The Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funding from the MBTA over safety concerns for riders and transit workers.
In a letter sent Thursday to MBTA General Manager Phil Eng, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy requested information surrounding the T’s “plans to reduce crime, vagrancy, and fare evasion on the transit system.” Duffy said that if the agency does not respond within two weeks, it could face “consequences,” including the withholding of federal dollars. He sent a similar warning to the head of Chicago’s transit authority.
Duffy did not cite any specific statistics surrounding crime on the T but pointed to a pair of recent incidents in which passengers were reportedly shoved or attacked on MBTA buses.
“While local leaders seem intent on putting the needs of criminals first,” he said in a statement, “we’re not waiting for the next Iryna,” referencing the death of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee killed on Charlotte’s light rail last month.
In response to Duffy’s letter, the T’s Eng said that he will cooperate with the government’s request for more information on the agency’s plans surrounding crime. “We value and appreciate our long-standing partnerships with the USDOT and FTA, and we have a common goal to ensure that riders are safe and feel safe while using public transportation,” he said.
The MBTA did not immediately respond to a request for additional information surrounding crime statistics. Earlier this month, the agency launched a crackdown on fare evasion and began issuing fines to repeat offenders.
In his letter to Eng, Duffy specifically called attention to safety at Boston’s South Station, saying “particular focus must be on key transportation and intermodal hubs such as South Station to ensure a safe and clean environment for the many passengers and rail workers passing through these locations.”
MBTA Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan said in August that serious crime rates at the station are “extremely low” and that crime reports are down 16% compared to last year.
Jim Aloisi, a transit advocate and former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation, called the White House’s threat baffling, given that the federal government provides little operational support to big city transit operations.
“The day-to-day operations of the T or the [Chicago Transit Authority] are not funded at all by the federal government,” he said. “So the threat of pulling that money is nonexistent. It doesn’t exist.”
While the T does rely on federal funds to support its capital projects — such as station upgrades and service expansions — the federal government does not support the agency’s routine operations, including crime enforcement, which are mainly supported by state sales tax revenues, local assessments and fares.
Aloisi said that if the federal government were willing to provide more support to the T for crime enforcement, the agency would likely welcome it. He pointed out that while the MBTA does own South Station, the station is managed by a private corporation whose CEO, Ben Ashkenazy, supported Trump’s presidential campaign.
