As a great governor for three terms of Massachusetts, and wonderful success in public transportation, Governor Michael Dukakis, Co-founder and Chair of the Boston Global Forum, recently talked on Boston.com: “Let’s just get the damn public transportation system working well” and “The answer is clear in my judgment: Don’t spend any more money on highways.”
Governor Dukakis has been fighting highway development since the 1960s. He said “This city would have been paved over if we let these guys do what they wanted to do. And by the time I left office, we had the best public transportation system in the country.”
Governor Dukakis touted improvements to the MBTA during his time in office, including new cars and the Red Line extension to Alewife. But he said the transit system was neglected by subsequent administrations, amid projects like the Big Dig. Now, amid the region’s congestion crisis, Dukakis says a simple, renewed focus on the MBTA could good a long way toward increasing ridership and freeing up the roads.
The original article can be found here.