Transit and roads face huge shortfall
Transit and roads face huge shortfall
Study calls for cuts, new revenue measures
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff | March 29, 2007
The Commonwealth's transportation systems are in deep financial crisis, with a shortfall of nearly $20 billion over the next 20 years just for necessary maintenance and repairs, even without a single new highway or rail project, a state report warned yesterday.
Unless costs are cut and revenues increased through unpopular measures -- such as increasing the state's gasoline tax, creating more toll roads, or joining with private businesses to build projects -- the problems could damage the state's economy, a bipartisan commission said in a long-awaited study.
The situation is so bleak that 25 percent toll increases on the Massachusetts Turnpike, scheduled for January, may have to be higher and may have to begin this year, the report says. Even then, the amount of money raised by the hike would cover only the Turnpike Authority's debt payments, not operation, maintenance, or construction costs.
The Transportation Finance Commission, which wrote the report, also said that the state's pledge to eliminate tolls on the turnpike by 2017 should be seriously reconsidered and that the state should change funding of the MBTA so it does not have to rely on fare increases to balance its budget.
The projected $15 billion to $19 billion shortfall over the next 20 years, up from prior estimates of $9.5 billion to $15.7 billion, is a conservative calculation, commission members said.
GLOBE GRAPHIC: Transportation funding gap
The report said every state transportation agency is running a deficit and resorting to short-term fixes, despite long-term financial problems. Only the Tobin Bridge, run by the Massachusetts Port Authority, is making money.
"We are really in a situation that I can call . . . shocking," said Michael J. Widmer, head of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation and a member of the commission.
The Legislature called for the commission two years ago to provide a comprehensive and apolitical evaluation of the state's transportation needs over the next 20 years.
"We do have a crisis here," Widmer added. "We have to attend to this."
Governor Deval Patrick asked yesterday that his Cabinet secretaries, commission members, and legislative, transportation, and business leaders review the report and find solutions.
But a spokesman for Patrick and Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen declined to say whether his administration would support toll or gasoline tax increases. When two Turnpike Authority board members suggested last year that the gasoline tax be raised to pay for ending turnpike tolls west of Route 128, Patrick opposed the move, saying it went against the state's transportation and energy goals.
The Turnpike Authority eventually killed the toll-elimination plan.
"Things will just go downhill if we don't figure out a way to make the investments that need to be made," Cohen said in an interview. "It's something that should matter to everyone in the state who takes a bus, rides a train, or drives an automobile."
In May or June, commission members plan to issue specific recommendations on how make up the shortfall. A legislative hearing is planned for as early as next week, and a public hearing is scheduled for April 30.
Cutting costs and finding new revenue are ways to solve the crisis, commission members said. Raising the gasoline tax, last increased to 21 cents per gallon in 1990, is one possibility, but commission members did not want to discuss possible solutions before yesterday's report was widely released.
The Globe obtained a list of talking points for commission members that advises them "to focus on needs, and not get into a debate about tax increases."
"Please remember, even a discussion about the gas tax still gets us a headline we don't want, so try to deflect the question entirely and just focus on needs," the talking points say.
Widmer said cuts could include trimming MBTA employee benefits, which include lifetime medical care for retirees. Union officials, who oppose that change, are currently negotiating a contract with the T.
GLOBE GRAPHIC: Transportation funding gap
Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said cutting costs alone will not solve the problem at the T.
Some members of the finance commission have said the Legislature should relieve some of the T's $8.1 billion debt and increase how much the T receives from the state sales tax.
"The solution has got to come from beyond the four walls of the MBTA board room," Grabauskas said.
Mergers are another possible solution, including combining the Turnpike Authority or the Department of Conservation and Recreation with the Massachusetts Highway Department to reduce duplication and cut costs.
Highlights of the commission's 67-page report:
Neither the MBTA nor the state can afford any planned transit projects, including those promised to offset pollution from the Big Dig and the proposed extension of commuter rail to Fall River and New Bedford. The Patrick administration plans to unveil its timetable for that next week.
$1.2 billion is still owed on the Big Dig. A quarter of all federal money received by the state is being used to pay off that growing debt.
There is $2.2 billion in unfunded road and bridge projects across the state, including $200 million for repairs on the Longfellow Bridge.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation does not have the money or expertise to maintain and fix Storrow Drive, Soldiers Field Road, Longfellow Bridge, and its other roads and bridges.
Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
