Left Center Left

Andy at Mass Revolution Now!, riffing off a Fred Salvucci op-ed, makes a passionate call for more public transportation spending:

Massachusetts needs to get serious and now. Population declines are real in our state. People can’t afford to live in the city but can’t deal with wicked traffic and HOURS of daily commuting either, especially when in other parts of the country they can keep their car, deal with less traffic, and live cheaper. Investment in public transportaion is an investment in our future and the health of the Commonwealth. But any investment we make must be real and we must be ready to go the long haul and make public transportation in Massachusetts the envy of the country.

I couldn’t agree more. I’m actually not too concerned about short-term population declines for the same reason as Jay Fitzgerald, but there are environmental, economic and urban design benefits to a public transit system that’s robust, efficient and affordable. What’s in the way of us havng one?

• Lack of political will. Whether or not I’m correct in diagnosing a political mood eager to hold the line on increased taxation, at the very least that middle/upper-class suburban interests have had strong political mobilization over urban and working/lower-class interests ones in recent elections. Our recession has just compounded a political consensus that now is not the time for grand construction projects.
• The Big Dig. Can’t be overestimated in its effect in putting the public off public works.
• Insufficient Federal Help. Political will for public transit has especially collapsed on a national scale since the early 80s.
• Huge expense. Liberals sometimes get accused of dreaming up great wishlists without realizing how much things cost, and that’s probably the truest in the area of public transit. A North-South Rail link would be handy, but it would cost $8.7 billion, which if you divided up among all state residents would be $1,360 a person; among Greater Boston residents, $3,135. And that just connects two stations! DC’s experience suggests we might be able to get a little more for that money, but the point is that subway construction is very expensive; increased labor costs, increased real estate values, government/labor corruption, and the mitigation of environmental damage/economic disruption all make it far more expensive that when our current system was built. Even Salvucci notes that a study for a tunnel under Longwood Avenue costs $500 million without actually building anything.
• Proposed expansion projects stretch dollars thin. By now, our wishlist is pretty long, too. Salvucci lists "three initiatives critical to the emerging life sciences economy": a Red-Blue Connector, an Urban Ring, and an Inland Rail route through Worcester to Springfield and NY. Also currently propsed are completion of the Silver Line, extension of the E line to Arborway, extension of the Green Line to Medford, Blue Line improvements, a New Bedford/Fall River Commuter Rail, the Greenbush commuter rail line, a Fitchburg line expansion, a Providence line expansion to TF Green, and an Assembly Square Station.
• Needs for other Public Transit spending. Even before/without expansion, the T could use a lot of cash to add service, replace and repair aging equipment, and improve efficiency. And fares have been going up in face of budgetary crises.

It’s easy to list the problems, I realize. So what’s the solution? What can possibly lead us to actually getting meaningul expansion of public transit in the state? There’s no magic bullet, clearly, but first, I say we need to choose our expansion projects more selectively. A North-South rail link and a Red-Blue Connector give little benefit for the money. An E-line extension and Silver Line tunnel connect the transit system but probably don’t get new riders onto the T. Commuter rail line extensions past Fitchburg or the South Shore should be in the horizon, but ultimately serve areas of far lower urban density than is optimal. And an inland rail is a bit of a pipedream given Amtrak’s sorry state right now; focus on running more trains on existing tracks to Worcester.

For exansion, what we need first and foremost is an Urban Ring. None of this half-assed "bus optimization" or "rapid bus" business, but a real subway project connecting Dorchester, Roxbury, JP, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, and Chelsea. Or as much as we can possibly afford. Why do we need this?

• It will provide the greatest incentive for Bostonians to forego car transit. The greatest problem facing the commuter is that cross-town trips take at least four times longer than a car trip because they go into downtown, then out.
• It will relieve over-stressed existing subway lines. Green lines have a logistical limit to their efficiency and numbers they can carry; they will never be replaced with anything faster or better. Even Red and Orange lines face overcapacity shuffling workers around the city. A ring line will take passengers going though the city off these spoke lines.
• It will relieve over-stressed bus lines. Cross-town bus lines like the #1 and the #66 are the most overworked and the ones most reliant on heavily-trafficked thoroughfares. The result is an unreliable system of frequently late and overcrowded buses.
• It will make good on the T’s promise to serve underprivileged neighborhoods. Currently, great swaths of Roxbury and Dorchester are served only by bus lines. The Silver Line bus was a slap in the face of residents continually underserved by the system. A ring line would better connect these areas with the cultural and economic life of the rest of the city.

Now, all this will involve a hefty price tag. It will require increased revenues and political compromise. It will mean foresaking projects serving local needs. So maybe I’m dreaming here. I’ll have to wait for another post to reflect further on how to get around political resistance and if any piecemeal T expansion is worthwhile.