BOSTON — The frequent and vocal opposition to a proposed package of MBTA service cuts, combined with growing momentum toward a new federal stimulus package, appears to be making a difference.
Describing a “dynamic and rapidly developing” situation, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak announced at the start of a board meeting Monday that he would suggest deferring some critical decisions on the service cuts until February, when the agency formally embarks on its fiscal year 2022 budgeting process.
He did not say specifically what portions of the wide-ranging plan might be delayed or reconsidered, though members of the Fiscal and Management Control Board plan to discuss the topic later on Monday after an executive session to discuss collective bargaining.
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“I’ve made the following request of staff and I make the following recommendation to the board: that we defer the presentation of the initial round of potential service reductions to next week’s meeting, that we continue to work with our labor stakeholders to determine the best ways to reduce costs and preserve the resiliency of the MBTA, and that we potentially defer some decisions on service to the FY22 budget process where it’s feasible for us to have that flexibility,” Poftak said.
Officials are weighing significant cuts to start next year as part of a broader effort to cut costs. The T faces abudget deficit forecast at around $584 million in fiscal year 2022, due to the sharp decline in ridership and fare revenue during the pandemic, and Baker administration officials have argued the MBTA should not continue to run pre-pandemic levels of service with only about a quarter of commuters still using it.
The board originally planned to take its final vote on the package -- which includes eliminating weekend commuter rail service, closing 25 bus routes and several ferries, and cutting subway frequency by 20 percent -- on Monday, but already pushed that vote until next week. Current plans call for cuts to be implemented throughout early 2021.
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Cox Media Group
