The following letter was sent to state officials and the MBTA regarding proposed cuts to Woburn’s bus and commuter rail service:
Dear Governor Patrick, Senator Donnelly, Representative Dwyer, Representative
Kaufman, Secretary Davey and General Manager Davis:
We write to you today to express our complete disagreement with the potential
Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority fare increases and service reductions that will adversely affect the City of Woburn.
While we recognize the budgetary challenges the MBTA faces, we are also of the opinion that bus service in Greater Boston is being disproportionately targeted with cuts in service. The routes currently provided by the MBTA in and around Woburn, including service to downtown Boston, are well travelled and any interruption, suspension or termination of service or, in the alternative, substantive fare increase would have a substantial detrimental impact on our community.
The commuters of the City of Woburn deserve an affordable, reliable and convenient means to travel in and out of Boston. These men and women travel to Boston and the surrounding areas to conduct business and provide for their families. The proposed fare increases and service reductions will have a major impact on the pocketbook of our commuters. Not only will these commuters have less money to spend in Woburn, as well as the community they are travelling to, but they will also have fewer resources to meet their day-to-day household living expenses.
The City of Woburn plays a critical role in the economic engine of the North Shore of Massachusetts. We are at the intersection of two major Interstates where commuter services play a critical role in providing access to the Commuter Rail, Alewife, major shopping malls and the Middlesex County Superior Court and Woburn District Court, among other places. We believe the proposed cuts in service will have an undesirable economic impact on Woburn and the Greater Boston area at large. Tens of thousands of Massachusetts’s citizens come to Woburn each day to work and conduct commerce. Those who currently take the bus will be forced to travel by car, which will strain our states infrastructure and pollute our planet.
The commuters, students and senior citizens of Woburn use our bus routes to travel around our state, arrive safely at our universities, visit friends and family, attend their medical appointments and to access our municipal services and courts. Both the State of Massachusetts’ and the City of Woburn’s economies rely in part on its workers and citizens having a reliable, affordable and convenient means of transportation.
We implore the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, State Department of Transportation and our elected officials to come together to find a sensible alternative to the current proposals. We look forward to working with you to find common sense reforms that will protect the interest of Woburn and strengthen the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority’s long-term financial outlook.
We appreciate your consideration.
Mayor Scott Galvin
City Council