ACE joined with a diverse group of environmental, planning, transportation, community, labor, business, industry and other advocacy organizations to form a Massachusetts Transportation Investment Coalition in response to the alarming findings recently released by the state’s Transportation Finance Commission. In late March, the Commission’s report announced that nearly every transportation agency is suffering from budget shortfalls, and we face a staggering $15 - $19 billion gap in funding over the next 20 years. Addressing this crisis is essential to protect the safety of residents, to increase the state’s economic competitiveness and to advance environmental goals.
In late April, ACE and the On The Move coalition signed on to a letter to the Legislature announcing that MTIC had come together in support of necessary actions to address the state’s transportation finance woes. MTIC announced, “We are united in our belief that we cannot allow our transportation systems to deteriorate further and that we should not cease advancing strategic expansion and enhancement projects that will provide immense economic and environmental benefits to the Commonwealth.”

Said ACE Fellow Caroline Fan, “The MBTA is in desperate need of a funding solution, and the cycle of fare hikes only exacerbates the problem by discouraging ridership. Without state assistance on the budget, the system will not be able to make necessary service quality improvements and cost riders even more.”

The Transportation Finance Commission held public hearings on its findings on April 30 and is then expected to work on the next phase of its charge: making recommendations for meeting our budget needs. (Please contact: your group/association liaison Gene Benson or Lee Matsueda if you would like to help with some of the MTIC activities in the months ahead or would like more information. You can read the full Commission report here: http://www.eot.state.ma.us/downloads/tfc/TFC_Findings.pdf.