Mass. unveils transport agency revamp
(Corrected, 11:15 a.m.)
BOSTON – A bigger, and officials say better, Mass. Department of Transportation (MassDOT) opened its doors on Sunday.
The expanded agency brings under one roof the former Mass. Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works, the Mass. Turnpike Authority, the Mass. Highway Department, the Mass. Registry of Motor Vehicles, the Mass. Bay Transportation Authority and other agencies.
The Mass. Port Authority will remain independent and continue to operate Logan Airport, container and cruise terminals in the Port of Boston and Hanscom Field. MassDOT will take over the Tobin Bridge by the end of the year, while ownership of Worcester Regional Airport will transfer to the Port Authority.
MassDOT will oversee more than 10,000 employees, an annual operating budget of more than $459 million and a capital budget of more than $1.88 billion, according to a report released by the department. The revamped agency will oversee thousands of miles of roads, dozens of bridges, traffic signals, maintenance depots and traffic cameras.
Lawmakers consolidated the department when they passed a law in June, saying a mega-department would save taxpayers money. Officials made the agency revamp a prerequisite before appropriating more money for the state’s transit system.
Senate President Therese Murray and Transportation Committee Co-Chair Sen. Stephen Baddour said the combined agency would save taxpayers $6.2 billion over the next 20 years, according to Boston NPR affiliate WBUR.
However, the radio station reported that Jeffery Mullan, the new secretary of transportation, said savings are likely to be far less. New estimates peg savings around $1 billion over the next two decades.
The merger is likely to be invisible to the average commuter, although visitors to www.massdot.state.ma.us will find an overhauled Web site.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly said the Mass. Port Authority had become part of MassDOT; the Port Authority will remain independent but some of its responsibilities will change.
I suspect that this new MADOT agency will have an impact on the way the MBTA handles commuter rail to Rhode Island. The new "MBTA Letter" that is said to promise a connection to the Warwick Intermodal Train Station has more ifs and buts than a typical cancer insurance policy. With a former Polaroid attorney as the chairman of the new MADOT board, we, in Rhode Island, need to get far more savvy in dealing with MBTA issues.