’We’re getting close’; Massachusetts lawmakers say they’re close to unveiling a transportation policy package

Joint Committee on Transportation

Members of the Joint Committee on Transportation.

Sen. Joseph Boncore, a Winthrop Democrat, said Massachusetts Senate lawmakers are close to unveiling a transportation policy package, and that they’re weighing a number of revenue options to shape the course of future investment in the transit system.

“We’re getting close to having recommendations ready and a transportation policy bill ready to go," Boncore, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Transportation, said on Wednesday, according to CommonWealth Magazine.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo told reporters on Wednesday that he is uncertain when the transportation financing legislation will be put forward in the House, but indicated that a bill will be debated before April, when budget deliberations begin.

“But I am committed to taking up a transportation piece of legislation," he said. “It seems to me that every day that goes by there’s another example of the need for transportation revenue relative to our transportation system.”

During a recently held private meeting between state lawmakers and transportation advocates, officials and industry leaders identified five transportation goals and 10 possible resources, CommonWealth Magazine reports.

Goals included “influencing behavior, addressing congestion, supporting sustainability, improving public transit and promoting regionalization and equity.” The list of resources included “hiking fees on transportation network companies, or ride-hailing apps; tolling, regional ballot initiatives, low-income fares, fare reductions, regional transit authorities, parking surcharges, a vehicle trade-in tax, cashing out parking and raising the gas tax.”

Lawmakers also discussed the waning support for an ambitious regional cap-and-trade plan, called the Transportation Climate Initiative, which would set a declining cap on the total amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted from vehicles using transportation fuels.

Officials have said the regional policy could bring in some $7 billion in new funds across the region, and about $500 million a year in Massachusetts, according to estimates shared in December. Those proceeds would then be invested in clean transportation solutions as each state sees fit.

But estimated caps looking to cut back on transportation carbon emissions between 20% to 25% over a 10-year period could also result in parallel increases in the price of gas of between 5 cents per gallon to 17 cents per gallon, if fuel suppliers pass on the full costs to the consumer.

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