Poll indicates Mass. voters see stalled out MBTA, unhappiness with Healey

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For all the talk of a new and improved MBTA, Massachusetts voters appear to be less than sanguine about the state of the public transit system, according to a new poll that also has Gov. Maura Healey with an underwater approval rating.

Forty-three percent of respondents said they feel the T is “about the same” as it has been, while 21% said it has improved and 19% said it’s gotten worse. Seventeen percent said they weren’t sure.

Asked about the condition of the system, roughly 80% said it’s fair (44%) or poor (38%). “Voters are more likely to [rate] conditions as ‘poor’ than all residents were when asked in 2024 and 2025,” according to an analysis from the MassINC Polling Group (MPG), which conducted the survey for the advocacy groups Transportation for Massachusetts and Mass. Voter Table.

That shows some stasis in public opinion, even as Healey and her transportation chief, Phil Eng, have touted an ongoing turnaround of the transit agency. Residents probably still recall the smoking Orange Line car from 2022, when Charlie Baker was governor, and the searing images of a woman jumping off the tracks and into the Mystic River.

More recent headlines – “The MBTA is closing a Green Line station for 3 years,” for example – probably haven’t helped. The agency is also bracing for a busy summer, which involves ferrying tens of thousands of commuters in and out of Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium for World Cup matches.

Even voters who ride public transit aren’t necessarily more positive, but 28% of voters inside Route 128 do see some improvement.

In talking about the poll results, MPG’s Richard Parr pointed to a quote from a former T general manager Rich Davey, who now heads up Massport: “You’re only as good as your last rush hour.” There can be progress across a wide swath of the agency, but if customers are still having a bad experience, it can be hard for the good news to break through, he said.

Parr also said the tough winter – including some monster snowstorms – could also be a factor. A MPG focus group, which included voters from Boston and mid-size urban centers known as “Gateway Cities,” expressed unhappiness with snow-clearing efforts from roads, sidewalks and bus stops.

The survey of 800 registered Bay State voters took place between March 12 and March 17, through live phone interviews and text message invitations to the survey. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The poll, which comes amid slipping consumer confidence and accelerating inflation, also took a look at potential November ballot questions and favorable-unfavorable ratings of top elected officials, including Healey and Markey, who are facing challengers. “Both Donald Trump (31-61) and Maura Healey (39-45) are underwater, while Ed Markey is only slightly above (40-37),” MPG’s analysis said. “Healey is particularly weak with men, voters under 45, independents, and voters with lower levels of education and income.”

The ballot question that proposes to lower the state income tax to 4% from 5% received the support of 66% of voters. But when the survey asked about the proposal causing a $5 billion state budget hole that could lead to cuts in education and health care, while delivering $30,000 to wealthier residents, the percentage in support unsurprisingly shifts to 40%.

That’s a “dramatic shift,” Parr said. But it’s also not a guarantee that it’ll happen. “Someone has to do the work to get that message out there,” he said.

MPG’s analysis found the people driving the shift after the follow-up question were largely Democrats, women and non-white voters. 

The “yes” side of the election day registration ballot question, pushed by Secretary of State Bill Galvin, is leading, 58% to 35%, with 7% undecided. But 37% said they thought the state already had it, versus 34% who knew Massachusetts does not, and 29% who are unsure. 

“The campaign that wants to pass this needs to make sure people know we don’t already have it,” Parr said.

What was your biggest takeaway from the poll? Send it along here: [email protected].

9:00 | The Public Health Council meets and votes on project applications, such as Dana-Farber Cancer Institute looking to construct a new proton beam therapy center in Boston. The council will also vote on regulatory changes dealing with blood screening for newborns for treatable diseases and disorders. There will also be an informational presentation about protecting public health at the World Cup. | Agenda and Access

9:30 | The Boston Globe holds its Health Equity Summit. The agenda features a fireside chat with Health and Human Services Secretary Kiame Mahaniah at 3 p.m. Rep. Marjorie Decker participates in a panel discussion about biotech and medical innovation at 1:30 p.m. Other sessions will explore bridging the cancer equity gap, fixing the maternal health crisis and delivering equitable care to historically marginalized communities. | David Rubenstein Treehouse at Harvard University, 20 Western Ave., Boston | Register

10:00 | Digital advocacy group Fight for the Future and a coalition of human rights, LGBTQ+, civil liberties, racial justice and environmental advocacy groups hold a press conference to express concerns about "dangerous and unconstitutional online ID check bills" following the emergence of social media legislation. Advocates will make remarks, hold signs and take questions before going into the State House to deliver a letter to legislative leadership and Gov. Maura Healey's office. | Front of the State House, Boston

10:15 | Gov. Maura Healey offers remarks with State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble at the funeral of State Police Trooper Kevin Trainor, who died May 6 in the line of duty. | St. James Church, 160 Federal St., Salem

11:00 | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu delivers remarks at the grand opening of the Connors Leadership Academy, the new home for Camp Harbor View’s year-round teen leadership program and family services. | 135 William T Morrissey Boulevard, Suite S110A, Dorchester

3:00 | The Supreme Judicial Court holds a special sitting to present a memorial to Herbert Wilkins, who died last May and served on the SJC for nearly three decades. Chief Justice Kimberly Budd opens the ceremony, and Attorney General Andrea Campbell presents the memorial. Retired chief justices Margaret Marshall and Roderick Ireland give remarks. | John Adams Courthouse, Courtroom One, Boston | Livestream

6:00 | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu will host a convening alongside Flagship Pioneering leadership "to help shape and define the next chapter of Boston’s continued growth and innovation." | Flagship Pioneering, One Charles Park, 140 First Street, Cambridge

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A super PAC supporting Sen. Ed Markey has a new ad calling Democratic challenger Seth Moulton a lizard. Commonwealth Together PAC, backed by 1199 SEIU and the Massachusetts Teachers Union, is releasing a new ad, titled “Chameleon,” with plans to spend six figures airing it on YouTube and Hulu. The ad features a chameleon changing colors, from red to blue, while a voiceover takes aim at Moulton, alleging he’s trying to “disguise himself as a progressive,” and saying he criticized single-payer health care, the Green New Deal and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposed tax on “ultra-millionaires.” Moulton’s camp fired back by pointing to FactCheck.org’s pushback on the claims. "When we first heard the ad was about a ‘chameleon,’ we figured it was a look back on Senator Markey’s early years in office,” Moulton spokesman Taylor Hebble said in a statement. “Markey started his political career fifty years ago as a pro-life, anti-busing and pro-death penalty politician, and more recently voted to authorize the war in Iraq.”

Marblehead resident David Modica went viral online for asking “are we kind of being pricks” at a Town Meeting on zoning a golf course for housing in order to feign compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. He has a fan in Attorney General Andrea Campbell, whose office has taken action to enforce the law. Modica’s comments came up during her Tuesday appearance on GBH News’s “Boston Public Radio.” “You should play the whole video, it’s great,” she told the hosts, Jim Braude and Margery Eagan. When a caller asked whether Marblehead will be able to get away with it, Campbell said she has a lawsuit against Marblehead, but Gov. Maura Healey’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities is reviewing the zoning plans passed at Town Meeting. Once the review is done, she said, her office will look at any legal recourse they can take.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is the scheduled speaker for Harvard Law School’s 2026 Class Day celebration for graduates. The celebration, set for May 27, is a return to campus for Wu, who graduated with honors in 2012.  She interned for Mayor Thomas Menino while studying at Harvard Law, and also worked for the WilmerHale Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plain.

Private investment in battery storage projects is expected to save consumers billions of dollars and support a reliable electric grid.

MEMORIAL DRIVE SHOOTER: The alleged gunman charged in Monday’s Memorial Drive shooting, Tyler E. Brown, had been released from a psychiatric hospital three days before shooting. The state’s Parole Board had granted his early release from MCI-Shirley last May. Gov. Maura Healey said yesterday she personally thanked the state trooper and Marine vet who stopped the shooter. – WBUR, Boston Herald and MassLive

AUDIT LATEST: Attorney General Andrea Campbell said Auditor Diana DiZoglio can use a special prosecutor to seek the Legislature’s compliance with an audit. The Supreme Judicial Court ordered Campbell last week to make a decision within 30 days whether she would represent DiZoglio. – GBH News

HEALEY CLIMATE CHANGE: Some environmental advocates are grumbling about Gov. Maura Healey, with one saying, “We were better under [Charlie] Baker.” An annual Healey fundraiser put together by climate activists was recently “scrapped due to an inability to cobble together enough donors.” – CommonWealth Beacon

LEGACY OF SLAVERY: Harvard University released a database of more than 1,600 people who were enslaved by the institution’s leaders, faculty and staff, or who worked on its campus between 1636 and 1865. The database follows a 2022 report on the university’s legacy of slavery. – Harvard Crimson

BOSTON TAX SUIT: A Suffolk Superior Court judge handed a win to the owner of a downtown office building, denying a request from the city of Boston to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses City Hall of retaliatory punishments through the property assessment process. – Boston Business Journal

OVERRIDE REJECTED: Voters in Great Barrington rejected a $2 million  Prop 2 ½ tax override, meaning the town will have to turn to free cash reserves to fill the gap. – Berkshire Eagle

HOSPITAL TAKEOVER: Baystate Health and Mercy Medical Center are responding to public worries that Baystate’s operational takeover of Mercy about ER waits and other matters. Baystate COO Scott Lichtenberger said Springfield needs two hospitals because Baystate cannot handle the volume if Mercy didn’t exist. – MassLive

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