Critics say MassDOT's new 'Beyond Mobility' plan lacks accountability

A new long-range plan from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) recognizes that the agency has serious problems with safety, traffic congestion, limited access to public transportation and pollution from its roads.

But the long-term plan also has a glaring omission: a credible plan to actually solve any of these problems.

“They're talking about the right things — about security, about reliability, about connectivity. You can tell they've done a lot of public engagement, and people are concerned about those things,” said Seth Gadbois, an attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation (editor's article). note: the Conservation Law Foundation is the fiscal sponsor of StreetsblogMASS).

“But this needs to be turned into an action plan, and in its current form, that’s not what we have,” Gadbois continued.

“Beyond mobility”

Under federal law, each state's Department of Transportation must adopt a long-range transportation plan to guide transportation investments and describe how those investments will support the state's economic development and sustainability goals, based on a planning horizon of 20 years or more.

MassDOT has been working on this latest iteration of its long-range plan since 2022, under the leadership of former Gov. Charlie Baker.

The paper is titled “Beyond Mobility” and, according to its authors, “refers to the idea that good transportation planning is about more than moving vehicles for the sake of moving vehicles; it's also about connecting people to opportunities and places. I care and I have to go.

“Beyond Mobility aims to go beyond traditional transportation assessment methods and center people and outcomes,” according to the introduction to the draft plan, released by MassDOT in March.

The plan is roughly structured around six problem statements, relating to issues in the existing transportation system around safety, connectivity, travel experience, reliability, pollution impacts and dependability.

Each of these issues is accompanied by more detailed “vision statements” and action plans for how the agency intends to address these issues in the decades to come.

Blurred visions

The Beyond Mobility plan's 2050 planning horizon coincides with the legal mandate that Massachusetts end most of its fossil fuel consumption by 2050.

But the Beyond Mobility project clearly avoids any mention of this law and its requirements.

Gadbois, of the Conservation Law Foundation, points out that under state law, the same MassDOT office responsible for writing the Beyond Mobility plan is also “responsible for research and planning in support of implementing implementing Chapter 21N (the state's climate law). “

But instead of clearly stating MassDOT's responsibility to eliminate motor vehicle tailpipe pollution by 2050, the Beyond Mobility plan offers this “vision statement” for clean transportation in 2050:

“By 2050, MassDOT will have made significant progress in electrifying public transportation and investing in other low- or no-emission technologies, will have strategically leveraged its assets to fill critical gaps in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. electric vehicles and made investments in infrastructure and initiatives aimed at promoting much more travel using low-carbon modes such as walking and cycling.”

Beyond mobility

Likewise, the plan's “action measures” chapter avoids saying anything about efforts to reduce automobile traffic, which is by far the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution – and fastest growing – in the state.

Other sections of the plan employ similar syntactical dodges to avoid talking about the state's traffic problems.

For example, instead of simply stating that Massachusetts should have no deaths or serious injuries from traffic crashes by 2050, the plan's “safety” vision adds several qualifiers to move MassDOT away from that goal.

Instead, the Beyond Mobility Project promises that in 25 years it will have made “significant progress toward a future without serious transportation-related injuries and deaths.”

Defenders want specificity and accountability

Earlier this month, advocates TransitMatters and the Conservation Law Foundation issued an action alert asking their stakeholders for feedback on the draft plan.

The two organizations want the final version of the Beyond Mobility plan to “set out a bolder vision, commit to real goals and paint a clearer picture of the future.”

“MassDOT should be applauded for the breadth of public engagement, but what has been delivered is full of bureaucratic ways to avoid accountability and avoid clearly stating how MassDOT will improve people's lives,” Jarred said Johnson, executive director of TransitMatters.

One of the more specific goals advocates would like MassDOT to commit to is reducing traffic, as measured by “vehicle miles traveled” (VMT) in private vehicles.

TransitMatters and CLF are calling on the state to adopt a goal to “reduce VMT by at least 25% by 2030 and 50% by 2050, and to better collaborate with partner agencies on usage land and decarbonization.

Seriously pursuing this goal would likely require the state to commit to significantly expanding public transportation and developing more housing in transit-accessible neighborhoods.

Currently, the state's most ambitious plans to improve transit service and reduce traffic — like the MBTA's regional rail initiative or the planned expansion of bus service with expanded bus garages and electrified – remain unfunded and in limbo, even as politicians and MassDOT officials do so. huge financial commitments to purchase multi-billion dollar road projects.

Supporters say stronger, measurable commitments to reducing VMT and traffic fatalities could encourage policymakers to redirect investments toward infrastructure projects that will actually solve these problems, instead of perpetuating them.

“Ultimately, public transportation is underfunded and has limited reach in the state because MassDOT has been unable to make a compelling case for how public transportation, and even walking and cycling, can play a significant role in our transportation future,” says Johnson.

MassDOT is seeking public comment on its Beyond Mobility plan through May 31. Read the draft plan here and submit your comments via MassDOT's online survey.

Read the TransitMatters/CLF Action Alert for the Beyond Mobility plan here.

Editor's Note: The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is the fiscal sponsor of StreetsblogMASS, meaning it manages our payroll, benefits, and finances. CLF has no role in governance or editorial decisions.