MASSPIRG pushes Blue Line extension

LYNN – Record-breaking gasoline prices are forcing taxpayers to squander their federal economic stimulus checks on filling the fuel tank.”The dollars we thought we were putting into our pockets are instead being put into our gas tanks,” said Janet Domenitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG) during a press conference Wednesday at the downtown train station on Market Street.According to Domenitz, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline topped $4 nationwide. “There’s no better time than now to call attention to transportation initiatives like the Blue Line extension to Lynn,” she said.MASSPIRG unveiled a report Wednesday called Squandering the Stimulus, which includes an analysis of household spending and how it relates to high gasoline prices, use of the federal stimulus checks, and the need for better transportation options.Behind Domenitz, a row of student activists raised signs in support of public transportation. One held a mock stimulus check that indicated it was a “deposit to big oil” companies. Another sign urged extending the Blue Line rapid-transit rail line from Revere to Lynn.”We want to see the Blue Line come here,” said state Sen. Thomas McGee of Lynn, among several dignitaries at the MASSPIRG event. “The Blue Line must come if this is going to be a transportation hub.”Rep. Steve Walsh of Lynn said the time has come “to get folks out of their cars and onto public transportation.” Logan International Airport is a mere 3 miles from Lynn, yet to get there by train requires taking the commuter rail into Boston’s North Station and then a subway connector on the Blue Line to a shuttle bus service at the airport stop.”It would take 1.5 hours to go 3 miles. The Blue Line would correct that,” said Walsh, reiterating that for 50 years Lynn has been denied public rail transportation while other communities like Quincy have connected to the system and thrived because of it.”With gas prices at an all-time high, public transportation just makes sense,” said Rep. Lori Ehrlich whose district includes Swampscott, Marblehead and parts of Lynn.Domenitz said many American families spent their entire stimulus check on high-priced gas for lack of sufficient alternatives to driving. Since February, when President George Bush signed the Economic Stimulus Action of 2008 into law, the average cost per household for gasoline has increased from $60 weekly to nearly $100. Americans have responded by taking public transportation in record numbers, while motorists traveled fewer miles last year for the first time in over two decades.In 2007, Americans took more than 10.3 billion trips on public transportation, the highest level in 50 years, according to MASSPIRG advocate Eric Bourassa.”Public transportation created a net oil savings totaling 3.4 billion gallons in 2006. This is enough to fuel 5.8 million cars for an entire year and to save about $13.6 billion in gasoline at today’s prices,” he said.MASSPIRG has been urging Americans to reduce dependence on oil through long-term solutions that will make it easier for them to drive less, such as providing modern buses, light rail, commuter rail and other forms of mass transit.Bourassa noted that a bill titled the Saving Energy through Transportation Act, currently set for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, will set federal transportation policy for the next six years.In addition to the Blue Line, McGee has been a staunch supporter of a plan that would create a commuter ferry from Lynn to Boston.