Transportation Finance & Reform

• Central Artery Corridor
• Urban Ring
• Silver Line
• Charles River Basin
• Green Line Extension
• Red/Blue Line Connector
• Transportation Finance & Reform

Project Background

In 2004, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts established an independent Transportation Finance Commission to "examine and evaluate the financial health of the State's transportation agencies and authorities, and make recommendations based on their findings." The group's final reports, released in 2007, painted a bleak picture. Calling the state's transportation finances "unsustainable," the Commission identified a transportation funding gap of $15-19 billion over the next 20 years and made 28 recommendations to address the problem.

Many of those recommendations were incorporated into the landmark Transportation Reform legislation, passed in 2009. Under that law, the state's all of the state's transportation agencies except for the Massachusetts Port Authority (MassPort) were consolidated into a new Massachusetts Department of Transportation – MassDOT. Under the leadership of Secretary of Transportation Jeff Mullan, MassDOT has already begun cutting costs and finding efficiencies, saving taxpayers millions. But no amount of cost-cutting and streamlining will close the gap in our state's transportation finances. ABC believes that reform is necessary but not sufficient, and that the state must now reform transportation funding.

Why It's Important

Without adequate funding, our transportation infrastructure is at risk of deteriorating to the point of endangering our economic growth. According to the 2009 MBTA Review by John Hancock executive David D'Alessandro, the T has a $3 billion backlog of unfunded repair and maintenance projects, all required to bring the system up to the "state of good repair." The problem is just as bad or worse with our roads and bridges. Many of our highways and transit systems are operating near or over capacity; without prudent expansion, delays and detours will worsen. Conversely, investing in transportation can pay dividends, both in terms of the jobs created to fix or build roads and track and operate trains and buses, and also in the time and money commuters and business save being able to move themselves and their products around the state efficiently.

ABC's Role

A Better City has been a leader, on its own and as part of various coalitions, in advocating for transportation reform. In 2006, ABC organized a forum to highlight transportation finance as an election issue in advance of the Transportation Finance Commission's findings.

In February 2009, as reform legislation was being debated, ABC released a Transportation Finance Plan position paper laying out specific reforms and revenues to close the projected $1 billion annual gap in transportation funding. ABC followed that paper in April 2009 with a full report, Building Massachusetts' Economy through Transportation Investment, which detailed the vital role transportation plays in the Commonwealth's economy, updated the findings of the Transportation Finance Commission and offered its own set of recommendations.

ABC has also been a leading member of the coalition Our Transportation Future, which has held its own forum on transportation investment and released a white paper on the connection between transportation and the Massachusetts economy. ABC is also a member of the Business Alliance for Northeast Mobility, which advocates for federal funding to improve high-speed rail service throughout the Northeast Corridor.

The ABC Transportation Finance and Policy Committee, chaired by Larry DiCara, oversees ABC's efforts in these areas and serves as a forum for members to meet with key elected and appointed decision-makers. Recent guests to the committee include MBTA General Manager Richard Davey and gubernatorial candidates Tim Cahill and Charlie Baker.