MA Proposed Transportation Reform(Service Cuts/Impact)

Don't let your guards down. Remember, this is Massachusetts where stupidity has a way of getting its way. (e.g.: the continued non-support of a connecting rail service to the Cape on our tax-funded railway.)
the glaring example of Massachusetts Stupidity, IMHO, is the removal of the rail line from North Falmouth to the wasted Falmouth Depot, which was renovated by our taxes, with the bulk of the money going to build a modern platform with handicapped boarding ramp at the station. The state reneged on its promise to restore service and instead removed the line for a bike path. I'm sure that Peter Pan /Bonanza bus, (or whatever they call themselves these days) is happy as their buses (which have more difficult handicapped access than the intended parallel rail service would have had) will enjoy a monopoly well into the foreseeable future.
I guess my point is beware of the sneaky triks this state may employ, the above- mentioned example being the dangerous precedent.

Overall I believe that the announcement of service cut-backs was timed to coincide with the delay of the Turnpike toll increase on March 31st. Sometime in February the Governor stated that the state needs a 29 cent gas tax to save the overall transportation system in the state. Being a nice guy he decided on 19 cents. With this the tolls would not be raised and the MBTA would be saved.

But the Turnpike Authority went ahead with the toll increase affective March 31st and July 1st. The 19 cents is running into opposition so the powers to be have delayed the toll increase to make the 19 cent more palatable. Still has not worked. So now doom and gloom at the MBTA no night or Sunday service, please give us our 19 cents, please...

My feeling scare tactics. When you add up some of the numbers just the 19 cents alone would not cover the Christmas list. There will have to be toll hikes and service trimming, to and including changes in the job packages that are given.

JoeD

It is defiantly a scare tactic. The Commuter Rail is contracted out and paid for out of an agreement. If the T plans to take the contract away from MBCR and renegotiate it then I can see them trying to actually cut the service. But the way the service is set up now I can't see the savings, the T would still have to pay MBCR.

sery2831 wrote:It is defiantly a scare tactic. The Commuter Rail is contracted out and paid for out of an agreement. If the T plans to take the contract away from MBCR and renegotiate it then I can see them trying to actually cut the service. But the way the service is set up now I can't see the savings, the T would still have to pay MBCR.

If the MBTA neglected to put a clause in the contract with MBCR to allow for the possibility of funding cuts and resulting service cutbacks, then they are not very good at their jobs. I'm not advocating weekend service cutbacks and I doubt they'd save much money, but if push comes to shove they should have the ability to make the requisite adjustments.

What I love is that a "mere" $160 million dollar budget shortfall, which is ~10% of the budget, can be "fixed" by cutting 50% of commuter rail service and increasing fares 30% across the board.
1) As posters have already claimed, the MBTA shouldn't have renewed its contract with MBCR if it was too expensive to run...
2) A monthly pass is only useful for more than 17 round trips a month. For those people who use the T for non-rush hour trips or weekends, it'll be more convenient to buy a car.
3) Definitely a scare tactic. State reps are up in arms about service failures... They know they'll never be reelected when their constituents paying for their campaigns lose their jobs since they can't take the T any more due to such cuts.

Come listen to the MBTA's Chief Financial Officer - Monday 3/30

The MBTA's expenses substantially exceed revenue, with a projected annual deficit of $160 million. In large part, this is due to debt resulting from the $2 billion system expansion ordered by the state to improve regional air quality and get cars off the road. No amount of service cutbacks, government reform, or operational savings can reduce the MBTA's $145 million annual expense for servicing this debt. To stay afloat, the T has been spending its rainy day fund. If nothing is done soon, they will simply run out of money.

Therefore, if new funding is not identified by the end of June, we can expect an across the board fare increase of 25 to 30 percent, and service cuts of about 30 percent, taking effect on September 1 or October 1 of this year. The details of these cuts are still being worked out, but the fiscal reality makes these kind of deep cuts absolutely necessary if there is no new funding.

The Governor's proposed transportation finance reform is designed to bring the MBTA sufficient revenue to maintain existing service at existing fares. The key element of this plan is an increase in the gasoline tax (intended to fund both highway maintenance and public transit), but the legislature will probably scale this back, leaving the MBTA on course for financial disaster.

To learn more, please come to the MBTA's Rider Oversight Committee meeting on Monday, March 30. Jonathan Davis, the MBTA's Chief Financial Officer, will provide an overview of the financial situation, and discuss the MBTA's current plan for implementing emergency fare increases and service cuts.

This meeting will be from 5-7 pm, on the second floor of the State Transportation Building. This is near Boston Common, on the northeast corner of Stuart & Charles, close to the Boylston or Chinatown subway stations.

Contact me for more information. Here is the official notice of the meeting:

http://mbta.com/about_the_mbta/public_m ... /?id=16777

If anyone wants to take action on helping make sure that the MBTA gets funded, here's how you can help:

This is from http://www.sierraclubmass.org/index.html

Your Voice is Needed
to Support Transportation Choice

The state legislature must enact meaningful transportation reform and create additional funding for our transportation system. Your state legislators need to hear from you. Without a new source of funding, our transportation system will suffer an increase in crumbling roads and bridges, increase in tolls, continued reduction of service in the regional transportation authorities, and severe service cuts and fare increases within the MBTA. This would be devastating for our environment and economy.

The Governor has proposed a modest 19¢ increase in the gas tax to fund local public transportation around the state, repair and maintain roads and bridges, and address the crippling debt left from the Big Dig. While 19¢ is clearly not enough to meet all system needs, the Governor's proposal is a good start and represents real long term solutions to our transportation needs. Click here to learn about the Governor's plan. ( http://www.youmovemassachusetts.org/ )

Take Action Today: Contact both your State Representative AND State Senator and tell them to support an increase in the state gas tax in keep our transportation network running. Please contact them today by phone, email, or fax.

If you know who your legislators are, click here to contact them ( http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenu.htm )

If you're unsure, click here ( http://www.wheredoivotema.com/ )

On a side note, there are probably some cuts the MBTA can make that won't affect service that much, since the trains/buses have low ridership, and there are alternative transit options. For example, the 55 bus which runs from the Fenway neighborhood to Copley square has very low ridership outside of rush hour (typically you'll see 1 or 2 people on the bus). There are lots of other bus routes that have low ridership as well. [ Note to moderator - I know buses are off topic, but since it relates to rail funding, hopefully ties into this discussion, as long as we bring it back to trains ] Also the MBTA does tend to run mostly empty trains on off-peak hours. Some trains are more empty than others and probably could be cut without affecting service too much. For example 1463 South Acton weekend train that departs North Station at 4:30pm and returns back to Boston from South Action at 5:47pm has low ridership (maybe about 20-30 on the whole train), and isn't really needed since there are 3:30 and 5:30 north station departures, and the returning train has another train that is 23 minutes behind it. Also the 12:10am trains from North station have really low ridership (maybe around 20-40 people, so those could probably also be cut). On the other hand, the mid day weekend trains seem to get decent ridership, filling up 3 cars, or 4 if there is an event at North station (north side trains typically run with 5-7 single level cars), so it would be a bummer if the MBTA cut those.

I think you would want to keep the 12:10 departure from NS at least for when there are events at the Garden such as Celtics/Bruins games.

Plus they probably would need to make a deadhead move anyway to get it back to Fitchburg yard so it might as well carry passengers.

Jon

Surprised this didn't get posted earlier. So what do people think; I assume this is the usual brinksmanship
with the legislature, per SEPTA. How do folks think this will turn out?


http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... l_service/

trainhq wrote:Surprised this didn't get posted earlier. So what do people think; I assume this is the usual brinksmanship
with the legislature, per SEPTA. How do folks think this will turn out?


http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... l_service/

I guess everyone will focus on a different aspect of this "plan." To me, the elimination of the 304 station agents is guarantying disaster. There will be a lot of hair-pulling and speech-making, then there will be compromises that hurt service and increase fares. So it goes, as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., used to say.

It's nothing that Kilgore Trout couldn't handle...

I wonder how many people will be completely unable to use the commuter rail if they stop running at 7 PM.

When I'm working late or otherwise in town late, I'm going to be taking a cab, rather than wait 20 minutes for a subway at 9:30 at night.

This is clearly a ploy. Is (more or less) gutting the transit system worth $75m/yr? I guess we'll find out what the state thinks...

The less scary (and more realistic) alternative would have been a new fare structure.

Fares will go up, some services will be cut, some work rules will change, and life will go on in politically hopeless Massachusetts. The MBTA is in such a deep financial hole at the moment that a radical service cut threat was inevitable. But don't expect anything like leadership from the governor or legislature. They'll just figure out a way to postpone the crunch for a few more years, as with the Big Dig debt, so that someone else will have to deal with it.

Meanwhile they are on their 5th or 6th multi-million dollar "study" of commuter rail service expansion to New Bedford and Fall River, which if built, would cost somewhere between 1.2 and 2.0 billion dollars, plus an estimated $7000 plus subsidy per passenger per year that would keep spending our grandchildrens and great-grandchildrens money forever. There have been some newspaper reports that their real financial situation that is making service reductions possible could be as much as $8 billion of debt.

MX