Is A Tax What It Takes To Fix The MBTA?

BOSTON, MA — Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is floating a temporary tax or fee, as part of a comprehensive plan he's seeking to resuscitate an aging MBTA system whose challenges went viral Wednesday with video of riders bashing through windows and prying open doors to escape a smoke-filled Orange Line train.

According to The Boston Herald, the mayor told reporters Thursday:

“If you want to upgrade the system and have a world class system here in Boston, here in Massachusetts, which we deserve, we need the revenue for it,” Walsh told reporters today in South Boston. “So I think we have to get a little creative here, maybe do some kind of tax with an end in sight.”

A “10- or 15-year master plan” might do the trick, Walsh told reporters, specifically suggesting a sales or gas tax that would sunset once needed upgrades are done.

“I think if the public knew the tax increase would be over a 10 year period, but the public knew they'd have a first-class transit system, I think the public would be open to the idea," Walsh said.

>>> Read the full story in The Boston Herald here. <<<

The aging MBTA system has been a political hot potato ever since its disastrous performance during the winter of 2015, and a key issue for Gov. Charlie Baker. But reports of riders suffering from smoke inhalation coupled with harrowing footage from inside the Back Bay T station has brought increased urgency to the funding challenges the system has long faced.

Read More:

Report: MBTA Worker Did Not Follow Protocol in Orange Line Evacuation

Watch: Passengers Flee Smoke-Filled Boston Train, Social Media Video Shows

End of the Line? Frustrated People Sound Off on Orange Line Disaster

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