"Plan to cut T services draws ire, criticism; Sharp increase in pollution predicted" by Matt Viser, Globe Staff | April 11, 2009
Commuters are worried about how they would get home from work. Public transportation advocates said pollution would go up and that Boston could become a second-class city. And the state's lawmakers had mixed responses to the news that the MBTA was planning to drastically reduce services unless the Legislature acts to cover the agency's losses.
"I find it so annoying that they're threatening to cut service," said Rosemary Tambouret, a pathologist from Sharon who takes the commuter rail each weekday to her job at Massachusetts General Hospital. "Imagine all these commuters who are going to go back on the road and start driving. It's going to be ridiculous."
Typical short-sighted government!
The Globe, citing an internal budget analysis, reported yesterday that the MBTA was considering raising fares, laying off 805 employees, and drastically reducing services if the agency does not get help in solving its $160 million deficit.
The reduced services would affect nearly everyone who uses public transit. Six Green Line stops would be eliminated, some bus services would be discontinued, and commuter rail lines would stop at 7 p.m. on weekdays and would not run on weekends.
Senate President Therese Murray was caught off guard yesterday by the news, and appeared frustrated that she was not briefed. "I just think it's odd that we were not given this information," Murray said in an interview. "I was there all day yesterday, I've been there all week. And I pick it up and read it in the paper? They do have meetings, there is a secretary who oversees those meetings. Wouldn't someone come and talk to us about this?"
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Legislators have opposed gas tax increases - some have suggested it should rise by no higher than 9 cents - and were not changing their stance yesterday.????
Legislative leaders said new revenue would probably come through and alleviate some of the reductions that the MBTA is contemplating. But they also said it would be unlikely to be enough to offset all of the problems, and that some fare hikes and cost reductions would still be needed.
Boom, boom, boom, boom. How's that ass, taxpayers? Worn out?
"Unlike the federal government, we can't print money and try to spend our way out of it," said Representative Joseph F. Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat and chairman of the House Committee on Transportation. "We have an obligation to balance our budget and we're going to have to make difficult decisions, including on transportation."
GOOD!!! That's how ECONOMIES and CURRENCIES are DESTROYED!!!!
The debate could create a division between lawmakers in different districts, with those in urban areas calling for a gas tax hike to preserve funding for the T while those in rural districts arguing against an increase in the tax.
"That's the legislative conundrum," said Senator Steven A. Baddour, a Methuen Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation. "You have folks in Western Mass. and different parts of the state, and they have a different view on how much is needed to fund the MBTA. There is no easy solution."
Hello, world!
