|
Addressing The T’s Monster Debt
In June MASSPIRG was joined by state lawmakers and other advocacy groups in calling on the Legislature to address the financial sustainability of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (the T). At a press conference and public hearing before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation, the group urged lawmakers to support a bill to relieve over half of the T’s debt.
Balancing The Books
The legislation, jointly sponsored by Reps. Carl Sciortino, Alice Wolf and Sen. Jarrett Barrios, calls for the state to assume $2.9 billion of the T’s $5.2 billion debt ($8.1 billion when interest is included). The legislation is intended to free up T funding so the agency can address service improvements and prevent future drastic fare increases. MASSPIRG is also working to make sure the T is cost-effective and accountable, ensuring efficient use of commuter and taxpayer dollars.
“In order to ensure that the T can provide the best service to both current and future riders, it is imperative that the system be able to bring its finances into order,” said Rep. 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 toward a T budget that is able to meet the state’s growing needs while providing affordable, efficient and reliable service for riders.”
“Right now the T has two main financial problems,” said MASSPIRG Advocate Eric Bourassa. “They have inherited a huge debt, some of which is from central artery commitments that should have been part of the Big Dig’s overall budget. And they have been hit with the high costs of employee healthcare and rising energy prices.”
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 comprise about 90 percent 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.
“The MBTA is at a financial impasse,” said Rep. Wolf. “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.”
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 maintenance, which has resulted in deteriorating service and stagnant ridership.
What Went Wrong
MASSPIRG research has revealed that the T devotes more than a quarter of its budget to paying off $8.1 billion of debt, including $363 million in 2007, which is the T’s largest single expense. As the debt payment increases in the future it will represent more money than the T receives in fares. This debt amount is also much higher than other transit authorities the same size as the MBTA, which on average carry about 15 percent debt.
In exchange for relieving the debt, the legislation stipulates that the T use funds received by the Commonwealth to improve operations, service and reliability. It also includes language that requires the T to issue a report to the Legislature that includes monthly ridership figures, plans to increase ridership and service reliability statistics.
|
