By Paige Albright
Boston University News Service
Any regular rider of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) services remembers a time when a train, bus or boat operated by the agency simply quit. With trains shutting down on the tracks and buses never arriving on time, the MBTA does not have a stellar report card.
The MBTA is a less-than-five-star service. With a rating of three and a half stars on its own website and two stars on Yelp, it is safe to say the MBTA is not associated with reliability, high-quality service or convenience.
Candidates for this fall’s election cycle all have made promises on various topics that touch on public services: let’s break them down.
It is important to note that the MBTA is a state agency, not falling under the purview of any positions these candidates are campaigning for.
Mayoral
Mayor Michelle Wu, the incumbent, is the only mayoral candidate on the ballot this fall. In her previous term as mayor, Wu has been an outspoken advocate for an affordable, inclusive and sustainable MBTA. Wu pushed to ensure Boston voices were represented in the state agency and secured a seat on the MBTA board for a city representative.
Wu’s transit agenda is closely tied to her broader “Green New Deal” for Boston. Key areas of the deal — mobility, climate, affordability, and access — are linked. This can be seen in changes she made during her term, including the removal of parking minimums for affordable housing as a step to move toward transit-oriented development.
Wu’s tenure also saw the launch of a fare-free pilot program for select bus lines. Wu extended the “free T” pilot program for the MBTA Route 28 bus, which was started under Wu’s predecessor, Kim Janey. During the pilot program, ridership had increased to 70,000 passengers weekly, surpassing pre-COVID-19 levels. Wu secured $8 million in appropriations to extend the fare-free program for two more years for the MBTA Route 23, 28 and 29 buses.
At-Large City Council
There are eight candidates on the ballot for the four open positions on the council. None from this group have campaigned heavily on issues regarding transportation, but affordability and livability in the Boston area are topics that are at the forefront of most, if not all, candidate campaigns.
Of the eight, four are running for re-election: Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy and Henry Santana. The “challenger” half of the candidate pool includes: Frank Baker, Marvin Mathelier, Will Onuoha and Alexandra Valdez.
Mathelier, Baker and Onuoha are the only candidates to include transportation as a policy priority in their campaigns. All three emphasized that improving public transportation and investing in the MBTA will provide a vehicle to address other social issues, like public safety and bridging the division between communities.
