The MBTA has made immense strides in upgrading the system’s aging infrastructure and restoring trust among riders in recent years. But a new report argues that, if lawmakers don’t find new revenue sources soon, that progress could be lost — and the T could find itself in the middle of a financial catastrophe.
Experts are ringing the alarm bell on a “fiscal cliff” that is once again on its way. Last week, the agency released new figures warning of a $560 million deficit for the fiscal year that begins in July, and a $732 million shortfall for the following year.
State leaders laid out plans last year to rely on federal grants and revenues from the still-new “millionaires tax” to fill the MBTA’s budget gap. But transit experts put out a new analysis Wednesday arguing that’s no longer a sound plan.
MassBudget Reference:
A coalition of transportation advocates and policy experts is calling on state leadership to take drastic actions — ranging from raising vehicle registration fees and highway tolls to introducing congestion pricing in downtown Boston — to prevent “draconian” service cuts.
In Wednesday’s report, the nonprofit advocacy group Transportation for Massachusetts and the think tank Mass Budget and Policy Center found that currently available funding sources for transportation are “insufficient.”
