Commenters Smarter Than Globe Editorial Staff: Funding for T Upkeep

Boston Globe: Funding for T upkeep must not be crowded out by growth plans

Imagine it’s a hot summer day in 2017, and the state secretary of transportation has to decide between two projects: switch heaters that make it easier to keep trains running on outdoor rails on snowy days, or politically popular new train service to the Convention Center tied to a Boston Olympics bid. Which should she choose?

Comments:

user_2395702 02/04/15 11:33 AM
This op ed creates a total false dichotomy. The issue isn't paying for expansion vs paying for upkeep. The issue is adequate funding vs inadequate funding.

skressel 02/04/15 12:19 PM
Exactly. A typical conservative "choice."

We need a 21st century transit system, regional and in superb condition. Period. The pols are always squawking about how to keep the educated young people from leaving town, how to retain the middle class, how to attract visitors and investors, how to "create jobs" (a misnomer, but let's use it as shorthand for "supporting private businesses"), how to make this a "destination," etc. Then, first chance they get, they cut funding for the public infrastructure that would do all that. They give away billions of dollars in corporate tax breaks every year, to "create jobs" and (even funnier) "retain jobs," to spur "economic development" -- when everyone knows, or should know, that tax breaks are just gravy for businesses (they are only "job creators" for politicians creating and retaining their own jobs), who make their siting and hiring decision based on quality of infrastructure, education, environment, and other public goods and services that the government should fully fund.