A lot of this comes down to the Legislature. They're the ones who control the purse strings. They could've modified Chapter 62F if they wanted to, but no one wanted to throw themselves in front of a tax rebate right before an election. Similarly, when the Fair Share Amendment comes through it's going to be up to the Legislature how that plays out - they could prevent a single dollar of it from going to the T if they want to.

Fundamentally, we need a sea change in how the average voter thinks. Cars are popular and most voters seem to think little of throwing billions at highway projects and yet will balk at $1 billion for the T. The costs of cars are generally hidden by high oil subsidies, the use of public land to provide free or heavily discounted parking, and a need to protect our vast car-driven economy. Meanwhile the costs of transit are treated as an extravagance.