Last
Friday, Governor Patrick rolled out his comprehensive plan to
reorganize and refinance the state's transportation system. To no one's
surprise, most of the subsequent media coverage has focused on the
Governor's call to raise the gas tax by 19 cents a gallon (meaning the
average driver will pay about $2 more per week at the pump).

I
had a chance to talk to the Governor and to Transportation Secretary
Jim Aloisi before the announcement of their plan and I can assure you
that they expected a firestorm. Neither of them wants to increase taxes
on anyone – especially during an economic downturn. As the Governor
said on Friday, "this is a crummy time to ask people to contribute
more."

But anyone who has followed this issue seriously already
knows that there's really no way around the need for new revenue. To
get our troubled system back on track – a necessary step toward
revitalizing our overall economy – it won't be enough just to cut or
consolidate (although we have to do that, too). If we want roads,
highways, transit, rail and bus services that can support a 21st
Century economy, then we have to pay for them – and raising tolls and T
fares is neither the smart way to do it nor an adequate way to meet the
need.

.

Here in Somerville, we know that good
transportation facilities are crucial to our future economic and
physical health. We know that the Green Line Extension, a new Orange
Line station at Assembly Square, the long-delayed repaving of
Washington Street, the thorough renovation now underway along
Somerville Ave – and all of the other state-supported transportation
projects in our city – will make this a better, stronger community in
which to live, work and raise a family. We know and understand that
transportation isn't just good for economic development: it's essential.

But
here's something you might not know unless you read the fine print: the
Governor's transportation reorganization and refinancing plan is a
model of how to deal with a fiscal crisis in government. It strikes a
fair balance between the need to, on one hand, achieve meaningful
reform and savings and, on the other, put new revenue into the system
so that it stops accumulating debt and starts doing its job for the
people of Massachusetts.

If you read the plan (which is online
at http://www.youmovemassachusetts.org/ ), you will find out that it
abolishes the Turnpike Authority, eliminates 300 jobs, ends the special
provision that lets MBTA workers retire on full benefits after 23 years
of service regardless of age; curbs health insurance costs; and
increases transparency and accountability across the entire system.

Of
course, all of these things could have and should have been done long
ago, but before Governor Patrick, no one did. No one could be bothered
to ask the citizens of the Commonwealth to wake up and face the true
cost and true value of their transportation system until these reforms
were made part of the package. But now Governor Patrick has done just
that, setting the stage for a fair and reasonable effort to reinvest in
our essential transportation infrastructure.

Like President
Obama with the economic crisis, the Governor is taking responsibility
for a problem he inherited. For nearly two decades, as the state
steadily deferred essential maintenance and as the budget for the
spiraled out of control, our Commonwealth dug itself into an
ever-deepening hole of wishful thinking. All of us – the public, its
elected leaders, the business community – pretended that someone else
was going to reform the system. Someone else was going to repair the
roads and bridges, and build the new transit links that would reduce
congestion and pollution. Someone else would work with unions to manage
their health care and retirement costs. But now – with our economy in
decline, our debt s soaring and our infrastructure in tatters – that
wishful thinking has to stop. It turns out that the "someone else" is
us.

The gas tax hasn't been increased by so much as a penny
since 1991. To paraphrase Secretary Aloisi, can you think of any other
major commodity that hasn't seen a price increase in eighteen years?
During the same period, the real buying power of the gas tax has
decreased by one third. Is our transportation system one third less
important to our economy than it was in 1991? Is it one third less
essential to our daily lives?

Governor Patrick deserves enormous
credit for his courage in taking on this vital reform. And, when you
add them up, the advantages offered by his proposals – for Somerville
and the entire Commonwealth – far outweigh the costs. Whether you're
interested in a stronger economy, or cleaner air or more livable
neighborhoods, I urge you to join me in supporting every element in
this reform package.