Free ride? That fits new Boston mayor to a T

Can you imagine the general outcry if Lowell City Manager Eileen Donoghue or Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella asked the state’s taxpayers to provide free regional-transit bus service for their residents?

The resounding rejection it would receive should be exactly the reaction to a far more outrageous request by Boston’s mayor-elect.

As an ardent disciple of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, it’s no coincidence that Michelle Wu is looking for a free ride.

If Warren can campaign for up to $50,000 in studentloan forgiveness and free community college, why can’t Wu stump for no-fare T rides for her Boston constituents?

Her off-the-rails wish might sound tantalizing to all those who helped Wu secure a landslide election victory, but it came to a screeching halt when it ran head-on into fiscal reality.

In varying degrees, Beacon Hill leaders dashed that fantasyland proposal.

“There’s no such thing as a free T,” Gov. Charlie Baker said over the weekend on WCVB’S “On the Record.”

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” added Baker, who called the T’s fares “affordable and competitive.”

Wu’s fare-free proposal would require the Legislature to approve subsidies to make up for the MBTA revenues lost without subway and bus fares. In fiscal 2020, those fares accounted for about one-third — $694 million — of the T’s $2.08 billion in revenues.

Senate and House leaders issued Wu more diplomatic dismissals.

Senate President Karen Spilka on Monday praised Wu’s “great ideas” during a Q&A with reporters after a legislative leadership meeting. But on the subject of free T rides, the Ashland Democrat said she “would like to have a discussion with her.”

House Speaker Ronald Mariano distanced himself from the proposal, saying he’s “probably more concerned about the running of the MBTA right now than anything else,” but the Quincy Democrat did say he’s “willing to talk” about it.

Politicians are fond of funding big-ticket ideas with someone else’s cash, but in this case, even a Democratdominated Legislature won’t buy into this scheme.

And why stop at Boston? Why not include commuter rail as well? We’re sure people on the Lowell and Fitchburg lines would also enjoy that no-fare experience.

Mariano’s concern about the MBTA’S state is justified.

That’s because subway and rail have two disturbing things in common — low ridership and red ink.

According to Boston.com, a report released in September by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation suggested the MBTA faces a growing future budget shortfall, due to the sluggish recovery in ridership and lost fare revenue.

According to the report, the MBTA might need to address a budget gap of between $200 million and

$400 million in the fiscal year beginning in July 2023, depending on how quickly ridership rebounds and the amount of federal funds the agency needs to make up for lagging cash flow.

MBTA ridership, which fell dramatically at the onset of the pandemic, has only regained about 50% of its normal rapid-transit levels and less than 60% on buses.

The report also noted that ridership on the commuter rail, which accounts for 36% of the MBTA’S fare revenue, remains at just 25% of its pre-pandemic levels.

And once those federal funds run out, the businessbacked policy research group estimates the budget gap could balloon to $450 million and then $500 million in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

Does that sound like a transportation system that can afford to offer free rides anywhere, never mind in the commonwealth’s largest city?

Free T fares? That’s a route’s to nowhere.