MBTA Official Describes New PERQ Program to Assist Commuters and Businesses
Photo available upon request.
WESTBOROUGH, MA – State Transportation Commission Chair Steve Kadish told members of MassEcon today that solving mobility and congestion issues in the Commonwealth is about what choices to make, not about how to pay for it.
And he suggested that with the right decisions Massachusetts could become a national leader in transportation — with a Transportation Technology Transformation Initiative, along the lines of the existing Massachusetts Life Sciences Center — as it already is in areas like life sciences and health care.
One of the 18 recommendations in the report requested by Gov. Charlie Baker and delivered in December 2018, “Choices for Stewardship: Recommendations to Meet the Transportation Future,” concerned the need for sufficient financing.
But, “We purposely focused on the what and why and less on the how,” Kadish said at the breakfast meeting today in Westborough. “The issue is to figure out what to do, not the money issue.”
The 19-member commission addressed transportation needs statewide through 2040 and addressed five primary areas: transit, technology, climate, economic development and land use, and governance.
Legislation that reorganized the MBTA’s leadership and created the Fiscal Control Board expires in July.
Kadish said the commission “really took to heart” the transportation technology revolution now under way, including such on-demand services as Uber and Lyft, in considering the shape of effective transportation systems for the future.
Kadish is a senior research fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and formerly was chief of staff to Baker. He is also an adviser to the World Bank’s Human Development practice group on strategic initiatives and organizational development issues.
The report’s guidelines were based on trends, including an expected 350,000 new employed people in Massachusetts between 2010 and 2017, congestion that increased dramatically on the roads in post-Great Recession years, and a population that will grow by 600,000 by 2040, with about 200,000 more of those living in Suffolk County.
“We need widespread technology and we need widely dispersed jobs and housing,” in so-called “housing hubs” as well as a “vibrant core,” Kadish said.
On the climate issue, transportation in Massachusetts represents more than 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, and that is expected to grow, he said.
One of the top recommendations of the commission was prioritizing movement of people over movement of vehicles. “There is no silver bullet, no single solution that will alleviate congestion,” he said.
The report called for a “statewide telecommunications infrastructure to support the availability of real time transportation information,” which Kadish said was “largely a private sector play,” not a state initiative.
One recommendation was that beginning in 2040 all new cars, light trucks, and buses sold in should be electric or another technology that meets same emissions standards..
MassEcon members attending its March meeting also heard from Evan Rowe, Director of Revenue at the MBTA, who described the rebranding and revision of the former Corporate into the PERQ program, which is a partnership with businesses to encourage them to use public transportation.
“We want to help you solve your business transportation problems,” Rowe said.
Rowe said 75 percent of employees, working for 40 percent of companies in the MBTA’s region, have access to discounted transit fares. About 1,500 companies participate in the program, and one-third of the T’s revenue comes from the employee-company program.
Thirty-seven percent of jobs in the MBTA region are within a half mile of light rail or commuter rail transportation,” he said, and 44 percent if the bus system is included. The MBTA, which has more than 1.3 million rides daily, “saves $11 million in commuting costs,” he said.
“We are investing a lot of money to improve the experience for everyday riders,” he said, including the new Green Line extension to Somerville and new train cars on the Orange, Red, and Green lines. He also said major investments will be made in Commuter Rail and buses.
“We’re bringing people on board who can help you solve problems,” he said.
Over the next two years, the MBTA is deploying a new fare collection system that is “completely integrated,” he said, including all modes and possibly working with regional transportation authorities as well.
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