BOSTON, January 21, 2021—
We wish Stephanie Pollack well as she joins the Biden Administration as Deputy FHWA Administrator. As the new Administration puts together its transportation team, we are hopeful that a new federal focus on and commitment to sustainable mobility, multi-modalism, access and equity will guide our path forward, as we seek to build back better.
As MassDOT transitions to new leadership, the Commonwealth finds itself making almost no progress toward meeting its climate goals or fulfilling the recommendations of the Future of Transportation Commission. Instead, the Administration has doubled down on auto-centric policies including reliance on EVs as proposed in the “2050 Decarbonization Roadmap” and Interim Clean Energy Climate Plan for 2030 reports. The outgoing Transportation Secretary has presided over avoidable cuts to the MBTA and unproductive machinations to shape the Allston I-90 Multimodal project into a highway-first project. Numerous priorities such as the Rail Transformation Process and low-income fares also saw little progress since they were adopted by the FMCB. We hope that we may now enter a new period of collaboration that will support a strong, equitable and sustainable post-COVID economy.
We welcome Jamey Tesler to the role of Secretary of Transportation. Jamey is a solid, smart and talented public servant who has a strong record of leadership in several leading state transportation sector roles. We hope he will provide the thoughtful leadership that is vital at this crucial time, a time when Massachusetts needs to restore and modernize its public transportation system to support a strong post-COVID economy equitably. This is also an opportunity to repair relationships between the agencies and advocates. We look forward to working with Jamey and his team in an environment of mutual support and respect.
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