MBTA: Increasing Fiscal Strains Threatening Success of Forward Funding

Three years after its enactment, the success of forward funding of the MBTA -- one of the most important fiscal reforms of the last decade -- is increasingly uncertain. Despite major steps taken by the T to implement the reforms and live within its new fiscal constraints, the costs of system expansion and difficulty building ridership are undercutting the ability of forward funding to improve the quality of transit services and put the T on a sound financial footing.