It’s bad news no matter how you spin it. The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, in a brief published in late December, called the situation “a sobering statement of how long and challenging the path to a well-functioning system is.”

The MBTA says it will soon issue a report on the impact of the revised cost estimate, laying out how it plans to address the issue. In doing so, it ought to heed advice from the Taxpayers Foundation: The state has to rethink its investment plans and priorities, and “start with a triage system that categorizes projects into immediate, urgent, and non-urgent groups.”