What has former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Rich Davey been up to since leaving office in October? We got his thoughts on everything from hosting the Olympics in Boston in 2024 to why it's so difficult to fund infrastructure improvement projects in the United States today.
Highlights from the interview include:
On the difficulty of funding infrastructure problems
The United States once ranked first in the world when it came to infrastructure. Today, according to the World Economic Forum, that ranking has slipped to 16th place, behind nations like Iceland, Spain, Portugal, and the United Arab Emirates. Davey attributes that slippage to the fact that there is little to no political will for lawmakers to address issues that aren't imminent crises.
"More people in elected office need to think about the next 25 years, not the next 25 seconds," Davey said. "Legislators—who will remain nameless—a couple I spoke to when I was making the push for revenue said, you know , 'I'm with you, but I'm going to wait until the phone rings and I'm told how to vote.' People have to vote with their conscience and they have to vote the way of thinking about the long term and not the short term."
On Boston hosting the 2024 Olympic Games
Davey threw his hat in the ring in favor of Boston hosting the Olympics in 2024, saying it might be the opportunity lawmakers need to sign off on infrastructure improvements to the metropolitan area.
Though he predicted the incoming administration will have to carefully prioritize infrastructure projects to prepare Boston for the Olympic Games, Davey maintained it was an entirely doable goal.
"A lot of the improvements that were going to happen in the metropolitan Boston area —new Red and Orange Line cars, for example, expanding South Station, the Green Line expansion, which I'm going to assume are part of the argument that the Olympics can happen in Boston in ten years—should happen anyways," he said. "There may be some other projects that get cut. Governor Baker's team is going to have to think about it."
"Selfishly, I think the Olympics can be the opportunity that actually gets people focused again on transportation," Davey said.
On the Long Island Bridge closure
Davey touched on the abrupt closure of the Long Island Bridge this fall due to concerns about its structural deficiency, which he says did not come as a surprise to many public officials in Massachusetts. "We've known for seven or eight years. As did the city. Not a surprise to a lot of folks who know about transportation," he said.
"Given where it is, it's a bridge that literally goes through Boston Harbor, so if you had even a moderate storm that had waves coming up, it would have significantly deteriorated such that it could have collapsed," Davey continued. "It wasn't in imminent danger of collapse, but as I understand it if there was even a moderate storm, it could have wiped the bridge out or made it such that you couldn't have a heavy vehicle going over it."
If everyone knew the bridge was in trouble, why didn't it get fixed? "Money," Davey said. "Or priority. It's all about the priority question."
To hear more from former Secretary of Transportation Rich Davey, tune in to his interview on Boston Public Radio with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan above.
