More Developers Paying for Transit Service in Boston

"As debate roars over how to fund improvements to Greater Boston’s dysfunctional mass transit system, state officials are increasingly pressuring real estate developers to pitch in," reports Tim Logan.

"In recent months, they have reached agreements with developers of two big projects north of downtown to pay for extra service on the MBTA’s Orange Line," adds Logan.

Logan explains that developers have traditionally funded improvements to transit stations, not transit service, in development agreements. The first example of the new model came in 2015, when the developer of the Encore casino agreed to spend $7.4 million to fund extra service.

More recently, "developers of Hood Park — an eight-building campus of office space and housing near Sullivan Square — agreed to pay about $830,000 over 15 years for one extra Orange Line train during early afternoon rush hour," according to Logan. Other recent examples are included, as well as the context set by the MBTA's operating budget and the region's booming real estate market.

The story follows shortly after controversies in the region over service failures, and a call from the regional tech sector to raise new revenues to improve public transit service.