Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is pushing to refresh the MBTA with more than $1 billion in state funding.
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Inside the MBTA's Commuter Rail Maintenance Facility in Somerville on Thursday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey pushed ahead with her plan to pump more than $1 billion into the transit agency.
The money, which still needs the green light from state lawmakers, would be used for new Commuter Rail coaches, Red and Orange Line cars, station accessibility, track improvements and power system resiliency.
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"Just like we have got to build more homes and lower housing costs, we gotta fix transportation so people can get to where they need to go," Healey said.
The governor's $8 billion investment in transportation includes $1.4 billion to stabilize finances for the MBTA. General Manager Phillip Eng said the funding would "allow us to focus on our infrastructure needs, our track needs, on our signal needs."
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As NBC10 Boston reported last year, the MBTA was facing a $700 million operating deficit for the next fiscal year. But in January, the governor's office announced the plan to fill that gap.
Some transit advocates believe it's a short-term fix.
"I think the governor's plan does a good job stabilizing things at the T," said Jim Aloisi, a former Massachusetts transportation secretary.
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He thinks that, long-term, the MBTA needs a lot more money.
"I've estimated that over the next 10 years, the T needs an investment level of $75 billion that responds to our economic and regional needs," he said.
In December, the transit system reached a major milestone, when crews lifted the last of 226 slow zones. But the work is far from over.
Healey said she won't raise taxes to pay for the plan.
"This is just making smart use of existing capital and being able to leverage what we got," she said.
Eng also told NBC10 Boston that the MBTA did not plan to raise fares.
The governor is also hopeful that money from Washington won't dry up.
"It is my hope that a federal administration won't take away transportation funding because it's not a red state/blue state issue," Healey said.
