The projected cost of the $372 million facility “should set off the alarm bells at the MBTA finance department,” a former state inspector general said.
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House Speaker Ronald Mariano, Congressman Stephen Lynch, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Governor Charlie Baker, T General Manager Steve Poftak, Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch, Senator Elizabeth Warren, state transportation secretary Jamey Tesler, and others broke ground on a new bus facility in Quincy on Monday.DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF
QUINCY — Building a new 350,000-plus-square-foot, three-story bus maintenance facility here to replace one of the T’s oldest bus garages officially got underway Monday.
Governor Charlie Baker, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority General Manager Steve Poftak, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and other state and local officials gathered inside the abandoned Lowe’s in Quincy to celebrate the groundbreaking of the $372 million facility they said marks a new era of electrified bus transit.
But transportation and environmental advocates are raising questions about the eye-popping cost of the facility and the T’s decision to use diesel components for its electric buses there.
“When other transit agencies in high-cost parts of the country are able to build facilities at a significantly cheaper cost, it can’t help but raise eyebrows about whether taxpayers and farepayers are getting good value for their money,” said Chris Dempsey, a former Massachusetts assistant secretary of transportation and current Democratic candidate for state auditor.
The MBTA isn’t the first transit agency to build a new bus facility for electric buses. In recent years, Washington, D.C., Montreal, Minneapolis, and others have embarked on similar projects as transit agencies race to cut emissions from fossil fuels and avoid the worst effects of climate change.
In Massachusetts, the transportation sector accounts for the
largest portion of the state’s emissions, and electrifying all kinds of transportation is central to the state’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Advocates said it’s important for the MBTA to look at other agencies to make sure it is getting the best bang for its buck as it overhauls bus garages. The MBTA estimates that the Quincy facility will cost $372 million, including $210 million for construction and $44 million for real estate, according to a breakdown provided by MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo, and will be able to accommodate 120 buses............
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