“The MBTA has hundreds of projects that the transit agency considers critical to future service goals. The latest five-year capital investment plan neglects many of them.
‘It’s a nuts and bolts document trying to hold the current system together,’ said Brian Kane, executive director of the MBTA advisory board….
In a presentation, the MBTA advisory board outlined two conflicting realities: the transit agency’s ‘funding structure is fundamentally incapable’ of supporting its capital needs, and ‘structural reform is imperative.’
A bulk of the funds for the capital budget will come from the agency borrowing against future revenue. The plan is also heavily reliant on federal funding — approximately 70 percent of the federal funds, or $2.8 billion, is unobligated, a worrisome amount with the Trump administration repeatedly promising to slash federal funds.
‘Yeah, it’s bad,” said Kane. “I don’t know what to tell you.’…”
By Shannon Larson | 05/20/25