BOSTON — MBTA officials put an eye-popping high new price on infrastructure needs across the system Thursday, estimating that it would cost nearly $25 billion to fix everything that is not in a state of good repair.
The T rolled out its first new capital needs assessment since 2019, when officials under the Baker administration projected a roughly $10 billion cost to replace all outdated MBTA infrastructure with modern alternatives.
The new estimate is nearly two and a half times more expensive than the last capital needs assessment, which officials said is driven by a combination of factors including stinging construction inflation and MBTA assets aging faster than they are being replaced.
“Restoring reliability and ensuring safety are priorities as we rebuild MBTA infrastructure,” said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng. “Understanding and acknowledging the significant resources needed to bring our system to a State of Good Repair is just one step towards fixing our infrastructure to deliver more robust and frequent service.”
The MBTA is one of the oldest transit agencies in the country, and while there are a number of contributing factors, it’s clear that years of underinvestment have added to the cost of bringing our system back to a state of good repair,” said Eng.
The MBTA repair estimate includes, $6.4 billion for facilities, $5.3 billion for structures, $1.3 billion for commuter rail signals, $1.2 billion for commuter rail tracks, $2 billion for transit tracks, and $5.1 billion for power repairs.
Officials also updated their methodology this time around. As a result of changes to the T’s asset management systems, the latest study counted 83,683 individual assets to produce its cost estimate, compared to 59,073 assets in 2019.
“Timely and appropriate actions are key to mitigating and avoiding more costly and potentially impactful efforts,” said Eng. “Know that we are committed to aggressively addressing our immediate needs – like the recent 16-day outage on the Ashmont Branch to perform track work – as we strive to deliver a modernized system to serve future generations.”
Transit advocates are not surprised by the price tag.
“Twenty-five billion is not a surprise to people who have been watching,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director, LivableStreets Alliance. “The MBTA doesn’t have enough money to do this today, but the legislature has responded positively to this news because they now have a number to work with.”
The Governor and legislature must figure out where the money comes from. Now begins the fiscal balance of bonds, borrowing, and bringing in revenue the state can borrow against, as well as creativity.
“There is way when private sector is building housing or development there are way that money can go toward the T,” said Jarred Johnson, Executive Director, TransitMatters. “I really want to see how the administration and the T are going to be aggressive in asking for the resources the T needs.”
Both groups think the billion-dollar number will not mean an increase in fares. “No, and T riders should push back against higher fares. What we know is there no transit system in the country that depends on fares alone. The Baker Administration raised fares twice and that didn’t fix the problem. Raising fares will not solve the problem and this is really a problem between the governor and the legislature. She said a transportation finance package will probably take at least a year to finalize.
MBTA General Manager Phil Eng planned to discuss the new assessment at a board meeting Thursday, one day after Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt described the need for a “hard, hard discussion” about financing the transit agency.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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