Christine Murphy watched a report last night on that State House bake sale/protest for the MBTA and she got mad - although not the way the organizers would hope. Murphy explains how she wants to ride the T, but can't, because the Orange Line is just too unreliable and that increases in the gas tax should be going to fix the state's potholed roads:
... What the gas tax hike needs to be paying for is stuff like fixing all of the damned potholes. You can't drive anywhere around here without hitting one. The pothole problem has gotten even worse this year, due to more cold and snow than usual this winter. So if we drivers must be taxed, use the money for that ... why tax us to pay for [the T] that we won't use, and then make us pay for new tires because we hit potholes that had not been fixed in years? It just isn't right.
Even if the gas tax hike passes, and the T gets its six cents on the gallon, don't look for any improvements any time soon. The service will still suck, they will still be doing the never-ending work between Wellington and Oak Grove, the buses and trains will still be dirty and skeevy, and won't run on time. ...
The Outraged Liberal, though, thinks the MBTA Riders Union was onto something with its baked goods:
[T]he timing got me to thinking -- particularly after I rode an MBTA bus so dirty that it was impossible to see out the window.
Maybe we are going about this all wrong. Maybe we can all chip and help the T hold a bus wash -- proceeds going to knock down the fare increases being threatened unless the Legislature does something, anything to deal with the transportation infrastructure nightmare this state faces.
Or maybe we can go out to the barn and put on a show. It would still be more than lawmakers have accomplished. Other than running their mouths on why the don't like Patrick's proposal.
