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Boston Chamber
  • Events
        • Events

          • Overview
          • Events Calendar
          • Chamber Awards
          • New Chamber Event Series
        • ...
          Women's Network
          A Fireside Chat with Dr. Melissa Gilliam, Boston University

          This Women's Network event will offer an insightful conversation with Dr. Melissa Gilliam, the 11th President of Boston University and both the first woman and the first Black woman to lead the institution since its founding in 1869.

          06/18/2025

          11:30am - 1:00pm

          Fairmont Copley Plaza

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Special Event
          Talent and Competitiveness in 2025: Finding Opportunity in Uncertain Times

          Join the Chamber and Massachusetts Business Roundtable for a deep dive into employer insights, featuring analysis from McKinsey and a panel of experts.

          06/26/2025

          11:00am - 12:00pm

          Virtual

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Pacesetters
          Doing Business with Mass General Brigham

          Join us for our installment of the Pacesetters Doing Business series featuring Mass General Brigham on June 26, 2025.

          06/26/2025

          1:00pm - 2:00pm

          Virtual

          arrow-go
          Read More
  • Learning & Development
        • Learning & Development

          • Overview
          • Call for Nominations
          • Insights
        • Transformational DEI Certificate

          This program is in redevelopment. Click this page for DEI resources.

          Read More
          Women’s Leadership Program

          Our Women’s Leadership Program enables you to take your leadership to the next level by arming you with the most in-demand leadership toolkit.

          Read More
          Boston’s Future Leaders

          Our Boston’s Future Leaders (BFL) program provides emerging leaders with a socially conscious and civically engaged leadership toolkit, as well as the opportunity to apply their knowledge through experiential assignments.

          Read More
          Authentic Professionalism for Early Career Professionals

          Join us on June 12 for a highly interactive virtual workshop with Strategic Career & Leadership Coach Carole-Ann Penney.

          Read More
  • Economic Inclusion
        • Economic Inclusion

          • Overview
          • Pacesetters
          • Resources
        • ...
          Economic Inclusion
          City Awake

          City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
          Economic Inclusion
          Pacesetters

          We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).

          arrow-go
          Read More
        • ...
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          Small businesses are the backbone of the Boston economy. Learn more about the resources available through the Chamber.

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          Small Business

          Small businesses are the backbone of the Boston economy. Learn more about the resources available through the Chamber.

          Read More
          City Awake

          City Awake empowers young professionals in a variety of ways that encourages these rising leaders to stay invested in the region’s future success.

          Read More
          BIMA

          BIMA (the Boston Interactive Media Association) serves a vibrant community of like-minded professionals from agencies, brands, publishers, and ad-tech companies with business interests in the New England market.

          Read More
          Women’s Network

          For over 30 years, the Chamber’s Women’s Network has connected female professionals of all background and career levels. Today, our Women’s Network is the largest in New England, strengthening the professional networks of women each year.

          Read More
          Massachusetts Apprentice Network

          The Massachusetts Apprentice Network convenes employers, training providers, and talent sources interested in developing and implementing apprenticeship programs in occupations across industries and statewide in fields such as tech, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and more.

          Read More
          Pacesetters

          We are developing an ecosystem of corporations and partners with the influence and buying power to transform economic inclusion for minority business enterprises (MBEs).

          Read More
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Fifteen Years? Figure out a faster way to fix the T

September 12, 2018

Fixing the T can’t wait.

But Governor Charlie Baker would have Massachusetts commuters believe that the public will have to wait 15 years to upgrade all of the MBTA’s crumbling infrastructure, from stations to parking garages. And even sticking to that timeline, by the Baker administration’s admission, would be a “big challenge.”

What’s wrong with this picture?

Massachusetts deserves better. This state boasts one of the country’s strongest economies. Marquee companies, from Amazon to General Electric, have expanded or moved their headquarters here. Reliable transit is — and will be — a key to the region’s continued success.

We have lost sight of that. It’s as if the state has been in a defensive crouch about the MBTA for so long — decades of neglect spanning multiple administrations — that everyone is resigned to the fact that a malfunctioning transit system is a way of life here.

Enough of that thinking.

Commuters should not have to put up with elevators that have been out of service for months, falling concrete at the Alewife parking garage, or leaky ceilings at various stations. “The T’s properties are often the neighborhood eyesore,” wrote Globe reporter Adam Vaccaro in a sadly familiar piece this week.

The Baker administration has already moved in the right direction, reducing the backlog from 25 years to 15 years. Now the governor should set out a plan to repair the T much faster, even if it requires more money, people, or inconvenience during construction projects.

The state is in a position to do this in large part because of what Baker has done so far. When the Republican came into office in 2015, he took on the intractable problems of the T after a spate of snowstorms crippled subways, commuter rail, and buses, leaving the region in gridlock for weeks on end. He went to battle with the Legislature for a control board and more privatization, in an effort to sharpen operations and extract accountability from the agency. The administration has put together a five-year, $8.1 billion capital plan — one that builds on initiatives of previous administrations to buy new Red and Orange Line cars and extend the Green Line into Somerville.

But the Baker administration has been reluctant to ask for a big influx of cash. Officials insist it doesn’t have the staffing to spend more money, even if it had it.

So then, why not hire more staff?

The public deserves a detailed strategy to fix the T faster. Maybe managerial magic can get repairs done more quickly with the existing budget, but if it takes more money, Baker could draw on any number of ideas: regional ballot initiatives that would allow communities to vote for higher taxes to pay for transportation projects; transportation improvement districts that raise money from property owners who benefit from transit amenities; raising the gas tax or replacing it with a tax based on mileage; raising the surcharge levied on ride-hailing services, which are now only 20 cents per ride.

Any of those would require buy-in from the Legislature, which also needs to deliver solutions for the MBTA’s woes. The business community — which depends on quality transit to attract and retain workers — should insist on a faster timetable and be ready to get behind potentially unpopular revenue-raising moves.

“Everything should be on the table,” said Jim Rooney, the president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

That’s the all-hands-on-deck attitude that Baker needs to adopt also. Fifteen years is too long, and good enough isn’t good enough.

Read this piece on BostonGlobe.com

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