June 11, 2007

T Fares Fund Roads?

T Fares Fund Roads?

Retiring Senator Jarrett "Barrios said that much of that [MBTA] debt
actually resulted from the Big Dig." Huh? (Marie Szaniszlo, "Barrios, Wolf urge
state to cover debt, thwart more T fare hikes," Boston Herald, June 08, 2007)
This is rational transportation policy? Two Democrats lament
counterproductive policy mandated under the one-party system in Massachusetts.
Rather than promoting mass transit for energy savings, and for saving the
environment, the one-party government in Massachusetts places the financial
burden of funding the $15 billion boondoggle road project on the users of mass
transit. That makes sense if you want to encourage vehicle usage and to
discourage mass transit usage.
Underlying the irrational Democratic policies is that there is more money
to
be made by pouring taxpayer funds into the MBTA pit. Using government agencies
to make money for criminal organizations is the new pattern of government in
this country. This is like using appropriations for gambling addiction to build
casinos.
Is this a surprise for Barrios and Wolf? Did they just learn about
the abuses? Where have they been all of these years? Why is the rest of the
legislature silent on these abuses?

Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM

Barrios,Wolf urge state to cover debt, thwart more T fare hikes
By Marie Szaniszlo/Boston Herald
Boston Herald
Fri Jun 08, 2007, 06:21 PM EDT
Boston -

Some of the MBTA’s harshest critics yesterday urged state lawmakers to support
two bills that would relieve the T of most of its massive debt, one reason why
the transit agency has doubled fares over the last seven years.

Senate bill 2029 and House bill 3694 call for the state to pay $2.9 billion
- or about $280 million a year - of the T’s $5.1 billion in debt, which
according to T officials would otherwise cost the agency $8 billion to pay off
over 30 years. In return, the bills, filed by state Sen. Jarrett T. Barrios and
Rep. Alice K. Wolf, both Cambridge Democrats, would limit future fare increases
to the rate of inflation.

“Without doing this, the cycle of fare increases will continue,” Lee H.
Matsueda, a community organizer at The T Riders Union, said at a press
conference before a hearing on the bills. “And that injustice needs to end.”

[...]

No comments: