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.
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]
Leah Robins, Government Affairs 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.
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
Transportation Finance Recommendations
2024 Update
Since the 2019 transportation finance recommendations were first released, we have seen several changes in the transportation sector that make the need for additional investments even more important.
We can no longer delay making the hard choices to make new sustainable revenue sources for our transportation system. Our residents deserve a reliable, efficient, accessible, and safe transportation system. A transportation system that works for everyone improves our communities, makes our economy more competitive, and connects our residents to everything that Massachusetts has to offer.
In this 2024 update, MAPC has identified (18) revenue raising recommendations for the current financial challenges facing our transportation system.
The Recommendations
- Allow cities and towns to tax private parking facilities to generate additional revenue for transportation infrastructure.
- Municipalities and regions should be allowed to raise funds via ballot initiative for specific projects or lists of projects.
- 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.
- Regional mitigation funds should be established to support public transit, bike, and pedestrian improvements.
- Increase Transportation Network Company surcharges.
- Implement a fee structure for Delivery Network Company Rapid Deliveries.
- Implement dynamic road pricing.
- Expand employer provided access to commuter transit benefits.
- Drivers should be charged a per-mile usage fee and municipalities should receive a portion of that fee.
- The gas tax should be raised consistently, and the sales tax should be applied to motor vehicle fuel sales.
- Authorize automatic traffic enforcement.
- Close the airplane sales tax loophole and increase the tax on jet fuel and aviation fuel.
- Implement a fee for ecommerce.
- Increase the Massachusetts sales tax to support transit throughout the Commonwealth.
- Increases in user fees should be subject to predictable and modest increases.
- All-electronic Tolling should be expanded to other limited access highways.
- Vehicle registration fees.
- Increase MBTA assessments from cities and towns.
Access the Full Recommendations Report for more information about each recommendation.
Transportation Funding Solutions: Raising Awareness, Raising Revenue Event
On Thursday, November 21, 2024, MAPC hosted a virtual event to present the 2024 updated Transportation Finance Recommendations. Below you will find the recording of that event and the presentation slides.
Thank you to State Senator Brendan Crighton (Third Essex) and Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation (MTF) President, Doug Howgate for joining us for this crucial conversation.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 Kane, Executive Director, The MBTA Advisory Board
- Thomas McGee, Member, MBTA Board of Directors
- Mary Skelton Roberts, MBTA Board of Directors
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