Tom Ryan

Over the past four years, Massachusetts state government saved the MBTA a prolonged crisis. Credit is well-deserved for General Manager Phil Eng’s leadership, but Gov. Maura Healey and state legislative leaders also deserve praise for providing the financial resources to stabilize and improve the system.

This is a great success story, but it is creating an unexpected challenge in the public conversation about the MBTA’s future: If the transit system is not currently broken, does the MBTA still need the increased state budget support? This debate about the future of the T is starting because of a few unlikely reasons.

The MBTA is a clear priority for Gov. Healey and her budget recommendations for fiscal year 2027 and the agency is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Fair Share Amendment / Millionaires Tax surtax.

The governor is proposing using over $1.1 billion of Fair Share money to eliminate operating budget deficits at the MBTA for the next two fiscal years. The voter-approved Fair Share surtax is the primary source for increased spending at the MBTA and a key factor in the agency’s revival.

T Budget Not in Crisis – This Year

The administration has also used Fair Share wisely by directing funds to capital investments for safety upgrades and increased system maintenance. Increased capital spending has supported critical maintenance work at the MBTA, strengthened the statewide road and bridge program through MassDOT and helped municipalities address local transportation needs.

This balanced approach – supporting both operating and capital priorities – was a central recommendation of the governor’s 2025 Transportation Funding Task Force and proved effective last year when lawmakers acted to avert the MBTA’s widely discussed fiscal cliff. This is a plan that worked in 2025 and Gov. Healey wants it to continue.

Compared to last year, it is a fact that there is less urgency to direct more funds to the MBTA.

Last year, the combination of the Task Force report and the looming fiscal cliff at the MBTA made a compelling case for action and increased state aid.

This year, the pressures on state government are in different areas, due to federal spending cuts and lower state revenue growth. This will put the use of Fair Share dollars in the spotlight for legislators looking to preserve education plans or find ways to redirect state dollars for important social safety-net programs.

Return to Austerity for the MBTA?

It would be a mistake to reduce state support for the MBTA and redirect the Fair Share dollars that are subsidizing transit service throughout the entire commonwealth.

Under the previous administration, limiting state spending on the MBTA operating budget led to workforce reductions and poor service options for MBTA riders. That austerity plan for the T culminated in the infamous 2022 fire on the Orange Line and the Federal Transit Administration’s findings that the MBTA was well below safe staffing levels.

Recent increases in the MBTA’s budget are related to these FTAs requirements on staffing, safety procedures and system maintenance. We should not forget what happened when the state fails to properly invest in the MBTA.

Gov. Healey’s plan to use Fair Share funding would only solve the MBTA operating budget for the next two years, but that is justified. It is not a reason for concern or panic, rather just a statement of fact that safe, robust MBTA service will require significant state financial support each year. No major metropolitan transit system in the country operates without substantial state support. The governor’s plan and the current state resources can keep progress going.

State Budget Cuts Would Reverse Progress

A larger question for the future of the MBTA is linked to the November 2026 election.

Gov. Healey is seeking reelection and her challengers are each suggesting the state is spending too much on the MBTA. There is also the important ballot question that proposes a reduction in the state income tax from 5 percent to 4 percent. If this question is adopted, it could eventually reduce state revenue by an estimated $5 billion annually, and almost certainly reduce state aid to the MBTA that comes from the Fair Share Amendment.

It would make the MBTA a much lower priority for state legislators and dramatically decrease the amount of funding available for statewide capital investments, both in transportation and other categories of the state budget.

However, before these big questions are answered in the fall, we should realize that state investments in the MBTA are essential. Fair Share revenues are making the MBTA safer, improving service and helping to support the Greater Boston economy. The progress of the past four years is showing that a sustained commitment is worth it. Now, we just need to avoid choices that force the pendulum to swinging back again, and jeopardize the last three years of progress at the MBTA.

Tom Ryan is senior advisor on policy, government and community affairs at A Better City, a business-backed organization focused on transportation, land use and environmental policies.