Let's Double the MBTA

I'm Burhan Azeem, vice mayor of Cambridge, and I'm running for state senate in the 2nd Middlesex District.

 

You hear it from me every April Fools: let's annex Boston. Let's create MegaCambridge. And now this year, we're doubling the MBTA.

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With everything the MBTA has been through in the last few decades, it might sound like a joke. Expanding the Red Line to Lexington? Growing the Blue Line to Lynn? It sounds impossible. Laughable, even. But with every joke is the kernel of an idea.

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In this video, I take us through what happened with the T. How we got to where we are now. And most importantly, how we can fix it.

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The T's problems are manifold: it was saddled with debt in 2000, while simultaneously being cut off from much of state funding. It spent millions of dollars on consultants that diagnose problems we already know about. A contract for new trains went $500 million over budget, and the new trains themselves arrived late and faulty.

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How do we fix this mess? I have a plan.

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First, we focus solely on building a better T. We don't add unfocused mandates and demands to a system that needs more help. We build a focused team and cut out the consultants. We prioritize getting you from point A to point B. That's it.

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Second, we fund the T. We could create a county-level government that covers all communities served by the MBTA. We could pass a two-cent sales tax that funds the T. No more fighting for funding with politicians whose constituents don't live near T stations in the State House. We give funding control to the people who benefit.

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Third, we build. The Red Line to Lexington sounds like a joke, but it can be reality. As an engineer, I know there are ways to do this faster, cheaper, and better. We standardize the station design, we get better at construction, and we commit.

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I believe in a better T. I hope after this video, you do too. And I have a record that will make it happen.

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