MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2004-2006

The MBTA implemented its long-awaited “Charlie Card” automated fare collection system.  On December 6, 2006 the T ended 80 years of token sales. The new “smart card” system was installed throughout the bus and subway systems by the end of 2006 and will ultimately be extended to the commuter rail system. The plastic “Charlie Cards” work like debit cards and provide benefits in the forms of lower fares and free transfers; paper “Charlie tickets” are also available. Charlie Cards were distributed to 60,000 college students and 200,00 participants in employee-based pass program; more than 1 million cards were distributed. The automated fare collection system is expected to reduce fare evasion and increase revenue for the financially strapped MBTA.

A new runway opened at Logan Airport after more than 30 years of planning, lawsuits and controversy.  In November 2006 Massport begin using the long-delayed and controversial Runway 14/32, a 5,000 foot runway for regional jets. The runway, the subject of more than 30 years of disputes with the City of Boston and nearby neighborhoods and communities, is expected to reduce air traffic delays at Logan by 25% on average. By court order, the runway can only be used during about one-third of the year when winds are from the northwest or southeast.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts reaffirmed its commitment to construct transit projects promised as part of the Big Dig.  In settling a lawsuit brought by the Conservation Law Foundation, state officials agreed to move ahead with a number of transit projects in Boston and the surrounding urban core, including upgrades to the Fairmount Line commuter rail line through Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury, extension of the Green Line to Medford and Somerville and design and engineering of a tunnel to connect the Blue Line and Red Line at Charles MGH station.

Massport began an expansion of Conley Terminal. The $25 million project, scheduled for completion in 2007, will increase the port’s capacity to handle freight in containers by 50% even without expanding the land area of Conley terminal. The expansion, scheduled for completion in 2007, will provide eight new gantry cranes.

The MBTA settled a lawsuit and made a strong commitment to improving the accessibility of the regional transit system. The MBTA was sued in 2002 by a group of individuals with disabilities, represented by the Boston Center for Independent Living, which said it had denied them equal access to public buses and subways. In April 2006, the plaintiffs and the MBTA announced a settlement of the lawsuit designed to ensure that the MBTA will invest in improving its accessibility infrastructure, providing training to improve customer service and monitoring compliance. The MBTA also committed to hiring an assistant general manager focused exclusively on accessibility, a first for any transit system in the US. The MBTA will invest $310 million in improvements to elevators and escalators, the purchase of 400 new low-floor buses, the closing of platform gaps between subway cards and platforms and the installation of new public address and electronic message board systems.

Despite its financial woes, the MBTA is continuing to enhance and expand the transit system.  Silver Line bus rapid transit service to the South Boston Seaport began in December 2004 and was extended to Logan Airport in June 2005. The MBTA is continuing to work on upgrades to stations along the Blue Line and Red Line and Fairmount commuter rail line. The 2006 economic stimulus bill included $55 million for transit (and roadway) improvements in Fenway, Kenmore and Longwood neighborhoods. A new layover facility in Pawtucket, Rhode Island opened in 2006, allowing the expansion of weekday and weekend commuter rail service to Providence.

Boston substantially reduced air pollution from the city’s fleet of heavy-duty, diesel-fueled vehicles.  Boston switched its 450 diesel vehicles to a cleaner blend of biodiesel and ultra low sulfur fuel, reducing emissions by 12-17%. The City is the largest municipal purchaser of biodiesel in New England. In addition, all 500 of Boston’s school buses are being retrofitted to use ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel—which contains 97% less sulfur—and add pollution control equipment. The combination of the controls and the ultra low sulfur diesel will reduce tailpipe emissions from the City’s school bus fleet by more than 90%.

The MBTA has been a leader in cleaning up its bus fleet.  In 1999, the MBTA operated a fleet of nearly 1,000 diesel-fueled buses with an average age of 14-15 years, while by 2006 the entire fleet was either retrofitted or replaced with lower-emission buses, reducing the average fleet age to less than five years. The entire bus fleet was switched to operating on ultra low sulfur diesel in 2002. As of 2006, the MBTA had taken delivery of 581 new clean-fuel buses and has a target of acquiring a total of 800 new such buses. Older buses remaining in the fleet have been retrofitted with filters to reduce particulate emissions by 90%.

The Massachusetts Highway Department issues a new Project Development and Design Guidebook that takes a flexible, multi-modal and context-sensitive approach to the design of state-funded roadway projects. The new manual was the product of two years of work by a 28 member Task Force that included municipal officials, planners, highway design experts and many other stakeholders. The guidebook places great emphasis on bicyclists and pedestrians as equal users of the roads. Released in early 2006, the guidebook has already won a "best practices"award from the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Greater Boston’s regional planning agency, completed a Regional Bike Plan. The plan, updating a decade-old document, called for more investment in bicycle infrastructure. In addition, the Executive Office of Transportation convened a pedestrian and bicycle advisory board to update its 1998 statewide bicycle plan.

A growing and increasingly effective group of transportation advocates has been working to reshape transportation policy and investments in Boston and throughout the region.  In 2004 the MBTA created the T Rider Oversight Committee, which meets monthly to advise the MBTA on customer service improvements and service quality issues; in 2006, 24 advocates and individuals were elected to fill the 24 seats on the committee. The Livable Streets Alliance was formed in July 2005 to advocate for a transportation system that balances transit, walking, and biking with automobiles in order to make Boston a more connected, livable city. The Alliance supplements but does not replace advocacy groups focused on specific transportation modes, such as the T Riders Union, MassBike and WalkBoston.

In the closing days of the Romney Administration, the Commonwealth finalized its first-ever statewide transportation plan addressing all transportation modes throughout the entire state. A draft of the plan had been released in March 2005 and attracted broad public input during an extended public review period.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS 2004-2006

The fatal collapse of part of the ceiling in a Big Dig tunnel ceiling disrupted travel and drivers’ faith in the Big Dig. The July 2006 incident killed a Boston woman and led to safety inspections which identified the need to replace many of the bolt fixtures that support the ceiling tiles in the Big Dig tunnels. The repairs in turn kept portions of the Big Dig closed for months. Although polls showed that some members of the public remain concerned about the safety of the project, an independent, comprehensive “stem to stern” review found that the Big Dig was fundamentally safe. Traffic data collected before the collapse also demonstrates that the project was meeting its objective of generating substantial reductions in travel time through Boston and to Logan Airport.

The MBTA was forced to raise fares for the third time in less than seven years in order to close a revenue shortfall. With the MBTA’s 20% share of statewide sales tax receipts growing more slowly than had been projected when this revenue stream was established in the 2001 “forward funding” legislation, and growing debt service costs, the MBTA had no alternative to fare increases (other than severe service cuts). Fare increases in September 2000 and January 2004 had already sharply increased the fares that riders are paying for buses, subways and commuter rail, with total fare revenue collected by the MBTA rising 44% from fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2006. The January 2007 fare increase is projected to increase total fare revenue an additional 25% on an annualized basis.