In the post-Interstate-building era, questions about the role of the federal government in funding surface transportation have become more common. Most of these arguments have come from conservatives. A new call for eliminating the federal role comes from a different perspective, though—a green one.
MA
MassDOT seeks to triple transit, bike and walk share
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation last week announced a goal of tripling the share of trips in the state taken by transit, bike, and walking by 2030. Strategies to achieve the growth in non-single-occupant-vehicle modes are still being considered. If MassDOT can show progress toward its ambitious goals, it could provide best practices for peer agencies pursuing related policy ends.
Accelerated Bridge Construction offers less hassle for drivers and faster implementation for DOTs
Accelerated bridge construction (ABC) techniques are transforming the replacement and construction of bridges across the country, and commuters are benefiting from shorter construction schedules. The central component of accelerated bridge construction is the use of prefabrication technologies which allow the production of bridge components off-site.
New performance dashboards released in Massachusetts and Michigan
Two new performance measure systems went live in January in Massachusetts and Michigan (both SSTI states.) The systems aim to summarize state DOT-level measures, though one was developed independently of the state DOT and the other …
Pay by the Snowflake?
Governing.com writer Andy Kim described a pilot snow-removal program in the city of Quincy, Mass that used pay for performance: “The city’s Department of Public Works awarded a contract to a snow-removal company that pays …
Falling VMT and Insurance Rates with PAYD?
In its Clean Energy and Climate Plan, the authors assert that a mandatory charge-per-mile system for the entire state would reduce VMT by up to 9.5%. Massachusetts would like to find out. For a voluntary system, …