On Wednesday, April 22, Governor Charlie Baker took a major step in reforming Greater Boston’s embattled public transportation system, the MBTA. Just over 100 days in office, Baker’s tenure has been substantially focused on dealing with the T’s inefficiencies, exposed by the recent historic winter, and his Act for a Reliable Sustainable MBTA aims to keep such issues from reoccurring.
“This bill directly responds to the special panel’s recommendations,” said Gov. Baker in a statement. He added:
We look forward to the Legislature’s swift action on the reforms necessary to restore the public’s faith in the Commonwealth’s transit system. The T failed its stress test this winter when we needed it most, exposing the deep operational problems and lack of planning. We simply cannot afford a repeat and this legislation sets in motion significant reforms to once again deliver accountability, reliability and the world-class transportation system Massachusetts deserves.
The flagship measure in the legislation calls for the establishment of a Fiscal Management Control Board headed by a Chief Administrator. The Chief Administrator would take on the responsibilities of the MBTA General Manager, formerly Dr. Beverly Scott who stepped down earlier this month, and report directly to the governor.
The Board will consist of five total members and oversee the creation, implementation and follow through of fiscal initiatives. This group would be tasked with drafting budgets for both the imminent and longterm future of the T and provide transparency into operations by having them submit regular reports.
In essence, the Board’s responsibility will include:
- Developing of separate operating and capital budgets with differing revenue sources and policy that keeps it that way
- Creating of performance metrics to determine, among other things, best practices, means of increasing ridership, and improved rider experience
- Reporting to the Secretary of Transportation of its view on the governance structure should the MBTA be fiscally stable by Jan. 1, 2018; or recommending how what actions the Board can take to make the MBTA fiscally stable by that date
- Addressing vacancies by T operators that result in inexplicit missed trips
Section 18 of Gov. Baker’s bill also calls for the adoption of a new fare policy. Some media pundits have suggested it utilize a fare system based on riders’ incomes. Gov. Baker’s suggestions aren’t too far off.
His fare policy would make the T’s operational needs and recovery ratio on par with systems in other metro areas as well as increasing ridership and maximizing “the needs of its riders, including those of lesser means.”
Should the bill be voted on favorably by the legislature and signed into law by the governor, it will go into effect 120 days after Gov. Baker dots his Is and crosses his Ts.
It was exactly two weeks ago to the day that Gov. Baker’s commissioned report of the state of the MBTA yielded head-scratching results. It basically determined that everything the T was doing, it was doing wrong.
It’s certainly encouraging that Gov. Baker has been able to identify what needed fixing (cough, everything, cough) and take political action to kickstart these upgrades in a relatively short period of time.
Perhaps most interesting to see will be how the MBTA’s refurbishment affects their feelings toward a potential Boston Olympic bid in 2024. Positive sentiment is on the slight rise, and if the T is able to show signs of improvement, a significant issue posed by Boston 2024 opponents, it could help to sway voters.
