MBTA Cuts To Belmont Unlikely But Fares, Costs will Rise

Come July 1, the buses through Belmont Center will continue to run and the commuter rail will make stops at the town's two stations on its scheduled runs.

But riders will be paying a higher toll for those services, said State Sen. Will Brownsberger at a community meeting held at the Belmont Town Hall Thursday night, March 15.

And not only those who use the T to commute to work or travel around Boston will bear a higher cost burden to help cut the $161 million shortfall facing the regional transportation authority.

In his long-range view, Brownsberger told a small but dedicated group of MBTA users that attended the meeting in the Selectmen's Room that the best approach in his view is to increase the state's gas tax with the revenue directed to regions across the state for transportation services.

"That way people out in the western part of the state can direct the funding to roads and in the Boston region the money would go to maintaining MBTA services," said Brownsberger after the meeting.

"We need a good quality public transportation system to preserve the economic vitality of the Boston core area," said Brownsberger.

But don't expect any action by the legislature this fiscal year but only after the MBTA board of directors approve a deficit reduction plan.

Speaking with Anne Paulsen, the former Belmont State Representative Brownsberger succeeded in the House, the pair said the problems facing the MBTA include the fact that none of the services they provide – from the subways to buses and commuter rail – are profitable on their own.

And the current state subsidy to the system, one cent of the sales tax dedicated to the MBTA, is too unreliable – falling sale revenue leads to a drop in payments to the authority as what occurred in the recent economic downturn – to provide a constant source of revenue to the system.

"(The MBTA) is not subsidized at the level other systems are around the country," said Paulsen, from either fare increases – the T has some of the lowest prices for a large system in the country – or state aid.

"We've been getting a free ride for years," said Paulsen.

In addition, the MBTA was saddled with a large portion of the debt from the building of the "Big Dig," the $16 billion construction project that depressed Boston's Central Artery and built the Harbor tunnels in the past decade. 

"It is still digging out of the Big Dig," said Brownsberger of the debt burden that has now reached $1.7 billion.

The result was the large deficit and an attempt by the MBTA to create two scenarios – one with major fare increases and the other with a smaller price hikes but major service reductions – that would help balance its budget.

But Brownsberger said the two "solutions" were likely financial modeling-based exercises within the T that were not politically vetted. As a result, the public response since the release of the scenarios earlier in the year has been overwhelmingly negative, especially for the one with significant reduction in bus lines.

"It's just out right wrong to cut services," said Brownsberger, comparing it to evicting people from their homes.

The MBTA has since backed off any calls for substantial service cuts.

"So I believe that the buses (the 78 and 74/75 lines from Harvard Square) will be running on July 1," said Brownsberger, referring to the date fare increases and cuts would begin.

And for many who attended, a hike in fares is much more tolerable than a cut in service.

Belmont's Barbara Grant who works at the Commonwealth School in Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay, said traveling by car is not practical so public transportation access is critical for staff and students.

"My feeling is that students will be comfortable with a fare raise," said Grant.

"Mostly they fear service cuts because there is no other option," she said.

The solution, according to Paulsen, needs to come from Beacon Hill.

"The legislature must take on the burden and relieve some of the debt," she said, pointing out that fare hikes will only raise half of the monies needed to bring the authority back into the black.

Both Brownsberger and Paulsen said a great way to understand the competing interests in any solution is to head to the "Fix the T" page on the Metropolitan Area Planning Council's website. There readers will find a calculator function which can play out different options of service cuts and fare hikes to solve the $161 million MBTA deficit.