Gov. Maura Healey’s new appointments to MBTA management and board placed the right talent at the agency. Now, it is imperative to harness their expertise and ideas for reshaping the MBTA into a modern transportation system.
Boston must address this challenge by combining public sector planning and private sector partnerships to help implement community heat resilience solutions.
With Healey’s recent appointments to the MBTA board of directors and other key positions in state government we are getting closer to solving the biggest obstacles that are holding back the MBTA.
Fixes to the T need to go beyond just new leadership and an increased workforce. We also need to explore new approaches to capital projects, service delivery and funding plans.
Transforming the organization will require new leadership, a new culture and new funding plans. Each of these changes can begin right now.
The office towers, large residential buildings and institutions of Greater Boston are already major employment centers. Now they can be central to creating new, equitable jobs in the green economy.
So far, Gov.-elect Maura Healey’s approach to our transit and climate challenges is encouraging. But she needs to add a new post and an important commission to her early personnel if she’s going to make fast progress on three key megaprojects.
The ideal plan for implementing the Millionaires Tax is to adopt a big-picture vision over the next year, paired with a comprehensive transportation finance plan that addresses repairs, maintenance and resiliency needs.
The goal of improving the MBTA is a customary promise from new governors, but this year the stakes are higher than ever. Getting transit right in Boston and around the state will set the stage for a fairer, cleaner and more vibrant future.
A big bump in commuter rail ridership shows what’s possible with a better-resourced MBTA and a regional rail system ready to support more transit-oriented housing construction.
The absence of the Orange Line and reduced service levels on other lines and modes should make the heart grow fonder and produce a renewed commitment to supporting high-quality mass transit.
The recent record-setting heatwave should serve as an alarming reminder that climate change is already threatening us. Without federal action, state and local leaders must keep building decarbonization standards uniform across the state.
Finger-pointing and debating who is time blame is tempting but won’t move the MBTA out of its state of crisis fast enough.
A new phase is beginning for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package. States are in fierce competition for the largest grant awards that would support multi-billion-dollar projects.
Under the MBTA’s new board, important transit plans are falling aside and public commitments are falling off-track. And vital zoning reforms and carbon emissions plans depend on the plans being abandoned.
In the next few months in Massachusetts, we will hear a great deal from the candidates running for governor and their top priorities if elected. During this same time, the actions by the Baker Administration will determine the future viability of transportation projects that would occur in the next decade.
If the commonwealth can set predictable, well-defined rules for property owners and stakeholders in the context of climate-informed coastal development regulations, then we can continue to create vibrant waterfronts and protect our future economic growth.
We can now raise expectations on what should come next and demand ambitious schedules for the transformational infrastructure changes this region deserves.
Mayor Michelle Wu takes office with an ambitious agenda, broad support and real excitement that the city will prosper in new ways. Fortunately, today’s economy in Boston is strong in many areas, but this region’s future growth is far from guaranteed.
A new board of directors is now in place at the MBTA, and we will soon learn if this means a new direction for public transit in this region. They should focus on implementing the FMCB’s ideas rather than any attempts to revisit the debates of the past few years.
