Post by ferryfast admin on May 11, 2012 10:59:20 GMT -5
MBTA bailout plans take turn with bill directing Massport to take over ferries
By Micheal Norton / State House News Service
Friday, May 11, 2012 - Added 2 minutes ago
The Massachusetts Port Authority would take over MBTA ferry operations and purchase T parking lots and piers in Hingham and Quincy, under a bill approved by a legislative committee yesterday and marked for House debate in early June.
The takeover was written into MBTA bailout legislation by the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, which is calling on Massport to send $18.5 million to the MBTA as part of plans to close the T’s fiscal 2013 budget deficit without adding to fare hikes averaging 23 percent and scheduled to take effect this summer.
A Massport spokesman said late Thursday that taking over ferry operations would require Federal Aviation Administration approval, but said the authority would withhold further comment on the bill until it had reviewed it.
House committee members unanimously endorsed the bill, a sign that it could face little turbulence in the House.
Committee co-chairman Rep. William Straus (D-Mattapoisett) said a Massport report valued the parking lots and piers at $17.2 million and called the $18.5 million payment required in the bill a "reasonable figure." About half of those funds would be banked for use by the MBTA in fiscal 2014, according to Straus.
"Massport has a strong interest in port operations and it is a perfect match for them to become engaged in port transportation issues," said Straus. "I think they are much better suited for this operation than the MBTA has been historically."
Anticipating Massport concerns about the FAA, Straus said he’d seen legal memos provided by outside counsel to Massport indicating no federal restrictions on airport revenues being used for seaport capital project and "no federal questions whatsoever" about how the port authority uses non-airport revenues. Straus said the port authority has $1 billion in interest-earning assets and noted the authority’s "huge real estate presence on the Boston waterfront."
The bulk of the bailout plan authorized by the legislation involves the use of $51 million in surplus auto inspection fees. But unlike Gov. Deval Patrick, who proposed spending all of those funds at the MBTA, the committee bill allocates $5 million in surplus funds to regional transportation authorities. Straus said that since the fees are collected all over the state, they should be spread across the Commonwealth and not given solely to the MBTA.
Under the bill, regional transit authorities would receive a total of $6.5 million, with $1.5 million coming from surplus snow and ice funds not spent over the winter. The advancing MBTA bailout plans would also steer $5 million in surplus snow and ice funds to the T.
The committee bill also increases penalties for fare evasion on the MBTA and seeks to grab federal Medicaid reimbursements for the MBTA service known as The Ride, which serves disabled individuals.
The bill describes fare evasion fines of $75 for a first offense; $200 for a second offense; or $350 for a third or subsequent offense, with violators potentially seeing their driver’s licenses suspended if they fail to pay fines.
The bill drops Gov. Patrick’s plan to impose a MBTA tort liability cap of $100,000 on serious bodily injuries or deaths. Straus expressed doubt about the $4 million in savings Patrick assigned to that change.
Preventing the pending fare hikes from rising even higher was a goal of the committee.
"I think we responsibly dealt with the proposal that the governor had made to deal with the immediate deficit that the T faces for next fiscal year," Straus said. "The administration made some very tough choices on service cuts and fare increases."
No committee members voted against the bill, with 11 voting in favor. Several senators reserved their rights.
____________________
MassPort
www.massport.com/
By Micheal Norton / State House News Service
Friday, May 11, 2012 - Added 2 minutes ago
The Massachusetts Port Authority would take over MBTA ferry operations and purchase T parking lots and piers in Hingham and Quincy, under a bill approved by a legislative committee yesterday and marked for House debate in early June.
The takeover was written into MBTA bailout legislation by the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, which is calling on Massport to send $18.5 million to the MBTA as part of plans to close the T’s fiscal 2013 budget deficit without adding to fare hikes averaging 23 percent and scheduled to take effect this summer.
A Massport spokesman said late Thursday that taking over ferry operations would require Federal Aviation Administration approval, but said the authority would withhold further comment on the bill until it had reviewed it.
House committee members unanimously endorsed the bill, a sign that it could face little turbulence in the House.
Committee co-chairman Rep. William Straus (D-Mattapoisett) said a Massport report valued the parking lots and piers at $17.2 million and called the $18.5 million payment required in the bill a "reasonable figure." About half of those funds would be banked for use by the MBTA in fiscal 2014, according to Straus.
"Massport has a strong interest in port operations and it is a perfect match for them to become engaged in port transportation issues," said Straus. "I think they are much better suited for this operation than the MBTA has been historically."
Anticipating Massport concerns about the FAA, Straus said he’d seen legal memos provided by outside counsel to Massport indicating no federal restrictions on airport revenues being used for seaport capital project and "no federal questions whatsoever" about how the port authority uses non-airport revenues. Straus said the port authority has $1 billion in interest-earning assets and noted the authority’s "huge real estate presence on the Boston waterfront."
The bulk of the bailout plan authorized by the legislation involves the use of $51 million in surplus auto inspection fees. But unlike Gov. Deval Patrick, who proposed spending all of those funds at the MBTA, the committee bill allocates $5 million in surplus funds to regional transportation authorities. Straus said that since the fees are collected all over the state, they should be spread across the Commonwealth and not given solely to the MBTA.
Under the bill, regional transit authorities would receive a total of $6.5 million, with $1.5 million coming from surplus snow and ice funds not spent over the winter. The advancing MBTA bailout plans would also steer $5 million in surplus snow and ice funds to the T.
The committee bill also increases penalties for fare evasion on the MBTA and seeks to grab federal Medicaid reimbursements for the MBTA service known as The Ride, which serves disabled individuals.
The bill describes fare evasion fines of $75 for a first offense; $200 for a second offense; or $350 for a third or subsequent offense, with violators potentially seeing their driver’s licenses suspended if they fail to pay fines.
The bill drops Gov. Patrick’s plan to impose a MBTA tort liability cap of $100,000 on serious bodily injuries or deaths. Straus expressed doubt about the $4 million in savings Patrick assigned to that change.
Preventing the pending fare hikes from rising even higher was a goal of the committee.
"I think we responsibly dealt with the proposal that the governor had made to deal with the immediate deficit that the T faces for next fiscal year," Straus said. "The administration made some very tough choices on service cuts and fare increases."
No committee members voted against the bill, with 11 voting in favor. Several senators reserved their rights.
____________________
MassPort
www.massport.com/