Former parking contractor settles after “skimming” millions

The MBTA has received $5.6 million in a settlement after the Attorney General’s office found that under private contractor “LAZ Parking” millions of dollars had been “skimmed” from MBTA parking facilities.

The Attorney General alleged that the private contractor LAZ failed to “implement revenue controls” which created the opening for skimming cash revenue. The AG’s office also said that LAZ submitted false reports to the MBTA, demonstrating again that privatization and private company contracts expose taxpayers and the transit system to exploitation and a lack of oversight.

This latest MBTA contracting disaster shows that outsourcing to private companies does not guarantee lower costs or better management. Instead, we must work towards building support for long term investments in our transit system and maintaining public control and direct, internal accountability and control over MBTA operations.