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Why the T needs to get cracking on the Green Line extension: $760 million in federal funds could be at stake
By adamg on Fri, 04/29/2011 - 1:56pm
Paul McMorrow explains the rock and the hard place: On the one hand, the T is legally required to extend the Green Line to Somerville and Medford, at a cost now approaching $1 billion. On the other hand, shaky finances and any construction delays could jeopardize $760 million in federal funding for the project, leaving the state to figure out how to make up the difference.
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Comments
I've been watching this
I've been watching this project for years. The hold up is the whole YIMBY/NIMBY thing (mainly where the layover facility will be. And then everyone has to have their input on station design. Two stations have been totally redesigned due to YIMBY/NIMBY. Now people are holding it up because of MORE input on "Community Path" and station design.
It does not, and should not take this long, they havent even broken ground yet. And it isn't like they are building tunnels or have narrow right of ways.. this should have been done years ago. People wonder why it takes so long.. because there's too much input.
This extension has been planned since the 1940s and its still not done. WTF is the problem here. (and the 1940s version went all the way to Woburn!)
And good move if we lose this $, considering gas is rapidly approaching 5/gal, you think people would wise up and get it together.
Something similar is happening to Assembly Square. (Funding is about to be yanked). *shakes head*
The real question is...
Where the hell is the fed getting 760 million in the first place? The T needs to raise fares already, and I say this as someone who pays for gas and fairly regular T usage. Fare should rise with inflation for one instead of staying stagnant + scale with operating costs, the MBTA should stop overpaying (frequently sleeping) workers, and get some actual business management in to do the job. It needs to start making some hard choices, because everyone is broke and the old healthcare scapegoat isn't going to get any rosier (thanks to MA's wonderfully enlightened, cost acerbating healthcare laws).
That's aside from the fact that people across the US shouldn't be subsidizing one city's public transportation.
This money has been already
This money has been already allotted and paid for. Long before Obama was in office. This was apart of the mitigation for the BigDig, so consider it leftover funds from the big dig.
And honey, we all agree with what you posted, however thats just not happening until the T Union is gone. And that's not gonna happen anytime soon.
The riders should not have to subsidize bad management. It isnt the riders fault that the T has been miss managed for years. We just pay our fare and ride..
The MBTA is applying for FTA
The MBTA is applying for FTA "New Starts" program money. There is no federal money already allocated yet to build this project.
When the MBTA applied for New Starts money several years ago for the Silver Line Phase III project, they eventually got a thumbs down, not because the FTA didn't like the project, but because the MBTA could not show where they would get the money to pay their share of the construction costs and where they would get the money to pay for the added costs of running the service.
Its no different with the Green Line extension, I'm surprised it took the state this long to start talking about this problem. Unless the MBTA gets more solid financial footing in general, it is very unlikly that the FTA will award them New Starts money for this or any MBTA project (not that anything else is in the pipeline).
Also, technically, it is the state, not the MBTA, which legally must build the Green Line extension. That is why the state (not the MBTA) will be on the hook for the entire $980 million to build it if the FTA gives a thumbs down for federal money.
Yes, having the fare go up
Yes, having the fare go up incrementally is a wonderful idea.
Todays fare is 1.81 with a card, 2.06 with cash.
Lets put you in charge of everything.
Oh, and protip, inflation is usually considered at 3% in the long run. The last fare increase, from 1.25 to 1.70/2.00 was ever so slightly more so than 3%. Thats because one fare increase covers multiple years.
Is it that hard to figure out?
So if fares truly rose with inflation....we've got many years ahead of us at $1.70.
Oh, and then we get to the wonderful argument about taxes should only go to what you use. Yes, Mary in Idaho is sending $1.00 to our subway. Guess what, we're sending $1.50 to her highway.
how about the gas tax goes up with inflation?
When was the last time that went up, the 90s? Under Romney's brief tenure we had two MBTA fare increases, and no gas tax increases. Also, while certainly NIMBYism has recently delayed this project, it was delayed again and again by the state (while it plodded ahead with commuter rail expansion). Romney was the latest Governor to delay this projects deadline. Blame him, and his predecessors Swift and Celluci, for their delays. It isnt just the neighbors who delayed it, that was only recently.
Cities actually subsidize
Cities actually subsidize suburban transportation.
That's aside from the fact
1) Boston & it's metro area is a major city, one that contributes a good amount to this nations GDP.
2) MA, even with the big dig, is a state that pays out more in tax dollars annually, then it gets back. We have every right to request funds to help pay for transportation infrastructure, infrastructure that ultimately will help grow our economy and help both the citizens of the commonwealth and the nation as a whole.
People really need to get over themselves.
Who Really Gets Subsidized
Red state highway building.
MA doesn't get NEARLY the amount of money back from the Feds that it puts in - something like $0.82 back for every $1.00! Some of that is due to the sort of MassBackwardness that makes getting fed dollars hard because project pre-planning is almost nonexistant and projects are not ready to go when the cash comes available.
Most of it is because of pork and earmarks and roadway construction in red states. That money goes south. It quite literally goes south.
For more information: http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/92.html
Obviously God favors the
Obviously God favors the South
It's a love hate relationship
See TX/LA/MS/AL ect.
See Also
Tornadoes and Hurricanes and other smitings.
That's Federalism, Folks.
Exactly right, and I would add, by way of example, that thousands upon thousands of citizens of New Hampshire and Rhode Island benefit very directly from the Big Dig, the Route 3 reconstruction and the Route 146 reconstruction.
That last example is a particularly interesting one w/r/t comprehensive transportation planning when you consider that by building a road almost straight to T.F. Green Airport from Worcester, the Commonwealth played a large part in reducing the traffic at its own Worcester Airport.
T fares are definitely going up & enhanced road tolling is poss.
The writing is on the wall, folks. T fares are definitely going up, and enhanced road tolling in one way shape or form is definitely on the table. Like so many other things, this can has been kicked down the road for too long, and the day of reckoning has come.
As the CommonWealth post makes clear, the reform has freed up some additional $$, but it is not nearly enough to maintain the existing system, let alone fund deserving projects.
Personally, I am not that offended by either proposition, so long as they are implemented well (so chances are I will be offended, but hell, we have to try something, because doing nothing is not working for all of us who use transporation system).
Both T fares and road tolling should also have some kind of demand management component (price goes up at times when demand is highest) in addition to a distance component.
From a political standpoint, this could actually happen too - you have a governor who is allegedly not running again, so there will be less concern about pissing people off than there was on the last go around with the gas tax.
Ironically, fuel efficent
Ironically, fuel efficent cars do not pay their fair share road maintenance fees (gas taxes)... that is a Prius driver contributes alot less to maintenance of our transportation system than a gas guzzling SUV (if they both drive the same annual miles)... there needs to be a surcharge on fuel efficient vehicles.
No cars are paying their fair
No cars are paying their fair share in road maintenance fees via the gas tax. It's simply too low. Fuel efficient cars do some part in other ways, such as reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and not polluting as much. Those are nice benefits to have too.