Politics & Communication with Joshua Gee

So I am only in Boston a few weeks when the MBTA launches a brand new map.

From The Boston Globe

The map is updated to include key bus routes along with subway lines, commuter rail lines and the Silver Line (enhanced bus service). It is also updated to be more geographically accurate (which I love in transit maps). This is also the first time in more than 40 years some neighborhood maps have been updated. Those are the maps that, when you get off the subway, show the surrounding neighborhood. Check out this description of the old neighborhood map at Government Center (not exactly and out of the way corner of Boston) to demonstrate how important this improvement is:

The neighborhood map that was also replaced in Government Center had not changed since 1967, when the station was known primarily as Scollay Square. It showed, for example, the old elevated highway where the Rose Kennedy Greenway now sits, as well as a planned linear office building near Faneuil Hall that instead became the Holocaust Memorial.

I am a big fan of this development. Improvements like this are not on par with a new subway line, but do make a significant improvement in the daily image and usability of the system. I am pretty curious why map replacement systemwide is expected to take two years. That seems like a really long time. Also, you know what would really make the T more usable – late night subway service!

Sources: Universal Hub – Bostonist – Boston Globe

Since all I really want out of life is to be Matt Yglesias, here is a little news about a local public transportation issue. Today the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will vote on a plan to raise fares and cut service in order to try to meet a projected $1.2 billion budget gap. The measure has the support of the Mayor and the Governor and is likely to pass. Thankfully, my route won’t be hit by service changes (fewer cars) in this round of cuts, but I will be affected by a price increase to the tune of $264/year:

The base subway and bus fare in New York City would rise to $2.50, up from $2. A 30-day MetroCard would cost $103, up from $81. A monthly ticket on the Long Island Rail Road for a commuter who travels between Ronkonkoma and Pennsylvania Station would increase to $352, up from $278.

The Times yesterday asked the Chairman of the MTA whether he had a message for lawmakers in Albany: “Mr. Hemmerdinger said, with his voice cracking slightly: ‘How about just, Help.’” The drama of that statement plus all of the quotes coming from MTA affiliates and commuter groups blaming Albany (usually those groups are quick to attack the MTA) gave me the impression that the MTA was playing hardball with the state government. The great thing about working at a large PR firm is that, regardless of the topic, there is someone who knows a lot about it. I talked with a coworker and he very politely informed me that I have no idea what I was talking about.

His first point is that the MTA is required to balance its budget every year so they never really play politics, they just try to meet their dealines. I think this is somewhat unique to the MTA since I remember in Boston people bemoaning the massive debt of the MBTA. I also found out that the main source of the MTA’s revenue (after ridership fees)  is real estate transfer taxes. If I buy a brownstone, or if Trader Joe’s opens a new store in Brooklyn Heights, there is a surcharge that goes to the MTA. This worked great when Tishmen-Speyer was buying multi-billion dollar developments and the taxes from that transaction alone were able to fund the MTA for an entire year. However, the real estate market has collapsed and along with it that revenue stream.

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