B6 The Boston Globe WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019
Business
Shirley Leung
L
ast week, Governor Charlie
Baker stepped out of his
comfort zone to deliver a
much-anticipated transpor-
tation bond bill that would
authorize $18 billion in
spending on everything
from South Coast rail to bus-only
lanes.
For a Republican who favors small
government and judicious spending, it
was a big response to the growing hue
and cry for more revenue to fix the
MBTA and ease congestion, because
Bostonians can’t get there from any-
where anymore.
But is this the transformational
investment strategy that everyone has
been waiting for?
“It’s likely these funds still won’t go
far enough,” said Rick Dimino, the
president of A Better City, a business
organization that released a report
earlier this year detailing why the state
will need more revenue for transporta-
tion.
Absent, for example, from the long
list of projects: A game-changing Red-
Blue Line connector that would link
the two branches by extending the
Blue Line tunnel under Cambridge
Street to the Charles/MGH Station on
the Red Line.
“The question is: Is it enough mon-
ey for what? To deliver a 21st century
transportation system, perhaps not,”
said Eileen McAnneny, president of
the Massachusetts Taxpayers Founda-tion. “Does it fund the capital invest-
ment plan and put us on the way?
Yes.”
Bond bills allow the state to borrow
money to fund projects. That doesn’t
mean the projects actually get done; in
fact, projects typically are carried over
from one cycle to the next.
A chunk of Baker’s bill, according
to an analysis by the Metropolitan
Area Planning Council, consists of re-
upping approvals to borrow money
that the state has not yet gotten
around to spending, such as $825 mil-
lion for South Coast rail, $595 million
for the Green Line extension, $70 mil-
lion for small municipal bridges, and
$20 million for the “complete streets”
program, which encourages travel by
foot or bike.
One thing’s for sure: The Baker
proposal is jump-starting the debate
on Beacon Hill over how much more
money our transportation system
really needs, whether borrowing the
money is the way to go, and whether
the Commonwealth needs to generate
additional revenue, such as by increas-
ing the gasoline tax.
“I don’t think the complete answer
is ‘We’re just going to borrow this,’ said
Representative Bill Straus, who is the
House chair on the Joint Committee
on Transportation. “You can’t kick the
can down the road. It means some-
where in the future we don’t have
money coming in.”
“I don’t think it was Baker’s inten-
tion,” added Straus. “He has basically
filed a transportation financing bill
that the Legislature needs to take up.
We may have a different way in mind.”
That may be the case, but for now
let’s give the governor some credit.
His bond bill keeps up the ground
game on transit, roads, and bridges.
The highlights include $4 billion for a
new, accelerated bridge program;
$330 million for regional transit au-
thorities to invest in bus fleets and fa-
cilities; $50 million to create bus-only
LEUNG,PageB$18b
WOULD IT BE A
GAME CHANGER
FOR COMMUTERS?
CRAIG F. WALKER/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2019JOHN BLANDING, BOSTON GLOBE STAF/FILE 2016LANE TURNER/GLOBE STAFFJOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2019Wheresome
ofthemoney
willbespent
ª$10.1 BILLION:
Highways
ª $5.7 BILLION:
MBTA
ª$790 MILLION:
Rail and transit
ª$725 MILLION:
Multi-modal
(includes bike
lanes, ferry
terminals)
ª$490 MILLION:
Municipal
programs
(includes local
roads, bridges,
bus-only lanes)SOURCE: Mass.
Department of
TransportationProbably not — but Baker’s bond bill will
go a long way toward modernizing transit
MORE
JON CHESTORhode Island
lawmakers
raise wind
farm worryBHUAWEISales surge,
despite U.S.
penaltiesBLarry Edelman
The Federal Reserve
is about to do something
unusual: Cut interest
rates when the US econ-
omy is in good shape.
Central bank officials
are all but certain to an-
nounce the reduction,
the first since 2008,
when they wrap up their
two-day meeting on
Wednesday. They will cast the move, which has been
telegraphed for weeks, as insurance against the rising
risk of a recession. The Fed almost always lowers rates
when the economy has already run out of gas.
“It’s better to take preventative measures than to wait
for disaster to unfold,” John Williams, vice chairman of
the Fed’s rate-setting committee, said in a speech earlier
this month.
Williams, who is also president of the Federal Re-
serve Bank of New York, was speaking about monetary
policy theory, not this week’s meeting. Still, he sent a
clear signal that the Fed is prepared to give the economy
a booster shot sooner rather than later.
But the Fed’s insurance strategy comes with its own
risks — most notably, that it won’t work.
The economy, which is in the midst of a record-long
expansion, is flashing contradictory signals, making it
hard to forecast what direction it will take in the months
ahead. Moreover, even after raising rates nine times
since the Great Recession, the current target for the
Fed’s benchmark rate — 2.25 percent to 2.50 percent —
is low by historical standards. The expected quarter-
point cut may not do much, and leave officials less lever-
age when — not if — the next recession hits.
“The Fed is not husbanding its ammunition wisely,”
said Robert Pozen, a former chairman of MFS Invest-
ment Management in Boston and now a senior lecturer
EDELMAN,PageB
AFedratecut
won’tberisk-free
By Jon Chesto
GLOBE STAFF
The notorious traffic jams at Lo-
gan International Airport are about
to get even worse this fall, and Mass-
port officials want everyone to be
fairly warned.
The Massachusetts Port Authority
is launching a marketing campaign
Wednesday to let the public know
just how bad the congestion could
get as Massport embarks on some
$1.3 billion in projects, including ex-panding Terminal E and redoing the
roads between terminals B and C.
The goal is to help the nearly
120,000 people who travel through
Logan every day navigate while the
airport undergoes its most radical
changes in decades. The airport oper-
ator is racing to keep up with de-
mand from international carriers
and growth among key domestic air-
lines such as JetBlue and Delta.
Massport dubs the campaign and
construction projects, “Logan For-ward.”
The agency’s incoming chief exec-
utive, Lisa Wieland, said the
$200,000-plus campaign will steer
passengers, employees, and vendors
to information on construction and
related detours as they evolve. Mass-
port has created a website to track
the changes, and will provide text
alerts to travelers. The campaign also
involves extensive radio, print, and
digital advertising.
LOGAN,PageBLogan projects expected to impact traffic
By Tim Logan
GLOBE STAFF
Big changes could be coming to the
heart of Somerville’s Davis Square.
Student housing developer Scape has
acquired a string of storefronts on Elm
Street that are home to several long-
standing neighborhood institutions.
The British firm, which builds pri-
vately run dorms, last month paid
nearly $10 million for buildings that
house Irish pub The Burren, McKin-
non’s Market, the Sligo Pub, and sever-
al restaurants, according to a long-
term lease filed in Middlesex County
earlier this month.
Executives with Scape wouldn’t say
what they have planned, but the firm
specializes in building privately run
student housing that is independent of
any particular school. It’s done proj-
ects in the United Kingdom, Ireland,
and Australia, and has proposed a 15-
story building on Boylston Street in
the Fenway as its first venture in the
SCAPE,PageBStudent housing firm could remake Davis Square
JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF
Scape has acquired the building that houses The Burren, a pub in the heart of Davis Square.