Business leaders call for MBTA funding amid budget, ridership fall
Writer: Mirella Franzese
April 2025 — Massachusetts employers are pressing lawmakers to address what they consider one of the state’s top challenges: a $700 million MBTA budget gap and billions in unmet infrastructure needs.
“A thriving economy depends on residents and visitors’ access to reliable, efficient, and cost-effective transportation options,” said BayCoast Bank’s President and CEO Nicholas Christ in an open letter to Massachusetts lawmakers earlier this month. “By modernizing public transit, state leaders will not only strengthen communities in the short-term, but will save us from high, avoidable repair costs in the decades to come.”
More than 20 Boston employers and institutions signed the letter, including Boston’s Children’s Hospital, Mass General Brigham, UMass Lowell, Amalgamated Bank, Berkshire Bank, BlueHub Capital, Mitsubishi Electric, and Stance Capital, among others.
Nearly a quarter of all Boston residents commute to work via public transportation, while 33% of households do not own a vehicle, according to 2023 U.S. Census data. For those who drive, the region’s traffic ranks among the worst in the United States, as cited by Inrix’s 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard.
Boston commuters lost an average of 79 hours to traffic delays in 2024, costing each driver an estimated $1,414, according to the scorecard. The citywide cost totaled $2.7 billion, ranking among the highest in the United States.
Transportation-related emissions remain a public health concern. “Air pollution from transportation is a major cause of preventable death and illness in Massachusetts,” wrote Gregg Furie, Medical Director for Climate and Sustainability at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Access to reliable and affordable transportation is an important social determinant of health that has been proven time and again to be a prerequisite to good health.”
Business leaders argue a greater shift from cars to mass transit will reduce transportation emissions — a change that depends on a reliable, accessible, and safe transportation system.
Yet, the number of MBTA passengers has been on the decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of monthly weekday rides falling from 1.2 million in 2019 to roughly 777,000 in 2024. Average weekday ridership also remains 36% below pre-pandemic levels.
“The benefits [of these proposed measures] are myriad: sustained economic growth; improved air quality and public health; alleviation of congestion; and meaningful climate progress,” the coalition wrote.
Boston is not the only one in the Northeast metro area facing these pressures. In Philadelphia, SEPTA faces a $213 million budget deficit that could reduce its services by 45% and increase fares by over 20% starting July 1.
Transit concerns are heightened as the nation prepares for America’s 250th anniversary in 2026. Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities expecting an influx of national and international visitors may find their transit systems ill-equipped for the surge.
Top image by Ryan Gandolfo/caa
For more information, visit:
https://www.mbta.com/
https://www.septa.org/
https://www.environmentalleague.org/
