Mass. Needs To Address Infrastructure
There’s a lot of talk right now about paying for our transportation system. The announcement that Pike tolls will be increased has spurred debate over tolling, the state gas tax, and how to equitably pay for debt racked up by the Big Dig.
But what’s left out of this conversation is how badly our state needs more transportation investments.
Mind The Gap
The turnpike is not alone in suffering from Big Dig debt. The MBTA has nearly $2 billion of debt caused by public transit projects the T was required to finance in order for the Big Dig to comply with the Clean Air Act. This debt has fueled the cycle of large fare increases that T riders have experienced over the past eight years and will soon cause another round of fare hikes and potential service cuts.
In fact, the T just raised parking fees to close a mid-year budget gap. At many commuter rail stations a $2.00 a day increase translates into a $500 annual fare hike.
Last year the bi-partisan Transportation Finance Commission warned that all our transportation systems — Mass Highway, the turnpike, local roads, bridges, regional transit authorities, and the MBTA — will have a combined $15 billion to $19 billion gap in funding over the next twenty years.
What’s most troubling is that this shortfall is only to maintain our existing transportation infrastructure, and does not include new enhancements we need in the years ahead to address environmental concerns, grow the economy, and improve our overall quality of life.
A recent MASSPIRG report highlighted several rail projects that would benefit the Worcester area. With the second largest population in New England, the city of Worcester has great potential to serve as an economic hub for the growing biotech and renewable-energy industries. Improved passenger rail links to Boston in the east, and new connections to Providence in the south and Manchester, New Hampshire in the north along existing freight tracks could provide the next growth corridor radiating from Boston.
Even adding a second commuter rail connection to Boston would greatly benefit the region. Persistent service problems along the Framingham line have led state officials to consider a new alternative: running commuter rail service from Worcester northeast along existing freight rail tracks to Ayer, where it would connect with the Fitchburg commuter rail line. This could create several new commuter rail stops in Harvard, Lancaster, Clinton and West Boylston that would allow for rail commutes to and from downtown Worcester.
To forward this vision the state will need new revenue for transportation. State leaders should seize the urgency of pike tolls and T fare hikes to use a gas tax increase to address all our state infrastructure needs and bank funds for future strategic expansions that can be invested in all parts of the state.
The gas tax makes sense on a number of levels. Gasoline is directly related to our transportation system. The more you drive, the more you use our road system, and the more you contribute to its degradation. Massachusetts also has a relatively low gas tax compared to other New England states, so increasing it will not send people out of state to fill up. And it’s a very efficient tax, collected from a handful of gasoline wholesalers as opposed to the need for road tolling infrastructure and a legion of toll collectors.
Using some of the gas tax to fund public transportation builds our economy and creates the opportunity to leave the traffic clogging, air-polluting car at home. n
Eric Bourassa works on transportation policy for the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group and co-authored the report “Connecting the Commonwealth: Key Public Transportation Projects and Their Benefits for Massachusetts,” which can be found at www.masspirg.org/report.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments