Poll shows support for transportation investment
The “parking lot” during rush hour on Interstate 290 is apparently not an anomaly in Massachusetts, as more than 8 in 10 Massachusetts voters say transportation around the state has stayed the same or gotten worse in the past five years, according to a poll released this week by the MassINC Polling Group.
In fact, about a third of those polled said roads and public transportation were so bad they were hampering the economy.
“It’s no secret that traffic in Massachusetts is getting worse by the day,” Chris Dempsey, executive director of the advocacy coalition Transportation for Massachusetts, said in a news release about the survey. “Congestion is not just costing us our time, it’s also costing each of us, and the state’s economy, money. We need to be thinking of this as a critical quality-of-life issue.”
In Central Massachusetts, planners and other leaders largely agreed that traffic was increasing.
“It’s somewhat consistent with what I hear anecdotally with being in the community,” City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. said of the poll results. He noted that I-290 used to be the quick way to get across the city; now he hears complaints of motorists speeding on local roads to avoid the 290 "parking lot" during rush hour. “The roads do seem busier.”
But those interviewed generally said that the current state of roads and public transportation wasn’t necessarily deteriorating the quality-of-life or economy to the extent it was in Boston - where nearly half of respondents felt the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was holding the economy back.
“I’ve definitely seen an increase in overall volume, but would I say that it’s gotten to where it’s the most frustrating thing that people reported? No,” said Karin Valentine Goins, co-founder and co-chair of WalkBike Worcester.
Nevertheless, all those locally interviewed advocated for more money for transportation projects and improvements.
The online poll of 709 Massachusetts registered voters was collected between Dec. 19 and Jan. 9 and was sponsored by the Barr Foundation, a private nonprofit in Boston.
According to the poll:
- Forty-six percent of voters said that getting around their part of the state has stayed the same in the past five years, while 38 percent said it has gotten worse. Only 14 percent said it had improved.
- Thirty-five percent of voters - and 34 percent of Central Mass. respondents - said the current state of Massachusetts roads and public transportation is bad enough to hold back the economy.
- Seventy-three percent of voters consider improving highways, roads and bridges a priority, while 64 percent - and 59 percent in Central Mass. - named public transit improvements as a priority. The pollsters said transportation issues often received much less priority in voter polls in the past few years.
In interviews, local leaders said the poll generally reflected the transportation picture in Central Massachusetts.
“As far as Central Mass. goes, there is more travel than five years ago, definitely,” said Sujatha Krishnan, a transportation planner at the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission.
A better economy and a bigger population are bringing more people to the area and most of them are coming in cars, Ms. Krishnan said.
“There are more residents in all of Central Mass., including Worcester, so I do think that the numbers probably align with what the poll found,” said Ms. Valentine Goins.
Timothy P. Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and former lieutenant governor, agreed.
“I think there’s no question that the traffic, cars-wise, has gotten worse,” said Mr. Murray. “And while we’ve made a lot of progress on the rail side, we know that there continues to be opportunities to continue to improve and expand, and that takes money and commitment.”
But respondents were mixed on whether the current state of transportation is hampering quality of life or the economy.
Ms. Krishnan said congestion hadn’t reached the point in Central Massachusetts where it was affecting most people’s decision-making or prompting them to choose public transportation.
“We’re not at that tipping point yet,” Ms. Krishnan said. “We’re still not at a point where is not too expensive to drive everywhere and park your car.”
She also didn’t agree that poor transportation infrastructure was necessarily hampering the region economically, saying other infrastructure - such as water and sewer and internet access - was a higher priority for enticing development.
Ms. Valentine Goins agreed that transportation infrastructure, or lack thereof, wasn’t at the point where it was hampering the economy - yet.
“But if more investments aren’t made to give people more (transportation) choices, then maybe in certain areas it could limit the potential of a certain area.”
Mr. Augustus was very politic when asked if the transportation infrastructure was hampering the region’s economic development, saying the region was “doing the best it can with what we have.”
The state has “done a lot - I don’t want to seem ungrateful,” Mr. Augustus said, mentioning state support for transportation projects such as the Mass. Pike Connector, the Heart to Hub express commuter rail service and a new center platform at Union Station. “But there are still a lot of needs and a lot of opportunities, quite frankly, to invest in our roads, our bridges, and our public transportation infrastructure.”
“Absolutely, I think it does present challenges,” Mr. Murray said. “The good news is the economy is growing, but I think it could grow faster and more equitably if we had better transportation ... Worcester is proof positive that if you can make progress on the issue of commuter rail, it can encourage economic development.”
Of course, this being a conversation about transportation, the ultimate question is how to pay for improvements.
Eighty-one percent of voters offered support for the general concept of raising new revenue to invest in the Massachusetts transportation system, according to the poll.
But the poll also found that 62 percent believed keeping taxes as low as possible was a major priority for the state.
Locally, all those interviewed supported more money for transportation. Both Ms. Krishnan and Ms. Valentine Goins supported new revenue sources, perhaps in the form of taxes on gas, public-private partnerships, tolls, or taxes per mile driven.
Mr. Murray said it was “a folly” for the state Senate to reject a 25-cent gas tax that he and then-Gov. Deval Patrick had proposed in the Transportation Reform Act of 2009.
“It was a folly of the Massachusetts state Senate to insist on reform before revenue, when we were arguing for reform and revenue at the same time,” Mr. Murray said. He noted that a gas tax was even endorsed by the conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“I thought I was out of the Legislature,” Mr. Augustus joked when asked whether he supported new taxes for transportation.
He replied that there was a necessary discussion to be had about whether new revenue sources were needed or whether re-prioritizing state, federal and local dollars - not one source solely - would be sufficient.
As for ways to alleviate congestion, those interviewed noted that Central Mass. was diversifying its transportation options with more commuter rail service, better street infrastructure for bicycling and walking, and the presence of ride-sharing companies. A couple of things didn’t seem to be options, however: a major infrastructure expansion - or a silver bullet.
“It’s a nonstarter in most cases to expand our current system, so we have to look at other ways to reduce our congestion,” said Ms. Krishnan, the transportation planner. “It’s a lot of things that need to magically happen, all at once, to solve this problem. We keep just putting Band-Aids on problems.”