Recent hearings have opened voters' eyes to the importance of public transportation here in eastern Massachusetts. Still, the sentiment among many, especially those who do not ride the MBTA regularly, seems to be that there are greater efficiencies to be had before increasing the gasoline or any other tax in order to prop up the deficit-laden transit agency.
Of all the solutions that have been floated in recent weeks, we like the one put forward by the MBTA Advisory Board whose membership includes representatives from the 175 cities and towns that help pay for this essential service.
The plan would hike fares by 25 percent — less than in either of the two options put forward by T management — and avoid any service cuts such as the elimination of weekend and late-night commuter rail service. It would also spread the pain among riders, T employees and other state agencies that would be asked to pick up the cost of certain services now funded under the transit agency's budget.
For instance, the proposal calls for a wage freeze for all T personnel in the fiscal year that begins July 1. And in an effort to bring in new revenue beyond that generated by the fare hike, the proposal calls for a crackdown on fare evaders, new fees for the system's heaviest users including college students and those attending sporting events, and a reversal of the recent, foolhardy decision not to accept advertising for alcoholic beverages.
Finally, the plan would transfer T policing activities to the state Department of Public Safety and have Massport — which unlike the MBTA actually makes money — take over responsibility for ferry service and the Silver Line rapid-transit service that runs between South Station and Logan Airport. (And if this requires the Salem Ferry to add an airport stop, so much the better.)
Many of these are just stopgap measures, of course. Transferring costs from one state agency to another doesn't relieve the taxpayers of their obligation to pay for them. But it would relieve pressure and allow more time for the "adult conversation" Gov. Patrick and the advisory board say is necessary to devise a more permanent solution to the T's funding woes.
Nor should that conversation end with mass transit. Rather, as Danvers Assistant Town Manager Diane Norris pointed out at a meeting of the Local Government Advisory Commission this week, it should encompass all of the state's transportation infrastructure.
According to the State House News Service's account of the meeting, "Norris said that while the MBTA has garnered all the headlines for its $161 million deficit, cities and towns are facing a $1.3 billion shortfall in needed transportation infrastructure investments."
She and Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan are seeking a better-than-$200-million hike in state Chapter 90 aid for local road improvements and a summit to discuss a long-term approach to the problem. These needs, too, must be part of the conversation when it comes to financing the road, rail, maritime and air transport services on which we all rely.
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