Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announced Wednesday at a transportation forum hosted by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation that Gov. Charlie Baker will issue an executive order calling for the creation of a new transportation commission within the coming weeks.
The order will come in response to an MTF report, titled “Transportation In an Era of Transition: Re-thinking Resources,” which is critical of the state’s lack of a plan for dealing with future transportation matters, according to the State House News Service. The commission will review transportation needs within the state, as well as how to optimally fund changes to its infrastructure.
The report found that although the state is spending a greater amount of money on transportations services than originally anticipated over the past decade, due to underestimates in needs as well as fiscal constraints on the Commonwealth the condition of transportation services and infrastructure remain problematic.
In addition to these findings, the report stated that factors such as ride-hailing services and self-driving cars will affect state revenues.
MTF President Eileen McAnneny said the new commission came as a pleasant surprise to the organization.
“We all agree that transportation is a critical component of our economy,” McAnneny said. “The administration has highlighted lots of the changes they have made since taking office and the Taxpayer’s Foundation has been very active in that space as well, since the complete shutdown of the T in 2015.”
The last commission reviewing the state’s transportation needs occurred in 2007, which the MTF was a part of, McAnneny said.
“We just thought 10 years after the last … big commission that it was time to see how the commission’s work and recommendations had fared,” McAnney said.
McAnneny said she is optimistic the MTF will serve on Baker’s new commission, although details have not yet been made public.
“We will await the executive order and any news and announcements about the commission as will everyone else,” McAnneny said.
In the meantime, the MTF has been making strides to ascertain their voice is heard when the commission is formed, McAnney said.
“We have been actively working to make sure that the management control board and others are capable of doing what is necessary to get the T and transportation in Massachusetts on firm footing,” McAnneny said. “So we look forward to having that conversation and constructively being part of any commission.”
The MTF is eager to work with Baker’s commission to address transportation needs in the state, McAnneny said. She specified climate change and technological changes as some of the reasons for the foundation’s research into changes to infrastructure.
“We looked at their recommendations, what was implemented, what wasn’t, what has changed since then and concluded given the rapid changes in technology … with climate change and other things, that it was time to have a new commission to look at transpiration finance and our state’s [transportation] infrastructure priorities,” McAnneny said.
Several Boston residents expressed varying opinions on Boston’s transportation system, but said any initiative to improve upon it is welcomed.
Connor Donovan, 24, of Roxbury, said the conditions of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority have caused him to stop using the system altogether.
“It’s overcrowded a lot, and especially on the Orange Line it’s just filthy,” Donovan said. “I don’t really take public transportation for that reason anymore, because it’s so unreliable.”
Taylor Dolan, 23, of Brighton, said as a commuter she has experienced minimal issues with the MBTA and bus lines.
“I mostly just take the bus and I connect to get to my job, but other than it being a little late sometimes that’s about it,” Dolan said.
Nelson Hyde, 61, of Back Bay, said he has been very satisfied with Boston’s transportation since moving to the city.
“I don’t know if the trains are running on time, but they’re running frequently enough for me … so much that I’m going to sell my car, and not get another one,” Hyde said. “I don’t hear a lot about [Baker’s] agenda but when I do hear him … I like where he’s coming from.”
