Senate budget key to future of housing and transportation in Gateway Cities

The Gateway Cities Journal

The Senate budget debate next week could determine how competitive Gateway Cities will be in the post-pandemic economy. At a key moment when housing and transportation investments could help make these communities more attractive for an age of remote work, the danger of missing out on the opening and backsliding is real. Housing: Housing Development

For the T, Equity is the train that got away

The Gateway Cities Journal

The MBTA presented a package of proposed fare reductions to its new governing board late last month. Billed as an effort to increase equity, it’s hard to see how the changes will do anything but prolong and perhaps even amplify current inequities.

Andre Leroux offers testimony to Joint Committee on Transportation

On low-income and zero-fare bills

The Honorable William Straus, House Chair The Honorable Joseph Boncore, Senate Chair Joint Committee on Transportation State House, Room 134 Boston, MA 02133 via email   Dear Chairmen Straus and Boncore, On behalf of MassINC’s Gateway Cities Innovation Institute, I strongly urge you to expedite a favorable report on H. 3526, “An Act Relative to

Andre Leroux offers testimony to Joint Committee on Transportation

On transportation revenue bills

The Honorable William Straus, House Chair The Honorable Joseph Boncore, Senate Chair Joint Committee on Transportation State House, Room 134 Boston, MA 02133 via email   RE: Support for new transportation revenue—local revenue tools are especially important to enable Gateway Cities and surrounding communities to solve their regional transit challenges – H. 3426 (Ciccolo) An

Andre Leroux offers testimony to Joint Committee on Transportation

On RTA advancement bills

The pandemic has permanently changed the way many residents think about where they want to live and work. This offers an unprecedented opportunity for our Gateway Cities to reposition themselves as regional hubs, but this will only be possible if they become multimodal communities anchored by strong regional transit systems.

Advancing low-income fares beyond Boston

The Gateway Cities Journal

Since 2017, the FMCB has been pushing hard on the agency to provide discounts to low-income riders. In one of their final votes, they choose to instruct agency staff to prepare scenarios for a pilot program. On the one hand, this last-ditch effort makes sense. However, from the Gateway City perspective, the board’s actions are disappointing and a bit perplexing.

Regional Transit Authorities Win Funding Victory in House Budget

The Gateway Cities Journal

Public transportation service for over half the state’s population — the half not served by the MBTA — won a precedent-setting victory last week during the House budget debate. As Jim Kolesar from Berkshire Interfaith Organizing says, “Full funding for the RTAs, including our Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, seems the minimum that we should be

Gateway Cities can’t afford cuts to MBTA service

The Gateway Cities Journal

By the time we emerge from the pandemic and turn the economy back on, we will be winding down the transportation networks central to an equitable recovery. But an affordable, accessible, and reliable public transit is especially vital to Gateway City revitalization.
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