Caution: difficult transportation funding choices ahead.

• Author: Russell, Carrie

A new study by Smart Growth America reveals that three-fourths of Americans believe that being smarter about development and improving public transportation are better solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads. Across the region, CLF's lawyers are questioning highway expansion projects and promoting smart transportation solutions that give people the opportunity to drive less and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

The transportation funding crisis facing Massachusetts provides a window onto the challenges ahead for our region as we seek to make better choices about how public funding is spent on transportation projects. Existing road systems and bridges in the Bay State are crumbling and public transit systems are failing to meet customer demand. In addition, the Massachusetts BayTransit Authority (MBTA), which provides bus, subway and commuter rail service to Greater Boston, has raised rider fares three times since 2000, discouraging residents from using transit at a time when roadway congestion continues to increase. Even with these fare hikes, the T remains deeply in debt and is unable to improve service to meet customer needs.

The Massachusetts Transportation Finance Commission, a group of experts appointed by the legislature to study the Commonwealth's transportation system, has identified a $15-19 billion gap in transportation funding over the next 20 years. This gap--the result of years of deferred maintenance and consistent under-funding of transportation agencies--must be closed in order to maintain the state's transportation infrastructure. The MBTA's budget has not grown to meet rising fuel and employee healthcare costs and, at the same time, is saddled with billions of dollars in debt. Nearly a third of the MBTA's annual budget goes to pay off debt--money that might be better spent improving service to attract more riders and expanding service to new communities to get more cars and trucks off the road. Key transit expansion projects supported by CLF include the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line through Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park, the Green Line Extension to Somerville and Medford, and the Red Line-Blue Line Connector in downtown Boston.

Public transportation expansion is essential to relieve congestion, give people opportunities to drive less, and connect workers with jobs. It's also a key strategy for addressing the most pressing environmental challenge of our generation: climate change. More...