Massachusetts House of Representatives: Upgrading Greater Boston MBTA Rail System St
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Massachusetts House of Representatives: Upgrading Greater Boston MBTA Rail System St. John’s Preparatory School - Danvers, Massachusetts - December 2020 Letter from the Chairs Dear Delegates, My name is Brett Butler. I am a Senior at St. John’s Prep, and I will serve as your chair for the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Railway Service. I have been involved in Model UN at the Prep for 5 years. Outside of Model UN, I am on the SJP Tennis Team, an Eagles’ Wings Leader, a member of Spire Society, a member of the National Honor Society, and a member of the Chinese National Honor Society. The topic of Railway Service has really fascinated me, since my father is an executive in the FTA (Federal Transit Administration), which is part of the DOT (Department of Transportation), and he has been my inspiration for my research into this topic. Also, I am a frequent passenger on the “T” and Commuter Rail (as well as commuter rail and subway services in many different cities such as Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Montreal). Thus, I recommend that you read through this paper as well as to do your own research on the frequency, extension, and public trust in the Greater Boston Railway Service. Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions or concerns! I will be happy to assist you, and I look forward to meeting you in December! Thank you, Brett Butler ‘21 ([email protected]) Chair, Massachusetts House of Representatives on Railway Service, SJPMUN XV Dear Delegates, My name is Brendan O’Friel. I am a Senior at St. John’s Prep, and I will serve as your chair for the Massachusetts House of Representatives on improving the Boston-area rail system. I have been involved in Model UN at the Prep for nearly 5 years. Outside of Model UN, I play tennis, and I’m involved with the Spanish club and Spire Society (which helps with admissions events). I’m also a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. The topic of the rail system in the Boston-area has really fascinated me in my research as a frequent rider of the T and commuter rail myself. Thus, I recommend that you read through this paper as well as do your own research on how we can improve the current rail system in the greater Boston area. Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions or concerns! I will be happy to assist you, and I look forward to meeting you in December! Thank you, Brendan O’Friel ‘21 ([email protected]) Chair, MA House of Reps., SJPMUN XV Description of the Committee The Massachusetts House of Representatives contains 160 members, who represent about 40,000 people each. The Speaker of the House leads this legislative body, and he/she is elected by the members of the House. The MA House, also known as the General Court, has been around since 1630 (malegislature.gov). This committee will be tasked with solving issues with the Greater Boston railway system (Commuter Rail and “T” subway). We plan to focus on the themes of: frequency of stops, extension of different lines for access to more communities, and public trust (safety, quality, and reliability). Out of the 160 representatives there are 127 Democrats, 31 Republicans, 1 unenrolled, and 1 vacant seat. Only Republican and Democrat representatives will be represented in this committee, with roughly the same ratio kept but used on a smaller scale. These will be the parameters for the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Railway Service. Statement of the Problem As a committee, we will focus on frequency, expansion, and public trust in our Greater Boston Railway System (MBTA Commuter Rail and T trolley/subway system). The railway service is in desperate need of expansion to reach more communities surrounding Boston. Many low-income workers rely on public rail service to reach their work, daily, and many of them have to drive long distances to just reach their nearest train stop. This somewhat defeats the purpose of public transportation, by elongating commuting times. The service also needs greater frequency and reliability. Too often, trains break-down, de-rail, etc., causing major delays in service, making people either late to work or late to get home and see their families. Lastly, public trust should be an area of high-focus to this committee. Our public transportation system relies on a high amount of riders, so in order to gain and maintain high ridership rates, the trains need to become safer, more affordable, and of a higher quality, than they currently are. These are the main issues of discussion for our committee, and we will discuss legislation for funding, state budget, and allocating funds for: 1. Safety 2. Affordability 3. Higher Quality Trains Below, we have included notes that go into greater detail on these three main problems. Notes: We are trying to improve the Greater Boston area rail system (MBTA Commuter Rail and T trolley/subway system) so that it is more reliable and more accessible to commuters. Key Themes: ● Frequency of stops. ● Extension of different lines for access to more communities. ● Public trust ○ Safety, quality, and reliability. ● Safety ○ Reducing or eliminating derailments from the track. ○ At night having more transit police/officers. ■ Freedom from theft and assault. ■ Freedom from being profiled by law enforcement. ● Equity in the transit police in subway stations so they are retrained in better security for all people. ● Affordability ○ Consider free or nearly free transportation costs for essential workers and economically disadvantaged. ○ Looking at how much money comes from taxes, fares, and state vs. federal funding. ○ Contract with Keolis. ○ Consider pros and cons of fare prices and taxes to pay for the system upgrades. ■ Taxes: Airports, hotels, rental car systems at major travel hubs, tourism, property, income, gambling, sales. ■ Legislature has limited options based on travel to and from Boston. - Quality: Modernizing the infrastructure system ○ Signaling (electrical and computer systems) ○ Rail car updates or replacement with new cars ■ Seating ■ Noise level with metal grinding ■ Cleanliness ■ Public Announcements on loudspeakers to hear conductor ■ Visibility and signage for passengers ■ Handicapped accessibility History of the Problem The Boston subway was built during the second phase of the Industrial Revolution in Massachusetts. Electric motors, preferred by Americans over coal-power as a cleaner energy source, were first used in Boston trolleys in 1888, before being used for subways starting in 1897. The reason Boston needed a subway system was that it had a problem with congestion in its streets. This was due to overcrowding, blizzards, storms, and the numerous trolleys traversing its narrow streets. City officials believed the best way to alleviate traffic would be to create an underground rail system. The city planned to connect underground tracks with the already existing above ground tracks in South, West, and North Boston. In 1894, the legislature passed an act which allowed for the creation of the Boston Elevated Railway (also called Boston Transit Commission), a private company responsible for building new elevated railway lines and was the first public transportation company in America. Initial construction of the Boston subway included three stations: Park Street, Public Garden, and Boylston; these stops were connected to trolley tracks on the city streets and later to elevated tracks above the city streets (now the green line). In 1901, segments of the Orange line opened and construction began on the East Boston Tunnel (now the Blue Line), which ran under Boston Harbor, and it eventually opened on December 30, 1904. Initial construction of the tunnel cost taxpayers 5 million dollars. Boston Elevated Railway faced financial struggles in 1918 (led the MA General Court to pass the Public Control Act). This act gave a public Board of Trustees the power to impose fares in order to pay for the upkeep of public transit, allowed the board to increase taxes in the 14 towns served by BERy, and provided earnings for BERy shareholders (Brooks). In 1947, the state legislature formed the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) to take over BER. In 1957, the MTA created an expansion of rapid transit along the Newton Highlands Branch of the Boston and Albany Railroad (now known as the D Branch of the Green Line, which provides service between Newton and Boston). The MBTA was eventually voted into law on August 3, 1964, and became the first combined regional transit system in the U.S. In 1965, the Federal Transit Administration helped fund the MBTA’s first modernization projects Copley, Maverick, Prudential, Columbia (now JFK/UMass), Orient Heights, Fields Corner, Government Center, Kenmore, Haymarket, and Arlington stations (since which the FTA has provided the MBTA $3.5 billion to help fund future projects). Currently, the MBTA is one of the largest public transit systems in the country, providing service to roughly 200 cities and towns and hosts over 1 million riders per day on its subways, buses, ferries, and Commuter Rails (“The History of the T”). Here is a Timeline of all Boston-area Transit Projects: 1897: The original subway opens for Green Line trolleys from Allston to Park St. 1898: Park St to North Station is opened with a trolley incline at North Station for all trolleys to the north of the city. 1901: Orange Line opens in four segments: Sullivan Sq to North Station (elevated), North Station to Dover St (Atlantic Ave elevated), Dover St to Dudley Sq (elevated), and a routing through the Green Line subway from North Station to Pleasant Ave. 1904: Blue Line opens as a trolley tunnel from Maverick Sq to Court Sq at Scollay Sq.