Transportation for Massachusetts commends Governor Baker for his swift action in appointing and swearing in the members of the MBTA Fiscal Management and Control Board, just moments after the FMCB was established through his signing of the FY2016 state budget.
We congratulate the members of the new Board, including Monica Tibbits-Nutt of the 128 Business Council, a member of our statewide coalition. We look forward to engaging with the Board, which meets for the first time on Tuesday, July 22, and with the newly expanded MassDOT Board of Directors.
We appreciate the hard work of the Legislature and the Governor throughout this budget process. We are pleased that the budget maintains several key pieces of the 2013 Transportation Finance Act: additional contract assistance to the MBTA to support its operations, General Fund transfers that support statewide transportation, and the MBTA fare cap, which ensures that fare increases are predictable and affordable for riders.
We urge the Legislature to override the Governor’s veto of an additional $2 million in funding to regional transit authorities, which serve riders throughout Massachusetts, and the veto of an additional $3 million for the Massachusetts Transportation Trust Fund, which supports transportation initiatives across the state. The vetoed funding would help transportation agencies keep pace with demand and provide essential services.
As we move forward, we urge the Governor and Legislature to commit to investing in the well-documented backlog of maintenance and capacity needs of our statewide transportation system, and to move forward with legislated reforms through the new FMCB to provide the well-managed transportation network that will serve the entire commonwealth.
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