Transportation Solutions News

Calls for expanded public transportation statewide to grow the economy

A new report released today by the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG) analyzes the benefits of proposed and planned public transportation projects throughout Massachusetts.

The MASSPIRG report, entitled Connecting the Commonwealth: Key Public Transportation Projects and Their Benefits for Massachusetts, examines the cost of driving on commuters, and the benefits of transit in terms of reducing oil consumption and relieving traffic congestion.

“The Massachusetts economy would greatly benefit from more public transportation,” said MASSPIRG Consumer Advocate and co-author of the report, Eric Bourassa. “More people taking transit would not only save gasoline and wasted time in traffic, it would make our region more competitive in attracting new businesses.”

According to the report:

• • Vehicle travel on Massachusetts highways increased 57 percent between 1980 and 2007. And the number of miles driven per person has increased by 39 percent over that time.

• • Massachusetts residents spent about $4.3 billion more on gasoline in 2007 than they did in 1998, a product of more miles being driven in less efficient vehicles, coupled with higher gasoline prices.

• • Congestion on Bay State roads has continued to get worse. In 2005, Boston area residents spent about 93 million hours in traffic delays, while congestion cost the area’s economy about $1.8 billion.

• • In 2006, public transportation in Massachusetts saved approximately 153 million gallons of automobile fuel, saving consumers more than $400 million at the pump.

Public transportation projects examined in the report include: 

• • Extending the MBTA Green Line, improving transportation service to the state’s most densely populated city, Somerville, as well as neighboring Medford.

• • Connecting the MBTA Blue Line and Red Line at Charles/MGH station and extending the Blue Line to Lynn—easing connections in downtown Boston, providing more travel options, and improving links between Lynn and Boston.

• • Improving the quality of service along the MBTA’s Fairmount commuter rail line—which runs through some of Boston’s most transit-dependent and economically challenged neighborhoods—and adding several new stations.

• • Completing the final phase of the Silver Line, improving transit connections in downtown Boston.

• • Building high-capacity transit from Mattapan to a connection with the Silver Line at Dudley Square, and potentially converting the entire Silver Line Washington Street corridor to light rail service.

• • Building a high-quality, rail-based Urban Ring that would connect the “spokes” of the MBTA transit system, speeding travel around the Boston area and drawing thousands of new transit riders each day

• • Restoring commuter rail service to Fall River and New Bedford and eventually Cape Cod, linking the South Coast to the Greater Boston rail network.

• • Connecting fast-growing southern New Hampshire to the MBTA commuter rail network.

• • Introducing commuter rail service between Springfield, Hartford and New Haven, reducing congestion on I-91 and providing better transportation options to residents of the Pioneer Valley.

• • Improving passenger rail service in the Worcester area, including improved service on the Worcester-Boston commuter rail line and possible extensions of the commuter rail network to Springfield, New London, Providence and Ayer that would provide new regional travel options and allow rail to be used by commuters working in Worcester.

• • Connecting the north and south halves of the MBTA commuter rail network, allowing commuter rail riders to reach a greater variety of destinations, improving the efficiency of the MBTA commuter rail system, and paving the way for continuous intercity rail service along the entire East Coast.

• • Construction of high-speed rail along Massachusetts’ federally designated high-speed rail corridors—eventually linking Boston with Montreal, Albany, and Auburn, Maine; and Springfield with New Haven and New York City—via trains traveling 125 miles per hour or more.

• • Improvements in bus service across the Commonwealth, particularly service provided by Massachusetts’ regional transit authorities (RTAs). With adequate and predictable funding, RTAs can provide Bay State residents with efficient and affordable alternatives to driving.

MASSPIRG is pointing to these projects as examples of infrastructure investments the federal government should consider as economic stimulus.

“Instead of giving each person a check, we ought to invest in transportation projects that will create jobs, address energy dependence, and offer commuters a better way to get around,” said Bourassa