaker claims to want to pass interim funding before the Grand Arrival of the Millionaire’s Tax some years hence. Grand.
But all this is late. Years late. “We don’t need more money” was a bluff that’s now being called. Someone tell the Governor.
Jay Gonzalez talked about this more than just about anything else as I recall. Too bad the issue did not get more traction against the Governor last year.
Yes he did. And Cassandra-like, no one paid attention to him because
the Emperor was so finely dressedthe Governor was tautologically, inevitably popular. And if he’s popular, gosh well what is there to do?Gonzalez was right a year too early.
A year too early for the most recent derailments maybe, but the T clearly had its problems for years. One of the earliest memories I have of Baker’s tenure is after the first big winter storm that crippled the T, he stated that he starts with the premise that we are already taxed enough.
That’s politics. Maybe he can kiss that third term goodbye now that his do nothing above the fray strategy is finally backfiring. Turns out you actually have to invest in infrastructure if you want it to work, who woulda thunk it?
I read the full piece, and it is indeed excellent. It is also striking that it does not even mention Mr. DeLeo or the Massachusetts legislature.
By all accounts, Mr. Ogilvie muscled the much-needed income tax through a reluctant Illinois legislature. I’m guessing that a preceding Democrat had not recently tried a similar proposal and been humiliated by said Illinois legislature.
Popular or not, Mr. Baker is and always has been a follower. It is only reasonable that as Governor, he demonstrates followership. Mr. DeLeo has repeated just as many lies about public transportation vs highways as Mr. Baker.
As I see it, our job as Democrats is to help our progressive Representatives force Mr. DeLeo to champion immediate tax increases on the wealthy and very wealthy in order to fund public transportation.
Deval Patrick’s 2013 proposal is an excellent starting point. A strong progressive primary challenger running against Mr. DeLeo would be a second. Perhaps there’s a way to redraw the 19th Suffolk boundaries to include significant portions of urban minority communities — it would be refreshing to see another Ayanna Pressley step forward.
The problem with redrawing DeLeo’s district is guess who has a lot of sway over that process?
That’s sort of why I mentioned it.
It seems to me that when we are talking about what we must do to fix the T, we need to be talking about Bob DeLeo — the governor is irrelevant.
There’s also only so much you can do about a district that includes a peninsula such as Winthrop. I just quickly perused Wikipedia for demographic information. I was surprised to learn that Winthrop is 94% white. To get enough people you have to either add parts of Revere or East Boston. The current district takes the Revere option. Turns out both Revere and East Boston have ~62% white, so I’m not sure there’s a way to make it more diverse. The other thing that has always surprised me is that DeLeo would not be more interested in the T since it seems his district could benefit.
We looked at Winthrop in 2010 when we were relocating from Brookline to someplace more affordable. In addition to the airplane noise, we found the commute to essentially anywhere unworkable, at least in comparison to Somerville (which was affordable at the time).
It takes long enough to get from anywhere on Winthrop to the nearest Blue Line stop that it makes a commute by train unworkable. For most of the peninsula it’s too long to walk. Even with a car, it’s a long and brutal commute.
I guess the state districts aren’t drawn as creatively as their national counterparts. I had CD-7 in mind when I made my mostly-facetious comment.
The reality is if you want to get things done in those communities you need to be on his good side. I would focus on making it in his interest to fix the T over a doomed primary challenge. Especially since it’s an open secret he’s out after 22’ when his pension fully vests. Also working the levers now to make sure the next Speaker is an actual progressive.
Transit oriented development is a huge lynchpin for Reveres economic development strategy and the redevelopment of Suffolk Downs into the next Assembly Square. Improving bus service is a big priority for the district as a whole as Winthrop and Revere remain hidden affordable gems waiting for development but that transit piece is definitely holding it back.
DeLeo is everywhere in the community and won’t hesitate to remind people about the housing, jobs. and new school construction he is bringing. Make Fixing the T something he can similarly brag about. I get that this is the “hero making” approach I usually decry. but I just don’t see a primary from the left working out. A general election challenger from the right maybe, but not a primary challenger from the left.
More importantly I think pressuring all the ordinary members underneath him to lead the transit revolt will force his hand. There’s no reason Majorie Decker-who voted against the 2013 proposal-should be free from local criticism on this.
I think that’s actually happening now. The reps are spooked.
Making Suffolk Downs into the next Assembly Square is awesome (assuming that the mistakes of Assembly Square can be avoided).
Increasing the service on the Blue Line is a more viable alternative than empty promises about improving bus service. At least in the vicinity of Suffolk Downs, there just isn’t anywhere for the buses to run. Route 1A is already a disaster, especially at drive time. It surely doesn’t make sense to attempt to expand it, given the marshes and coastline of the area. There aren’t any other even halfway-decent alternatives — routes 16, 60, and 145 are each a mess most of the day. You teach in Revere, you know what I mean.
There are three existing Blue Line stops within an easy walk of Suffolk Downs If the contemplated extension of the Blue Line from Bowdoin to Charles/MGH was accelerated, then the residents of the new Suffolk Downs could get to the Red Line corridor with just one change.
The Blue Line needs new equipment, more equipment, and updated stations. That’s all very doable in the context of the Suffolk Downs development.
I believe they will be moving the present Suffolk Downs station and adding a second Blue Line station to anchor the new development.
I think a dedicated bus lane on Rt 1 and Rt 1a would solve those problems but would obviously be unpopular with drivers. The doable but unreliable transit options are one of the reasons I’ve predominately been a driver to work sad to say.