Second of three parts

IT’S PRETTY CLEAR that troubles with the MBTA are dragging down the transportation grades for state leaders. When a new poll for the
Barr Foundation asked those surveyed to name the top transportation issue facing Massachusetts, 39 percent cited issues with the existing public transportation network. That was the clear top item, followed by traffic congestion at 21 percent.

The MassINC Polling Group found sharp regional differences on this question. Concerns with public transit dominate within I-495, while traffic and road conditions are top of mind farther from Boston. A quarter (23 percent) in Western Massachusetts want to see expanded public transit, whether that be more regional transit authority bus service or the long-awaited East-West rail project. In Suffolk County, home to Boston, residents are concerned about both public transit (42 percent) and traffic (26 percent).

Traffic and transit are connected problems in many respondents’ minds. To quote one resident’s open-ended response to this question: “It’s a complete dumpster fire right now. Bostonians can’t rely on the MBTA so more people are turning to cars, thus causing more traffic on the highways. Trains should be coming through stations every 5-7 mins, not 12-20 mins.”

This is a relationship that shows up in past polls as well. A 2019 WBUR poll found that Boston-area residents overwhelmingly agreed that “Public transportation helps get cars off the roads. Without it, traffic would be much worse.”

The inverse seems to be true as well: problems at the T are supercharging the return of traffic after the pandemic. This new poll shows that poll respondents feel traffic is back in a big way. Overall, 52 percent think traffic in their part of the state is worse than it was before the COVID pandemic. Another 37 percent think it’s about the same as pre-COVID. Just 7 percent think traffic has improved since COVID.

That 37 percent “about the same” number is not great, considering how bad traffic had gotten before COVID.  An April 2019 poll found that traffic was reaching a breaking point. Two-thirds (67 percent) reported leaving earlier or later to avoid traveling during the worst traffic; nearly as many (63 percent) say they have felt stressed, angry, or frustrated. Full-time employees were feeling the effects even more acutely, with 72 percent reporting emotional impacts and about half (52 percent) said they have been late to work in the past few months.

The pandemic was a release valve on traffic, so much so that a February 2021 poll found that more thought traffic would be better than worse after the pandemic, although 46 percent thought it would be about the same. But by May 2021, that had flipped, and 32 percent thought traffic would come back worse. A June 2022 poll confirmed that fear, as 38 percent said traffic was now worse than pre-COVID. That number has now grown to 52 percent.

Traffic is back despite the persistence of remote work. The share of workers who report working from home at least a few times a week has declined since the height of the pandemic, but a third still say they work either from home every day (14 percent) or a few times a week (20 percent).

It may be that, even with remote work, we simply have more cars on the roads than they can handle, but the problems on the MBTA are not helping matters. According to TransitMatters, T ridership is only at 64 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Some of those missing riders may be working from home, but many have likely taken to their cars, clogging the roads in place of other drivers who are now working from home.

Remote work has changed the calculus for many commuters deciding between driving and taking transit. Driving into Boston two or three days a week is more tolerable than driving in five days a week pre-pandemic. And a monthly transit pass may make less sense if folks aren’t using it enough to cover its cost.  

Most commuters statewide (83 percent) are driving, at least part of their trips. Transit use is largely concentrated within Route 128, and even there two-thirds are driving. Even in this region closest to Boston, more workers report their work offers free parking (46 percent) than free or discounted transit passes (32 percent).

There are many reasons why commuters choose to travel the way they do, and 31 percent of drivers said they felt that driving was their only option. Still, 24 percent of commuters who took transit said they did so in part because of cost, largely to avoid the cost of parking in Boston. Commuters won’t take transit unless it is available to them and reliable. But making it affordable compared to driving could tip the scales back in the T’s favor – and relieve some of the pressures on the state’s roads as well.

Richard Parr is the senior research director at the MassINC Polling Group. The first part of this series can be found here.