Cross posted on Governor Patrick’s Engage! Blog
By now, you’ve heard about the transportation reform bill. On November 1, that legislation takes effect and I will become Secretary and CEO of the new MassDOT. The landmark reform law eliminates the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the Massachusetts Highway Department, the Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works, and the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, consolidates 4 agencies now managing roads into one, moves hundreds of transportation employees into the GIC healthcare pool, and creates a level of coordination unprecedented in Massachusetts transportation history.
But transportation reform is about more than just legislation. Transportation reform is about having a vision and a commitment to doing things differently. And it has been Governor Patrick’s vision and his commitment to fundamentally fix a broken system that gives us this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make things better.
As Secretary and CEO, my job will be to deliver on that vision. Our goal is to continue squeezing savings and efficiencies at every level, to encourage innovative ideas to improve safety and services, and to operate our agencies with a consumer focus. We will strive to manage the system in a way that mirrors how businesses and residents use it.
But what does this all really mean for residents? For an idea of what’s to come, I’d like to highlight four recent changes that show we’re already thinking outside the box about how to change the status quo and improve customer service.
* Sometimes transportation reform is big: Over the next 8 years, nearly $3 billion in funding from the Accelerated Bridge Program will be used to improve the condition of bridges in every corner of the Commonwealth. This program will greatly reduce the number of structurally deficient bridges in the state system, while creating thousands of construction jobs on bridge projects. It will also serve as a laboratory for innovation – MassHighway is aggressively seeking out best practices and cutting-edge accelerated project development and construction techniques that will deliver projects faster than ever before. Learn more about the Accelerated Bridge Program and our “laboratory of innovation” approach.
* Sometimes transportation reform is smaller: On Monday, thanks to Secretary Aloisi’s leadership, the MBTA launched a new initiative to use stimulus money to replace outdated signs with new customer-friendly maps – some of the outdated signs were more than 40 years old. These new signs will for the first time include major bus routes and will no longer leave tourists or visitors standing in station confused because they are looking at an outdated map.
* Sometimes transportation reform is about what’s next: In July we launched an EOT Developers Page and twitter account where we’re opening up data from transportation agencies and allowing outside developers to create applications and other web tools that will deliver information to people more efficiently than we can. Why pay a consultant to create an app when we can put out the data and have people compete amongst themselves to create the best application possible? That effort has already resulted in more than four iPhone applications.
* And sometimes, transportation reform is just about common sense and making the commute a little easier: like when, right before Labor Day, we brought MassHighway’s 70 traffic cameras online so residents and drivers could view live traffic shots. We also provided TV, radio and newspaper websites with a feed of the cameras so they could integrate them into their traffic web pages. This effort follows the live traffic cameras the Turnpike launched before Memorial Day – an effort which was done at essentially no cost to the Turnpike because a team of employees recycled cameras left over from the Central Artery/Tunnel project.
The is the sort of creative thinking Governor Patrick has encouraged for two years – and what you’re going to see more of now that he has delivered the most sweeping transportation reform in our history. I’m honored to be the new CEO of MassDOT and I hope you’ll help us move the Commonwealth forward.
I’ll come back here to answer some questions on this thread or you can stay in touch by visiting our blog or follow us on twitter.
Discuss
13 Comments . Comments are closed.When Will Toll Equity Provisions of the New Law Kick In?
The MassDOT law provides that tolls cannot be used for non-tolled roads, so either there will be tolls on I-93 or a deep discount on I-90 tolls that currently fund debt service and operating costs for I-93. Which will it be and when can we expect to see a difference in financial impact on I-90 drivers?
Hot and Cold Ideas for New Revenue Jeff
As previously seen exclusively on BMG:
HOT lane revenue: http://www.bluemassgroup.com/d...
Beer/Wine Sales on Outbound Commuter Rail: http://www.bluemassgroup.com/d...
What do you think?
RMV
Any plans to pump money into the RMV? It's budget has been slashed unmercifully.
Why $quot;CEO$quot;
Is the new Department expected to turn a profit, like a corporation? If so, where are its shareholders defined, just so we know in whose interest it is operating.
If not, what is the purpose of this title.
Silly
Why Secretary? Is the head of the agency expected to take dictation and make sure the breakroom is supplied with coffee?
utilitarian decision making, please
That needs to be the guidepost for all decisions. How to get the most people from A to B in the fastest, most cost-effective way. As it stands, far, far too many decisions are made with an eye to pleasing some interest group: T workers, politicans, regional interests, disability advocates, etc. We need someone there who fights for the interests of the poor schleb on the green line / commuter rail / crowded city bus.
So please, no more buses to nowhere (seldom-used suburban lines), trains to nowhere (South Coast), drivers to nowhere (second "drivers"), etc.
It ain't that simple
Unless you're Robert Moses, that is.
Transportation through a neighborhood impacts that neighborhood, and ought be considered even if it does impede the fastest, most cost-effective A to B. The same can be said for pollution, dependence on foreign oil (and foreign made cars for that matter), etc. A sustainable society ensures that transportation (for employment, commerce, education, and recreation) is available to everybody, and the Robert Moses model of everyone driving everywhere just doesn't work.
So, it ain't that simple. Sometimes mass transit isn't the fastest, most cost-effective way to get folks from A to B, but must be pursued anyway because it allows for more social mobility amongst the poor, because it reduces the detrimental externalities that come with transportation, because it reduces the negative health impacts that an auto-dependent society generates, and so forth.
Huh
"trains to nowhere (South Coast)"? Wherefore this claim?
Your confusion is understandable
You thought that simply because a third of a million people lived in the region it might be worthy of public transit. However, it's not a wealthy glamorous area and more importantly, Ed Poon has no desire to go there. Hence, clearly train to nowhere.
Please tell me $quot;Transportation$quot; means more than...
Cars, roads, highways, toll booths, etc...
How about:
Mass Transit?
High Speed rail?
Commuter rail service extensions?
We still need a VISION
A vision is a statement about the world we want to create. Here's an example: "We see a world without disease or hunger." A mission is the work we do to make that vision real. Here's an example: "We will distribute antibiotics to third-world populations." A "plan" is how we do it.
Here is what Jeff Mullan wrote about the governor's "vision":
I think this is a fair paraphrase of the above: "The governor's vision is to fundamentally fix a broken system that gives us this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make things better."
In my view, statements like "fixed" instead of "broken", and "make things better" are not statements about the world we want to create. These are, instead, some statements about tasks -- but, to my eyes, lacking focus and purpose. How will we know when we're done? How will we measure whether the activity is working? Do we want to fix a system that, after being fixed, doesn't solve our current transportation problems? What "things" do we make "better"? What is "better"? Commuter rail that reliably and affordably runs from Newburyport to Boston twice each morning and comes back twice each evening is never going to provide a viable commuting alternative.
I'd like to invite us to offer our own vision statements here, perhaps with some accompanying mission statements, and I'll try seeding the discussion with one of my own:
Here's our chance, BMGers, let's help Jeff (and Governor Patrick) out -- what is our vision and our missions for transportation in Massachusetts?
step one for transportation reform in MA
Get as much trucking as possible off the roads and on to trains. Be a model for the rest of the country, give small trucking companies the work of moving goods from trains to businesses (creating rare labor jobs for those who need good work), give a shot in the arm to the railroads, opening the door to preparing the RR physical plant for high speed rail along the way, and making it more and more likely that people will be able to get from outlying towns and cities into more major metro areas without their cars.
A good example of why an agreed-on vision is needed
This kind of much-needed approach only works when it expresses a vision shared by a compelling majority of the electorate and the government. A transformation like this requires land-use and right-of-way planning decades out. The Washington DC Metro, for example, was preceded by two to three decades of master plans for the surrounding regions. Contemplated industrial development has to line up with rail instead of highway facilities. Large employers of information workers (Biotech, for example) need to know where commuter rail stops are going to be, and need to know that service will be frequent enough to sustain their planned workforce.
This takes far more than some election-year press releases. The threatened service cutbacks, musical-chairs management, and inept operations of the recent past have not strengthened the case. The new agency is an important first brush-stroke.
Now is the time for the Governor and Mr. Mullan to paint the rest of the canvas.
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