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:	post by sinistas at 2007-10-03 13:15:06

http://www.telegram.com/article/20071003/NEWS/710030588/1116

Oct 3, 2007 - Patrick eyes uniting transportation
By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

BOSTON— Gov. Deval L. Patrick will try to succeed where others have failed by attempting to rid the state of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

Plans are still taking shape; however state Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen said yesterday the move would be part of a larger plan to finally coordinate management of the state’s array of bus, train, highway, bridge and park road agencies under a single transportation agency.

A two-page outline called “A Framework for Real Reform” released yesterday indicates the Turnpike Authority would be folded into other state highway operations. The report is being circulated among legislators, whose support would be needed to implement the consolidation.

The Legislature repeatedly rejected proposals from Gov. Mitt Romney to merge the Turnpike Authority with the state Highway Department. Mr. Patrick apparently believes he’ll have better luck with the merger.

Under the plan, a Massachusetts Transportation Authority would administer all transportation agencies in the state.

The plan envisions committing all highway and transportation fees and subsidies, such as tolls, gas taxes and federal revenues, to a transportation fund administered by the new authority.

It also calls for boards of the MBTA and turnpike authority to be eliminated and the creation of a single board appointed by the governor and chaired by the state secretary of transportation. Under the plan, turnpike operations would be merged with the highway department into a single state road and bridge agency that also would manage the Tobin Bridge, state park roadways and regional transit authorities.

The plan states that the administration would work with finance companies, the Legislature and the public to build a new administration system “that will allow us to move beyond our fragmented, poorly managed and under-funded transportation system.”

Mr. Cohen said yesterday the most important aspect of the framework is that it has started the state “down the road of real reform” that the governor has demanded. “There is a long history of transportation agencies in Massachusetts that do not operate from a statewide policy perspective,” he said, noting that the need for coordination is compounded by the high amount of state infrastructure in disrepair.

“The big picture here is we are taking our responsibility as transportation leaders to see what we would do to restructure and reform the system we have, to make sure we are extracting all the transportation resources we can in order to invest them in our services and operations and infrastructure,” Mr. Cohen said.

“That’s the major goal,” he said.

“It’s less a plan and more of a collection of ideas that are going to require substantial discussion with members of the Legislature, the finance community and our transportation stakeholders,” he said. “We want at the end of the day to have a plan that represents the best ideas out there about how to do this,” he said.

“We are serious about addressing this issue of fragmented decision-making.”

The framework calls for a new administrative structure that would allow coordinated statewide transportation planning through a single agency that would prioritize projects based on need and would produce savings through shared costs.

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Alright, seriously - if you live in this shithole of a state, and you agree that something needs to be done about the continued wasting of MILLIONS OF TAX DOLLARS every year by these corrupt agencies - call your state senator / representative and tell them that this needs to happen. I think it's the only way to fix the bullshit at this point.

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