I’m writing to urge Item readers to contact the MBTA Board of Directors to include the electrification of the Newburyport-Rockport commuter-rail line in its Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) budget.
The Board meets on April 25 and, as it stands now, this project is not up for consideration. I urge readers to urge the Board to do the obviously right thing. We must never forget that we’re dealing with what might be the worst-run state agency, so my hopes aren’t too high.
There are three perspectives in this case that merit discussion relative to benefits for commuter-rail communities, passengers, and the MBTA itself.
Let’s look at each perspective in relation to urging the Board with its membership of mostly-gubernatorial appointees to include the $500 million long-term electrification project in the CIP.
But first, a quick word on the process. The MBTA, like other governmental entities, has two types of budgets: operating and capital.
The operating budget pays for items such as salaries, maintenance, paper clips, and other items that keep the trains running.
The long-term design and construction of facilities and purchase of new equipment is accounted for in the CIP. Without getting too far in the weeds, the operating budget usually is paid for by fares and legislative subsidies while the CIP is financed with long-term bonds that are ultimately paid through the operating budget. Think of your household budget where the groceries, gasoline, kids’ clothes and sports equipment are the operating budget while the mortgage/rent and car payments are your personal capital items.
The community impacts caused by diesel locomotives have been well documented through numerous studies. The noxious fumes emitted from the engines as they traverse the cities and towns along the lines are especially egregious contributors to global warming.
CO2 emissions are bad but the black-carbon (BC) fumes are composed of 10 times more BC than the amount emitted by cars.
BC emissions dramatically increase the carbon footprint of locomotive travel. An underpinning of the proposed electrification is that environmental justice demands that this significant source of pollution and negative public-health impacts be replaced with a much more attractive option.
The irony that’s hiding in plain sight is that the environmental-justice movement is intended to address the disproportionate presence of hazardous environmental
conditions in poor communities.
Lynn, Revere, and Salem historically have hosted multiple industrial polluters. Yet due to the way that diesel engines perform, these machines emit the most pollutants when they are at their highest cruising speeds.
The Atmospheric Environment Journal 2015 Measurement of Black Carbon Emissions study of in-use diesel-electric passenger locomotives in California specifically mentioned the MBTA commuter-rail fleet.
Note that tiny and posh communities like Swampscott and Beverly Farms are not exempt from getting hit with the highest concentrations of black carbon.
This troubling peril is equal opportunity and afflicts the mutual-fund manager as much as the unlucky residents living near the tracks above their backyards. Electrification would eliminate those smelly and unhealthy fumes while providing a quieter and faster ride for commuters.
Finally, the maintenance and operating-cost savings are especially significant over the long term. Think back to your household budget and how much cash you’d have for other things if you didn’t have gasoline as a regular expense.
Eliminating diesel from the MBTA commuter-rail budget would save millions of dollars annually. Electric locomotives are lighter which results in less wear on the tracks and fewer moving parts in the machines leads to dramatically lesser maintenance costs for both components of the line.
The benefits of transitioning to electric rail are obvious. But the MBTA, true to form, is sure to make the wrong decision despite all of the benefits to every stakeholder including themselves.
State Sen. Brendan Crighton co-chairs the Joint Legislative Committee on Transportation. He, along with other local officials, including Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson and Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, support electrification. Please join them and tell the T at [email protected] to include the Newburyport/Rockport Line Electrification Project in the CIP.
Victor L’Esperance is a political activist with local, state, national, and international campaign experience.