Transportation
ALL TRANSPORTATION REPORTS
A Bridge Too Far: Sagging Investment Leaves 644 Massachusetts Bridges Structurally Deficient
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation maintains a database tracking 7,880 bridges across the Commonwealth. This paper examines the condition of these bridges and the impact of bridge disrepair on communities. It analyzes how some regions and populations are harmed more than others, and how these problems could be helped by investing more public resources in transportation.
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Brief for Amicus Curiae on the Gig Worker Ballot Question
MassBudget's brief to Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court asking to dismiss the ballot question exempting gig companies from providing employee benefits and protections. The brief outlined how excluding these workers from labor protections and failure to contribute to social insurance funds for them would hurt these workers and more broadly erode labor protections and employment-based social supports across the Commonwealth.
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PREGUNTAS FRECUENTES: la Enmienda de Parte Justa (Impuesto a los millonarios)
¿Busca información más detallada sobre la Enmienda de Parte Justa que se está debatiendo aquí en la Commonwealth? Consulte nuestra guía para responder a algunas de las preguntas más comunes sobre este tema y obtenga más información.
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Investing in Transportation Can Help Massachusetts
This one-page summary of a longer report outlines how Massachusetts has underinvested in its transportation infrastructure, and greater investment can improve the economy, equity, and the environment.
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Earth Day is a Time to Consider Better Responses to High Gas Prices: Free Public Transit and Other Ideas
Higher gas prices are causing anxiety for many and are eating away at the meager incomes of low- and moderate-income families. Politicians are promoting a number of ideas to provide consumers with some relief. A very popular idea—a gas tax holiday—is a bad idea.
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The Three E’s: Greater Transportation Funding Can Improve the Economy, Equity, and Environment
New sustaining revenue is needed for Massachusetts' transportation systems, and no source of new funding is better scaled to meet the size of underinvestment than the Fair Share Amendment.
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FAQ: Fair Share Amendment Edition
Looking for more detailed information on the Fair Share Amendment being discussed here in the Commonwealth? Check out our guide to some common questions about it and learn more! Haga clica aquí para leer en español. 1. What is the Fair Share Amendment or “millionaire tax”? The Fair Share Amendment will be on the ballot in Massachusetts on November 8, 2022. It would amend the state constitution to allow for an additional 4% income tax on the portion of a tax filer’s taxable income that is above $1 million. The money raised by this tax must be used to support ...
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New Federal Spending Makes It Crucial to Add State Funds for Education and Transportation
The federal and state governments act as partners to ensure high-quality education and transportation. In response to the COVID pandemic, the federal government has made available billions of one-time dollars for the Commonwealth. Federal funding for transportation and education from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), from other relief bills passed by Congress during the pandemic, and enhanced funding opportunities in the newly signed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) are important but insufficient sources of revenue for the Commonwealth to move beyond the pandemic to a future with equity at its center. ...
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Federal Relief and Recovery Funding and Massachusetts’ Transportation Future
Unprecedented Needs and Opportunity Families and businesses rely on transportation systems like roads, sidewalks, buses, and trains for almost everything we do. These are the ways we get to work, to school, to the store, and how goods get to market. Transportation systems connect us to opportunity, save time and help Massachusetts achieve our commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges for everyone, especially for people of color and those with lower incomes. While the pandemic has reduced travel for some, traffic has generally returned to unacceptable pre-COVID levels. U.S. News and World ...
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Does it Make Sense to Collect Bus Fares?
Eliminating fares on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Regional Transit Authority (RTA) buses makes sense for practical economic reasons as well as for equity and environmental sustainability. The resources spent collecting bus fares don’t serve any transportation function. Selling bus passes and tickets, verifying and collecting them, and enforcing fare payments do not help transport bus riders more quickly or safely to their destinations. On the contrary, bus fares discourage people from using the bus, and fare collection slows down travel while making it more stressful and inconvenient. Everything related to fares diverts resources that could otherwise provide more ...
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