BOSTON — The MBTA’s looming deficit could jeopardize its ability to comply with federal mandates to improve safety on the public transit system, according to a new report by a fiscal watchdog.
The report released by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Association said the T has made “important strides” to comply with federal mandates — boosting its workforce by 1,200 since June 2022 — and has improved its handling of safety and service issues that have plagued it for years, but said it still “has a long uphill climb.”
State budget writers estimate the T needs approximately 8,000 operating personnel to run current service levels and support all safety initiatives, meaning that it must increase headcount by another 1,000 or more from the latest figures, the report notes.
Meanwhile, the T faces a looming “fiscal fiasco” with a projected $696 million budget gap in the 2026 fiscal year that must be dealt with over the next 13 months to prevent “draconian” service cuts to the system, according to the MBTA Advisory Board.
The MTA’s report said the failure to close the deficit and hire sufficiently to increase its workforce will “get the full attention” of the Federal Highway Administration, “put the transit system at risk, and damage Boston’s economic recovery.”
“The MBTA can no longer downsize operations staffing to cut costs without jeopardizing the level of service it can provide as directed by the FTA,” MTA President Doug Howgate said. “Even as the MBTA works to increase staffing and improve service, what is missing – again – are predictable resources to balance budgets.”
The MTA’s report points out the transit agency needs to know by fall if there will be sufficient resources available in the next fiscal year to help the agency increase headcounts necessary to provide safe and reliable service, as mandated by the Federal Railroad Administration.
“Otherwise, it will be forced to take steps to close gaps on the spending side, which could mean suspending hiring, leaving vacant positions open, and potentially making service cuts,” the report’s authors wrote.
MBTA officials haven’t disclosed how they plan to reduce the $696 million deficit for FY2026. A T subcommittee recently gave a green light to a $3 billion fiscal year 2025 budget that effectively wipes out the T’s savings.
The spending plan, which requires approval from the MBTA’s Board of Directors, would tap the agency’s remaining $307 million in savings and federal funds to balance the budget.
T officials estimate the transit agency’s operating deficit for the next fiscal year is $182 million, which is projected to grow to $859 million by 2029.
Gov. Maura Healey, who took office last year, attributes the deficit to a lack of investment in the system over decades, and says she wants to make “transformative investments” to improve service and reliability.
The House of Representatives’ budget proposal, approved in April, calls for diverting $555 million to the MBTA in the next fiscal year for upgrades and training new workers at the beleaguered agency. That includes $40 million to create an “MBTA Academy” to help create a pipeline for skilled employees.
But that funding is anything but certain, with House and Senate negotiations set to get underway on the final spending package. The Senate, which approved its version of the $58 billion budget in May, didn’t include the additional T funding.
The MTA’s report urges legislative leaders to tap into $300 million from the millionaires’ tax, shift capital spending for climate-resilient tracks and stations proposed for the current fiscal year to covering operating costs in the following fiscal year and tap out $100 million in MBTA reserves, to help whittle down the looming shortfall.
But the group says securing the funding for the T more than a year out will prove a challenge for the transit agency.
“Finding sufficient revenues for the MBTA and other transportation has proven to be an unsolvable political equation. If not, lawmakers would have fixed this problem decades ago,” the MTA’s report stated. “It is past time to tackle this prolonged challenge.”
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com
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