BOSTON (
MyFoxBoston.com) -- It's an understatement to say it's been a rough couple of weeks for the MBTA. The problems are ongoing, frustrating commuters on a daily basis.
By now you've heard the roots of those problems have been around for years. FOX Undercover's Mike Beaudet investigates whether taxpayers will be taken for a ride to fix the MBTA.
You're either living the nightmare or you know all about it.
“It's been brutal,” said one commuter. “I mean, for the past couple of weeks it's gone from a 50-minute commute to two hours.”
Steve Silveira lives it and knows it.
“This has gotten so bad so quickly that I think it's focused people's attention in a way that however good our report was, wasn't ever going to possibly do,” Silveira said.
That 2007 report from the Massachusetts Transportation Finance Commission painted a "dire picture," saying "the MBTA finds itself in a downward spiral."
The report warned that "the MBTA is facing a likely funding gap of between $4 and $8 billion over the next 20 years to pay for its operating and capital needs."
And that billions of dollars in MBTA expansion projects are being planned that have no identified source of funding. Silveira was chairman of the commission.
Did he think the MBTA was on life support back then?
“Yeah, those are big numbers,” Silveira said. “It was quite clear that if things weren't done there was no chance that things were going to get better.”
And we all know things haven't gotten better. Eight years later and the MBTA is now $9 billion dollars in debt and facing a $3 billion maintenance backlog.
“I mean it's a few hundred million dollars a year,” Silveira said. “It is a meaningful amount of money anyway you look at it.”
Like it or not, Silveira says the MBTA needs more money.
“It doesn't necessarily mean there have to be new revenues from taxpayers,” he said. “The government takes in 32 billion dollars a year and so decisions have to be made. Do we want to have certain government programs or do we want to have a transit system and a transportation network that works.
“Where is that money going to come from?” asked State Senator Thomas McGee, senate chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation.
The legislature did make reforms after the 2007 report, but Senator McGee says more needs to be done.
“Is it gas taxes? Is it vehicle miles traveled? Do we raise the sales tax? Do we do regional investment with voters supporting that? Is it tolling,” asked Senator McGee.
“You got to make a commitment,” says former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. “You got to provide the resources and you got to have excellent leadership. You do that, you're going to have a great system.”
The former governor used to ride the Green Line to the State House. He calls the current situation sad, pointing out the MBTA was up and running within days after the blizzard of 1978.
Dukakis says the legislature should be able to pass a 5 cent increase in the gas tax, especially since gas prices have dropped dramatically.
“Yes, it's going to take some resources and there's only one way to get those,” Dukakis said. “Look, I raised the gasoline tax a dime in 1989 and 1990. It wasn't fun. It wasn't pleasant. But if we hadn't done that, the whole transportation system would have collapsed.”
Today, Gov. Charlie Baker dodged questions about raising the gas tax.
“I am really focused on getting the T up and operating,” Baker said. “Is the gas tax completely out of the question, raising the gas tax? I'm really focused on getting the system up and operating.
His spokesman later told us tax increases are not the answer.
Finding the fix may not be easy... But clearly something needs to be done.
“We can't ignore it anymore, but we have to find a way to build consensus,” Senator McGee said. “It's not easy.”
Senator McGee says transportation funding is an issue facing states all over the country.
Oregon is piloting a pay-as-you drive road tax that charges drivers 1 and a half cents per mile. But they'll also get a rebates on the gas tax. Back here in Massachusetts, the legislature's transportation committee is looking at holding oversight hearings about the MBTA.
