For those who anticipated major transportation legislation from state lawmakers this month, you might have to hold off a little longer.
On Tuesday, Jim Aloisi, former transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters Board, and contributor to Commonwealth Magazine, and Chris Dempsey, director of transportation for Massachusetts and former assistant secretary of transportation, stopped by the WGBH library studio to offer their take on when Massachusetts residents can expect to a boost in funding for the state’s struggling transportation sector.
"I doubt that something’s going to happen in January,” Alosi told Boston Public Radio. “But maybe soon enough. These things take a while to percolate.”
State legislators recently began to face increased pressure to improve the state's roads, subways, and commuter rail trains. In his State of the City address on Jan. 7, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh urged state officials to “be bold” in addressing solutions to the lagging sector.
Read More: Mayor Marty Walsh On His Call For Beacon Hill To Act On Transportation Funding
Alosi pointed to a number of programs that could boost funding, including a driving fee that would charge drivers additional fees during hours when roads are more congested.
"There’s a federal program call the Value Pricing Pilot Program,” Aloisi said. "It’s not an insurmountable barrier, in fact I think– based on the conversations I’ve had, it’s a pretty easy and direct pathway which Massachusetts has already qualified for… some years ago.”
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Dempsey, however, was slightly more hesitant to give state legislators advanced credit. "I think we need to have a little more distinction in there,” he told Jim and Margery.
"We have heard clearly from the House, and in particular from Speaker DeLeo and Chairman Straus, who’s the chair of the Transportation Committee, that they are committed to a debate on transportation. And so when your listeners are hearing conversation in January and February… that will be the House of Representatives.”
Dempsey continued, saying "The Senate has been a little bit more cautious… members of the Senate’s transportation working group, which Chairman [Joseph} Boncore from Winthrop and East Boston pulled together, that’s a good group of people thinking about solutions and trying to provide some advice. But we haven’t yet heard that commitment from the [rest of the] Senate. Now that just may be them saying 'we want to let the House deal with it first,’ but we’re ultimately going to need both.”
"And then,” Dempsey concluded, "we’re going to need the Governor to step up more than he has on transportation."
