One of the MBTA's new Red Line trains pulls into Charles MGH station in early 2023. Photo by James Sanna | Banker & Tradesman Staff
House Democrats want to inject hundreds of millions of new dollars into the MBTA, calling for a sharp increase in operating budget support and funding for new initiatives such as a hiring and training program.
The fiscal 2025 budget proposal set to be rolled out Wednesday will include $555 million for the T, plus another $184 million for regional transit authorities, according to House Speaker Ron Mariano’s office. That money would come on top of other longstanding funding sources already set to steer more than $1.6 billion toward the agency.
Altogether, the spending plan would represent a major jump in state dollars flowing toward public transit in Massachusetts – Mariano’s office called it “the largest investment in the MBTA by the House of Representatives in an annual budget” – at a time when MBTA officials are sounding the alarm about funding gaps and Beacon Hill budget-writers must navigate strain of their own.
Mariano said the bill as drafted “provides the MBTA with the support that they desperately need.”
“Ensuring that the Commonwealth is equipped with a safe and reliable public transportation system is critical for the prosperity of our residents and communities, and will be vital in our future efforts to grow the economy,” Mariano said in a statement. “That’s why the House is proposing a record investment in the MBTA, an investment that will allow the new leadership at the T to meet the immense challenges that they face head on.”
The House Ways and Means Committee proposal would authorize a $314 million operating transfer to the T in fiscal 2025, up from $187 million in the fiscal 2024 spending plan Gov. Maura Healey signed last summer and more than twice as much as the traditional $127 million level.
Set-Asides for Capital Investments, Hiring
In addition, House Democrats back an additional $75 million to cover capital investments in infrastructure at the T, which could begin to chip away at a massive backlog of repair and maintenance needs at the agency, and $65 million more to help the MBTA address safety failures identified in a 2022 federal investigation.
The House’s budget bill will look to fund a pair of brand-new programs. Mariano’s office said the proposal includes $40 million to create an “MBTA Academy,” which would fund recruitment, training and creation of a workforce pipeline, and $35 million for a “Resilient Rides” program aimed at better preparing stations, rails and other infrastructure to adapt to climate change impacts.
Investigators with the Federal Transit Administration slammed the T in 2022 for an overworked, shorthanded workforce, which they said contributed to some of the agency’s most glaring safety issues.
The agency has gone on a hiring blitz, adding more than 1,000 positions since then, though some analysts warn that obstacles still loom on the horizon.
Where the Money Comes From
It’s not clear how the proposed MBTA investments will affect appropriations throughout the rest of the House budget, which will be fully unveiled on Wednesday.
A House Ways and Means Committee official said the budget redraft would use $187 million in General Fund money on the T and another $367 million from revenues generated by the new surtax on high earners.
The House bill will also match Healey’s proposal to direct $250 million of surtax revenues toward the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to boost its borrowing capacity, according to the Ways and Means official.
Mariano, whose Quincy-based district is heavily reliant on the T, said he’s “particularly proud” of the workforce funding the House will pursue given “recruitment and training challenges that have plagued the MBTA.”
Healey created a commission to examine big-picture transportation funding questions, and its report due at the end of the year could serve as a precursor to a revived debate.
