Below is the full transcript of the speech our Executive Director, Jarred Johnson, gave at Governor Healey’s press conference on February 12, 2024:
“Thank you, General Manager Eng. It’s an honor to be here. Your leadership has marked an incredible shift in the agency’s trajectory. I want to thank Governor Healey for bringing someone with the experience, tenacity, and creativity to do big, bold things quickly, such as slashing the time it took to open that emergency platform at Lynn, giving riders faith that the diversions will deliver safer, faster journeys, and bringing on more bus operators so that we can expand service.
Governor Healey’s budget is a great down payment on rebuilding the MBTA’s capacity, both on fixing critical infrastructure and delivering more service. This important increase to the operating budget helps to avoid dire service cuts. I also want to thank the governor for making low-income fares a reality after a nearly 10-year fight led by dozens of grassroots groups and hundreds of low-income riders sharing their experiences.
We need to build on these efforts and identify the revenues needed to bring this system to, not just a state of good repair, but into the world-class system that riders deserve, and that the region needs. While the most urgent repairs are the priority in the short term, we cannot choose between the state of good repair and the modernization needed to help this region grow and improve the quality of life for millions.
If we want to ease congestion on our highways, the T needs the resources to provide reliable service that makes all kinds of trips much more convenient. State-wide issues, like housing and the MBTA Communities Act, regional fairness, economic competitiveness, and addressing climate change depend on a strong transportation system, and, as [Secretary Tibbits-Nutt] said, ‘across the entire Commonwealth.’
Public transit connects people to jobs, education, and healthcare, as well as friends and family. Transit is vital whether we’re talking about low-income folks, people with disabilities, youth, and older adults, who often rely on transit. But transit is also vital when we’re talking about people who are also deciding between our region or other global hubs with stronger transit systems.
A strong public transit system is a must-have for a strong Commonwealth and for a robust economy that lifts everyone up. This kind of system will support jobs across the state—from Springfield to Somerville—provide high-quality transit and access to people living outside of [Metropolian Boston] by continuing to fund and strengthen our Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs), will finish long-delayed transit projects that will make the MBTA function better, and bring clean energy vehicles that decrease pollution into our communities.
Such a public transportation system is possible, but only if we properly fund it. The lack of sustainable, long-term funding hurts the ability of public transit to operate, plan, or build efficiently. I hope that the recently announced task force will give us some of those options to fully fund public transit.
Governor Healey, with the team you’ve assembled, led by Secretary Tibbits-Nutt and General Manager Eng, I’m confident that we are on that path. However, the backlog of repairs and the ability to build a transportation system for the future, as well as the current reliability and affordability of the T, needs leadership from all levels of government. I believe that we will get there and we will make those investments and deliver the transportation system that the Commonwealth needs. I’ll turn it back to [Governor Healey], and thank you for including us in this conversation.”