Senate Passes Bill to Invest in Massachusetts Transportation
The Massachusetts State Senate on Thursday, July 16, 2020, passed legislation to jumpstart investment in transportation infrastructure and make the Commonwealth’s transportation system more reliable and accessible to residents.
“As a long-time advocate for investment in transportation and regional equity, I am thrilled to see this bill invest in projects and ideas that put us on the road to creating a more accessible and reliable system for commuters across the Commonwealth,” stated Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “The approach advanced today helps us begin the critical work of improving our infrastructure and provides us with new tools to tackle our transportation challenges. Additionally, the investments outlined today will assist our communities at a time of economic uncertainty. I would like to thank Senators Joe Boncore, Michael Rodrigues, and Michael Moore for all their hard work on this legislation and look forward to it swiftly becoming law.”
“A healthy and robust transportation system is critical to ensuring equal access to economic opportunity throughout our Commonwealth," said Senator Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport), Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways & Means. "I applaud Senate President Spilka for her leadership and Senator Boncore for his tireless efforts in advocating for a public transportation infrastructure that works for all people.
“The transportation bond bill is an opportunity to modernize, reform, and make the transit system more equitable,” said Senator Joe Boncore (D-Winthrop), Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. “We have taken an equity approach to ensure that our transit system is accessible and affordable. By addressing congestion, we work to alleviate the negative health and economic impacts of traffic our Commonwealth faces. The expansion of rail within the state, East to West connectivity, throughout the South Coast, and from Boston to Cape Cod, as well as beyond our state are undertaken in this bill. Far beyond roads and rail, this legislation seeks to improve the experiences for all those who utilize our roadway, including bikers and pedestrians.”
The bill, An Act Authorizing and Accelerating Transportation Investment, authorizes more than $16 billion in bonds for a wide variety of infrastructure projects, including both upkeep and maintenance, as well as modernization. In addition to addressing issues such as construction, regional initiatives, traffic congestion, and transportation network company data sharing, this legislation addresses equity in the transportation system by requiring g a low-income fare program which will provide discounted transit fares to qualifying riders on MBTA transportation and commuter rail, starting on Jan. 1st, 2022.
The full breakdown of the over $17B billion dollars in bond authorizations included in the bill is as follows:
$5.6B for federally aided highways
$2B for non-federally aided highways
$357M for Cape Cod bridge projects
$150M for the pavement improvement program
$90M for the municipal bridge program
$50M for the local bottleneck reduction program
$100M for the municipal pavement program
$50M for the complete streets program
$50M for the bus transit infrastructure partnership
$1.25B for the next generation bridge program
$400M for the rail and transit access program
$330M for regional transit authorities
$60M for the transit mobility assistance program
$3.43B for the MBTA
$300M for a direct capital transfer to the MBTA
$850M for South Coast Rail
$695M for the Green Line Extension
$400M for South Station
$250M for rail improvements
$89M for aeronautics safety and modernization
$475M for multi-modal transportation planning and implementation
$250M for the Allston multi-modal project
$50M for transportation information technology
$20M for a public realm improvement program in response to COVID-19
$75M for electric vehicle grants for municipalities and regional transit authorities
$574M for local and regional transportation projects
$30M for water ferry grants
Senate President Spilka is particularly thrilled to announce the bill includes the following investment authorizations for MetroWest:
$50M of $250M for the Allston multi-modal project dedicated to mitigation efforts
$8M for a parking structure at downtown Framingham’s commuter rail station
$2M for Framingham to alleviate flooding at the intersection of Route 9 and 126
$2.5M for parking improvements at the Ashland commuter rail station
$4M for improvement to Route 135 and Frankland Road in Ashland
$1.5M for Franklin commuter rail downtown parking
$1.5M for Holliston downtown traffic improvements
$1.5M for sidewalk and pedestrian safety in Hopkinton
$1.5M for sidewalk and pedestrian safety in Medway
$1M for sidewalk and pedestrian safety improvements to Route 27 in Natick
“Communities have been hit hard by the pandemic and job losses are at all-time highs. There has never been a more urgent need to invest in our infrastructure and create jobs in every corner of our state,” said vice chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation Senator Eric P. Lesser (D-Longmeadow) . “The investments called for in this legislation will put thousands of people to work and will help restore our economy in every region of our Commonwealth.”
“In an increasingly hectic end to the fiscal year, I am pleased the Senate was able to pass this important piece of legislation to address many of the Commonwealth’s infrastructure needs, said Senator Michael Moore (D-Milbury), chair of the Senate Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets. “The transportation bond bill is a comprehensive collection of many necessary improvements to our transportation systems from road and bridges to various modes of public transportation. During these increasingly difficult financial times it is critical that we continue to make investments in projects such as roads, bridges, sidewalks, and other various restoration projects throughout the Commonwealth.”
“I want to thank the Senate President and all my colleagues in the Senate for supporting my amendment and warmly welcoming me to the Senate,” said Senator Moran (D-Falmouth), a member of the Joint Committee on Transportation. “This legislation recognizes that investment in transportation is key to economic opportunity in the Commonwealth. The funding approved today for the Bourne and Sagamore bridges will not only expand that opportunity for people in the Plymouth and Barnstable district but will make the economic potential of Cape Cod more accessible for everyone in the Commonwealth.”
The bill represents an important step in reducing traffic congestion, and tasks the Department of Transportation with collecting new information and creating expert-driven plans to respond to the issue. These include seeking federal approval to join the Value Pricing Pilot Program, which provides state agencies with options to manage congestion.
To further aid the Department in reducing congestion, the bill establishes a special commission on roadway and congestion pricing, which would also investigate and recommend options for regionally equitable roadway pricing mechanisms. Additionally, the bill allows public authorities to more clearly include time as a factor in evaluating private bids for construction projects. The Department is required to conduct a study examining the potential of mileage-based revenue-collection as an alternative to the current system of toll roads.
In a move that will give regions better control over their transportation infrastructure, the bill allows cities and towns, upon local acceptance by local government and local voters at the ballot, to utilize certain revenue sources for transportation-related projects within the municipality or region. These regional ballot initiatives are utilized across the county to allow cities and towns to raise money locally to invest in local transportation projects.
At the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, two new offices are created by the bill: An Office of Bus Transformation and an Office of Rail Enhancement. Each office would be dedicated to improving the productivity, equity and environmental sustainability of its respective system. The Department is given new authorities in establishing speed limits in construction zones and in using blue lights to mark construction activities, where permitted by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. Furthermore, the Department would be authorized to enter fixed-price job order contracts with a contractor for the contractor’s performance of a specific construction project.
The bill addresses the growth of transportation network companies, and the public’s need to be informed. It requires that such companies submit monthly reports to the Transportation Network Companies Division of the Department of Public Utilities. That division is then required to make an annual report, publicly available on its website, posting the total number of rides provided by all transportation network companies, as well as the cities and town in which those rides originated and terminated, and average miles and minutes of rides which terminated in a different town than they originated. The bill would also establish regulations for scooters and e-bikes.
The bill also defines and regulates the amounts of fines for a several transportation-related activities. Penalties are defined for improper use of a designated bus lane, for railroads who fail to provide timely and sufficient flaggers, speeding in an active construction zone, nonpayment of citations, and failure to move a vehicle involved in a crash from a travel lane on a public way. Passengers who fail to pay or prepay fares would be subject to less punitive punishment and arrest for fare evasion on the MBTA transit system would be prohibited.
The bill must now be reconciled with legislation previously passed the Massachusetts House of Representatives.