‘The Commonwealth of Massachusetts MASSACHUSETTS SENATE ‘Sewator JonN F. Kenan Sure Commas on Sra NB POU Nejad Po Dic Tom como Meat ta Spretovse Roow uF stg SouneComarton O70 Te einai — Pato) a8 Woo mo Means ou Xaznave MAsenanncoy Frmcusy err rane June 20,2018 FencuSene (Chair Joseph Aiello and Members MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board 10 Park Plaza, Floor 2 Boston, MA 02116 To Chairman Aiello and the Members ofthe Board: ‘The undersigned legislators, representing Quincy and Braintree, write today express our concems and severe disappointment atthe Board’s proposal to implement so-alled “surge pricing” atthe Braintree, ‘Quiney Adams, and North Quiney MBTA parking lots. In light of the service disruptions and parking clsplacements that South Shore residents are currently experiencing, we strongly urge that you reconsider this decision. ‘To increase costs for South Shore commuters this year is unacceptable. This plan, which we understand. is intended to redistribute demand across the system, places a significant burden on out commuters to address a problem they did not create. While parking is certainly in high demand, we must remind the ‘Board thatthe five Braintree branch Red Line stations in our district are presently experiencing severe disruptions: > > ¥ At Braintree Station, approximately 150 spots are unavailable at any given time due to ongoing construction. ‘At Quincy Adams, approximately 150 spots are unavailable at any given time for the same reason of ongoing construction. At Quiney Center parking isnot available due to the MBTA garage being condemned and closed six years ago, without a plan yet in place for mitigating the loss of 872 spots there. Further, new drop-off and pick-up restrictions associated with the garage demolition continue to inconvenience commuters.> At Wollaston, which is closed and undergoing reconstruction through 2019, commuters must use less convenient shutle service, and to avoid this many drive instead to the North Quincy station to park and commute by train from there. > AtNorth Quiney, already at strained capacity due to displacement from Wollaston, more than 500 spots will become unavailable due to an impending development project that may break ‘ground this fll, with no mitigation plan yet in place. In short, high demand for parking along the Red Line is the product of operational decisions and projects that have placed severe imitations onthe availabilty of parking inthe region. There has been a loss of ‘over 1,600 parking spots within the past several years at stations with curent train serve, and a vast amount of population growth in both Quiney and Braintree. ‘We as a delegation have been supportive ofeach of these ong overdue projects, seeing them as indispensable to the MBTA’s future and to the needs ofthe region. But we are also keenly aware of the disruptions these projects cause, and the accommodations we have asked our constituents to make, We hhave asked them to be accepting of longer commutes, with more seat changes, and frequent use of shuttles o replace train service. We hear daily how these changes have severely affected the lives of our constituents. We find it unacceptable to ask them to show patience through these disruptions and ‘maintain faith in their public transit system, while also sharply increasing the costs of commuting, citing ‘increased demand as justification when in fact it isa sharply reduced supply of parking that our constituents face. We therefore stronaly urge tat you reconsider this policy and that you refrain from inressng the costs of commuting from the South Shore until more parking is made avilable and regular service i restored. ‘We thank you for yourtime and attention to this eter, and look forward o any questions you may have or de 7 a ss ES Mark J. Coe Fifth Norfolk TP Sule