Gov. Maura Healey's moves, including tapping Phl Eng as general manager of the MBTA and transportation secretary, have helped put public transit on a positive trajectory. (Photo via Flickr by Joshua Qualls/Governor's Press Office)

SOME POLLING HAS suggested that, when asked about Gov. Healey’s record, many voters cannot name a single outstanding accomplishment of her first term.

For me, there is a clear answer to this question: She has saved public transportation in Massachusetts from imploding. This has gone largely unmentioned and unheralded, but it deserves recognition as a significant accomplishment.

Part of the reason why this has largely flown under the public radar is that there remains so much to do to bring our transit systems up to the level that users deserve. That makes it hard to necessarily see huge improvements in day-to-day service.

But Gov. Healey has taken crucial steps to reverse the downward trajectory our transit systems were on. If that course correction is maintained, it will make an enormous difference over the coming years in rider experience and in spillover benefits on roadway congestion. These are critical infrastructure upgrades needed for our regional economy to thrive and grow.

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation has identified congestion as one of five significant problems hurting the growth of the Massachusetts economy. Better public transportation is the key to giving commuters and other travelers an alternative to some of the worst roadway congestion in the country.

For those who can use it, public transportation offers relief from the frustration and tension of driving in congested conditions. For those who must drive, persuading even a small percentage of other drivers to switch to transit can substantially reduce congestion.

When Gov. Healey took office, public transportation in Massachusetts was in a very sorry state.

Decades earlier, two governors who believed strongly in public transportation—Republican Frank Sargent and Democrat Michael Dukakis—provided consistent support for it.

Gov. Sargent initiated a reorganization of the MBTA and increased its funding. He secured legislation establishing 12 regional transit agencies to improve service in smaller metropolitan areas across the state. He also began the process of taking responsibility for commuter rail service from bankrupt private railroads that had been steadily shrinking it.

Gov. Dukakis completed the integration of commuter rail funding and oversight into the MBTA. He invested heavily in new equipment, increased service levels, and provided reliable, growing operating support.

Working with the Massachusetts congressional delegation and the Legislature, he secured major capital investments that extended the Red Line from Harvard Square to Alewife and from Quincy to Braintree, and rebuilt Orange Line and commuter rail infrastructure along the Southwest Corridor through Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and the South End. He also invested in new equipment for the Red, Orange, Blue, and Green Lines and secured the operating funding needed for more frequent, reliable service. He provided increased funding to the regional transit authorities to support their efforts to increase service.

When Jim O’Leary became the MBTA’s general manager in 1980, he skillfully used the management tools provided by the reorganization, along with the new capital investment, to deliver better service and carry out major transit expansions. A customer satisfaction survey he initiated at the beginning of his tenure found satisfaction at just 50 percent. Eight years later, when he left the MBTA, that figure had risen to an impressive 80 percent.

Gov. Dukakis appointed Tom Glynn to succeed him, and Glynn’s sustained focus on customer service helped raise satisfaction to a remarkable 92 percent by the end of the Dukakis administration.

Unfortunately, subsequent governors did not sustain that commitment to capital investment and operating support. The “forward funding” legislation enacted in 2000 sought to impose budget discipline on the MBTA by dedicating one percentage point of the state’s then-five-percent sales tax to the agency. But it contained two major flaws:

  • The arithmetic was wrong: The dedicated sales tax revenue fell far short of expectations.
  • Sales tax revenue did not grow fast enough to keep pace with the operating costs of an expanding transit system.

Although these flaws became apparent within a few years, the legislation was not revised to provide adequate operating funding. The MBTA began deferring essential maintenance as a short-term strategy to avoid service cuts. Gov. Patrick’s effort to raise the gas tax by 19 cents to close the funding gap was blocked by the Legislature, which provided only part of the money needed.

When COVID-19 dramatically reduced ridership and fare revenue, the already weakened MBTA was saved from collapse only by emergency federal funding provided by President Biden. But the inadequate funding structure established in 2000, compounded by two decades of false austerity and deferred maintenance, continued to weaken the system. The MBTA was short at least 1,000 employees and burdened with aging trains, poorly maintained track, and deteriorating infrastructure.

When Gov. Healey took office, the system was close to collapse. She took decisive action:

  • She appointed Tom Glynn, who had served as general manager during the MBTA’s highest levels of customer satisfaction, to chair its board and lead a nationwide search for a new general manager, Phil Eng.
  • She provided budget support to fill more than 1,000 positions lost through attrition.
  • She worked with the Legislature to secure revenue from the millionaires tax, which she had supported, to help fund the rescue effort. That funding supported an ambitious program, led by Eng, to address deferred maintenance and restore tracks, maintenance facilities, and other essential infrastructure to a state of good repair.

Gov. Healey also secured legislative support for increased funding for regional transit agencies statewide, allowing them to expand service and eliminate fares. Ridership has since risen well above pre-pandemic levels.

With support from the congressional delegation, she has also secured federal funding to prepare infrastructure for East–West and Inland Route passenger rail service connecting Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Pittsfield, and Hartford.

There have been setbacks:

  • The purchase of new Red and Orange line cars from a Chinese firm selected through a low-bid procurement has been delayed amid foreign-policy tensions with China and Trump administration tariff policies. Those delays have required additional maintenance to keep antiquated Red Line cars running well beyond their intended replacement dates.
  • The Republican Congress has clawed back $327 million in federal grant funding for the replacement of functionally obsolete rail and highway facilities in Allston. The governor has pledged to fight for its restoration.
  • Trump’s tariff policies have driven up the cost of imported steel, concrete, and other essential materials for rail renewal and construction, and the inflation in the price of diesel fuel and cost of living is making operating costs rise dramatically.

Hopefully, the midterm elections will produce a more transit-friendly Democratic House and Senate. There has been bipartisan congressional support for renewing federal authorization for transportation capital grants and operating subsidies.

Working with our congressional delegation, the governor will need to secure additional funding to offset cost increases driven by Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war, restore the funding clawed back from the Allston project, and continue advancing East–West Rail.

Commuter rail should be converted to “regional rail,” with more frequent service and lower fares. That would increase ridership, improve access to housing across the state, and encourage economic growth in Gateway Cities.

The MBTA’s funding formula also needs permanent restructuring to correct the flaws in the 2000 statute and cover the higher operating costs of preventive maintenance and increased service. Similar increased reliable funding is needed to support growth in service provided by the regional transit authorities. Essential funding should not depend on annual budget negotiations.

A significant casualty of the false austerity of the past 25 years has been investment in rapid transit and commuter rail expansion. An ambitious expansion program is needed to make the MBTA a stronger force for reducing congestion and giving people alternatives to driving.

To paraphrase the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Gov. Healey has taken far more than a single step toward restoring the MBTA and public transportation across Massachusetts. She deserves credit for initiating a significant, and desperately needed, turnaround.

Fred Salvucci is a senior lecturer and senior research associate in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. He served as secretary of transportation for all 12 years under Gov. Michael Dukakis.