| Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) | |
|---|---|
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | November 1, 2009 |
| Preceding agency | Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation, MassHighway, Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission |
| Jurisdiction | Massachusetts |
| Headquarters | 10 Park Plaza Boston, Massachusetts [1] |
| Employees | TBD (1,850[2] formerly of MassHighway) |
| Agency executives | Jeffrey B. Mullan[3], Secretary of Transportation; John R. Jenkins, Andrew Whittle, Elizabeth Levin, Ferdinand Alvaro, Janice Loux, Board of Directors[3] |
| Parent agency | Independent agency, board appointed by the Governor[4] |
| Website | |
| http://www.massdot.state.ma.us | |
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (often styled MassDOT) oversees roads, public transit, aeronautics, and transportation licensing and registration in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It was created on November 1, 2009.
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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.[5][6]
Formerly its own state entity, the Registry of Motor Vehicles Division is directly administered by MassDOT. It is the equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles in most states, and processes drivers' 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:[8][9]
The regional transit authorities shown in italics above are within MBTA's commuter rail service area, and provide connections to MBTA trains.[11]
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.
The Aeronautics Division, formerly the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, administers state financing of its airports; inspects and licenses airports and landing pads; 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).[12]
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 of DOT but supported by it:
The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) remains independent from the Department of Transportation, but the Secretary of Transportation serves on the Massport Board of Directors.[13] 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.
In 2009, Governor Deval Patrick proposed merging all Massachusetts transportation agencies into a single Department of Transportation.[14] 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:
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.[15][16][17]
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:[18]
and three non-metropolitan planning organizations covering the remainder of the state:[29]
By law, all federal transportation grants must be allocated by the responsible MPO. State-wide planning and coordination of MPOs is handled by the Department of Transportation.
| Massachusetts Transportation Capital Planning Documents | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acronym | Name | Responsible agency | Horizon | Purpose / References |
| STIP | State Transportation Improvement Program | DOT | 3 years | 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.[33] |
| TIP | (Regional) Transportation Improvement Program | 13 regional MPOs | 3 years | 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.[34] |
| RTP | (Regional) Transportation Plan[35] | 13 regional MPOs | ~25 years, updated every 4 years | 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.[36] |
| PMT | Program for Mass Transportation | MBTA (by CTPS) | 25 years, updated every 5 years | Identify and evaluate public transit projects in the MBTA service area. Financially unconstrained. Required by state law.[37] |
| CIP | MBTA Capital Improvement Plan | MBTA | 4–5 years | 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.[38] |
| MBP | Massachusetts Bicycle Plan | DOT | 25 years | Identify bicycle access capital improvement projects, coordinate statewide bicycle policies and programs.[39][40] |
| UPWP | Unified Planning Work Program | 13 regional MPOs | 1 year | A list of transportation studies to be conducted by the MPO. Required for federal funding.[41] |
| MMS or CMS | Mobility Management System or Congestion Management System | 13 regional MPOs | 4 years? | Identify and measure congested corridors; recommend solutions. Required for federal funding.[42][43] |
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.[44] After the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse in 2007, the Commonwealth initiated the Accelerated Bridge Program[45] using bonds in anticipation of federal grants to speed repairs on the state's bridges.
The Accelerated Bridge Program is a bond bill signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick in August 2008, a year after the I-35 bridge collapse put the state's bridges in the spotlight. The $3 billion, 8-year accelerated bridge program will replace and rehabilitate around 200 bridges state-wide. 300–500 additional bridges will be preserved to prevent further deterioration. The goal of the program is to reduce the number of structurally deficient bridges from its current number of 563.
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 (Ex I-495 Lowell) - Prefabricated Girders -Prefabricated Deck Panels (Ex I-495 Lowell) -Prefabricated Substructure -Heavy Lift of slide in bridge (Route 2 Phillipston) -float in bridge (Craigie Drawbridge) -Modular Bridges (I-93 Medford) - Bridge in a Back Pack -Bridges Constructed in a single phase with traffic detoured.
The Accelerated Bridge Program will repair and replace some of the biggest bridges in the commonwealth. Some of these projects include the following: Huntington Route 112 over CSX Bridge $18.6 million rehab, Storrow Drive Tunnel rehab $11 million, Lowell Replacement of six bridges along I-495 $34 million, Fall River Braga Bridge painting $14.8 million, Westminster replacement of Route 2 Over Route 140 bridges $11 million, Longfellow Bridge Phase 1 rehab $18 million, Chicopee-Springfield preservation of bridges along I-91 $17 million, Craigie Drawbridge replacement $40 million.
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