Cambridge and Boston are as much Twin Cities as Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota, distinct and important to each other. Thus Cambridge, Boston, and the entire region, need to have concern for financial struggles, highlighted in recent public reports, of the Massachusetts Transportation Finance Commission, and discussion of MBTA financing and fare issues.

Cambridge must become substantially engaged in a public way, as part of its leadership efforts as a Green City, and in a complementary way, enhance its role as a Transit City.

It is not just the Red Line that has become a transit backbone of the city, but also the Green Line, the needed Blue Line/Red Line connection, the strengthening of bus lines, and whether money will be dissipated in an incoherent Urban Ring project, that are important to Cambridge, and the region. Cambridge should strongly support extending the Green Line past Lechmere, into Somerville, towards Union Square, Tufts, Medford, and beyond, reducing some of the floods of cars, and increasing transit choices.

These projects will require substantial financing, and operational funds.

There is a need to consider, adopt, and develop significant innovations in terms of Public Sector Endowments, known as Mann Public Endowment Funds.

The writer of this column has been involved as a Member of the Board, of APT (Association for Public Transportation, Inc.) for several years now, gaining additional insights into these issues.

The basic reality is that there is not enough money for capital construction or operational expenditures. Economic development stimulating, environment improving, public mass transit projects, have substantial costly economic implications. In essence, this suggests poor choices or no choices, that tends to frustrate public will, and decision making.

It is time that mass transit does what most reasonable urban, and other developers, would at least consider, mixed use development, auxiliary, ancillary, and cooperative economic activities, and other co-marketing cooperative business. Sales of assets must be stopped, in favor of income generating leasing and development.

Mass transit can create income, but as with other businesses, various business activities can subsidize, and improve the primary purpose of transportation.

In our City of Cambridge, Harvard University has become a huge, successful financial organization, by the consistent development, and growth of a large endowment fund; generating over one third of its annual operating income from endowment income.

By appropriating an amount of $100,000,000 per year, over a period of ten years, to a Transit Endowment Fund (TEF), public purposes could be strengthened, taxpayer burdens stabilized over time, and revenue producing, economic development strengthened.

The stipulated projection uses a modest average annual rate of return, at 7% per cent a year. Average rates of return by large well run institutions, often are near 8 per cent. Harvard University, has sometimes had rates of return nearly flat for a year or so, but then followed by years with rates of return, that were 15 to 20 per cent per year. So, the numbers estimated, and projected, are likely a bit lower than actual returns. One third of the annual income would be expendable for capital and operating expenditures, and two thirds would be added to the fund to grow the principal, and resulting later income.

At the end of 10 years, $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) would have been set aside; at least $148,000,000, would have been generated in new expendable income, and the principal of the fund, would be almost $1.3 billion dollars.

Yearly expendable earnings would be up to over $28,000,000; yearly funds being allocated for further Transit Endowment, from income of the fund, would be up to over $57,000,000 per year, and over $296,000,000 would be generated for these trust funds over the ten years.

Government purpose endowments and incomes have grown significantly, funding libraries, laboratories, sports facilities, faculty positions, and much more.

These are aspects quite similar to public transit, public purposes that are important, that yield significant, and important returns over a long period of years, that do not always attract substantial support until years later, when actual long-term success is proven.

Vincent Lawrence Dixon is a Tour Guide for Cambridge Advantage Tours, the former Chairman of the Cambridge Republican City Committee and can be reached at Email: dixonenta16@yahoo.com and has a website at: www.dixonent.biz