General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

[JeffDowntown]

The state WILL NOT be increasing the income tax. It recently spent almost 20 years lowering the income tax from 5.95% to 5.00% from a ballot initiative approved by the voters in 2000 that the Legislature amended to slow walk the rate reduction over that period of time. Plus two years ago the voters amended the state constitution to bifurcate the income tax rate for the first time in the Commonwealth’s history and add another 4% for taxable income over $1 million dollars.

I’d suspect the operating shortfall will be addressed through multiple revenue raising measures plus some cost cutting but in no way will the income tax be part of the solution.

Edit: Fat finger error changed from 5.85% to 5.95%

I would not say NEVER to this issue.

Watch the interstate compact work in progress among the Northeast States. If the Feds go truly rogue on a host of issues (ACA, education funding, clean energy transition, mass transit, etc.) the Northeast states are looking to replace those funds regionally -- that will definitely mean new taxes within the region.

This could be a whole new ballgame where the past is definitely not prologue.

 

[as02143]

I'm pessimistic about our Leg and Guv. The majority are, charitably, ambitious career politicians. They, as a whole, are, very sadly, not people who want to yield power for societal results and certainly will rise to the occasion to ... do the bare minimum. I think they'll find just enough money to keep the T whole for the next few years, maybe even build in some extra funding for Bus Network Redesign and first phase of RailVision. The real threat to that will be if Trump II results in a major inflation spike making every dollar even more worthless than it is today.

 

[BOS2BON]

I'm pessimistic about our Leg and Guv. The majority are, charitably, ambitious career politicians. They, as a whole, are, very sadly, not people who want to yield power for societal results and certainly will rise to the occasion to ... do the bare minimum. I think they'll find just enough money to keep the T whole for the next few years, maybe even build in some extra funding for Bus Network Redesign and first phase of RailVision. The real threat to that will be if Trump II results in a major inflation spike making every dollar even more worthless than it is today.

How many of us on this forum have reached out to our reps/senators? It's one thing to talk about all these transit and development projects, it's another to actually try and advocate for change. I've been emailing my reps about road safety on DCR owned streets. Hopefully they realize that this is an important issue to some of their constitutes and keep the DCR's feet to the flames for change.

An issue like removing mandatory parking minimums, which is just a small part of helping to address the housing crisis, seems like a reasonable thing to advocate for.

 

[themissinglink]

How many of us on this forum have reached out to our reps/senators? It's one thing to talk about all these transit and development projects, it's another to actually try and advocate for change.

Senate President Karen Spilka represents my town, and earlier this year I emailed her office about a long-term funding strategy for the MBTA. I emphasized the need to spend more money on the MBTA while Phil Eng is GM. This was the response:

Thank you so much for weighing in on the funding of the MBTA, which is certainly a priority for the Massachusetts Senate. Your points are very well taken, and I will pass your opinion on to the Senate President so she can keep it in mind as the session proceeds.

Very best wishes.

I encourage everyone here to contact their reps/senators about MBTA funding.

 

[as02143]

How many of us on this forum have reached out to our reps/senators? It's one thing to talk about all these transit and development projects, it's another to actually try and advocate for change. I've been emailing my reps about road safety on DCR owned streets. Hopefully they realize that this is an important issue to some of their constitutes and keep the DCR's feet to the flames for change.

An issue like removing mandatory parking minimums, which is just a small part of helping to address the housing crisis, seems like a reasonable thing to advocate for.

My councillors, reps, and senators were very pro MBTA, but, that's because my (previous) city would falter so badly if even more people started driving. My new city is much less enthused, though, and the BNRD looks like it's going to make a lot of current riders' lives harder - so - here's the MBTA shooting themselves in the foot, again.

Except the one state rep in my previous district, all of my current state senators and reps seem to be very much following the Legislative establishment (and Healey clearly is trying to get notches in belts to make some national level run soon). Without some kind of internal rebellion, I really don't see the Leg doing anything more than kicking-the-can on T funding, if their responses are as below.

Thank you so much for weighing in on the funding of the MBTA, which is certainly a priority for the Massachusetts Senate. Your points are very well taken, and I will pass your opinion on to the Senate President so she can keep it in mind as the session proceeds.

Very best wishes.

 

[737900er]

I'm pessimistic about our Leg and Guv. The majority are, charitably, ambitious career politicians. They, as a whole, are, very sadly, not people who want to yield power for societal results and certainly will rise to the occasion to ... do the bare minimum. I think they'll find just enough money to keep the T whole for the next few years, maybe even build in some extra funding for Bus Network Redesign and first phase of RailVision. The real threat to that will be if Trump II results in a major inflation spike making every dollar even more worthless than it is today.

At some point I wonder if you're better off with a ballot question with several expansion projects lumped together (say Compass, SCR2, Needham, Lynn, Grand Junction) rather than hoping the legislature gets their act together.

 

[ant8904]

Bare with me, this is on topic. I remember a Louis Rossmann video (YouTuber, Right-to-Repair advocate) where he looked into getting a Right-to-Repair ballot question going. He even started a GoFundMe, with one option being to put the funds toward a ballot question.

But after doing the research, he reported it was too risky. Ballot questions cost money—especially if you don't have a massive grassroots movement behind you. Even getting signatures is costly, as most issues don’t inspire enough passion to get volunteers to organically gather signatures. So you end up hiring a firm, which charges a set fee per signature. The bigger expense, though, is the money needed for advertisements to counter opposition campaigns. Ideally, you want pre-campaign support to be very high, somewhere around 70-80%. Opposition campaigns can erode 20-30% of support, and you need an ad budget to defend against that.

I’m not sure if the MBTA expansion has that level of support, but I’d guess anti-tax groups and folks in Western MA would quickly organize an opposition. It's like how towns often see organized opposition to Prop 2½ overrides, even for the most understandable projects. Also the risk of failure can risk "Salting the Earth" as people can use the ballot measure to say "See? People don't actually want this".

But then again, we only have one life to live. If the Legislature is never going to get its act together then the dice roll of a ballot measure might the only chance we get to see something more within our lifetimes. If they were never going to build anything, a failed ballot measure still mean the exact same fate (except the time, energy, and money lost in the attempt)

 

[TheRatmeister]

At some point I wonder if you're better off with a ballot question with several expansion projects lumped together (say Compass, SCR2, Needham, Lynn, Grand Junction) rather than hoping the legislature gets their act together.

How would you word it though? Wording it to mandate construction upon passage would be pretty stupid, unforeseen circumstances could get in the way, and also you'd need to decide what to mandate construction of specifically. Good luck getting literally anyone to agree on that list. Mandating that the projects are only studied seems equally silly for reasons that should be pretty obvious. I think that really leaves the only option to be simply mandating some amount of money or percentage of the budget each year be spent on capital projects to expand access to public transportation. As a policy it's not horrible but if the state doesn't want to reallocate resources it ultimately is a question about raising taxes.

 

[Stlin]

I think the only feasible ballot question would the one that creates an additional funding stream via levy, probably on the order of a ¼ to ½ cent increase to the sales tax. Even in this past election, there were many passed ballot measures for transit funding, including several in states that Trump won.

Think Measures R & J in LA that dedicate a funding stream for 30 years, which in addition to older Prop A & C funding so far has funded the capital expansion of the LA Metro system. In LA County, fully 2% of the sales tax is from transit oriented ballot measures. (The T budget gets 1%). If we use Measure R as a example, it dedicates 35% to transit capital expansion, 20% to bus, 20% to highways (I know, I know) and 15% to local communities - the remainder is set aside for operations and expenses and smaller capital programs.

In MA terms, if we were to say 60% to the T for operations and capital, 13% for Chapter 90, 13% for the other RTAs, 13% for massDOT capital? (so as to keep the small town and statewide vote happy, remaining 1% for DOR expenses) Using 2023 numbers, a 0.50% increase in the sales tax from 6.25% to 6.75% would raise an additional 750M, 450M for the T, 1m each for the chapter 90 program, RTAs and MassDOT. That'd be ~$100 from each resident, but if you include a sunset date on that, it might actually work.

POST-ELECTION SNAPSHOT: VOTERS GREENLIGHT $25+ BILLION IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION BALLOT MEASURES ACROSS U.S. IN 2024 - American Public Transportation Association

In Tuesday’s election, voters have thus far supported 19 out of 25 measures in favor of public transit, with the results of 1 measure still outstanding WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, on Tuesday, November 5, voters voiced their overwhelming support for public transit by approving transit ballot...

www.apta.com

 

[stick n move]

Just going to add here that since the vape ban the state has lost $150 million in taxes to neighboring states. The data is out and it shows that the ban has had almost 0 effect on causing ppl to quit, has actually caused many ppl to go back to smoking cigarettes, has lost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue, and has now created a black market which takes up policing resources, creates new criminals, more burden on the courts, and more burden on the jails… all for nothing. No matter what way you look at it it has failed in every single way. For whatever reason charlie baker saw all of the incredible failings of the drug war and said I want that! for tobacco. We 100% should reverse the ban which is mostly just loading up new hampshires coffers and I believe this time use 100% of the tax revenue to go toward the mbta. Its as close to getting recurring free money as youre ever going to get.


“Early results from the flavored tobacco & vaping products prohibition enacted in Massachusetts show such bans deprive adults of less harmful alternatives to cigarettes, crush small businesses, depress tax collections as commerce shifts across state lines, and fail to curb smoking.”

“There is no indication that smoking has been mitigated, but there is evidence that Massachusetts has lost millions in tax revenue to neighboring states, as consumers have taken their business to stores in New Hampshire and Rhode Island, where the flavored tobacco products demanded by many law-abiding adults are still available for sale.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/patric...vape-ban-is-a-cautionary-tale-for-the-nation/


“STOUGHTON, Mass. — Bootleg cigarette smuggling has become an ongoing drain on law enforcement as illicit tobacco seizures have surged and state tax revenue from tobacco sales continues to plummet, according to a new report by the Massachusetts Illicit Tobacco Task Force (ITTF).

[Read more: Massachusetts Court Upholds Brookline's Age-Restricted Tobacco Rule]

"Despite enforcement efforts and the hard work done by the Illegal Tobacco Task Force, smuggling of untaxed tobacco products remains a significant challenge," said Peter Brennan, executive director of the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association. "Smugglers are developing more sophisticated operations to counter the Task Force's targeted investigations. It's clear that the Commonwealth is struggling with enforcement."”

“According to the report, the state's rush to ban flavored tobacco has failed to curb use of these products while inadvertently creating a market for illicit untaxed products and cross-border smuggling. The report estimated the ban has cost the state nearly $150 million in lost tax revenue from legal sales since it went into effect in 2020.”



https://csnews.com/massachusetts-faces-fallout-flavored-tobacco-ban

“Massachusetts highlight the ban's unintended consequences. The state's experiment in prohibition has led to thriving illicit markets, challenges for law enforcement, and prosecution of sellers.”

“The experience in Massachusetts has vindicated concerns that flavor bans will lead to illicit markets, arrests, and incarceration. Coupled with foregone tax revenue, evidence that the public health benefits may be less than promised, and the risk that banning flavored vaping products will deter smokers from switching to safer sources of nicotine, the unintended consequences of these policies are significant.”

https://reason.com/2023/03/09/massachusetts-tobacco-ban-went-as-badly-as-youd-expect/

 

[as02143]

I think the only feasible ballot question would the one that creates an additional funding stream via levy, probably on the order of a ¼ to ½ cent increase to the sales tax. Even in this past election, there were many passed ballot measures for transit funding, including several in states that Trump won.

Think Measures R & J in LA that dedicate a funding stream for 30 years, which in addition to older Prop A & C funding so far has funded the capital expansion of the LA Metro system. In LA County, fully 2% of the sales tax is from transit oriented ballot measures. (The T budget gets 1%). If we use Measure R as a example, it dedicates 35% to transit capital expansion, 20% to bus, 20% to highways (I know, I know) and 15% to local communities - the remainder is set aside for operations and expenses and smaller capital programs.

In MA terms, if we were to say 60% to the T for operations and capital, 13% for Chapter 90, 13% for the other RTAs, 13% for massDOT capital? (so as to keep the small town and statewide vote happy, remaining 1% for DOR expenses) Using 2023 numbers, a 0.50% increase in the sales tax from 6.25% to 6.75% would raise an additional 750M, 450M for the T, 1m each for the chapter 90 program, RTAs and MassDOT. That'd be ~$100 from each resident, but if you include a sunset date on that, it might actually work.

POST-ELECTION SNAPSHOT: VOTERS GREENLIGHT $25+ BILLION IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION BALLOT MEASURES ACROSS U.S. IN 2024 - American Public Transportation Association

In Tuesday’s election, voters have thus far supported 19 out of 25 measures in favor of public transit, with the results of 1 measure still outstanding WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, on Tuesday, November 5, voters voiced their overwhelming support for public transit by approving transit ballot...

www.apta.com

This is intriguing - though - I wonder if the Old Colony Republicans/conserva-crats will be "we just raised taxes on millionaires"?

 

[themissinglink]

MBTA Announces Return of Subway Line Managers | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.

www.mbta.com

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) today announced the return of Subway Line Managers as part of a comprehensive effort to maintain the visual appearance and upkeep of subway stations systemwide. With a renewed focus on providing the best in-station experience for the public, the MBTA’s Subway Line Managers provide hands-on management of station conditions, ensuring that facilities are clean, safe, and welcoming for all riders.

Focused on the rider experience, Subway Line Managers will be responsible for the following on each of their respective subway lines:

• Oversee station appearance: Ensure safety and visual appeal and conduct regular inspections.
• Report and address issues: Identify and report station conditions, make necessary adjustments as needed in order to improve rider experience, and coordinate maintenance, repairs, and cleaning with relevant departments as needed
• Escalate concerns: Facilitate repairs and promptly escalate any safety-related issues.

 

[themissinglink]

MBTA seeks federal help to fund a new Savin Hill Bridge | Dorchester Reporter

The MBTA recently applied for federal grants that would begin the process of replacing a portion of the bridge that carries Savin Hill Avenue over T tracks and another that would fund the design and reconstruction of the JFK-UMass station. The T reached out to the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic...

www.dotnews.com

 

[TheRatmeister]

The MBTA owns the western half of the bridge and MassDOT owns the eastern half

I love overlapping state agencies.

 

[devnull]

The second federal grant sought by the T would fund the design and construct the JFK-UMass station — in the form of a $99.9 million US Department of Transportation matching grant that would advance final design and fund reconstruction. The MBTA would finance its amount for the $200 million project through revenue bonds.

$200 million seems like a lot for reconstruction of a single above-ground subway station. Are they imagining anything bigger than what we currently have there, given that amount of money?

 

[JeffDowntown]

$200 million seems like a lot for reconstruction of a single above-ground subway station. Are they imagining anything bigger than what we currently have there, given that amount of money?

It is a multi-platform subway and commuter rail station, with several levels, entrances, and exits, and lots of ADA compliant vertical access requirements. All those outdoor, all-weather elevators cost a lot of money. (Part of the reason the stations in GLX got so seriously downsized $$$)

 

[Delvin4519]

The Red Line shutdown was extended to cover Sunday evening of November 17th, as well as a suspension of service between Broadway and JFK UMASS on November 24th, due to logistics.

MBTA Reminds Riders of Upcoming Red Line Service Suspension, Announces Update to November 17 and November 24 Red Line Service Changes | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.

www.mbta.com

The decision to include an evening service suspension this Sunday and extended location limits on November 24 was made following a review of the logistical challenges associated with placing construction equipment on and off the tracks in this complicated area.

 

[Justbuildit]

If I'm not mistaken, this is the last piece of heavy rail slow zone improvements, yes? I think there's some green line work slated for December, but all heavy rail should be moving at historical max speeds across the entire system the Monday after Thanksgiving...tremendous work if this holds up. Bonus points if the next few Red Line trains come into service and headways improve.

 

[StreetsblogMASS]

Green Line B branch accessibility project overview, with some renderings of how the new stops will look:

Here's the MBTA's Plan to Make the Green Line B Branch Accessible - Streetsblog Massachusetts

Earlier this week, the MBTA hosted an informational meeting with potential design-build contractors to outline its plans to upgrade 10 stops on the B branch of the Green Line with wider platforms and accessibility for wheelchair users. According to the MBTA’s presentation, the project...

mass.streetsblog.org

 

[CheapLeak]

Will there be shelters? That’s the only rendering I’ve seen for the new stations. Seems stupid not to install them.