Taxpayer group wants Baker to take over T for now
Contracts for MBTA expansion projects should be suspended for the rest of the year and Gov. Charlie Baker should be given short-term control over the embattled transit agency until a more thorough rescue plan can be developed for the T, a prominent Boston think-tank recommends.
Ahead of a report from the governor's task force expected by the end of the month, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation on Wednesday plans to issue its own analysis of the MBTA's financial and operational woes.
While the report finds that much is unknown about the depth of the problems at the T exposed by this winter's severe weather, the foundation is calling for a series of steps it views as critical to stopping the situation from getting worse.
"We know the T is broken, but we don't know just how broken," MTF President Eileen McAnneny said in a statement. "We also know that past reform efforts have not brought stability. Despite understandable public frustration, we should resist seemingly simple fixes until we have a far clearer and more accurate assessment of what needs to be fixed, which the T itself is unable to provide at this time."
The 60-page report recommends that state lawmakers withhold additional contract assistance for the MBTA until the agency can produce an up-to-date list of "state of good repair" projects. The MBTA recently acknowledged that the backlog of maintenance projects had more than doubled since 2009 to about $6.7 billion.
The report also recommends an audit of the MBTA's maintenance protocols, an independent financial audit, a two-year moratorium on the Pacheco Law, which limits the agency's ability to hire outside contractors, and a reexamination of the MBTA's governance structure.
"What happened this winter was not simply a meteorological fluke that disrupted the T's operations - it was a stress test that brought to light underlying financial, managerial, and structural weaknesses," the report stated.
In 2009, the Legislature enacted new laws consolidating state transportation agencies and putting them under the control of an independent board.
The Taxpayers Foundation faulted the current board with too often being "resistant to external examination and proposals for the change." The report recommends that Baker be given control over the MBTA board in the "short-term" and the authority to choose the T's next general manager.
Baker has said he hopes to have influence over the selection of a new general manager after GM Beverly Scott announced her resignation last month, but has also acknowledged that his control is limited with just one appointee - Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack - on the board.
Other recommendations include eliminating Social Security eligibility for T employees to align with the state pension system, eliminating binding arbitration and requiring full disclosure of pension system finances.
The report - titled "T: The End of Its Line" - attributed the performance failures of the T in the face of record snowfall to a "stark mismatch" between spending and revenue, old equipment, an inoperative asset management system, little public accountability and poor transparency.”
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