Deval Patrick: How I'll change Mass transit

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Boston Globe - November 13, 2008
Deval Patrick: How I'll change Mass transit

By Deval L. Patrick | November 13, 2008

A SAFE, efficient, and cost-effective transportation system is critical to building a strong Commonwealth. Getting there requires facing big challenges. Our transportation system suffers from a hodgepodge of bureaucratic oversight and a lack of sustainable financing. Previous administrations saddled the Turnpike Authority and the MBTA with nearly $5 billion in Big Dig debt; handed out jobs based on patronage, not merit; diverted capital funds to pay for salaries and benefits rather than infrastructure; and left no viable plan to pay for maintenance or commitments to expand service.

This is the sorry legacy we have inherited. Here's what we have done to get back on track.

We are investing in restoring what's broken. A fundamental reminder from last year's bridge collapse in Minneapolis is that routine maintenance is the cornerstone of a safe and reliable system. Massachusetts has undertaken a $3 billion bridge repair and reconstruction program. This, coupled with a $1.5 billion bond initiative in 2007 to address immediate transportation needs and the $5 billion in transportation capital funds passed by the Legislature this year, will restore much of our crumbling infrastructure.

We plan better. Commitments for expansion projects now require a realistic plan, with agencies accountable for outcomes. Better planning has enabled us to expand commuter rail service between Worcester and Boston, and will bring expanded freight rail competition and improved passenger service in Central and northern Massachusetts.

We have eliminated millions of dollars in waste and duplication. Reducing the number of toll collectors and administrative personnel at the Pike, and replacing police details with civilian flaggers are just two examples.

But it's not enough. We cannot cut and save our way to a better system. We need fundamental change. Here is our plan:

First, we will consolidate agencies. Multiple entities run different parts of our transportation system: the Turnpike Authority operates one highway while the Highway Department operates most others; Massport operates Logan Airport, the Tobin Bridge, and much of Boston Harbor; mass transit is divided among the MBTA and Regional Transit Authorities; DCR operates parkways. Each has its own duplicative administrative overhead and strategy, personnel and pension systems, and maintenance programs. The bureaucracy should be radically simplified.

Second, we must plan and finance transportation needs on a system-wide basis. We all have a stake in the viability of a multi-modal transportation system. People should be able to move easily from car to commuter rail to subway to regional bus to water taxi. These components must be structured and paid for in a manner that recognizes that common purpose: to bring ease of movement safely and economically to Massachusetts citizens.

It will take several years to deliver on this vision. We need to take the first steps now, by eliminating the Turnpike Authority, reassigning its responsibilities, and restructuring its debt.

The Turnpike Authority once served a useful purpose, but Massachusetts no longer needs an independent authority running one toll highway. We will work with the Legislature to allow Massport to absorb the tunnels and roads that provide essential service to Logan Airport and the South Boston Seaport, including the Mass. Pike from Route 128 east to the tunnel.

Within two years, we will remove the tolls on the Pike west of Route 128 and transfer the turnpike to the Highway Department. Interestingly, tolls west of Route 128 cannot be used to pay Big Dig debt on the eastern turnpike. Therefore, border tolls at I-84 and the New York state line will help to ensure the cost of maintaining this highway.

Meanwhile, the Registry of Motor Vehicles will explore advancements in toll collection. Technology, like transponders embedded in registration stickers, can keep vehicles moving through tollbooths, providing both environmental benefits and long-term savings.

Restructuring the Big Dig debt will involve spreading the burden more equitably through a combination of tolls, Massport revenues, registry fees, and savings from eliminating the Turnpike Authority.

There is simply no way around an increase in tolls in the short run. That is an unfortunate fact. But the time has come to stop relying on tolls alone to pay Big Dig debt.

Long term, our goal is to eliminate all tolls except at the harbor tunnels and border entry points, restructure the MBTA's debt and move it into a centralized transportation agency, and align all transportation strategy and administration. These steps will lead to an improved and modernized system.

Getting there will require a concerted effort from all stakeholders. We will need the continued support of the Legislature, and the cooperation of the Turnpike and Massport boards. We will need the support of the public, including an openness to new ideas and potential new revenue sources. Pulling together, we can reposition Massachusetts as a place that has its transportation priorities straight.

Deval L. Patrick is the governor of Massachusetts.
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"Were going to fix the debt by cutting tolls!"

Genius Deval. I see no problems in your plan. None at all.
 
Restructuring the Big Dig debt will involve spreading the burden more equitably through a combination of tolls, Massport revenues, registry fees, and savings from eliminating the Turnpike Authority.

There is simply no way around an increase in tolls in the short run. That is an unfortunate fact. But the time has come to stop relying on tolls alone to pay Big Dig debt.

Long term, our goal is to eliminate all tolls except at the harbor tunnels and border entry points
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YEAH DEVAL PATRICK!!!!

wait a sec...hes a democrat and he wants to simplify the bureaucracy? amazing, i love this guy. and all those outlined here are phenomenal ideas. especially since being elected we hadn't heard a lot from him it felt like.
 
What Deval wants to do and what Deval will be able to do are vastly different things. That said I think he will find a lot of political will behind him on some of these changes.

Change is in the air. It happens a bit slower here than most places, but it can happen.
 
now all we need to do is get rid on menino...and we can have real change.
 
Looks like Caddy Daddy finally realized being bought and paid for by the special interests that funded his campaign wasn't a recipe for being a good governor. He better find a pair of brass balls to stare down all the crooks and union thugs that'll fight every inch to prevent these changes from being implemented. The only possible downside I see to this, is if he expects part of a Federal bailout or stimulus to finance it. The buck needs to start and stop at the state level on this one.
 
^^Do you honestly believe there is enough money to be found in cost cutting to fix all the problems with our infrastructure?
If the Feds bail out anything in the country, the one thing it should be is infrastructure, the return on investment is almost guaranteed.
 
Lurker said:
Looks like Caddy Daddy finally realized being bought and paid for by the special interests that funded his campaign wasn't a recipe for being a good governor. He better find a pair of brass balls to stare down all the crooks and union thugs that'll fight every inch to prevent these changes from being implemented. The only possible downside I see to this, is if he expects part of a Federal bailout or stimulus to finance it. The buck needs to start and stop at the state level on this one.
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Why, we annually give a lot more money to the federal government than we get back.
 
State agencies and mismanagement dug the hole, the state should be liable to fill it. Federal bailouts at every instance of failure removes any incentive for fiscal responsibility. With the attitude of politicians in this state, we'd be seeing a Big Dig style debacle every decade, if they knew the feds would always come rushing in to save the day.

"Do you honestly believe there is enough money to be found in cost cutting to fix all the problems with our infrastructure? "

Given how badly bloated the benefits, pay, pension, and disability system is, and that in some agencies it takes 50% of the budget, YES.
 
You assume an institutional memory that I'm not quite sure exists.

The thinking isn't so much "let's dig a hole and lets the Feds fill it in", but rather, "lets dig a hole and let the next guy figure out how to fill it in."

Well, the next guy is here and he could use hand filling in the hole.

Edit: What you call bloat some call their livelihood. The truth is somewhere in the middle. You cut too deep into the fat you'll start cutting muscle.
 
I was hoping this was "mass transit". Seriously. I misread the title.
 
"union thugs"

Do you really believe that? What century do you live in?

I`ve been a union member for over 20 years and I have never done anything thug-ish in my life.
 
I don't think the thugs are the guys working in the union, I think the thugs are running the unions...

I may have to reevaluate my opinion of Patrick if he manages to complete even a tiny fraction of this agenda. The level of bureaucracy in this state is unreal, and at the same time our public transportation system is garbage and our roads are the worst I've seen outside of Detroit. Eliminating tolls on the pike!?!? That's crazytalk...but I love it!

As far as the money issue, I think MA could probably fund the war in Iraq if we got rid of all the waste and corruption in this state. Seriously though, there might not be enough money to do everything overnight, but there's probably more than enough to do everything over the long term. That's not how things work in MA though. Arlington raised property taxes then immediately redid EVERY athletic field in town. Not one or two that needed it, not all of them over a couple years...they did all of them immediately after passing the hike. I would drive on bumpy, car ruining roads for a while longer if it meant that they would actually create a well planned, long term strategy for doing all this. I'll believe it when i see it though.
 
Scott said:
"union thugs"

Do you really believe that? What century do you live in?

I`ve been a union member for over 20 years and I have never done anything thug-ish in my life.
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I think he lives in the 21st century where police unions harass the newly established civilian flaggers going so far as to drive down the wrong way of the road to create a traffic mess.

http://www.universalhub.com/node/16892

or maybe the 21st century where the MBTA unions will do everything possible to slow service?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/30/t_union_members_may_slow_service/
 
How is talking about highways related to his subject of changing Mass Transit? I think he should come out with some more specifics re: the MBTA.
 
Mass. is often used as an abbreviation for Massachusetts.
 
Yeah I just realized that coming back...

Still, the point remains about hearing more on the MBTA.
 
endus said:
I don't think the thugs are the guys working in the union, I think the thugs are running the unions...
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You sound like the Mormons making excuses for why they love gay people but hate their...um... agenda.

palindrome said:
I think he lives in the 21st century where police unions harass the newly established civilian flaggers going so far as to drive down the wrong way of the road to create a traffic mess.

http://www.universalhub.com/node/16892

or maybe the 21st century where the MBTA unions will do everything possible to slow service?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/09/30/t_union_members_may_slow_service/
Click to expand...

...and YOU! Until you show a little respect for your hard working neighbors in Dorchester you will keep coming off as a spoiled yuppie child. You chose them they didn't choose you so quit whining!

Edit- The BPPA is not an actual union and judging by the editorials written in the Herald by their leaders they seem to be thinly veiled Republicans. Watching them on a picket line is a bad joke to working people who have been threatened with arrest by these same people for doing the same thing.
 
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