MBTA Budget Inadequate for Key Projects

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) board says the agency could be forced to make “massive service cuts” in fiscal year 2026, reports Gintautas Dumcius in Route Fifty.

“Sales tax revenue ‘grossly underperformed expectations’ over the last two decades, hitting an average annual growth rate of 2.29 percent rather than the 6.46 to 8.50 percent, according to a presentation from T staff. That amounts to between $8.9 to $15.5 billion in lost revenue, and as Brian Kane, executive director of MBTA’s advisory board, put it, the agency has been left ‘holding the bag.’”

Meanwhile, the agency’s fare revenue is at 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels, and parts of the system are now fare-free. The 2025 budget does not include funding for multiple major projects and maintenance needed to bring the system into good repair. “The unfunded projects include an overhaul of the JFK Red Line Station, accessibility improvements to the Orange Line’s Chinatown Station, a bus maintenance facility, and expansions such as the Red-Blue connector and a Silver Line extension.”