Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker released a new plan for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s oversight board in his budget proposal Wednesday, which does not include a designated seat for the City of Boston.
Baker is proposing to replace the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board, which serves to address issues such as operating budgets, staffing changes and infrastructure investment.
The current FMCB will expire at the end of June this year. It was created after the winter of 2015, when extreme weather revealed financial weaknesses and deficiencies in the T’s infrastructure, according to the MBTA.
In its first two years overseeing the T, the FMCB invested $100 million to improve resiliency against winter weather, replaced 120 Red Line trolleys and poured new resources into a project to extend the Green Line, among other initiatives, according to the MBTA.
The new seven-member board will consist of the Secretary of Transportation, subject matter experts and a safety expert, as well as a representative from communities that provide revenue for the T, according to Baker’s budget proposal.\
Whether Boston will have a voice on the new FMCB remains unclear. Mayor Martin Walsh wrote in a Twitter statement on Wednesday he believes the city should claim a seat on the committee.
“Boston continues to be the largest payer into the MBTA system,” Walsh wrote. “And I will continue to advocate for Boston having a dedicated seat and voice on the MBTA board.”
City Councilor Michelle Wu has also expressed her opinion in an op-ed for The Boston Globe that the MBTA should work more closely with municipalities, as these are the communities with direct stakes in how the T operates.
In his State of the Commonwealth Address Tuesday, Baker identified transportation as a key issue to focus on in 2020.
“Our economic success means we have to address long-standing issues in transportation and housing,” Baker said in the address. “Unless we take on transportation, we won’t meet our objectives.”
John Kim, 37, of Back Bay said Boston should definitely get a voice on the new oversight board.
“I definitely think Boston should have gotten a seat,” Kim said. “I feel like Bostonians contribute a lot money wise to the MBTA with how many people use transportation, so shouldn’t it be obvious that the city thus gets a place in this board?”
Linda Steinberg, 45, of Kenmore said while she’s surprised, she believes there is probably an explanation for Boston’s lack of a designated seat.
“If you give Boston a seat, you would probably have to give a seat to other cities,” Steinberg said. “It’s sort of like, you either give everyone candy or no one candy.”
Michael Zhang, 29, of Allston said he doesn’t think the T’s issues will be addressed anytime soon.
“To be very honest with you, the MBTA is so frustrating that I really don’t think Boston having a seat is going to do anything,” Zhang said. “The T is always going to be the way it is right now, and nothing’s going to change it.”
Any discussion of municipal involvement in the MBTA should include a mention of the MBTA Advisory Board. It is comprised of all municipalities in the MBTA district. It was created to allow municipalities to have veto power over the MBTA budget, but that power has been removed.
I have no connection to the Advisory Board, but here is their website:
http://www.mbtaadvisoryboard.org/