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Rick Dimino
The MBTA is an underappreciated asset in metropolitan Boston. Certainly on some days – especially in the winter – it can be challenging to argue this point, but on the whole, the MBTA generates enormous benefits to both residents and businesses in this region.
It is no coincidence that the area served by the MBTA is the same location for almost 70 percent of the state’s population, 74 percent of the jobs, and the area that generates 84 percent of Massachusetts’s gross domestic product. Prominent industries in Greater Boston – in the fields of finance, medicine, education, technology and research – are able to thrive here, in part because of our highly skilled workforce, but also from the access to mass transit options supplied by the MBTA. Simply put, the MBTA is the backbone of our economy and we should celebrate that the best strategy for continued growth and prosperity for the region requires future investments in the MBTA.
Currently the benefits from our transit system far outweigh the costs we dedicate to support it. A new report from A Better City, made possible through support from both the Barr Foundation and The Boston Foundation, measured the MBTA’s performance and economic impact. It found that the MBTA provides an estimated $11.4 billion in value to Greater Boston each year for both transit users and non-users alike, through travel time and travel cost savings, vehicular crashes avoided and reduced auto emissions. This is all happening with the T’s annual operating budget of approximately $2 billion.
At more than five times the return on investment, it justifies the financial support necessary to maintain, enhance and expand MBTA operations within the 164 communities of metro Boston. Unfortunately, the budget plans in place at the MBTA are insufficient to meet the current and projected needs. The region is expected to continue growing through 2040 in terms of population, jobs and housing units. The anticipated growth over this time cannot be comfortably accommodated without strategic and prolonged investments in transit; the MBTA needs additional resources to meet this growing demand.
Our regional economy is unusually vulnerable to an overburdened transportation system where mass transit does not adequately serve our job centers. An underperforming transit system will force a greater reliance on automobiles in one of the most traffic congested regions in the country.
The report also considered the alternative, examining what would it cost if our transit system did not exist. It concluded that our economy would require the capital cost of nearly 2,300 additional lane miles of roads and 400,000 more parking spaces. If we needed to build that today, the cost for this vehicular infrastructure would be over $15 billion. The MBTA is a bargain today and for the future.
Growth Concentrated in Inner Core
We expect development growth to be concentrated disproportionately in areas near transit in the urban core of metro Boston. We can see that the transit-rich locations in the region, especially in the 20-municipality inner core area closest to Boston, are the areas where development is surging and future growth is most likely. It is no coincidence that the Boston-area bids submitted to Amazon in 2017 for its second headquarters all have some direct transit service, either already in place or possible with improvements. Private sector investment is a part of the solution for enhancing some mass transit service in these areas, but they need a partner in the MBTA to support the entire network and system.
Growth potential also exists in cities outside of downtown Boston, in Gateway Cities or regional urban centers such as Haverhill, Lowell, Salem and Worcester. Many residents of these communities are commuting to jobs located in the inner core of Greater Boston, but these communities are also emerging as job centers with businesses, educational institutions and cultural venues that will attract workers and visitors from the inner core who travel on reverse commutes. This is possible with support from the commuter rail system and expanded MBTA regional service.
Strategies for Success
Addressing the maintenance repair backlog on existing MBTA infrastructure, increasing current transit capacity and expanding service in targeted job centers are the three essential components to sustaining economic growth in the short and long term. The resources dedicated to the $7.3 billon state of good repair backlog is justified when we consider the economic return, as well as the cost to the region if we fall short.
We also know that the current transportation system is over capacity on the Red and Orange lines, which require new vehicles as well as proficient transit signals and an improved power grid. The Green Line and Silver lines need additional investments as well. Metro area residents already take 1.3 million weekday rides on the MBTA, and this will increase in a strong economy. A growth strategy needs to focus on creating new transit-orientated development along existing rapid transit or commuter rail lines, a commuter rail overhaul, support for Bus Rapid Transit and utilizing the harbor through water ferry service.
We now are at a mobility crossroads in Greater Boston. The major transportation investments of the past worked to set the stage for our current economic success and prosperity, which benefits all of Massachusetts. We now need to be ready for the future needs and solutions, particularity in addressing our traffic congestion challenges. The clear place to look, according to numbers from a cost-benefit analysis, is through additional investment with the MBTA.
Rick Dimino is president and CEO of A Better City.
