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May 10, 2005
Curtatone Urges New Transportation Secretary, MBTA GM To Approve Green Line Extension
Mayor Says MBTA’S Recent Consultant Report Demonstrates the Extension’s Cost-Effectiveness
SOMERVILLE – Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone today asked newly appointed state Secretary of Transportation John Cogliano and MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas to approve quickly the Green Line extension and to secure funding for the next phase of the project. His request came just days after the MBTA released its own study predicting higher ridership and lower costs for the extension than previously estimated.
“With new transportation leadership in place, we hope we can move the Green Line extension forward right away,” said Curtatone. “The T’s own consultant revealed last week that the Green Line extension alone would make it possible for the state to meet its clean air requirements and it would do so at extraordinarily lows costs.”
Curtatone made his case in separate letters to Cogliano and Grabauskas. The Mayor noted that Grabauskas is familiar with the issues at stake, having chaired two recent hearings on the extension in his former role as secretary of transportation.
Among the highlights of the T study released last week:
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Between 10,500 and 14,000 new transit riders will use the extension each day, depending on which alternative is used. That means the extension will yield at least 60 percent more riders than previously predicted by the MBTA. If the 14,000 prediction were realized, the extension would yield more than twice as many riders as previously predicted. Total boardings per day along the extension would be more than 30,000.
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The extension will reduce vehicle miles traveled by 64,000 and will reduce auto trips by 13,000 per day, helping to dramatically reduce emissions into the region’s air.
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The “cost per hour of user benefit” for the extension is between $9-$15. Projects carrying costs of $25 per hour or less are generally considered highly economical.
Under an agreement struck with environmentalists in 1991, the state committed to build several public transit projects to offset the air quality impact of the Central Artery Tunnel Project. According to the agreement, the state must finish the Green Line extension by 2011.
“The consultant results show both the clean air benefits and the tremendously low costs of building the extension,” said Curtatone. “When you add the economic development benefit, it really becomes a no-brainer for the state.”
Curtatone has previously testified in public hearings that the Green Line would be indispensable to rejuvenating Union Square and jumpstarting economic growth in the Brickbottom and Inner Belt industrial areas, as well as other parts of Somerville.
In his letters, Curtatone urged Cogliano and Grabauskas to approve the next phase of the project, the $1.5 million draft environmental impact report.
“The secretary and the general manager can take a bold step toward improving the region’s air quality and creating a new corridor of economic growth for the state, all in one single action,” said Curtatone. “We urge him to approve the Green Line extension right away.”
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