BOSTON - Nov. 25, 2024 - Urging the Massachusetts Legislature, Administration, and local and state leaders to take bold action on funding for transportation infrastructure, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) released 18 revenue-raising recommendations that span a range of small, medium, and large mechanisms. Decades of underinvestment have caused a state of disrepair across the Commonwealth’s critical transportation infrastructure, including bridges, roadways, and the MBTA, making it harder not only to catch up on immediate needs, but to fund meaningful advances and build the transportation system the state deserves.

The recommendations propose opportunities for new revenue, such as allowing cities and towns to tax private parking facilities, as well as to help align the state’s current taxes and fees with rates common across the country and to adjust for inflation. In drafting the recommendations, MAPC aimed to put many options on the table to address statewide transportation needs; they also align with the state’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prioritize a shift from single occupancy vehicles. The report emphasizes solutions that do not disproportionately burden low-income populations and are achievable through progressive and equitable pricing across many avenues.

Cities and towns should play a larger role in both influencing travel behavior and advancing transportation infrastructure projects. Regional ballot initiatives would allow cities and towns to raise local money to invest in local transportation priorities, and it is how the vast majority of transportation projects are funded around the country.

Included in the package of recommendations are three distinct transportation revenue sources that the MAPC Department of Transportation has researched extensively: a revised Transportation Network Company (TNC) fee assessment could generate an estimated $120 million to $140 million annually; a retail delivery fee in Massachusetts could generate between $104 million and $192 million in revenue annually, supporting both municipal and statewide transportation needs; and commercial parking taxes in Boston and across the Commonwealth could generate at least $29 million to $74 million in revenue – and potentially much more. MAPC has previously released policy briefs on these specific tools.

In brief, MAPC’s 2024 Transportation Finance Recommendations encompass the following:

1. Allowing cities and towns to tax private parking facilities to generate additional revenue for transportation infrastructure.
2. Allowing municipalities and regions to raise funds via ballot initiative for specific projects or lists of projects.
3. Cities and towns should continue to take advantage of existing value capture tools, and new tools should be developed to expand the utility of value capture in the Commonwealth.
4. Regional mitigation funds should be established to support public transit, bike, and pedestrian improvements.
5. Increasing Transportation Network Company surcharges.  
6. Implementing a fee structure for Delivery Network Company Rapid Deliveries.
7. Implementing dynamic road pricing.
8. Expanding employer-provided access to commuter transit benefits.
9. Drivers should be charged a per-mile usage fee and municipalities should receive a portion of that fee.
10. The gas tax should be raised consistently, and the sales tax should be applied to motor vehicle fuel sales.
11. Authorizing automatic traffic enforcement.
12. Closing the airplane sales tax loophole and increasing the tax on jet fuel and aviation fuel.
13. Implementing a fee for e-commerce.
14. Increasing the allocation of the Massachusetts sales tax to transportation
15. Increases in user fees should be subject to predictable and modest increases.
16. Expanding All-Electronic Tolling to other limited access highways.
17. Increasing vehicle registration fees.
18. Increasing MBTA assessments from cities and towns.

Read MAPC’s full 2024 Transportation Finance Recommendations.

Since MAPC released its first transportation finance recommendations in 2019, several changes in the transportation sector have amplified the need for additional investments. A transportation system that works for everyone improves communities, makes our economy more competitive, and connects residents to everything that Massachusetts has to offer.

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