Word: mbta
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Cutting a deal that clears the way for Harvard to purchase a 91-acre parcel of land in Allston, the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority (MBTA) tentatively agreed on Thursday to drop its eminent domain claim on part of the land. But the deal is not a complete victory for the University—if it does purchase the land under these new stipulations, Harvard will have to plan around the train tracks and storage facilities that currently reside there...
...addition to preserving the MBTA’s current use of the land for its commuter rail lines, the deal will allow the MBTA to utilize the extensive railyard on the property as a future storage facility...
Consequently, the proposed move by the MBTA is illogical, even if purely for administrative reasons. The MBTA—the government agency that operates the Boston area mass transit system, including the subway, the trolleys, the buses and the commuter railroad—is a perennial money-loser. Fares are deliberately set below the break-even point in order to keep public transportation affordable for Boston’s poorest citizens; state tax revenues help keep the agency afloat. And with the state government facing a huge budget crisis, and the MBTA contemplating another fare hike, it is sheer folly...
...thrive. An unpleasant urban wasteland abuts this vital railyard, and Harvard development of the other 44 acres of this 91-acre parcel could clean up the neighborhood while preserving the railyard. Since Barrios also represents a good number of working class voters, he is aware of the hardships another MBTA fare hike would bring. And as a state senator, Barrios has a broader perspective as well. He is aware of the importance of this railyard as a transportation link for the region as a whole—as well as the vital necessity of developing the property adjacent...
State agencies must use their powers of eminent domain wisely and justly. In this case, the MBTA must act with intelligence and foresight. This property should be sold to Harvard, with full guarantee that the public interests will be preserved...