"Lawmakers yet to agree on bridging T funds gap; Fare increases taking effect soon" by Eric Moskowitz | Globe Staff, May 29, 2012
Nearly two months after the MBTA board approved fare increases and service cuts to partially close the T’s budget deficit, Massachusetts lawmakers have yet to approve an infusion of $51 million in state money to cover the difference.
That ought to cover a couple of months of debt interest payments -- maybe.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: First Stop
Actually, it is going to be my last tonight.
Key legislators say they remain confident the money will be allocated
before a July 1 deadline, citing its importance to the MBTA, transit
riders, and the regional economy, but they have yet to agree on the
finer points of sending that aid to the T....
Riders could be forgiven for thinking the matter was resolved April 4, when the T board cast a closely watched vote to raise prices for all trips and passes and impose a smattering of service cuts, to take effect July 1.
You can take the T home later, readers.
Also see: MBTA to quiz rail car maker on delays
But that covered only part of the gap for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which is legally bound to enter each year with a balanced budget. Rising costs - including debt payments, fuel, employee health insurance, and door-to-door service for a growing disabled population - make that a perennial challenge.
Yeah, it's the employee health insurance and disabled that are.... God, I'm just so tired of the played narrative, I really am.
I notice the banks and oil companies make billions every three months. Couldn't help us taxpayers out with that upfront cost, huh?
With the T facing a $160 million deficit, transportation officials in Governor Deval Patrick’s administration proposed covering the gap with massive fare increases and service cuts, a plan rebuked so soundly at packed public hearings that they opted for a less severe package worth less than $100 million. To make up the difference, they found a slew of one-time fixes, including the use of $51 million from a little-known surplus in an account generated by sticker fees for motor vehicle inspections....
F***ers are sitting on money while crying poverty!
House members on the Transportation Committee balked at the Patrick administration’s plan to cap damages in personal injury lawsuits against the MBTA at $100,000 and at sending the full inspection-sticker surplus to the T, saying money generated statewide should be distributed proportionally. They peeled off $5 million of the $51 million for the overshadowed, underfunded bus systems that serve cities such as Springfield and New Bedford.
They also called for giving the outlying bus agencies $1.5 million out of $5 million in leftover highway snow-removal money that had been earmarked for the T.
To make sure the T still gets the full amount it needs, House lawmakers want Massport to buy the T’s ferry boats, parking lots, and landings, and take over the MBTA’s four aquatic routes - a proposal that has gotten a lukewarm reaction from senators, the Patrick administration, and a reluctant Massport.
Related: Massport takeover of ferry service urged
Massport should help solve T mess
Don't see much on Massport in my Globe anymore.
That would not immediately affect commuters but would provide needed funds to the T, transfer the ferries to a more financially stable organization, and place them in hands better suited to waterfront operations, said Representative William M. Straus, House chairman of the Joint Transportation Committee....
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And while you are paying more for less service in the city, the elites coming in at the airport will be getting a free ride:
"MBTA to give free rides from airport; No Silver Line fare in test to cut Logan’s congestion" by Eric Moskowitz | Globe Staff, June 05, 2012
Passengers taking Silver Line buses from Logan Airport will ride for free starting Wednesday, a move that also means free transfers to the subway system at South Station and appears to make Logan the first major airport to provide free public transportation for travelers heading downtown.
Massport will underwrite the roughly $100,000 a month needed to subsidize the 90-day pilot project, part of an effort to promote public transportation that includes the recent installation of countdown clocks to demystify Silver Line arrivals.
Earlier this year, Massport raised rates for airport garages while cutting fees for parking at suburban lots and Logan Express bus rides. This summer, it will improve signs and hire students to promote public transportation and help travelers navigate the options....
See: Passing By Massport
Secretary of Transportation Richard A. Davey said making the Silver Line free should make it even more attractive while reducing curbside congestion and greenhouse-gas emissions, describing it as “a lever we need to continue to push.’’
I call it an agenda but this is my stop, so....
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And you may not want to take the tunnel:
"Big Dig pavement crumbles early; repairs to cost $1 million" by Eric Moskowitz | Globe Staff, June 07, 2012
Sections of Central Artery pavement that were supposed to
last 30 years are failing in less than a decade, causing a rash of
potholes and debris at the mouth of the Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Tunnel and
at other key points and forcing $1 million in unexpected repairs, the
state’s top highway official said Wednesday....
The problem stems from a decision by the Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff
team that oversaw Big Dig design and construction to pave the project
with concrete, more commonly used in warmer climates, instead of
traditional New England asphalt, Frank DePaola, the state’s highway administrator, said. That surface concrete is
now separating from the structural concrete slabs below it wherever the
highway has a steep slope, such as at on- and offramps and tunnel
openings, he said.
$15 billion dollars and $7 billion in interest payments for a pos.
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Yeah, I would stay off the roads in Boston.
Enjoy the ride home from the game. Let's hope no one is killed tonight.
Update: College student stabbed after Celtics game; suspect allegedly wore Miami Heat garb
