I got to yesterday’s meeting too late to get into the MBTA hearing on the proposed fare hike; the room was too small to hold more than 150 people and the rest (including me) were shut out and turned away.
Many heartfelt thanks to Deval Patrick for taking the time to come to yesterday’s rally and meeting and engaging with the problem of MBTA funding. Secondary thanks, too, to the other gubernatorial candidates (Gabrielli, Reilly and even Mihos) who have stated their opposition to the proposed fare hikes. Jon Keller, true to form, blasts the “high spin” of the gubernatorial candidates coming out against the fare hike. By which he presumably means some combination of a) they’re lying because they won’t really do anything after elected or b) they’re deluded because they can’t do anything to solve the T’s fiscal problem.
But even if that’s true, I’ll take spin over the situation we’ve had til now, which is silence from the Legislature and statewide officials on the death spiral that the 2000 Forward Funding mandate has meant during recessionary times. In a span of about three years, we’ve seeing the T go from the cheapest public transit system in the country to the most expensive. (Yes, the Charlie Card discount shaves some cents off the fare, but so does New York’s 10-ride Metro Card.) The issue is now on the mix of issues for the governor’s race, and higher in profile for the Legislature. To that, Mike and the organizers of yesterday’s rally deserve a fair share of credit.
It’s understandable that Commonwealth citizens, particularly non-T-riders, aren’t especially enthused about giving the MBTA money to pay off standing debt, though in absolute terms the amount of dedicated state sales taxes was less than was projected in the 2000 legislation (by $113 million). But it’s equally understandable that today’s MBTA riders aren’t exactly happy to see their system - what they rely on in their daily lives - implode before their eyes because of mismanagement of previous incarnations of the agency.
Either way, there’s going to have to be some battle between these two constituencies, between car drivers and T commuters, between the “we don’t care what becomes of the T, we just don’t want to pay any more money, period” crowd and the “we need a health public transit system and yes, it’s gonna cost a little public money” set. Perhaps there’s some non-zero-sum alternative I’m not seeing (and I’m sure Jason could address that more credibly than I), but there, whatever spin you see in the politicians, is the choice the Commonwealth is facing.
By the way, if you support a change in MBTA funding and haven’t signed Mike Mennonno’s petition, please take a minute to do so.
UPDATE: Kerry Healey Out of Touch latches onto Healey’s odd defeatism in face of the fare hikes.
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