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MBTA balances costs, revenues for first time in a decade

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation

MBTA balances costs, revenues for first time in a decade

Wages, benefits drop by $10m; Keolis hit with $10m in penalties

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THE MBTA REVEALED on Monday that its revenues during the year ending June 30 were enough to cover the transit agency’s operating expenses and debt service, the first time that has happened in a decade. Michael Abramo, the T’s chief administrator, said the balanced budget represented a major accomplishment for the transit agency. He said(...)

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T ridership keeps falling but at slower rate

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation

T ridership keeps falling but at slower rate

One bright spot: Commuter rail fare revenue up $7.5m in FY18

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THE MBTA SAID ON MONDAY that its ridership is continuing to decline, but the falloff is occurring at a much slower pace than it had been. T officials offered no explanation for the moderating decline but said the MBTA’s experience is similar to what is occurring at most transit agencies across the country. The officials(...)

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T kept public, oversight board in dark about Alewife problems

Tracking Transportation/ Transportation

T kept public, oversight board in dark about Alewife problems

Lawmakers slam transit agency for poor job of communication

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THE GENERAL MANAGER of the MBTA said on Monday that the problems with the parking garage at Alewife have been on the agency’s radar screen for close to a year, but members of the agency’s oversight board and legislative officials said they only learned about the issues when some concrete on the second level fell(...)

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Two candidates bucking the incumbents-rule rule

Politics

Two candidates bucking the incumbents-rule rule

Political competition is a rare phenomenon in Mass.

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WHEN IT COMES to the Massachusetts Legislature, voters won’t have a lot of choice this fall, either during the primary on September 4 or the general election in November. Seventy-eight percent of the 200 candidates running for the House and Senate will face no opposition in the primary. Most of that group (55 percent) will(...)

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A prescription for closing the democracy gap

Politics/ Opinion

A prescription for closing the democracy gap

To bolster participation, citizens need to know how government works

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AMERICA is facing a democracy gap. With just a few months until the mid-term elections, only three in five registered voters can correctly answer whether there is an election for US Senate taking place in their state. A similar number knows their state has two elected senators. However, when asked, just over half can name(...)

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More Alewife closures announced

Transportation

More Alewife closures announced

Garage deemed safe but will close overnight, next weekend

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MBTA OFFICIALS and an engineering consultant brought in over the weekend say the Alewife parking garage is safe for use this coming week, but the transit agency plans to bar parking at the facility overnight each day this week and all of Saturday and Sunday to continue making repairs and assessments. The announcement Sunday evening(...)

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We need CBO-like scoring of state health care bills

Health Care/ Politics/ Opinion

We need CBO-like scoring of state health care bills

Beacon Hill should tap expertise of Health Policy Commission

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WHEN I WAS A MEMBER of the Massachusetts House of Representatives back in the 1990s, I learned about the concept of continuous quality improvement, or CQI, as a way to improve any process – including medical care – using a rigorous data driven approach. CQI seemed good to me and a natural fit in my(...)

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A missed healthcare opportunity

Economy/ Health Care/ Opinion

A missed healthcare opportunity

Legislature's failure to pass reform endangers survival of smaller hospitals and facilities

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MASSACHUSETTS MISSED AN opportunity to address some of the most crucial healthcare challenges facing the state when the Legislature failed to reach agreement on a sweeping reform bill this session. It’s disappointing, particularly because the reforms thoughtfully formulated over the past several months are vital to many of our local communities, hospitals, workers, and patients.(...)

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Baker signs most of economic development bill

Economy/ Politics

Baker signs most of economic development bill

Vetoed sections on patent trolling and last-mile broadband

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STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed most of a $1.15 billion economic development package on Friday afternoon, approving restrictions on the use of non-compete agreements and greenlighting a sales tax holiday for this weekend, but vetoing protections against bad-faith assertions of patent infringement. The product of a late-session compromise between the House and(...)

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