Today, Governor Charlie Baker released a detailed report compiled by the MBTA special panel and outlined a plan of action to reform and improve the MBTA. The panel's recommendations include creating a five-member Fiscal and Management Control Board, as well as the creation of one, five and 20 year spending plans after the group uncovered massive structural and management failures that are on pace to bankrupt the system if left unchecked.
"Massachusetts deserves a reliable, well-managed, cost effective transportation system, and this in-depth report offers a plan of action to responsibly pursue organizational and operational reforms to reach this goal," said Governor Baker. "Thanks to the hard work of the panel members, we have action items to improve service reliability, correct the failures that would bankrupt the MBTA if left unchecked and rescue the transportation system our economy relies upon."
On February 20th, the Baker Administration announced a team of national leaders in transportation, economic development and municipal planning charged with performing an in-depth diagnostic review of the MBTA's core functions. The panel met 18 times over six weeks to review past studies, with MBTA staff, MassDOT leadership, transit advocates and labor representatives in order to benchmark the MBTA against peer agencies and analyze performance through objective analysis. The panel synthesized recent MBTA studies, conducted a performance review, examined the MBTA's core functions and compared results with other transit operations to assess the status of the system's governance, finances, and capital planning.