MAPC Study Explores Health Impacts of MBTA Cuts

Westwood residents have about the potential impact of proposed MBTA cuts on the town, as have others throughout the greater Boston area. 

Now the Metropolitan Area Planning Council has added health concerns to the long list of arguments against reducing public transportation options and raising fares.

The MAPC on Tuesday, March 13 released a report stating that the proposed changes to MBTA fares and service "would carry significant human and financial costs for the region, resulting in avoidable losses of life and hundreds of millions of dollars in preventable hospitalizations and accidents each year."

Tuesday, March 13 is also the deadline for on the proposals to be submitted via e-mail or telephone to the MBTA.

The MAPC study, which was scheduled for release at the statehouse in Boston on Tuesday afternoon, reportedly reveals that "proposed fare increases and service cuts at the T would contribute to the area’s obesity epidemic while increasing harmful emissions and isolating hundreds of households from basic health care services," according to a press release issued Tuesday morning.

The study reportedly shows that even modest changes to the MBTA system "would result in costs that far exceed the budget shortfall which the proposed changes are seeking to address," according to the MAPC release.

“These findings show that land use and transportation decisions can profoundly affect the health of our region’s residents,” said Marc Draisen, executive director of MAPC. “Our transit system is vital to keeping Greater Boston healthy.”      

Among the report’s key findings, according to the MAPC release:

• The total annual health costs of the proposed MBTA cuts total $272.1 million under Scenario 1 and $386.9 million under Scenario 2—more than the T’s $161 million deficit.
• The cost of additional car crashes, including those with bicycles and pedestrians, totals $33.6 million under Scenario 1 and $48.8 million in Scenario 2.
• Scenario 1 would result in 10 avoidable deaths per year (15 for Scenario 2).
• About 30,000 people would shift from transit use to driving (49,000 for Scenario 2), resulting in more than 70 (120) new cases of obesity per year.
• Increased congestion would lead to an uptick in CO2 emissions of over 58,000 metric tons per year—the equivalent of nearly 135,000 barrels of oil—or over 52,000 additional metric tons under Scenario 2.
• At least 550 transit-dependent households would be isolated from basic health care resources under Scenario 1, or 2,200 households in Scenario 2.

For more information on the report, visit www.mapc.org.