I think "west armpit" referred to western mass. beyond current commuter rail reach.
I think the argument really needs to be reframed by some good leadership- I 'd always hoped Davey could do this.
Boston is the economic engine of the entire state. Really all the other employment centers exist because of Boston. Don't tell me the 128 and 495 office parks don't exist simply in response to boston. They are there to both avoid city rents, but simultaneously exist because of the dynamism and presence of Boston.
I believe a compelling argument can be made to all people and companies throughout the state that the T is crucial to keeping the state's main economic engine globally competitive and attractive to both business and people- and not only to people that live or work in boston. Imagine 95 if the providence commuter rail didn't exist. Or 93 if the Lowell line and red line weren't there. Imagine the traffic, imagine the wasted time, imagine the lack of mobility and access not only to boston from the outer burbs to the city but between these areas themselves.
The MBTA moves a record amount of people everyday now. over 1.2 million trips a day. So if that is a person taking it twice a day, that is 10% of the state directly benefiting everyday. And even more through the avoided or opportunity cost of taking cars off the road and enabling their mobility.
The T also has a great multiplier effect. Think of the tens of millions of tourists that come every year to Boston/Cambridge. Even with the shortcomings, it is still amazingly easy to get from airport to downtown to back bay and harvard square. Shop in one, eat in another. Without the T, the mobility of this outside capital stops moving around the city, and areas full of life and activity die as people stop going far from where they can walk. Imagine mass ave or longfellow bridge with no T to shuttle hundreds of thousands of people.
This was kind of an all over defense, so I apologize for that. But I think the T is one of the most undervalued and underappreciated assets in the entire region. Too often it gets bashed and no one in a position of power defends it.
Yes, there should be reforms in management and contracts and streamlining, but there needs to be a recognition of its value it has and can create. I feel like to often leaders (City, State, Dem, Rep) just read too much from the Herald comment section that it is doomed to fail instead of taking a stand of a valuable asset.
I think the argument really needs to be reframed by some good leadership- I 'd always hoped Davey could do this.
Boston is the economic engine of the entire state. Really all the other employment centers exist because of Boston. Don't tell me the 128 and 495 office parks don't exist simply in response to boston. They are there to both avoid city rents, but simultaneously exist because of the dynamism and presence of Boston.
I believe a compelling argument can be made to all people and companies throughout the state that the T is crucial to keeping the state's main economic engine globally competitive and attractive to both business and people- and not only to people that live or work in boston. Imagine 95 if the providence commuter rail didn't exist. Or 93 if the Lowell line and red line weren't there. Imagine the traffic, imagine the wasted time, imagine the lack of mobility and access not only to boston from the outer burbs to the city but between these areas themselves.
The MBTA moves a record amount of people everyday now. over 1.2 million trips a day. So if that is a person taking it twice a day, that is 10% of the state directly benefiting everyday. And even more through the avoided or opportunity cost of taking cars off the road and enabling their mobility.
The T also has a great multiplier effect. Think of the tens of millions of tourists that come every year to Boston/Cambridge. Even with the shortcomings, it is still amazingly easy to get from airport to downtown to back bay and harvard square. Shop in one, eat in another. Without the T, the mobility of this outside capital stops moving around the city, and areas full of life and activity die as people stop going far from where they can walk. Imagine mass ave or longfellow bridge with no T to shuttle hundreds of thousands of people.
This was kind of an all over defense, so I apologize for that. But I think the T is one of the most undervalued and underappreciated assets in the entire region. Too often it gets bashed and no one in a position of power defends it.
Yes, there should be reforms in management and contracts and streamlining, but there needs to be a recognition of its value it has and can create. I feel like to often leaders (City, State, Dem, Rep) just read too much from the Herald comment section that it is doomed to fail instead of taking a stand of a valuable asset.
