Vetoes in Transportation Bond Bill Are Missed Opportunities for Meaningful Change
January 15, 2021
FROM RICK DIMINO, PRESIDENT & CEO
While the signing of a transportation bond bill is a step forward for the Commonwealth, it is not meaningful enough as Massachusetts attempts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and to address the challenges of climate change and inequity. A Better City is disappointed in a number of the Governor’s vetoes. Along with several other business organizations, A Better City called for reasonable surcharges on Uber and Lyft rides, a close examination of expanded roadway pricing through an expert commission, and increased attention to low-income MBTA fares. These smart transportation policies are essential to advancing an equitable and sustainable approach to funding our roads and transit system.
Many of the Governor’s vetoes are counter to his own proposals and are inconsistent with recommendations from the 2018 Commission on the Future of Transportation. It is also concerning that the Baker Administration is rejecting a careful approach to the next phases of the I-90 Allston Multimodal Project that is supported by a broad coalition of stakeholders who want to see the project completed as soon as possible rather than kicking the can down the road with a temporary fix to a relic of the past.
The transportation bond bill passed by the legislature would have taken a meaningful step forward through the ideas that Governor Baker just vetoed. We hope legislative leaders will work with the Governor to take up these vetoes as new legislation in the immediate future.
