THE 1970 JONI MITCHELL hit Big Yellow Taxi croons the familiar refrain “pave paradise and put up a parking lot.” Mitchell was no doubt lamenting the destruction of nature for a gaudy purpose and how we later regret what we’ve done. “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.”

Nobody in their right mind, who regularly uses the MBTA, would ever confuse it for paradise. Far from it. For hundreds of thousands of Boston-area commuters it is often the bane of our existence. The MBTA is plagued by constant delays, slow and broken trains, tracks in disrepair, setbacks in expansions, and a black hole pension fund that is costing the taxpayers of the Commonwealth billions of dollars.

With the recent revelation that it will cost taxpayers an additional $25 billion just to get the system to “a state of good repair” – whatever that means – it is time for a sweeping overhaul of how the MBTA operates. That is a literal statement, not a platitude we hear from activists, politicos, or bureaucrats.

What should we do?

Pave the tracks and buy robot buses. That’s it. Be done with this nonsense. No more tracks, switches, rail cars, or outrageous repair costs and delays. Throw it all in the trash and start anew.

Rail travel is over 200 years old. Yet people with a particular political inclination hold onto it because they like the clickety-clack sound and are reminded of their semester abroad in Europe. That doesn’t help the working mom spending two hours a day in a smelly subway car because another “slow down” is in effect.

Paved tunnels don’t require the maintenance of train tracks. Buses are one-tenth the cost of a subway car. Buses can be parked vertically and are much cheaper and easier to repair. Buses are manufactured more quickly and at a larger scale. 

The advent of autonomous vehicles isn’t a sci-fi fantasy. It’s here. The major complication holding self-driving vehicles back is the variables that take place on our roads. Those variables are eliminated with a dedicated path of paved surface.

The MBTA exists to serve the transportation needs of eastern Massachusetts. It is failing in that endeavor. The working people of the Commonwealth should be able to rely on their transportation system and right now they cannot. Additionally, everyone in government is failing the voters as well.

The system – in its current paradigm – should be scrapped in favor of a private, efficiently run, autonomous network that functions. Any candidate for office, including governor, would be well served to tackle this issue in the only plausible manner that exists. A wholesale top to bottom rebuild.

For those who may say “you can’t do that!” I ask why? Honestly…why? Why can we not completely reimagine the transportation system as it currently exists? We should be forward looking, taking advantage of modern technologies instead of going bankrupt trying to maintain outdated, antiquated ones. The citizens of the Commonwealth should not only expect their transportation system to work for them, but to actually work. Boston is the hub of brainpower in our country. It is time we started acting like it and using that intelligence to move in the right direction.

To those thinking “it’ll never happen” or “what a crazy idea,” let’s grab a coffee and discuss it on the Silver Line.

Jeff Semon is a former Republican candidate for Congress, local political analyst, technology project manager, logistics chief operating officer, and host of the RINO podcast.