Transportation Funding Opportunities

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Transportation Funding Opportunities

Transportation Funding Opportunities

The time has come for a comprehensive solution to fund the transportation system we have, and build the transportation system we need.

Join Us for a Virtual Event!

Transportation Funding Solutions: Raising Awareness, Raising Revenue
Thursday, November 21, 2024 | 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. via Zoom

Join MAPC for a virtual conversation about how Massachusetts can invest in the statewide transportation system we need. This event will discuss why the Commonwealth needs more transportation funding, and how we can get there.

By joining us for this event, you will be among the first to hear about MAPC's 2024 Updated Transportation Finance Recommendations - being released November 21!

Transportation is crucial to every aspect of life in Massachusetts. It connects workers to jobs, businesses to markets, students to schools, and residents and visitors to the state’s cultural and recreational resources.

Decades of overborrowing and underinvestment have left the Commonwealth’s transportation system buried in debt and facing an overwhelming maintenance backlog. Despite the continued challenges, transportation in Massachusetts is crucial to the backbone of our thriving economy and quality of life.

On this page, you will find policy briefs and white papers written by MAPC's Transportation team, focused on the issues at hand, and recommendations on how to fix them.

Questions? Please Contact:
Eric Bourassa, Transportation Director
[email protected]

Transportation Funding
Background

In 2019, MAPC released “Transportation Finance Recommendations” which identified 14 opportunities to increase funding for transportation infrastructure and public transit.

In the five years since the release of those recommendations, there have been changes in the transportation sector that necessitate a shift in some transportation finance recommendations.  

Go to MAPC's 2024 Transportation Policy Briefs
MAPC's 2024 Transportation Finance Recommendations - coming soon!

Image is a photo of a public transportation bus, and a person standing waiting to get on.

Climate and Public Health

The transportation sector remains the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts.

Staggering levels of congestion and unreliability of public transit services have taken a toll on commuters in the Commonwealth. The intersection of climate ready infrastructure and public health must be components of a newly realized transportation system.  

Accessibility and Equity

COVID-19 and its impacts on the economy have shifted the way that many people move throughout the Commonwealth.

A reliable, affordable, and well-connected transportation network is particularly essential to advancing the region’s equity goals, improving the lives of lower-income populations by enhancing access to good jobs, schools, and services.  

Transportation Funding

Policy Briefs

MAPC supports more revenue for our transportation system. We believe that transportation taxes and fees should be aligned with climate and equity goals. Pricing solutions should not disproportionately burden low-income populations, and investments should be geared toward mode shift away from single-occupancy vehicles. 

We need a combination of small, medium, and large revenue raising mechanisms to address decades of underfunding. And cities and towns should play a larger role in both influencing travel behavior and advancing transportation infrastructure projects, and therefore should be given more tools to price transportation-related externalities and raise revenue locally.  

The MAPC Transportation Team has researched three distinct transportation revenue sources that regions and states have implemented around the country. These revenue opportunities will not solve our transportation funding crisis, but we should explore them alongside other options to meet our transportation needs.

Female rider in a pink long sleeve shirt and black pants sits in the back of a ride share vehicle looking at her cell phone. The driver is wearing a dark purple top.

Increased Transportation Network Company Fee

To address the adverse effects of congestion and emissions, and to find new methods of revenue generation for continued investment in transportation infrastructure, many cities and states impose assessments on Transportation Network Companies (TNCs). A revised TNC assessment could generate an estimated $120 million to $140 million annually. This briefing provides an overview of the various TNC assessment methods currently employed by cities and states, alongside recommendations for the Commonwealth to consider.

A delivery person wearing a blue baseball cap, blue polo shirt, and black pants, is pushing a dolly with four stacked cardboard boxes on the dolly. Behind him is a white delivery van with the side door open showing stacks of cardboard boxes inside the van. blue writing on the door says, Delivery Services".

Retail Delivery Fee

To mitigate the adverse effects of roadway wear and tear, congestion, and emissions from retail deliveries, and to find new sources of revenue generation for continued investment in transportation infrastructure, Massachusetts should consider implementing a retail delivery fee. This fee would be added to the cost of goods delivered by motor vehicle to a customers’ homes or businesses. We estimate that a retail delivery fee in Massachusetts could generate between $104 million and $192 million in revenue annually, supporting both municipal and statewide transportation needs. This briefing provides an overview of retail delivery fees currently in place or being considered outside Massachusetts, along with recommendations for the Commonwealth to consider.

Black, gray, and white cars are parked in a parking lot.

Commercial Parking Tax

This memo provides information about how a range of U.S. cities tax parking, which Boston and other cities in Massachusetts currently do not do. We estimate that commercial parking taxes in Boston and across the Commonwealth could generate at least $29 million to $74 million in revenue and potentially much more – to fund municipal and statewide transportation needs, including public transit systems.  

TNC Photo: AdobeStock_500707644 | Delivery Photo: AdobeStock_337982191 | Parked Cars Photo: AdobeStock_364648197

Transportation Funding
Transportation Finance Recommendations
2024 Update - coming soon!

MAPC will soon be releasing updated recommendations to address transportation finance. Once released, they will be posted in this section. We encourage you to subscribe to our News and Events email list if you haven't already to stay in the know. 

MBTA Funding

The MBTA's Fiscal Cliff and the Future of Public Transit

On July 9, 2024, MAPC hosted a webinar focused on the fiscal picture of the MBTA, the challenges and opportunities that underlie its needs, and ways to stay engaged on these issues in the coming months.

Panel of Speakers:

  • Brian KaneExecutive Director, The MBTA Advisory Board
  • Thomas McGeeMember, MBTA Board of Directors
  • Mary Skelton RobertsMBTA Board of Directors

Presentation from Brian Kane

Media Coverage:
The State of the MBTA: broke.
July 25, 2024 | Source: West Roxbury-Roslindale Bulletin

MBTA Climate

Going Green: How the MBTA is Taking Climate Action

On October 1, 2024, MAPC in partnership with the MBTA hosted a webinar focused on the climate resiliency work that both MAPC and the MBTA are doing.

This work includes how the MBTA is preparing the regional transit system to be resilient in the face of escalating climate change. Both MAPC and the MBTA are playing critical roles in helping local municipalities and the Commonwealth in meeting climate goals.

Panel of Speakers:

  • Lynsey Heffernan, Chief of Policy and Strategic Planning, MBTA
  • Kat Eshel, Senior Director of Climate Policy and Planning, MBTA
  • Caroline Bean, Director, Climate and Sustainability Planning, MBTA
  • Eric Bourassa, Transportation Director, MAPC
  • Julia Wallerce, Assistant Director of Transportation, MAPC - Moderator

MAPC Presentation Slides
MBTA Presentation Slides
Questions and Answers Summary from the Event