✍️ LTE: MBTA Turnaround and go back to Maura

The following was sent to us by a reader –

The MBTA is drowning in debt (which is a moving number depending where you look), and their latest fix is to take Governor Maura Healey’s $600 million cash infusion and build a turn back track to increase train frequency on our line. This isn’t about paying down debt—it’s about spending *more* to run additional trains, banking on the unproven hope that more trains will mean more riders. Where’s the evidence?  Ridership has been declining for years, dropping nearly 40% since 2012, even before the pandemic accelerated the trend. Adding a few minutes to train schedules won’t summon riders out of thin air. Let’s back up to 2019 shall we? In 2019, MBTA riders took 1.26 million daily trips. In October 2020, riders took around 330,000 daily trips—or 26% of daily ridership compared to 2019.  Has the MBTA stopped and said “where did all our riders go?) Funny side note, Uber has increased its Ridership 13% year over year.   

I rarely ride the train myself, and there’s a reason for that. The MBTA is a sinking ship, and the state’s attempts to bail it out feel like 1995 solutions for 2025 problems. In 1995, we didn’t have Uber, Lyft, or a workforce where over 20% now work from home. We didn’t have podcasts and audiobooks to make traffic bearable—or the flexibility in work schedules to avoid rush hour entirely. The MBTA assumes more trains will lure people out of their cars, but that ignores reality. Look at the new “MBTA communities” popping up near stations: those homebuyers are not slated to be anymore more reliant on transit then our town of 27,000 potential riders.  These new homeowners maybe choosing proximity to highways like 128 and 93, not train tracks.  I picked Reading for easy highway access—93 north for winter escapes, 128 south for summer getaways. No train required.

Supporters might argue that more trains could improve reliability or attract eco-conscious riders. But reliability means nothing if schedules don’t align with people’s lives—more on that below—and diesel trains spewing fumes won’t win over the green crowd. (Electric trains? Don’t hold your breath; Texas showed us what happens to power grids in a cold snap.) The MBTA is barreling ahead with this plan to claw out of its financial hole, regardless of whether it makes sense our residents who’d rather not breathe exhaust.

The train can be great—say, for a concert at the Garden. You hop on, enjoy the show, and then….then you realize the last train left before the encore. With 19,500 fans spilling out, you’re stuck Ubering home. I called the MBTA to challenge this horrid schedule snafu, and their response? “We don’t control the schedule; Keolis Commuter Services does.” They explained that trains can’t wait past 11 p.m. as they need to move up the track and turn around, and if it’s past midnight, a “new day” triggers a full inspection of the train.  This isn’t efficiency—it’s bureaucracy choking common sense. A transit system that can’t adapt to a predictable event like a concert won’t convince daily commuters it’s worth their time.  I refuse to ride the train and opt for an Uber every time.   It’s easier, it’s reliable it’s quiet, I can work, read a book and it doesn’t smell like pee. I don’t have to RUN through North station only to watch my train pull away from me because the green line broke down. 

The MBTA’s flaws aren’t just inconveniences; they’re systemic. Debt, outdated priorities, and rigid schedules make it a failing operation. This new turn back track does NOT fix these issues, and  looks to make traffic and air quality in our town worse.  

So my letter to the MBTA: 

Dear MBTA, new business plan;  Instead of doubling down on trains, cut your losses. Sell off excess land—recoup some of that Billion in debt—and pivot to a flexible rideshare service. Picture this: a subsidized, MBTA-branded app that deploys vans or cars based on real-time demand, not fixed rails. It could serve the 400 or so daily riders on quieter lines far more efficiently than a train that’s half-empty. Taxpayers deserve a system that works with today’s habits, not one clinging to yesterday’s playbook.

Alicia Williams

Marla Lane

Town Meeting Member P8