Massachusetts Department of Transportation

In 2009, Governor Deval Patrick proposed merging all Massachusetts transportation agencies into a single Department of Transportation.^[5] Legislation consolidating all of Massachusetts' transportation agencies into one organization was signed into law on June 26, 2009. The newly established Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MASSDOT) assumed operations from the existing conglomeration of state transportation agencies on November 1, 2009.

This change included:

• Creating the Highway Division from the former Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and MassHighways.
• Assuming responsibility for the planning and oversight functions of the Executive Office of Transportation.
• Assuming the functions of both the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission and the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
• Replacement of the MBTA's board of directors with the DOT's board of directors and removal of the budget veto from the MBTA Advisory Board (of municipalities).
• Assuming responsibility for the Tobin Bridge from Massport.
• Assuming responsibility for non-pedestrian bridges from the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

In June 2018, The Boston Globe reported 467 current and former Massachusetts Department of Transportation employees were using the E-ZPass transponders for free. This employee benefit, that has been going on since at least 2009, costs the Massachusetts taxpayers approximately $1 million per year. It is not clear if MassDOT has paid taxes on the benefit or reported it to the Internal Revenue Service, or who would be responsible if a payment to the IRS is required.^[6]

As an executive department, the Governor of Massachusetts appoints the state Secretary of Transportation, who is also the "chief executive officer" of the Department. The governor also appoints a five-person board of directors which approves major decisions. The Department directly administers some operations, while others remain semi-autonomous.^[7][8]

• Made up of the former state entities MassHighway and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.
• Interstate Highways, state highways, and the Massachusetts Turnpike. (Some portions of numbered state routes are owned and maintained by cities and towns).
• Toll bridges and tunnels: the Tobin Bridge (transferred from MassPort on January 1, 2010), Sumner Tunnel, Callahan Tunnel, and Ted Williams Tunnel.
• All vehicular bridges in Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) parks are also either owned and maintained by DOT or scheduled to be transferred following completion of DCR work on them by the end of 2014.^[1] MassDOT took over the following urban roadways formerly under the DCR: McGrath and O'Brien Highways in Cambridge and Somerville, the Carroll Parkway portion of the Lynnway in Lynn, Middlesex Avenue in Medford, and Forest Hills Overpass ("Msgr. William Casey Highway overpass") (Jamaica Plain), Columbia Road (South Boston), Gallivan Boulevard (Dorchester), and Morton Street, all in Boston.^[1][9]

Formerly an independent state entity, which until 1992 even had its own uniformed police force for vehicular traffic law enforcement, the Registry of Motor Vehicles Division is now directly administered by MassDOT. It is the equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles in most states, and processes driver's licenses and motor vehicle registrations.

All public transportation agencies are administered independently. However, the DOT board of directors is also the board of directors for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the major provider of public transportation in the Greater Boston area.

The remaining 15 public transit authorities are called Regional Transit Agencies (RTAs), and they provide public bus services in the remainder of the state. The regional transit authorities are:^[10][11]

The regional transit authorities shown in italics above are within MBTA's commuter rail service area, and provide connections to MBTA trains.^[13]

DOT retains oversight and statewide planning authority, and also has a Rail section within the Mass Transit Division. Intercity passenger trains are operated by the federally owned Amtrak, and freight rail is privately operated.

MassDOT is a member of the Northeast Corridor Commission.

The Aeronautics Division, formerly the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, administers state financing of its airports; inspects and licenses airports and landing pads; registers aircraft based in Massachusetts as well as aircraft dealers, regulates airport security, safety, and navigation; and is responsible for statewide aviation planning. The Department of Transportation does not own any airports; the state-owned airports are controlled by the independent Massachusetts Port Authority (which shares its headquarters with the Aeronautics Division).^[14]

Government regulation of aviation in the United States is dominated by the Federal Aviation Administration. Airline passenger and baggage screening is provided by the federal Transportation Security Administration, but airport security is provided locally.

The 2009 reform law also created within MassDOT:

and outside DOT but supported by it:

• Public–Private Partnership Infrastructure Oversight Commission – an independent commission of 7 people, with 4 appointed by the governor, and one each appointed by the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House, and State Treasurer.

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) remains independent from the Department of Transportation, but the Secretary of Transportation serves on the Massport board of directors.^[15] Massport owns and operates the maritime Port of Boston, Boston's Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport, which was transferred from the City of Worcester in 2010.

The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority regulates all ferry services to and from the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and also operates its own passenger, vehicle, and freight ferries. The Authority has an effective monopoly on car ferry service, but private companies operate various passenger routes.

Transportation funding available to the state and its agencies include:

The statewide budget included $919 million for transportation in FY2009, not including $797M in sales tax revenue dedicated to the MBTA.^[16][17][18]

Local cities and towns also receive vehicle excise tax revenues, and levy property taxes. Both state and municipal agencies can levy fines for parking and traffic violations.

Article 78 (LXXVIII) of the Massachusetts Constitution says all motor vehicle fees and taxes (except registration excise tax in lieu of property tax), including fuel taxes, must be spent on transportation, including roads, mass transit, traffic law enforcement, and administration. Transportation is thus a net recipient of general state funds.

Massachusetts has 10 regional metropolitan planning organizations:^[19]

and three non-metropolitan planning organizations covering the remainder of the state:^[30]

By law, all federal transportation grants must be allocated by the responsible MPO. Statewide planning and coordination of MPOs is handled by the Department of Transportation.

State Transportation Improvement Program

Collects all 13 regional TIPs plus statewide projects for state and federal transportation and environmental review. Required for federal funding, financially constrained. Approved by FHWA, FTA, and EPA.^[35]

(Regional) Transportation Improvement Program

Approve road and transit projects of regional scale for federal funding based on transportation and environmental criteria. Determine consistency with federal air quality goals. MPO approval required for federal funding; plan must be fiscally constrained. TIP projects come from RTP projects and immediate needs. Each project has an "advocate" agency to oversee planning and implementation, file for federal funding, and provide local funding match.^[36]

(Regional) Transportation Plan^[37]

Financially unconstrained listings and evaluation of regional road and transit projects. Required for federal funding. Projects are added to the RTP from public input, from CMS/MMS recommendations, and by government agencies. In Boston, transit projects are filtered through the MBTA PMT and two RTAs.^[38]

Program for Mass Transportation

Identify and evaluate public transit projects in the MBTA service area. Financially unconstrained. Required by state law.^[39]

MBTA Capital Improvement Plan

Actually approve projects for MBTA funding. 100% state and federally funded projects are also noted, as are anticipated federal matching funds subject to outside approval. Fiscally constrained.^[40]

Massachusetts Bicycle Plan

Identify bicycle access capital improvement projects, coordinate statewide bicycle policies and programs.^[41][42]

Unified Planning Work Program

A list of transportation studies to be conducted by the MPO. Required for federal funding.^[43]

Mobility Management System or Congestion Management System

Identify and measure congested corridors; recommend solutions. Required for federal funding.^[44][45]

State Rail Plan

Identify rail projects with the best return on investment, fulfill federal requirements.^[46][47]

CTPS is the Central Transportation Planning Staff, which is the staff of the Boston MPO and with which the MBTA contracts for planning assistance.

The Highway Division accepts submissions for projects from its district offices and municipalities.^[48]

The Accelerated Bridge Program^[49] is a bond bill signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick in August 2008,^[50] a year after the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse put the state's bridges in the spotlight. The $3 billion, 8-year accelerated bridge program will replace and rehabilitate around 270 bridges statewide.^[49] 300–500 additional bridges will be preserved to prevent further deterioration.^{[citation needed]} As of September 1, 2015, the program has reduced the number of structurally deficient bridges to 408, from 543 in 2008. The program is paid for using bonds in anticipation of future federal transportation grants to be issued to the state.

The MassDOT has called the Accelerated Bridge Program the "Laboratory of Innovation". Engineers on each project are invited to investigate other options to replace the bridges faster and more efficiently to reopen the bridges to traffic faster. Some of these options for the projects are:

• Design/build (e.g. I-495 Lowell)
• Prefabricated girders
• Prefabricated deck panels (e.g. I-495 Lowell)
• Prefabricated substructure
• Heavy lift of a slide-in bridge (e.g. Route 2 Phillipston)
• Float-in bridge (e.g. Craigie Drawbridge)
• Modular bridges (e.g. I-93 Medford)
• "Bridge in a backpack" was used to rebuild a bridge over the Scott Reservoir Outlet in Fitchburg for $890,480.^[51] With this technique, lightweight composite tubes are carried into place by several workers on foot (instead of by truck, crane, or heavy equipment) and then the weather-resistant tubes are filled with concrete.^[52][53]
• Bridges constructed in a single phase with traffic detoured (instead of a temporary bridge and multiple phases)

As of September 2015, there were 198 active or completed contracts, including replacement or repair of the following bridges (some of which span multiple contracts):^[51]

• Longfellow Bridge major overhaul – $267 million
• Fore River Bridge in Quincy – $245 million
• Fall River – Braga Bridge – $141 million
• Kenneth F. Burns Bridge over Lake Quinsigamond – $89 million rehab
• I-93 bridges in Medford – $74 million
• Casey Overpass – replacement with at-grade intersections – $40 million
• Craigie Drawbridge replacement – $40 million
• Lowell – Replacement of six bridges along I-495 – $34 million
• Neponset River Bridge carrying Route 3A (phase 2 only) – $34 million
• Anderson Memorial Bridge rehab – $20 million
• Boston University Bridge rehab – $18 million
• McCarthy Overpass of the McGrath Highway temporary repairs – $11 million
• Westminster – Route 2 over Route 140 bridge replacement – $11 million
• Storrow Drive Tunnel rehab – $10 million
• Bowker Overpass rehab – $6 million

• Massachusetts Department of Transportation, hdl:2452/35610. (Various documents)

• Massachusetts State Highway System

• Official website
• Chapter 25 of the Acts of 2009 / AN ACT MODERNIZING THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
• Massachusetts Association of Regional Transit Authorities
• GoTime - Official MassDOT travel app
• Seeing Red: A Boston Globe Spotlight report on Boston's crippling traffic