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.
Connecting-the-Commonwealth.pdf