The Editorial Page

Is the MBTA on track?

In the real world, funding is only an issue; politics is the most persistent problem

By EDITORIAL | April 30, 2008

Smells like T spirit!
Boston’s mass-transit system dates back to 1631, when sailboats ferried passengers from Chelsea to Charlestown. In the subsequent 377 years, service has become a teeny bit faster — but at a price that has put the MBTA in debt to a tune of more than $8 billion. With transportation issues getting renewed scrutiny under the Patrick administration, Phoenix staffers fanned out to kick the T’s tires.

• The trolley Svengali: Why Dan Grabauskas might actually fix the T — if he can keep his job. By Adam Reilly.
• Trouble 'round the bend? MBTA workers have been without a contract for two years. Arbitration will settle the matter soon, but could stir an angry hornets’ nest for 2010. By David S. Bernstein
• Seven habits of highly effective T-riders: Keep your hands on the pole and not on your neighbor’s ass, bucko. By Sharon Steel.
• The T and the Tube: London’s Underground is seething with danger. Boston’s T has cuckoo juice. By James Parker.
• Underground art: Reviewing the MBTA’s subterranean aesthetic. By Mike Miliard.
• A sinking feeling: Leaky MBTA tunnels have been seeping Boston’s groundwater for years. Can a new plan prevent potential catastrophe? By David S. Bernstein
• State of hock: If the MBTA wasn't in debt, these items would be at the top of its new wish list. By Jason Notte.

It must be something in the air. Or the water. Maybe it is our Puritan heritage. Whatever the reason, Bostonians love to criticize, to complain. If there is an upside to the local culture of negativity, it might be that it keeps everyone on their toes.

As targets for criticism go, it is hard to imagine one more inviting than the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, better known as the MBTA, best known as the T. That such a sprawling system is nearly universally recognized by a single letter is a testimony to its ubiquity. It also suggests the central role the T plays in so many lives.

As with other institutions that protect or foster the common good — schools, police departments, fire stations — Boston was an innovator, a pioneer in providing mass transport. The American Public Transportation Association credits Boston with the nation’s first publicly operated ferryboat (1631), first commuter fare on a railroad (1838), first fare-free promotion (1856), first public-transportation commission (1894), first electric underground street railway line (1897), and first publicly financed transportation facility (1897).

While the community can take pride in the past, pride will not help the region navigate the future. We are building on century-old infrastructure and can not lose site of that.

With gasoline prices skyrocketing, and unlikely to go lower, and recognition of the importance of global warming finally penetrating the national consciousness, the MBTA is of more central importance than ever before.

The special report in this edition of the Phoenix is rooted in that assumption, and looks at issues both large and small. In some cases the articles are analytical; in other cases whimsical. But if there is a bottom line to be found in the Phoenix survey, it is this: all things considered, the MBTA is doing a pretty good job. The question is: how can it do better?

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Related: Patrick's latest train wreck, The truth behind the MBTA fare hike, Search party, More

Patrick's latest train wreck
There is no doubt that Governor Deval Patrick had — and has — much better ideas about reforming and restructuring the state's transportation infrastructure — including the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority — than the legislature.
The truth behind the MBTA fare hike
Search party
These days, the morning commute is hardly complete without a newspaper, coffee, and potential violation of one's Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure .
T-easing pollution
The T: we love to hate it; we hate to take it; we take it everywhere.
The trolley Svengali
When the T works, we usually don’t notice. But when it doesn’t, our reaction is swift and severe.
Taxi turmoil
Taxis are an under-appreciated and often little-considered component in urban mass-transit systems. They fill the gaps left by the MBTA and offer a sort of curb-to-curb, citywide Zipcar service.
Roast pork
Back in January, Governor Deval Patrick declared a "season of significant government reform" on Beacon Hill.
Patrick’s to-do list
Deval Patrick has plenty to do in the first few months, what with choosing staff and building relationships. But even as that happens, there are issues that simply can’t wait for action.
Trouble 'round the bend?
Perhaps because it hasn’t exploded into a public shutdown of services (as happened a few years ago in New York), arguably the most important fact about the MBTA has escaped public notice: most of its workers have been without a contract for nearly two years.
State of hock
Kenmore Station looks as if it has just survived an act of God, the Orange Line hasn’t seen a new car since the Reagan administration, and the head of the Transit Police union says there are only five cops riding the rails at any given time.
Deval Patrick for governor
After 16 years of Republican rule, it is time to return a Democrat and a leader with a sense of humanity to the governor’s office. It is in that spirit — and for other reasons as well — that we urge voters next week to vote for Deval Patrick.
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