Amendment #58, which was sponsored by the Senate Minority Caucus, prevents the MBTA from continuing to develop expansion projects until the agency conducts a cost analysis of the proposed expansion. The amendment also requires that the agency must certify that the project won’t prevent the MBTA from generating sufficient revenue to contribute to its annual operating budget.
Essentially, this amendment requires that a future expansion project would have to recover 34% of cost in order to be worth constructing. The MBTA shouldn’t expand for expansion’s sake, but should be targeting populations of people who will most utilize the service to reinvigorate both the local and statewide economies.
Unfortunately, the majority party did not join Senate Republicans in insisting that future expansion projects aren’t a fiscal drain to the mass transportation system, resulting in a vote of 4-29. Posted below is the result of the vote.
