Transportation News

Comments on H.3382, An Act relative to transportation finance
The Honorable Conference Committee Members:
I am writing as a citizen of the Commonwealth and as President of the Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP) to urge you to provide the full revenue needed to restore the Commonwealth’s transportation system to a state of good repair, and to meet the critical maintenance needed on an ongoing basis so we do not face the same funding deficit in a couple of years. We strongly urge ending the practice of using bond funds to pay the salary of operating employees, and support providing sufficient funds for transportation expansion projects. Such projects are needed to maintain a competitive economic climate for the state and to serve our aging population with adequate transportation services.

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Many were on hand Monday to celebrate the extension from Cedar Street to Lowell Street. Construction is scheduled for completion in fall 2013.

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It is a critical time to let your legislators know that you want a real solution to the state’s transportation finance situation to address current fiscal needs, meet needed Chapter 90 funds for cities and towns, address state of good repair needs, procure needed new equipment and fund the Green Line extension.
STEP has written the following letter, which anyone is more than welcome to use, modify, or add to.

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Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance: "Half a loaf: the Legislature's transportation plan" "I believed that we had the chance to set a visionary course for a post-Big Dig transportation system. It's like having the opportunity to invest in an exciting new business, but instead you just pay off one of your credit cards." Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center: "The Joint Ways & Means Transportation Proposal" Conservation Law Foundation: "MA Transportation Funding Framework: More (or really less) to the supposedly budget-minded proposal than meets the eye" "The framework would not cover the maintenance of our transportation system, nor keep it in a state of good repair, let alone allow for any investment in modernization." CommonWealth Magazine: "Fear and loathing on the tax trail" "Census data show that, as a share of their income, Massachusetts residents…

Boston Globe: "Mass. legislative leaders unveil $500m tax plan to shore up transportation system" The plan, while it represents a significant tax increase, falls far short of the $1.9 billion tax hike that Governor Deval Patrick has been seeking and would not fund the major expansion of rail and road projects that the governor wants. Kristina Egan, director of Transportation for Massachusetts, an advocacy group that had pushed for Patrick's funding plan, called the proposal "woefully inadequate." A lack of specific investments in capital projects, she said, was shortsighted and would prevent the state's transportation infrastructure from accommodating the needs of residents. "We have an unprecedented opportunity to make a transportation fix for the next generation, and I'm worried that we're squandering it here," Egan said. "It feels like this package is locking…

"Massachusetts voters see the potential benefits of raising additional revenue for transportation improvements and are open to several possible sources of revenue, according to a report on a series of polls and focus groups released today by MassINC and The MassINC Polling Group. Detailing how funds will be spent appears to boost that support, the research finds." Read more.

Somerville Journal: "Transportation key to Somerville's future" "We now have a unique opportunity to restore our transportation system and we must not let it pass. With crumbling roads and bridges, severely outdated MBTA vehicles, and the specter of further cuts to transit service, addressing the transportation funding gap can't wait. When we invest in transportation, we invest in those things we all care about: jobs, the economy, education, a better quality of life, and our environment."

James Aloisi's three short articles have excellent background information on our state's increasingly dire transportation finance crisis, as well as thoughtful proposed solutions that go well beyond previous efforts that merely kicked the can down the road. Part 1: The case for funding public transportation Part 2: Reform before revenue was the wrong answer Part 3: Five transportation funding solutions

From The Atlantic...