Senator disappointed with missed commuter rail deadline

Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn says he is very disappointed that the MBTA failed to meet an initial deadline for the first phase of a commuter rail makeover last week, and said waiting until spring is unacceptable.

“I don’t feel the MBTA has the same sense of urgency that my constituents and commuters feel,” he said. “I wonder why they are dragging their feet.”

At a November 4 meeting, the Fiscal and Management Control Board passed five resolutions laying out a vision for a commuter rail system of the future that would rely primarily on electric trains providing service every 15 to 20 minutes on the busiest lines. One of the resolutions called for the new service to launch in phases, with the first phase focusing on the Providence/Stoughton line, the Fairmount line, and the section of the Rockport/Newburyport Line that runs between Boston and Lynn.

MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak was tasked with reporting back last week with a staffing plan for the “rail transformation office,” a budget to support the office, target completion dates for the first phase, and work plans for this year and next. Aside from a vague staffing plan for supervisors in the office, none of the other tasks was completed, with Poftak saying that the work got sidetracked as the T dealt with pressing safety issues.

Crighton said the situation illustrates how the T as an organization needs more funding to grow its ability to work on more than one task at once, particularly when the need for action is so pressing. “We can’t afford to take our foot off the gas,” he said.

The senator appeared on the CommonWealth Codcast with Jim Aloisi and Josh Fairchild of the advocacy group TransitMatters. The show was taped prior to last week’s report on the rail transformation office, so CommonWealth reached out separately to him to gauge his reaction.

On the Codcast itself, Crighton said the first phase of the commuter rail makeover is important to the communities of Lynn, Everett, Chelsea, and Revere, which suffer from diesel emissions and congestion on Route 1A and at Logan International Airport. The senator said the $7 fare to get from Lynn to Boston is so high that few of his constituents ride the train.

“Most folks in Lynn will never use the commuter rail at that rate, yet they will still deal with the environmental consequences of the congestion and the trains,” he said.

Fairchild called the control board’s resolution an unfunded mandate, and he and Aloisi wanted to know if the Legislature was going to step up with additional funding for the T. Along with education and housing, Crighton said transportation is the biggest issue facing the state. “It’s all about the traffic. It’s all about the congestion. Everyone’s experiencing it,” he said. “The anxiety people are feeling is real.”

As for Beacon Hill, the senator said lawmakers are generally supportive. “The time is now. I don’t think we can afford to wait,” he said.

But Crighton said it won’t be easy. “It’s going to be a fight, both on the revenue side of things but also holding folks accountable and holding them to a schedule that’s both reasonable but also bold to meet these challenges,” he said.

BEACON HILL

Seven takes on the Senate’s business-like climate change debate. (CommonWealth)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

As municipal workers retire across the state, the drive to fill jobs steps up. (Telegram & Gazette)

Shirley Leung rolls out a list of potential female and minority candidates to succeed Paul Grogan as head of the Boston Foundation. (Boston Globe)

The Provincetown Business Guild, a nonprofit organization that promotes the LGBTQ business community, has asked the Select Board to approve a proposal for four rainbow crosswalks. But some see it as a distraction to their own cultural parades. (Cape Cod Times) 

The Blue Hill Observatory in Milton is celebrating  its anniversary as the longest-running weather observatory in North America. (Patriot Ledger) 

Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan talks to the Herald News about the biggest challenges he’s faced since taking office.

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Experts say coronavirus increasingly looks like it will become a pandemic that can’t be geographically contained and touches all areas of the world. (New York Times) The virus poses a major threat to the world economy, say experts, because of China’s growing importance in the global economy. (New York Times)

Edward M. Murphy thinks Joe McCarthy and Donald Trump have a lot in common. (CommonWealth)

President Trump mistakenly congratulated Kansas City, Kansas, for the Chiefs win in the Super Bowl when the Chiefs are from Kansas City, Missouri. (New York Times)

ELECTIONS

Bernie Sanders leads Joe Biden by 7 points in the latest New Hampshire primary poll from Franklin Pierce University-Boston Herald-NBC10 Boston. (Boston Herald) A poll from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, however, has Sanders on top by 1 point but in a statistical tie with Biden and Elizabeth Warren, with nearly 40 percent of those surveyed saying they could still change their mind.

US Rep. Joe Kennedy III joins MBTA workers concerned about the transit authority’s exploration of turning 60 new buses over to a private vendor to operate and maintain. Sen. Ed Markey, who Kennedy is challenging in the Democratic primary, is also supporting the union workers in their fight against privatization. (CommonWealth)

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse raises $123,000 in 4th quarter in race against US Rep. Richard Neal. (MassLive)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Fewer than 40 percent of housing units with three or more bedrooms in the Boston area are home to families with children, another factor in the shortage of family housing in the region, according to a new report. (Boston Globe)

The Standard-Times offers a sneak peak into ARL Healthcare, New Bedford’s first legal marijuana business, which is seeking permitting for growing products fo recreational adult-use.

EDUCATION

The Lynn Public Schools see a spike in suspensions at the middle school level, primarily because of vaping incidents involving sixth graders. (Daily Item)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

A University of Massachusetts Boston student who returned on Tuesday from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the global coronavirus outbreak, is the first case of the virus in the state. (WBUR)

Jim Aloisi, a frequent contributor to CommonWealth, shares how he is getting through tough times.

ARTS/CULTURE

CultureRx to fund arts access in Mass. as “investment in health.” (Telegram & Gazette)

TRANSPORTATION

Gov. Charlie Baker proposes lowering transit fines for fare evasion. (AP)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

A new report raises gas safety issues and also indicates that National Grid, which services Boston and eastern Massachusetts, is struggling to fix leaks in its system. (CommonWealth)

Lloyd Mendes, warning of a threat to offshore wind development, tries to pick apart Rep. Patrick Kearney’s arguments in support of the Jones Act. (CommonWealth)

Chad McGuire and Michael Goodman of UMass Dartmouth urged coastal landowners to beware of a recent court decision suggesting compensation may not be forthcoming if states and municipalities take actions to address climate change that affect the value of the land. (CommonWealth)

CASINOS

Despite predictions that casinos would eat into the state’s existing gambling market run by the state lottery, there’s been no apparent falloff in lottery ticket sales. (Boston Globe)

Did Mass. miss the boat on the gambling economy? The House speaker says it’s too early to judge. (MassLive)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

Inmates at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley have filed a lawsuit alleging prison officials have denied them access to lawyers following a January 10 attack by inmates on several corrections officers. (Boston Globe) A handful of lawmakers made a surprise visit to the correction center over the weekend. (WBUR)

Convicted child rapist Wayne Chapman is staying in a Boston homeless shelter. (Gloucester Daily Times)

Washington Post Editor Marty Baron puts out a memo in the wake of the Felicia Somnez furor.