Rep. Stephen Lynch, speaking at a meeting in Braintree last year. (Greg Derr photo)
Rep. Stephen Lynch’s congressional district doesn’t include South Shore communities such as Quincy, Hingham and Hull yet. But the South Boston Democrat is already throwing his considerable political muscle behind a fight that’s important to all three places: saving the South Shore’s ferry service.
The MBTA, as you probably know, has proposed an end to the subsidies for the ferries that travel between Boston and the South Shore, for an estimated annual savings of $3.7 million.
Lynch told editors at The Patriot Ledger today that he already approached Richard Davey, the state’s transportation secretary, to explain why several of the T’s proposed service cuts, including the elimination of the ferries, are a bad idea.
Lynch says he reminded Davey that federal transportation dollars come with some strings attached, including a requirement to set aside some funds for “intermodal” transportation. He says he told Davey that stripping out one or more of those “modes” from Greater Boston’s intermodal system could cause problems for state officials the next time they come to Congress asking for more highway money.
Lynch says he expects that, in the end, the ferry service will be saved – although there could be reductions in weekend service. It’s also reasonable to expect an increase in the $6 fare, he says, and attempts to shave the profits available to the private companies that run the boats on behalf of the T.
Lynch also says he explained to Davey that it particularly doesn’t make sense that the MBTA is considering eliminating the ferry service while at the same time state transportation officials are preparing to replace the Fore River bridge. Lanes would be removed in either direction during construction, potentially leading to huge bottlenecks on Route 3A – bottlenecks that could be bypassed by ferry riders. Lynch says he recommended not making any decision on ferry service until after the bridge project is done. Hopefully by then, he says, the economy will have rebounded to the point that there would be no need to raise the idea of killing ferry service again.