Gov. Charlie Baker is taking his message on reforming the MBTA right to furious riders who had to deal with a public transit system that failed miserably this winter.
He’s on the right track.
In his effort to overhaul the T, Baker is partly relying on one very important rule in politics: lawmakers can’t just come up with good ideas, they need to sell them to the people who matter most — the voters.
A good politician must be able to shape public opinion, and that’s exactly what Baker worked on yesterday while meeting with riders about his plan to fix the T.
The public certainly had an appetite for reform after this winter, but most voters have short attention spans. It is Baker’s job to keep the MBTA debacle in the forefront in order to accomplish his reform goals.
Baker’s spokesman, Tim Buckley, told me, “The administration wants commuters to know that while the snowbanks have disappeared, their concerns have not as the governor pushes his plan to fix the T.”
Baker wants to create a new “fiscal and management control board” to oversee the T and farm out some services to private companies, when necessary.
How can the state Senate turn a cold shoulder to these outraged riders who support Baker’s reform package?
Thanks to the governor’s smart PR strategy, it becomes Baker, the voice of angry riders, versus Beacon Hill pols in the pockets of the MBTA unions.
The Senate will take up the issue while debating a budget bill today, but leaders have already suggested they don’t plan on approving a control board or relaxing the law overseeing public contracts going to private companies.
Fixing an agency as dated and dysfunctional as the trains it operates is no easy task. Baker’s predecessor, former Gov. Deval Patrick, never managed to get the public behind his $2 billion transportation plan that might have alleviated some of the problems at the T.
Baker must learn from Patrick’s mistakes and ensure he has the public’s support.
He made a convincing first step yesterday by those who jump on the Green Line, rely on the Red Line and wait daily for the commuter rail to make it to work, school or into the city. Winning them over is where this governor may finally be able to actually get the job done at the T.
Jaclyn Cashman is co-host of “Morning Meeting.” Transportation boss Stephanie Pollack will join the show this morning at 9.
Copyright © 2024 Jaclyn Cashman.
