U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton said addressing speed restrictions are among the immediate fixes that need to made at the MBTA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton laid out a transportation vision for the state, something he said has been lacking for the past decade, but noted that since the MBTA is such an “epic mess,” it’s in no position today to take on his rail transformation initiatives.
Moulton said that while incoming MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng can’t turn around the struggling agency on his own, he is responsible for rebuilding its current team, which includes making key hires, firing underperforming employees, and transforming its culture to make it a place where people want to work.
“The first thing he needs to do is make a very clear and public change to the organizational culture, because the fundamental reason they have such serious staffing problems is because, understandably, people don’t want to work at the T,” Moulton told the Herald on Tuesday.
“I mean the organization is a mess and he needs to signal to everybody who’s considering applying for one of these jobs, that this is not the T that you’ve been used to.”
He said a “strong leader can signal organizational change quite quickly,” but part of the challenge of getting the MBTA back on track will be earning back the trust of Massachusetts residents, which he anticipates will take “much longer.”
To get the ball rolling, the congressman released a three-page memo on Tuesday, outlining his vision for improving rail connectivity in the state, to better connect residents living outside of the urban core to job opportunities in Boston, and take advantage of federal funds available through the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“Consider this: if you could get from Springfield to Boston in 45 minutes, and connect seamlessly to any of our existing commuter rail or subway lines, with fast reliable service, housing options would grow exponentially,” Moulton states in the memo.
“Today, you cannot realistically live in Western Massachusetts and work in the East. You can’t even live on the North Shore and work on the South Shore or vice versa. We’re both stuck in traffic and stuck in the past. This has to change.”
His memo focuses on three key projects, including the long-sought-after North-South Rail Link, which would involve building a tunnel to connect North and South stations that lost traction in past years due to its hefty price tag; and an East-West Rail connection that is currently being discussed and studied.
Moulton also suggests transforming the commuter rail into an electrified regional rail system, which the MBTA said it was committed to in January, following the filing of state legislation that called for full electrification by Dec. 31, 2035.
The North-South Rail Link could be accomplished in five years, Moulton said, but the “lazy approval and litigation process” in the state could push it to 10 years.
“The point is to transform our commuter rail system, which is, you just take in and out of the city at rush hour, into a regional rail system, where you can get all around the commonwealth faster than driving,” he said. “That’s really the next step for transportation.”
Moulton said these projects are “incredibly feasible,” citing comparable projects that “have been done easily around the world.”
“But certainly, with where the T is right now, it can’t take them on,” he said. “And that’s why we have a new general manager for the T. And he’s going to come in and transform the organization.”
Moulton said Gov. Maura Healey was receptive to his plan, which he put forward as a draft to begin the process of adopting a transportation vision for the commonwealth, but did not commit to any of his stated priorities.
A Healey spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
