Patrick’s $13B Transit Plan Combines Revenue, Reforms
Gov. Deval Patrick's transportation financing plan would pump $13 billion in capital investments over the next 10 years into the state's infrastructure, highway and public transit systems, relying on a smorgasbord of reforms and controversial revenue options to make it happen.
The long-awaited report, unveiled by Patrick today at UMass-Boston, was produced by the state Department of Transportation and stops short of recommending specific tax hikes. But it does lay out a "menu" of options, including both reforms and potential revenue sources, many of which have been aired before with public backing, and opposition, from advocacy groups and some lawmakers. The plan also came with a warning that without new revenues, MBTA fares will rise again and services will be cut.
Among the revenues options included are:
- A 0.16 percent payroll tax for transportation;
- Raising the gas tax (currently 21 cents a gallon; 27th-highest among the 50 states) or tying it to inflation;
- Increasing the sales tax;
- Raising the state's income tax;
- Establishing a "green" fee that would charge more for drivers of vehicles that pollute more;
- A vehicle miles-traveled tax;
- Regular increases in fees, fares and tolls;
- Congestion pricing for tolls and new tolls on highways; and
- Maintaining tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike in the western part of the state past their 2017 sunset.
The plan does not recommend specific increases in taxes, but identifies what it would take to raise $1 billion a year in new revenue under each proposal, including a 30-cent gas-tax hike, an increase in the income tax to 5.66 percent, or an increase in the sales tax to 7.75 percent.
"The plan released today is a stark, clear-eyed, non-partisan presentation of the facts," Patrick said in a statement. "If we are serious about improving our transportation system for a generation, then we have to be willing to make the necessary investments. We must invest in transportation, not for the sake of transportation itself, but for the jobs and economic opportunity it creates."
The potential reforms include all-electronic tolling; online Registry of Motor Vehicles transactions; reimbursement of utility relocation to keep projects on schedule; selling or leasing unused MBTA real estate; more performance management within MassDOT; a modernized asset-management system; reforms in metropolitan planning organizations; the establishment of a state infrastructure bank; changes to MBTA retirement eligibility; an alternative vehicle miles-traveled pilot program; "value capture" financing for transit financing; and further partnerships with the Massachusetts Port Authority.
MassDOT said in the report it will propose a vehicle miles-traveled pilot program that would allow drivers to voluntarily pay a fee for each mile they travel in their vehicles instead of paying the state gas tax.
The report estimates that charging drivers 2.4 cents per mile traveled in Massachusetts would generate $1 billion in new revenue.
Over the next 10 years, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, MBTA and regional transit authorities face a $684 million unfunded liability for operating costs alone, according to the report.
$11.1M For WRTA
Locally, the plan includes an $11.1-million funding increase for the Worcester Regional Transit Authority, as well as interchange improvements at Interstate 495 and the Massachusetts Turnpike, and reconstruction of routes 9 and 20.
The plan also includes $12 million for improvements and safety enhancements at the interchange of I-495 and Route 9 in Westborough, reconstruction of Quinsigamond Avenue from Brosnihan Square to Southbridge Street in Worcester, and resurfacing of Route 119 in Groton and Littleton.
Hikes In Tolls, RMV Fees?
The report also suggests that the MassDOT board will also recommend a number of fee increases to address budget deficits in fiscal 2014, including an increase in registration fees by $53; an increase in annual inspection fees by $19; an increase in license fees by $86; an increase in I-90 tolls and MBTA fares by 5 percent; and $40 million in MBTA service cuts.
The proposal envisions funding the South Coast rail extension ($1.8 billion) and the Green Line extension ($674 million), as well as rail service between Springfield and Boston ($362 million), Boston and Hyannis ($21 million) and a connection between Pittsfield and New York City rail ($114 million). An $850 million expansion of South Station is also included. Other projects, such as the connection between the Red and Blue Lines and a North-South rail link on the East Coast, do not appear to be funded.
Read more
Massachusetts Transit, Infrastructure Plan Requires Painstaking Review
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments