Welcome to Transportation for Massachusetts | Transportation for Massachusetts

Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA) works to:

• Build for prosperity over the long-term.
A strong and competitive economy depends on access to jobs, schools, cultural and recreational sites. T4MA works to build a transportation system that supports and connects our communities, and helps make them better and healthier places to live and work.

• Spur investment in transportation improvements and get the best return on those investments.
T4MA seeks innovative ways to fund transportation—both to maintain the existing system and to expand it to meet our needs over the next 50 years—while ensuring that everyone benefits from these public investments.

• Provide people in every part of the Commonwealth safe, convenient and affordable choices.
The coalition advocates for more and better public transit that meets the needs of riders, as well as communities and streets designed for use by car, pedestrian, bicycle, bus and rail traffic.

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T4MA COMMENDS JOINT TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE FOR TAKING ACTION TO FILL MBTA BUDGET GAP, CALLS FOR FURTHER ACTION

Statement of Kristina Egan, Director, Transportation for Massachusetts, regarding the MBTA decision on closing the FY13 budget:

Transportation for Massachusetts commends the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation for taking action to help the MBTA balance its FY13 budget by proposing measures that would result in $60 million of additional revenue for the MBTA, enough to close the gap in the budget passed in April by the MBTA Board. The committee took a good step forward; we hope the legislature will take additional actions to further reduce the impact of proposed service cuts and fare increases on low income residents.

T4MA and its coalition members call on the Legislature and the governor to pass and sign the committee’s funding recommendations to avoid further service cuts and fare increases for MBTA’s and regional transit authorities’ customers. If the Joint Committee on Transportation bill is not signed into law, many of the drastic service cuts and fare hikes originally proposed by the MBTA in early January will be back on the table.

Aside from the MBTA funding, the bill also provides $6.5 million to regional transit authorities that, like the MBTA, are struggling financially. This revenue is critical to people across the state who rely on public transportation to access jobs, school, workforce training, their health care providers, and even basic things like grocery shopping. The measures included in this bill would help agencies including the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority minimize proposed fare increases and service cuts in some of the most economically challenged parts of the state.

Although this bill is an important step forward, the MBTA’s budget already includes an average 23% fare increase on top of service cuts. This fare increase, which is not changed by the Committee’s bill, will hit lower-income residents hard, disproportionately hurting low-income seniors and residents, people with disabilities, and youth. Our elected officials have the ability to further reduce the fare hike. Additional sources of funding, such as transferring surplus Underground Storage Tank fees to the MBTA and regional transit authorities, deserve serious consideration.

Finally, this bill is only a one-year fix. Next year, the MBTA faces another annual deficit of at least $100 million. The legislature and the administration must find a new way to sustainably fund public transportation, along with our roads, bridges, sidewalks and bikeways. Investing in a 21^st century transportation system is crucial to building a better economy, preserving our environment, and promoting public health and quality of life for all Massachusetts residents.

MAXED OUT!

How did the MBTA get to this precarious financial situation?

A transportation system mired in debt and struggling to meet current demands jeopardizes the Massachusetts economy and threatens its environment, according to a report being released today that details the depth of the financing crisis as well as how it happened. Maxed Out: Massachusetts Transportation at a Financing Crossroads was prepared by Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA), a statewide coalition. Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray has called for serious public conversation about transportation finance. Maxed Out will inform that discussion with a clear-eyed view of the current crisis and its origins, and the need for new revenues for the system.

Feature

T4MA COMMENDS JOINT TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE FOR TAKING ACTION TO FILL MBTA BUDGET GAP, CALLS FOR FURTHER ACTION

MAXED OUT!

How did the MBTA get to this precarious financial situation?

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