| 
As state leaders try to figure out how to pay for the investments advocates – and now business and transportation leaders – say Massachusetts needs to fix its current traffic nightmare, stay economically competitive and decarbonize its economy, a new report from A Better City outlines one possible solution.
Massachusetts leaders should commit to raising and spending $50 billion on transportation over the next 20 years, all with new revenue from a range of transportation-specific sources like fees, tolls and taxes.
The eyebrow-raising figure includes the $10 billion the state must spend to get its roads, bridges and public transit back into a state of good repair, $10 billion to increase mass transit and highway capacity as the population grows, and $30 billion to modernize, decarbonize and prepare infrastructure to cope with the effects of climate change. Massive investments like bus rapid transit, a high-speed rail link between Boston and Springfield, and $500 million to boost funding for transit agencies serving Worcester, Springfield and other areas outside the Boston metro and the electrified, frequent commuter rail system recently backed by a statewide coalition of business leaders and by the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board are included in the latter two figures.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s current capital investment plan calls for more than $18 billion in investments over the next five years, about $8 billion of which will go to the MBTA.
Rick Dimino, the group’s CEO, said the state needs to “go big” and “think about how we move the needle” on a topic that directly affects housing, economic development, the environment and the ways people get around.
“We have to stop just thinking about fixing what we have,” Dimino told the News Service. “We have to pivot to thinking about making sure we fix what we have but also thinking about the next wave of investments we need to make in our transportation system.”
The majority of that money, about 54 percent, could come from a broad expansion to roadway pricing, adding $2-per-trip tolls to Interstate 93 – site of some of the state’s worst congestion – $1 tolls on Interstate 93 and 95 interchanges, and $1 fees to cross state lines by car at several border locations. The report notes that rebates, discounts or tax credits should be given to drivers based on economic necessity.
Researchers also suggested an 11.5 cent increase in the gas tax could raise about $7 billion by 2040, and they named higher fees on ride-hailing apps and Registry of Motor Vehicles transactions, closing an auto trade-in sales tax loophole, adding a commercial parking surcharge and using revenue from the multi-state initiative to reduce carbon emissions from the transportation sector as other strategies.
The group’s $50 billion would come entirely on top of existing spending plans. Dimino said other metropolitan areas have taken similar steps in recent years. Toronto plans to raise $60 billion over 20 years, according to the report, Seattle is planning to raise and spend $54 billion over 25 years and Los Angeles will pursue a $120 billion target over the next four decades. Many of these cities, the report notes, use a mix of funding sources like sales taxes, tolls and development fees.
A Better City is a downtown Boston-based group of business leaders that advocates for economic growth and sustainability. Doug McGarrah, the group’s board chair and partner at Foley Hoag, said the plan “will mean less traffic, better transit, and cleaner air – with an overall faster and easier daily commute for everyone.” Jeanne Pinado, CEO of Madison Park Development Corp., said in a statement released by ABC that the group’s plan would address inequities, better connect workers to jobs, and keep the economy moving forward.
