A couple of days ago, I went on about the slipperiness of the term “grassroots.” Now let me add two new glittering generalities to the list - “environment” and “justice.” Both of course have specific meanings, but the terms are invoked increasingly for their warm feelings than any actual reference (What does “Fight terrorism with Justice” mean?). So I was hardly surprised to read in today’s Globe that there’s an Environmental Justice Committee at the MBTA. Apparently, this is the arm of the T charged with addressing the class equality of transportation needs and resources; Dorchester and Roxbury activists are charging that it is failing to take their needs or ideas seriously.
As a political debate it’s hard to know the full truth of the charges, but on the face of it the MBTA doesn’t come off well. For one thing, the spokesman speaks with the same supercilious tone that has marred the MBTA’s culture: “I don’t think we should be criticized for not listening. We just thought there was a better way of doing things than they suggested.” And he can cite “studies” all he wants, but no one’s going to believe that the Silver Line is serving more passengers than a subway or light rail line would. Second, and this is the major problem here, the poorer neighborhoods do face the brunt of an awkward bus transportation system - these bus lines are not direct and do not run frequently enough. That no improvements have been underway on any but the Silver Line rather proves the activists’ point.
The solutions might not be as easy as the activists suggest, however. One problem is that Dorchester and Roxbury are ripe for gentrification - both neighborhoods have a surplus or good housing stock and well-laid out urban density. One of the major things holding back the tide is the lack of good public transportation. I wouldn’t be so perverse as to urge keeping transportation poor to keep the neighborhoods affordable. But this is a dynamic that will have to be reckoned with.
In related news, the MBTA has announced a series of public meetings on the proposed fare increases. The Boston meeting is scheduled for Sept. 8 at 4:00 PM (Tip O’Neil Federal Building, Auditorium-1st Floor). I’m not sure these meetings will be anything more than a ventfest, accomplishing little, but hopefully they will drive home to lawmakers the real costs of the variable earmark of state funding for public transportation.
UPDATE: There is another Globe story about the advocacy groups pushing Romney to fight the legislature on the MBTA’s fare hike. Also, the city page has a photo of Silver Line riders with the caption, “It was standing room only when Ken Chang (right), a student at Tufts University School of Medicine, rode the Silver Line’s inbound bus earlier this summer.” Well, the bus is always standing-room only - to make sure they could accomodate mobility-impaired passengers, they designed the bus with fewer than two dozen seats.
No comments have been added to this post yet.