Northeastern University

News and Events

Tight Market for Boston Apartment Hunters
The Boston Globe
January 25, 2012

Mass. Jobless Rate Falls to 6.8%, Lowest in Three Years
The Boston Globe
January 20, 2012

Will 2012 be the year for economic optimists?
The Boston Globe
January 1, 2012

Smart growth funds running out
CommonWealth Magazine
December 29, 2011

Home sales up a fifth month
The Boston Globe
December 22, 2011

To Have and Have Not: The Growing Economic and Social Divide and its Implications for Educational Leaders
WBUR
Fall 2011


Check out our new blog on sustainability issues in Greater Boston:

BostonGreen blog

Support our Work

support

Join our mailing list!




Follow dukakiscenter on Twitter

MBTA's money troubles of the future

Interview with Stephanie Pollack | Fox News 25

MBTA's money troubles of the future: MyFoxBOSTON.com

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - The future of the T will have wide-ranging effects on the city and all commuters. Last night, FOX 25's Ted Daniel did a report on the MBTA’s growing debt and the possible impacts it might have on service going forward. We were joined this morning by Stephanie Pollack, associate director of research at the Dukakis Center School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University.

Read more>>

How T Entered a Tunnel of Debt

February 5, 2012 | Boston.com

by Eric Moskowitz

The MBTA reached a halfway point last week with the 12th of 24 community meetings on proposed fare increases and service cuts, and the numbers so far are staggering: 2,077 attendees (counting merely those who signed in) and 618 lining up to speak. Another 2,900 have sent e-mails.

Longtime observers say the public response is not just the most pronounced in memory, but also the most knowledgeable. Beyond real frustration over paying more and losing service, many speakers cite the overarching problem: too much debt, too little money, with riders asked to make up more of the difference.

Many have called on the governor and Legislature to bail out the nation’s most indebted transit agency. But they also wonder how we got here.

MBTA and Transit Policy

The Kitty & Michael Dukakis Center for Urban & Regional Policy conducts research and works on policy issues affecting the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA or T) and smaller regional transit agencies throughout the Commonwealth because well-run, financially stable transit systems are essential to achieving a myriad of important urban and regional policy goals including improving mobility and access to opportunity, growing jobs and the state’s economy, combating sprawl, reducing dependence on imported oil and achieving greenhouse gas reduction goals.

The transit services provided by the (MBTA) and Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) provide access to housing, employment, education, health care, and other critical services to everyone, regardless of whether they own or can drive a car. In order to achieve transit’s potential, however, adequate funding needs to be put in place to support and improve existing services, maintain transit vehicles and assets, and expand service frequency and availability to better serve both current and potential transit users statewide. Instead, transit services in Massachusetts are in crisis, with fare increases and service cutbacks already implemented or imminent at the RTAs and, now, at the MBTA.

The Dukakis Center supports smart and sustained investment in transit statewide, with the goal of creating the best public transportation system in the United States, one that can realize the full potential of transit as a transportation option of "first resort" and help the Commonwealth achieve its economic development, transportation and sustainability goals. As with all of our work, the Dukakis Center is committed to addressing transit finance and policy from a fresh perspective and to working with a broad range of partners and stakeholders to conduct research and create policy tools that address some of the most pressing challenges facing transit systems in Massachusetts and throughout the nation.

"While the financial picture is grim, it is important to note that the MBTA is too valuable an economic asset to permit its further deterioration or even collapse. A robust public transportation system provides vital economic and quality-of-life benefits to residents from all walks of life and to businesses in the communities it serves."

The Educational Technology CenterDeveloped by
the Educational Technology Center.

Copyright © 2009 - 2012
Northeastern University