GIVEN THE “nightmare commute’’ last week, the front-page Aug. 5 story “Road caves and tempers rise on I-93’’ and Aug. 6 editorial “Sinkholes on I-93 highlight dangers of delaying repairs’’ are certainly newsworthy. A total of 100,000 northbound vehicles use Interstate 93 every weekday.
The delay caused to drivers was caused by “the decay of concrete and steel attributed to years of postponed maintenance.’’ Though this crater is a very visible sign of our transportation funding crisis, let’s not forget about the 1.3 million daily riders of the MBTA system who are affected regularly because of delays caused by the underestimated $2.7 billion worth of deferred maintenance. More than 80,000 riders depend on the Red Line each day. In the month of June alone, there were more than 40 delays on the Red Line during peak times caused by disabled trains, or signal and switching problems.
Over the past four years, more than 90 percent of capital projects have gone toward deferred maintenance, yet the T continues to fall further behind because of the one truth few politicians dare speak: There simply hasn’t been enough funding in the past, and absent a seismic bout of political courage, there’s little hope for increased funding in the foreseeable future.
Thus, the delays continue.
Chris Hart
Cambridge
The writer is on the board of directors of the LivableStreets Alliance. 
